New Democracy MP Sevi Voloudaki took to social media to share photographs of threatening slogans spray-painted on her political office and her family home, amid the fallout from a series of arson attacks in Thessaloniki and the murder of Vagia Nestora.
Among the slogans visible in the photographs she posted were: “Death to New Democracy,” “Gas canisters in your homes,” “Fear is switching sides,” “You killed 57 people,” “Revenge,” and “Freedom for the anarchists.”
“The slogans written on my political office and on my family home do not frighten me and will not deter me from my duty. My family has learned to stand tall in the face of adversity — with dignity, faith, and strength. No one has the right to attempt to bring hatred and violence to our doorstep,” Voloudaki wrote in her post, adding: “I am not afraid. I will not be intimidated. I will not back down.”
Sevi Voloudaki’s full statement
In her post, Sevi Voloudaki stated:
“The slogans written on my political office and on my family home do not frighten me and will not deter me from my duty.
My family has learned to stand tall in the face of adversity — with dignity, faith, and strength. No one has the right to attempt to bring hatred and violence to our doorstep.
What does enrage me, however, is that there are people who choose to stand by the killers of Afroditi Nestora’s mother.
I am not afraid. I will not be intimidated. I will not back down.
I will continue to serve the public with the same consistency and determination, defending the principles of democracy and the rule of law.
Fear has never been an option for me.
And it will not become one now.”
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Marinakis: “We are dealing with criminals”
In an official statement, government spokesperson Marinakis described the incident as “an organized attempt at intimidation” and “a brazen attack on democracy,” calling those responsible “criminals.” He stressed that targeting individuals and their families, threatening violence, and spreading hatred “have no place in a law-governed society,” adding that “there are no asterisks, footnotes, or excuses” — only one word: condemnation.
The government spokesperson also drew a direct connection between the slogans and the recent arson attack targeting the homes of New Democracy officials in Thessaloniki, describing it as an attempt to “weaponize a murderous attack” in order to sow fresh hatred and endanger lives. He noted that anyone who tolerates or stays silent in the face of such slogans “assumes enormous political and moral responsibility.”
Marinakis expressed the government’s “full confidence” in the authorities to apprehend the perpetrators, emphasizing that “democracy will not be intimidated by thugs” and that those who attempt to impose their views through fear and violence “will face the consequences of their actions.” He closed his statement by noting that political debate is a cornerstone of democracy, while targeting people because of their political identity is “its very negation” — and that when the word “Death” becomes a slogan, “silence is not neutrality. It is complicity.”
Marinakis’ full statement
When people go so far as to write “Death to New Democracy” and “Gas canisters in your homes” outside the house of Deputy Minister Sevi Voloudaki and her family, what we are facing is not an act of protest. It is an organized attempt at intimidation — a brazen attack on democracy. We are dealing with criminals.
Targeting individuals and their families, threatening violence, and cultivating hatred have no place in a law-governed society. There are no asterisks, footnotes, or excuses. There is only one word: condemnation.
It is inconceivable that some would attempt to weaponize a murderous attack in order to sow fresh hatred and threaten people’s lives. Anyone who tolerates such practices, anyone who remains silent in the face of such slogans, assumes enormous political and moral responsibility.
Democracy will not be intimidated by thugs. Threats will not break anyone. Those who believe they can impose their views through fear and violence will face the consequences of their actions.
We have full confidence in the authorities to arrest and bring to justice the perpetrators of this criminal act as well.
Political debate is a cornerstone of democracy. Targeting people because of their political identity is its very negation. And when “Death” becomes a slogan, silence is not neutrality. It is complicity.
