Faced with a second criminal investigation, journalist Makarios Drousiotis on Monday issued a plea to the public for cash contributions to help pay for a solicitor and forensics, as he was on the verge of “financial annihilation”.

Drousiotis said he was standing alone against a system that had the “whole state mechanism” at its disposal, including major law firms and powerful individuals with wealth and influence, whose aim was “to bring me to my knees financially and exhaust me physically and mentally.”

In a video on social media, Drousiotis spoke of a “plot” and “cover-up conspiracy” following revelations he made in his book Mafia State.

On Saturday, Drousiotis said in a post on X that the police had opened a second criminal investigation over alleged personal data offences connected with his book Mafia State, some four years after its publication and two months after the anti-corruption authority delivered its findings on allegations contained in the book.

Related Articles

In Monday’s video, Drousiotis said the criminal investigation was “vindictive in nature” and aimed at discrediting him as a key witness in the probe.

The investigators, he said, were “harassing” everyone involved in the publication of his book, including the editor, designer and printers.

The journalist is already facing criminal proceedings in the separate Sandy case, in which he and a woman known publicly as ‘Sandy’ have been served with indictments involving around 101 counts.

That case concerns allegations that fabricated messages and false claims were used to accuse public figures of serious crimes.

Referring to the Sandy case, Drousiotis said the Law Office was sending him to trial with 80 charges of knowingly and maliciously publishing fake news.

“Following the tolerance after my first prosecution, they have become bolder and now don’t even keep up pretences,” Drousiotis said in his video.

He said the aim was “to punish me for my revelations in Mafia State and to discredit me as a key witness in the criminal investigation under way”.

The journalist furthermore linked the developments to his research into the selling of non-performing loans and foreclosures, saying they purpose was to “silence” his own research which “brought to light a deeply corrupt system of power”.

Drousiotis said he was determined to continue the fight in court, saying it was the hardest I have had to fight to date.

“I have given many fights in my life. This is the hardest. But I have physical and mental strength to give this fight to the end and win,” he said.

His aim, Drousiotis said, was to turn this ordeal into “a project of truth and revelation”.

To do this, he needs money, which is why he was turning to the people for financial support, pointing out that this was not a personal issue, but one linked to “rule of law, accountability and the journalistic freedom to research serious cases of public interest without the threat of criminal prosecution and financial annihilation hanging over their head”.

“Even the smallest contribution has a tremendous moral and material value,” Drousiotis said and thanked everyone supporting him.