Society is faced with a clear choice between Democracy and violence, states Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister and government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis in his article in the newspaper Parapolitika, noting that there is no longer any room for ambiguities or excuses in the face of criminal acts.
Under the title “Let the masks fall,” he stresses that those who place explosive devices and use violence cannot be described as “activists” or presented as agents of political expression, but are criminals, while when these acts lead to the loss of human lives “there is only one word: terrorism.”
At the same time, he states that equally dangerous as the actions of the direct perpetrators is the political and ideological tolerance that, as he notes, has for years attempted to whitewash or downplay violence through different terminology. As he characteristically points out, “tolerance is the fertilizer of lawlessness,” warning that every attempt to justify violence encourages its further escalation.
Mr. Marinakis also stresses that no democratic society can tolerate attacks against political figures, journalists, judges, or anyone who publicly expresses their views, underlining that “the home of every person is sacred” and that targeting the family or private life constitutes an attack against Democracy itself. “No Democracy can survive when it becomes accustomed to violence,” he states characteristically.
Finally, he points out that the obvious condemnations after every tragic incident are not enough, but that a steady and consistent application of the law is required, without ideological exceptions or discounts. In closing, he calls for the masks to “fall once and for all” and for it to become absolutely clear that “in Democracy there are no 'good' and 'bad' forms of terrorism,” but only criminal acts that must be dealt with without asterisks and with absolute respect for the rule of law.
“The time has come for the masks to fall once and for all. Every attempt to whitewash political violence must stop… Because when violence finds an alibi, sooner or later it also seeks the next victim,” he concludes.