![\"State](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/reenactment_N17-960x600.jpg\"\/)
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Snapshot from the filming of a reenactment for the upcoming Skai documentary on the November 17 terror group, depicting the assassination of CIA station chief Richard Welch, the organization\u2019s first victim, outside his Athens home in December 1975.<\/p>\n
Greece\u2019s Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center (EKKOMED) has withdrawn its approval for state cash-rebate funding for an upcoming Skai TV documentary after it emerged that the film includes an interview with a convicted member of the now-dismantled terrorist group November 17. The move has prompted accusations of censorship from the broadcaster.<\/p>\n
In a decision published this week on the government\u2019s transparency portal Diavgeia, EKKOMED said it had revoked its earlier approval, granted on December 8, for the documentary \u201cNovember 17: Rise and Fall,\u201d presented by journalist Alexis Papachelas, citing an incomplete assessment of key facts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe issuance of the initial approval was based on an incomplete evaluation of a substantive factual element \u2013 namely the participation of a person convicted of terrorism and unrepentant for his actions,\u201d EKKOMED said, referring to jailed November 17 hitman Dimitris Koufontinas.<\/p>\n
The organization said it needed to reassess the project after considering additional information that had not been fully evaluated at the time of the original decision, \u201cwhose institutional and social weight became clear at a later stage,\u201d as well as a letter from two victims\u2019 advocacy groups, which it said played a key role in the reversal.<\/p>\n
Skai media group founder and managing director Ioannis Alafouzos on Tuesday criticized the move as arbitrary interference in a journalistic and historical work, accusing EKKOMED of attempting to impose \u201cpreventive censorship.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a letter to EKKOMED chief executive Leonidas Christopoulos, Alafouzos said the documentary followed international practice by recording testimonies from all key figures, including former public order minister Michalis Chrysochoidis and others involved in dismantling the group, as well as Koufontinas himself. He noted that EKKOMED had been informed of the interview\u2019s inclusion as early as June 2.<\/p>\n
Alafouzos alleged that the decision reflected outside pressure that violated journalistic ethics and said Skai would not legitimize practices \u201creminiscent of darker periods in our history.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking to Kathimerini, Christopoulos said the move did not constitute a final rejection but rather a reassessment of the funding application. \u201cIt is not an easy case, and I understand Mr Alafouzos\u2019 reaction,\u201d he said. \u201cThe project was initially approved, but following the letter from victims\u2019 associations, the correct course was to revoke the decision and re-evaluate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no issue of censorship,\u201d he added. \u201cBut the question is whether a documentary that includes the views of the chief executioner of November 17 should be financed by the state.\u201d<\/p>\n
Christopoulos said the reassessment would proceed promptly, as the application remains valid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Snapshot from the filming of a reenactment for the upcoming Skai documentary on the November 17 terror group,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354054,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[64,63,2331,1691,134,344,84,5316],"class_list":{"0":"post-354053","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-culture","11":"tag-documentary","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-movies","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-terrorism"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}