Playing hide-and-seek between buildings, offices and court-rooms as well as a strong Riot-Police force were what we found ourselves against when we tried to attend the (public) hearing of a Petition for Injunction submitted by EYDAP employees and services-users against the company’s shareholders’ decision for getting another € 40 m. in dividends (for the second time last year).
Case was scheduled to be heard at 9 a.m. on Monday 2nd January. Court procedures in Greece are open to everyone, but when we tried to enter the building we were intercepted by the police. When councilor Theodoropoulos, an Athens lawyer acting on behalf of the plaintiffs, asked the Judge why people were not allowed to attend he received the answer that the Judge had not given such an order! If not he, then who gave it? We did not find out!
We waited outside the building in low temperatures: obviously public attendance of Court sessions (whatsmore in cases that have a strong impact on public interests, as is the giving away of € 40 m. of EYDAP’s reserves) is not a priority in today’s Greece.
The case was heard in the presence of EYDAP’s Head of Legal Services and a private practicing lawyer (despite EYDAP having its own such Service), a representative of Piraeus Bank (responsible for the transfer of the sums to the shareholders) and representatives of the Greek State and HRADF.
We were told that the decision would be made public at 12 noon: instead we waited until well past 1430 to hear that Injunction has been denied. The case (on which the petition for injunction was based) will be heard on March 20th, which means that the shareholders will most probably have received their dividends by then.
The text of the Petition can be found in Greek at the SEKES webpage.
(Photos and videos are available in the greek version of this post).
