Michalis Paraskevas

Michalis Paraskevas, in Greek Μιχάλης Παρασκευάς, born in 1976, is a Cypriot lawyer and activist. His two main struggles up to now are to defend the rights and well-being of refugees and to fight the austerity policies of the Cypriot government.
In 2014, he refused to pay social insurance contributions as an act of civil disobedience in response to the government's decision of writing-off a 7.2 billion euro debt to the Social Insurance Fund, as suggested by the Troika in 2012. His refusal to comply with the court order to pay the fine could result in a jail sentence and probably disbarment. Michalis Paraskevas' civil disobedience was also connected to the refusal of the Minister of Finance to comply with the Social Insurance Fund 2010 Law, which obliged the Minister to repay some of the debt back to the Social Insurance account so as to create real assets, and to appoint an independent committee for auditing purposes. The initiative concerning the Social Insurance Fund resulted in the creation of a team of activists. Called ‘Initiative for Social Control of Social Insurance Fund’, which demanded the return of money from the state to the Social Insurance Fund, and reformation of the way the Fund is controlled so as to allow for some direct control by the citizens.
Michalis Paraskevas studied law in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece.