The investigation into the 1963 assassination of parliamentarian Grigoris Lambrakis defined the trajectory of Christos Sartzetakis, moving him from a regional judge to the highest office in Greece. Through a decades-long career, he navigated the collapse of democratic institutions, political imprisonment, and the constitutional instability that characterized his term as the President of the Republic.
The Lambrakis Investigation
In 1963, as a judge at the Court of First Instance of Thessaloniki, Sartzetakis took charge of the inquiry into the death of Grigoris Lambrakis. He identified state and police involvement in the killing, a finding that pitted him directly against the judicial hierarchy. Despite significant pressure to suppress evidence and clear the twenty-one defendants, he refused to abandon his findings. This integrity eventually led to his dismissal from the judiciary by the Greek military junta in 1968, followed by two arrests and torture by the military police.
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Following the return of democracy in 1974, the state reinstated Sartzetakis. He served in the Court of Appeals and later became a member of the Supreme Civil and Criminal Court. In 1985, Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou unexpectedly nominated him for the presidency. His election was marked by constitutional friction; the conservative opposition boycotted his swearing-in ceremony on 30 March 1985, citing procedural violations during the parliamentary voting process.
Conflict and Controversy in Office
His five-year tenure was noted for strict formalism and ideological clashes. He opposed the legalization of abortion in 1986 and famously refused to pardon Christos Roussos, a position that drew public condemnation. During the political turbulence of 1989 and 1990, he oversaw a series of repeated elections. He remained a polarizing figure, often criticized for his use of katharevousa and his insistence on rigid, traditional standards of conduct within the presidential office.
Fast facts
- Born: 6 April 1929, Neapoli
- Died: 3 February 2022, Laiko General Hospital of Athens
- Education: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
- President of Greece: 1985-1990
- Judicial career entry: 1955
- Awards: Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer (1985)
- Awards: Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry
- Burial site: First Cemetery of Athens
Questions readers ask
Why was his election as president considered controversial?
The opposition claimed the election was unconstitutional because the acting president, Ioannis Alevras, participated in the vote.
What event caused his initial clash with the Greek authorities?
His role as the investigating judge in the 1963 assassination of Grigoris Lambrakis, where he implicated the state in the crime.
