The specter of fear

Fear had been erased in Greece after the fall of the 1967-74 dictatorship.

Citizens, judges, politicians and anyone else in the public eye knew they had nothing to be afraid of.

But the fear is back, as groups of hooligans threaten or exercise violence. Decisions are being made in a climate of fear and freedom of speech is under threat.

Fear, though, is a nightmare from the past that has no place in a modern European democracy.