Five journalists and the publisher of German Focus Magazine have issued a joint statement in which they try to support their theses on the Venus de Milo cover, which has caused the outrage of the Greek people and a defamation trial of Focus in Greece.
The February 2010 cover of Focus had doctored the famous Greek statue raising her middle finger to Europe and was entitled as “Cheaters in the European family” in reference to the recession-hit country.
However, with their statement now, the Focus journalists and publisher dismissed the Greek state’s charges of defamation, libel and insult of a Greek symbol and rushed to express their respect and admiration towards Greece and its culture. They pointed out, however, that this does not mean they would not practice their journalist rights and be critical of the politicians who led Greece to this debt dead-end.
Moreover, the German journalists have underlined that they have never meant to insult the Greek people and that the controversial article of 2010 had been mirroring the results of an editorial research conducted in Greece.
Lastly, they stated that they consider Greece to be part of the European family and community, pointing out how the situation in Greece is affecting every other European country.
The statement was read before the Athens court examining the case by the authorized representative attorney of the German defendants.
The creator of the Venus de Milo cover made a separate statement, according to which, the cover is merely a satiric approach of the Greek debt crisis.
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