Dear Madame/Sir,
We would like to inform you about the new attempt of the Greek government to silence the Greek Public Broadcaster (ERT).
As you may be aware, since the 11th of June, when the Greek government decided to shut down ERT, we, the employees of the Public Broadcaster, continued to produce Television, Radio and internet programme.
This was made possible with the hiring of satellite capacity from
SES ASTRA, with the help of our Unions. It was a private contract between a company and a private client.
After the personal intervention of the Public Radio Television sub minister, Mr. Pantelis Kapsis, SES ASTRA was forced to succumb to the heavy pressure and cancel the perfectly legal contract that we had with the company. From 15.00 GMT our signal will be once again lost.
We are determined to fight this decision on every ground. We will continue to provide to the Greek people the service a Public Broadcaster should, in terms of news, culture and entertainment. Especially in times of economic and social crisis, we believe that this is not only the constitutional obligation of a Public Broadcaster, but its duty as well.
We would like to ask you to bring this matter to the European Parliament as soon as possible, even today if you can.
Already, Mr. Alexis Tsipras, and the rest of the leaders of the Opposition have send letters to Mr. Martin Schulz about the situation.
It is unprecedented for a sub minister of an European Government to demand from a private company to cancel a contract with a private client that they are in dispute with. It is a clear breach of the European laws on Broadcast and Communication, considering that Mr. Kapsis is not a Regulatory Body but a sub minister.
We attach for you the letter of the Opposition Leaders to Martin Schulz.
The President of Federation of Greek Broadcasting Unions (POSPERT)
Panagiotis Kalfagiannis
