The reasons that led him to resign are explained in an interview by the former director of Avgi, Spyros Rapanakis, leaving sharp points against party officials who supported Stefanos Kasselakis and speaking of “character assassination”.

Spyros Rapanakis, who left the newspaper’s management immediately after the election of Stefanos Kasselakis as party leader, said he resigned to ease the situation.

“It is a self-evident move to facilitate the new leadership of SYRIZA, i.e. the new ownership of ‘Avgi’, to make any moves it wishes, in the party’s newspaper,” he said.

He himself complained that he and his colleagues at the newspaper, as well as the party’s radio, were attacked by slander, intimidation and character assassination by supporters of the new leadership.

“In the pre-election period the media of SYRIZA, Avgi and Kokkino and I personally and my colleagues, found ourselves at the center of a methodical smear campaign of terror and various fake news. This was also initiated by central party officials who supported the new leadership. These attacks and character assassination policy in fact they were not condemned by top party officials or by Mr. Kasselakis” said Spyros Rapanakis.