6 Greek Newspaper Editors Sent to Prison

Six newspaper editors were locked up Monday after being convicted of publishing statements from terrorists. They were sentenced to serve up to 10 months in a maximum-security prison.

Hundreds of people, including journalists, protested the sentences. The editors contend that the law constitutes censorship while the government says the law is intended to deny publicity to terrorists.

The editors, whose newspapers represent half the country’s readership, refused to appeal the sentences and instead chose to be jailed. They also refused to pay fines instead of serving prison time.

The newspaper Eleftherotypia began what turned into a showdown with the conservative government when it published a statement by the November 17 terrorist group on June 6. Other newspapers published the statement the next day in a show of support.

The editors of Eleftherotypia and the dailies Ethnos, Niki and Avriani were sentenced to 10 months each because they twice printed statements from terrorists.