By Nick Stamatakis
The proudest moments I had during these five years I have been publishing Helleniscope (surrounded, I must say, by a large – and constantly expanding – group of friends and associates, all doing volunteer work) happened during court sessions where the lawsuit for defamation against me was discussed. A GOARCH employee filed this lawsuit and was asking the Court to punish me with millions of dollars of damages, to force me to remove all posts that were supposedly “defamatory,” and (initially) to refrain from writing against the plaintiff(s) and against their past and current employers – i.e., the Archdiocese (!!!) This last demand was so outrageous that it was removed before the Judge could throw it out the window…
In the first court appearance and another one that followed, I was proud to be a citizen of this country of freedom, where the First Amendment of our Constitution rules so firmly that nobody, no matter how powerful they are, can overturn it. And indeed, I had to fight the “powers that be,” the VP of the Archdiocesan Council, John Catsimatides, with his $4 billion net worth and his Park Avenue lawyer. They wanted to silence Helleniscope.
But we had Justice on our side, and the Court proclaimed without hesitation: ”
«…Mr. Stamatakis, let me make it very clear, I didn’t make any rulings as to the elements of the causes of action. What I said was that I believed very strongly, and I prefaced it at the very beginning of the argument that the First Amendment is paramount in my viewpoint. And I would not allow the — essentially a gag order, a restraint on speech of yourself and others to restrain the content of your opinions…»
“…Mr. Stamatakis, let me stop you again, I know you’re an intelligent person, you are a good writer. I know you are a journalist. I know that you have some training in law…. I’m not trying to restrain your publication of noteworthy or newsworthy events. As a matter of fact, I said that at the time we had the oral argument on the preliminary injunction, so you know already my view on that. First Amendment Rights are paramount in my viewpoint…”
And on another occasion: “…Mr. Stamatakis is the most widely known and respected figure within the Greek community…” (This is a little exaggerated if you ask me, but the Judge was entitled to his opinion…)
For the past five years, we have been at the forefront of this community, fighting your fight on religious or political issues, always revealing “conflicts of interest,” and demanding transparency and accountability from the Phanariotes. We were never afraid, as fear takes away our freedom.
Helleniscope stands out as one of our community’s very few journalistic voices that expresses the heart and soul of all of us… A recent powerful example: ALL of the major news outlets in our community (with very few exceptions) “followed the line” and supported the wicked candidacy of Kamala Harris. Helleniscope defied the establishment and endorsed Donald Trump, as we had done since 2016, expressing all of us… I was at a 600-person gathering of restaurant owners and their families a couple of weeks ago, trying to find anyone who voted for “Kamala”. “How many in this hall voted for Kamala?”, I asked and asked again. “None” was the only answer I heard… Yet, the other news media of our community largely stood with Kamala…
We will always stand firm on our principles, pictured in our motto, “Truth Through Knowledge.” We will never stop fighting for a better Greek-American community, conscious and proud of its Hellenic heritage and its great humanistic principles. A community that is the best component of a great America!
December 10, 2024, n.stamatakis@aol.com www.helleniscope.com
It is great that you were able to beat the un-American attempt to silence you. I still think that we should check and re-check, before we besmirch someone’s reputation. But if you have proof that what you’re saying is true, don’t hold back. We need transparency.
A journalist is not a D.A. to start investigation and find the truth. This is a common lay fallacy. Journalism is about the “smoke” which means there is a fire somewhere… The law offers only one ground against defaming journalists: malice. But when the scope is to reveal the wrongdoers (for example those who have conflict of interest in an organization) there is no malice.
What comments are published is completely at my discretion. Period.
From all your articles mr Stamatakis, I was mostly impressed by your courage to expose the new metropolitan of New Jersey. By the way, we never found out why the previous was fired! Same thing also with the metropolitan of Chicago! This kind of secrecy is nessesary in Mafia gangs, or in Masonic lodges, not in a Patriarchate…
By the way mr Stamatakis, what you think about this praise of Apostolos, by “the voice of AHEPA”?
https://hellenicnews.com/a-hierarchy-with-vision-metropolitan-apostolos-marks-one-year-on-the-episcopal-throne-of-new-jersey/
Whatever I know about Apostolos I said it in public. Use the website’s search and you will know exactly what I have said. It’s very revealing and very damning for Apostolos unless you believe that people change… They have a chance to repent but Apostolos never did. As for the “journalists” what can I say? Most journalists in our community – and in general – are not real journalists but influence peddlers.,