Cyprus anthropologists rally behind professor in SLAPP dispute

Local Democracypress freedomTop News Cyprus anthropologists rally behind professor in SLAPP dispute Ipi Greece Grigoris Dimitriadis Slapp Award Letter 20 10 2022 Relevant News Cyprus anthropologists rally behind professor in SLAPP dispute 8 September 2026 UK, France and Canada sanction Israeli West Bank settlements, in support for two-state solution 8 September 2026 France to ban products from Israeli settlements in West Bank, foreign minister says 8 September 2026 newsroom 8 September 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber The Cyprus Association of Social Anthropologists (CASA) has expressed solidarity with Theodoros Rakopoulos, a professor at the University of Oslo who has also published on Cyprus, after he received a legal notice from Grigoris Dimitriadis, a former chief of staff to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, his uncle. Dimitriadis resigned from that position in 2022 amid revelations linking him to Greece’s Predator spyware wiretapping scandal, and has since filed dozens of defamation lawsuits and cease-and-desist notices against journalists and media outlets that have reported on the affair. In a statement, CASA said it had followed “with concern” the legal threat against Rakopoulos, which followed a social media post he published in mid-July critically discussing a public interview given by Dimitriadis. According to CASA, the post drew on Rakopoulos’s academic expertise and research, attracted considerable public attention, and was republished by numerous media outlets, which presented his intervention as that of a university professor and academic expert. Rakopoulos, a professor of social anthropology who has researched and written on mafia phenomena, said in a public Facebook post on September 6 that his original post never called Dimitriadis “a mafioso,” but instead described his conduct in the interview as one that “recalls mafia-like tropes.” He said the post was widely shared and republished, with media outlets consistently describing it as the intervention of a university expert. CASA said that after the post circulated, Dimitriadis sent Rakopoulos a formal legal notice demanding he retract his statement, apologise, and publish a text prepared by Dimitriadis. Rakopoulos said in his post that the notice was sent to his parents’ home in Amyntaio, where he said he has not lived for almost 30 years, and that it demanded he retract the post, apologise, and publish a text Dimitriadis had drafted for him. He said that around the same time, his phone began behaving unusually, with repeated alerts stating “someone used your details,” though he said he could not prove any connection between the two events. Rakopoulos sought legal advice and responded with his own formal legal notice, describing the action as a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation), according to CASA. In his own post, Rakopoulos said such tactics are “clearly SLAPP suits aimed at silencing academic freedom,” and noted that Dimitriadis had previously sought €350,000 in damages from journalist Thanasis Koukakis in a similar action, though he said this was the first time Dimitriadis had targeted an academic rather than a journalist. CASA said the public assessment of social and political phenomena by social scientists, grounded in documented research, is a core part of the academic mission and should not be treated as grounds for legal action. It said the use of cease-and-desist letters and the threat of lawsuits against academics who articulate informed opinions falls within the pattern of SLAPPs, which it described as tactics designed to discourage and silence public critique through financial and psychological pressure, rather than to vindicate rights. The association said tolerating such practices sets “a dangerous precedent” for the wider academic community, particularly the social sciences, whose public role it said depends on the ability to intervene freely and on the basis of evidence in matters of public concern. Rakopoulos said he has the backing of the European Association of Social Anthropologists, the Association of Social Anthropologists of the Commonwealth, and Greece’s national association of social anthropologists, and that the University of Oslo’s faculty leadership is aware of the situation. CASA called on relevant institutions and the broader academic community to show solidarity and remain vigilant against attempts to silence academic freedom. Read more: Why not commodify citizenship, if everything is up for sale? Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News UK, France and Canada sanction Israeli West Bank settlements, in support for two-state solution France to ban products from Israeli settlements in West Bank, foreign minister says Netanyahu races to unify Israel’s right wing in bid to avert election defeat Some Israeli actions in Syria may amount to war crimes, UN probe says Cyprus settlement backed in Egypt-Cyprus-Greece joint declaration Could Cyprus become a flashpoint between Israel and Turkey? Cyprus records one of its rainiest summers in decades in 2026 Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.