I would like to refer to a sad event, the death of Christos Sarzetakis, former President of the Hellenic Republic, who served the highest state office of his country at a critical time.
Christos Sarzetakis was born in Neapolis, Thessaloniki, in 1929. A graduate of the Law School of the University of Thessaloniki, he entered the judiciary in 1955, thus fulfilling a lifelong dream. He used to say. Only if I would be an independent judge would I be able to apply the laws of my country faithfully, without fear of anything, neither transfers nor dismissals! I would hold the scales of justice with firm hands. And I would constantly wear her handkerchief in my eyes, so that I would not see the party or other convictions of those on trial, but only their unjust acts or omissions." Words that were translated into action when he carried out his investigative work with exemplary bravery in the high-profile case of the murder of the left-wing MP Grigoris Lambrakis, without succumbing to political pressure from the then political and judicial authorities, paying a heavy price for this attitude during the years of the junta. In 2018 he was awarded a prize by the Academy of Athens for the publication of his work "My duty as an officer", a text with the minority opinion he expressed in 1964 as an investigator in the Lambrakis case, which was evaluated as a brilliant example of a conscientious and courageous investigative stance.
As President of the Hellenic Republic during the period 1985-1990, Christos Sarzetakis left his own mark on the political life of the country, exercising his duties with absolute respect for the Constitution and the institutions.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Expressing our sincere condolences to the family and relatives of the deceased, I invite you to observe a one-minute silence in his memory.
(SX)
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