‘Morally and legally, the pre-trial detention of the two police officers is unnecessary.’
‘Hands off the police officers.’
‘If the mother knew about her child’s behavioral issues, why did she let him drive?’
Three statements. Three public declarations. And one image that undermines the institutional authority of Argos.
Twenty-year-old Theodoris is dead. The judiciary is investigating the case. Yet the public discourse has shifted — away from the death of a young man, and toward defending the accused and blaming his mother.
Everyone has the right to express an opinion. But when such opinions come from individuals who have served — or currently serve — in the city’s highest civic office, they carry greater weight. Words cease to be personal. They become institutional.
No one asked mayors to prejudge the court’s verdict. What we expected, however, was conduct befitting their office: restraint, discretion, and respect for a grieving family. Instead, we heard that pre-trial detention was ‘unnecessary.’ We watched a mother subjected to public criticism. We read insults and polarizing rhetoric from a former mayor.
The ancient Greek word aidōs means respect, humility, and awareness of one’s limits — that inner voice guiding us on when and how to speak. That voice was absent.
Aidōs
Not toward the citizens of Argos — but toward those who chose, amid a family’s grief and before the judiciary’s final ruling, to shield the accused and look away.