Greece violated freedom of expression

The European court of human rights has ruled that Greece was guilty of violating freedom of expression by convicting the daily paper I Avgi and its editor, Konstantinos Karis, of libel in 2003. The paper had described the politician Kyriakos Velopoulos as a "known out-an-out nationalist" in a June 2000 article. Arguing that "press freedom includes a possible recourse to a degree of exaggeration or even provocation," the court ordered Greece to pay Karis and the paper's owners €60,000 (£47,500) in damages. (Via Reporters without Borders)