The unyielding journalist of “Rizospastis”, Kostas Vidalís, ignored the advice of his colleagues and loved ones and set out for Thessaly. His mission was to report on the crimes of the paramilitary gangs who terrorized, robbed, raped, and brutalized civilians in every possible way.
Shortly after his departure and despite promising to return within three days he disappeared without a trace. In his one and only contact with the newspaper, he conveyed: “I have gathered shocking material…”
The bandits of Sourlas located him, stopped the train he was traveling on at Platykampos, and, with the tolerance, if not the support, of the government army, captured him. They transferred him to the village of Melia, where they tortured him to death.
What did the press of the time write about these events, day by day? The anguish imprinted in the ink of the newspapers, and the official announcement of his murder… For the authorities back then, nothing significant had happened… Just one less man to write and reveal the truth…