S. Voultepsi’s statements regarding Kovesi and Ceausescu: “we do not want “Ceausescu-style justice” in Greece.”
History does not absolve regimes based on the names they assign to themselves, but on their actions. When the separation of powers collapses in practice, every regime—regardless of ideological identity—slides into authoritarianism. Invoking Montesquieu is not enough; his principles must be applied. And that application is always the first casualty of unchecked power.
In the clouded mind – intoxicated by far-right “spirits” – that Voultepsi indulges in, everything is either leveled or considered fine. That is why she proudly declares:
That the current Orban regime of Kyriakos Mitsotakis – which she herself has the honor of serving as a minister, overseeing the drowning of the “wretched of the earth” – has, decades after Ceausescu and Karamanlis, fully internalized the wise teachings of Montesquieu and does not interfere, under any circumstances, with… independent Greek justice.
Which judiciary, for its part, as an independent judicial authority, although it does not obey Mitsotakis’ orders – as Voultepsi boasts – finds that for the countless crimes of the regime (violent murders and scandals of all kinds), there is no reason to hold those responsible accountable.
The Romanian judiciary, during its communist years, did not learn from the Frenchman Montesquieu. But the corresponding Greek judiciary – this fervently anti-communist – of Papagos and Karamanlis, knew Montesquieu’s doctrine of the separation of powers by heart. And it applied it with religious devotion in military courts, executions of dissenters, exiles, imprisonments and torture. In a Greece of that era – and for decades afterwards, during the “stone ages” – its far-right governments had nothing to envy from the totalitarian regimes of other countries.
We have already exhausted here the issue of historical comparison between the far-right governments of post-war Greece and those of communist Romania. And if we were to characterize Ceausescu as a dictator, we would have no less reason to attribute the same label to Constantinos Karamanlis during the ERE period. The infamous “violent and fraudulent” elections of those days did not automatically elevate Greece to a “state of law”, just as those in Germany did not transform an elected Nazi regime into a democracy.
Conclusion: the historical rule applies to all powers without exception – regardless of their political self-definition (far-right, communist): Authoritarian regimes cannot get rid of any “garment” of ideological construction that they may choose to wear.