Το 24μηνο έργο (2023-2024) «SafeNet: Παρακολούθηση και Αναφορές για Ασφαλέστερα Περιβάλλοντα στο Διαδίκτυο» επιδιώκει να εφαρμόσει μια ολοκληρωμένη και διαθεματική προσέγγιση για την πρόληψη και την καταπολέμηση της μισαλλοδοξίας, του ρατσισμού και της ξενοφοβίας στο διαδίκτυο.
Συμμετέχουν 21 εταίροι, πολλοί από τους οποίους είναι μέλη του Διεθνούς Δικτύου κατά του Κυβερνο Μίσους (INACH), και η ίδια η οργάνωση-ομπρέλα. Πολλοί (όπως και το Ελληνικό Παρατηρητήριο των Συμφωνιών του Ελσίνκι) αποτελούν αξιόπιστες πηγές επισήμανσης παράνομου περιεχομένου (trusted flaggers) και έχουν λάβει μέρος στα προγράμματα παρακολούθησης στο πλαίσιο του Κώδικα Δεοντολογίας της ΕΕ για την αντιμετώπιση της παράνομης ρητορικής μίσους στο διαδίκτυο.
Ακολουθούν τα αποτελέσματα της σχετικής δράσης του Ελληνικού Παρατηρητηρίου των Συμφωνιών του Ελσίνκι για την περίοδο Ιανουαρίου-Νοεμβρίου 2023.
Humanists International launches 2023 edition of the Freedom of Thought Report
Launching today, the Freedom of Thought Report 2023 by Humanists International, now in its 12th annual edition, examines the legal and human rights situation for humanists, atheists and the non-religious around the world.
Introducing this year’s report, President of Humanists International, Andrew Copson, stated:
Andrew Copson, President of Humanists International
“In a time when the very foundations of democracy are being challenged across our world, it is crucial to recognize the role humanists play in defending and revitalizing democratic institutions. Humanists are not mere observers; we are active participants in the democratic process, striving to ensure that the voices of reason and compassion are heard. Our commitment to evidence-based decision-making, equality, and the protection of human rights spurs us to contribute meaningfully to the fight against democratic backsliding and provide us with a strong ethical and intellectual platform from which to do so.”
The report finds that humanists are discriminated against in 186 countries across the globe through a combination of the following:
Government figures or state agencies openly marginalize, harass, or incite hatred or violence against the non-religious in 11 countries;
It is illegal or unrecognized to identify as an atheist or as non-religious in 15 countries;
The existence of a state religion;
The barring of the non-religious from holding at least some offices in 23 countries;
The derivation of state legislation in whole or in part from religious law in 34 countries;
Blasphemy remains a punishable offense in at least 87 countries across the globe;
The use of religious courts on family or moral matters in 48 countries;
Discriminatory funding of religion in 85 countries;
It is difficult or illegal to run an overtly humanist organization in 32 countries;
The provision of mandatory religious instruction in state-funded schools without a secular or humanist alternative in 33 countries.
The Key Countries edition represents a cross section of the 30 countries updated so far this year, exposing the state of the rights of the non-religious living under different systems of governance — from democracy to absolute monarchy, to theocracy. Countries include Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Canada, the Czech Republic, Iran, North Macedonia, Russia, Slovakia, and Zambia.
Copson continues:
“[…]The Freedom of Thought Report reveals many inspiring examples of humanist activism around the world, demonstrating the breadth and depth of our commitment to defending democracy. Whether advocating for secularism, promoting human rights, supporting LGBTI+ rights, or fighting against discrimination and inequality, humanists are at the forefront of these critical battles. Through their work, they aim to create societies that celebrate diversity, respect individual autonomy, and uphold the principles of justice and fairness.”
Human rights defender and humanist leader, Panayote Dimitras
One such activist who has defended democracy and human rights in his home country for decades — and faced a heavy backlash as a result — is Panayote Dimitras, the author of this year’s foreword. Reflecting on his experience:
“Thirty years ago I co-founded the Greek Helsinki Monitor and Minority Rights – Greece and in 2010 the Humanist Union of Greece, a Member of Humanists International. Inspired by humanist values, all three NGOs aim at promoting human rights and combatting all forms of discrimination, especially against minorities.
[…]
“From the very first steps, I knew that my colleagues and I would face intense and quasi-continuous harassment from the authorities, as Greece has lacked a culture of human rights and in many aspects has been an illiberal democracy.”
Dimitras is one of many humanist human rights defenders facing persecution for their defense of democratic values and promotion of secularism.
I am excited to invite you to listen to me and my colleagues in the release of The Freedom of Thought Report 2023, co-hosted by the American Humanist Association and Humanists International today 5-7 p.m. CET/6-8pm Greek time, at the US Congress. The event is virtual and free to attend, and you can register here: https://bit.ly/FOTReport23
ΕΚΘΕΣΗ ΠΕΠΡΑΓΜΕΝΩΝ ΤΗΣ ΕΥΠ: ΔΑΙΜΟΝΟΠΟΙΗΣΗ ΤΗΣ ΜΕΤΑΝΑΣΤΕΥΣΗΣ ΩΣ ΑΠΕΙΛΗ ΓΙΑ ΤΗ ΧΩΡΑ ΚΑΙ ΣΤΟΧΟΠΟΙΗΣΗ ΤΗΣ ΔΡΑΣΗΣ ΟΡΓΑΝΩΣΕΩΝ ΠΟΥ ΥΠΕΡΑΣΠΙΖΟΝΤΑΙ ΤΑ ΔΙΚΑΙΩΜΑΤΑ ΤΟΥ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΥ
Ως η τέταρτη κατά σειρά απειλή για την ασφάλεια της χώρας χαρακτηρίζεται η «παράνομη» μετανάστευση από την Εθνική Υπηρεσία Πληροφοριών στην έκθεση πεπραγμένων της 2022 – 2023 που δημοσιοποίησε πρόσφατα η Υπηρεσία[1].
Στην πρώτη στην ιστορία της έκθεση πεπραγμένων που συνέταξε, παρότι όπως η ίδια αναφέρει «για μια σειρά λόγων που παραπέμπουν στην ταραγμένη ιστορία μας με εμφυλίους και δικτατορικά ή και αυταρχικά, καθεστώταη Ε.Υ.Π. πρέπει ακόμη να προσπαθήσει αρκετά για να κατακτήσει στην κοινή συνείδηση, τη θέση που πρέπει να έχει ως ένας εθνικός κρατικός φορέας στην υπηρεσία, του κράτους και του λαού, στο σύνολό του», η Υπηρεσία δείχνει και πάλι να εμμένει στη λογική της κατασκευής εσωτερικών εχθρών που απειλούν την ασφάλεια της χώρας.
Έτσι, κατά σειρά, μετά τις εξωτερικές απειλές, τις κατασκοπευτικές δράσεις, την τρομοκρατία και τον βίαιο εξτρεμισμό, η «παράνομη» μετανάστευση είναι αυτή που απειλεί την ασφάλεια της χώρας, σε σειρά μάλιστα προηγούμενη από το οργανωμένο έγκλημα και την κυβερνοασφάλεια.
Κατά την υπηρεσία, η απειλή αυτή έγκειται στην «εργαλειοποίηση του δράματος χιλιάδων ανθρώπων που αναζητούν καλύτερη τύχη, από αδίστακτους διακινητές και παράνομα κυκλώματα του οργανωμένου εγκλήματος, που δρουν με την ανοχή, την ενθάρρυνση ή και τη συνεργασία τρίτων, κυβερνητικών και μη κυβερνητικών, παραγόντων»οδηγώντας έτσι «σε δύσκολα διαχειρίσιμες καταστάσεις, με ευρύτερη κοινωνική αλλά και βαθιά ανθρώπινη διάσταση».
Είναι πράγματι ανησυχητικό για μια Υπηρεσία που έχει σκοπό της «την πρόληψη, αποτροπή, ανάσχεση και εξουδετέρωση της κατασκοπευτικής και της στρατοκρατικής απειλής, µε στόχο τη θωράκιση της χώρας και την προάσπιση των εθνικών συμφερόντων» να εντάσσει ως μία από τις κύριες απειλές για την ασφάλεια της χώρας την «παράνομη» μετανάστευση. Πολύ περισσότερο τούτο όταν αυτή η παράτυπη – «παράνομη» κατά την Υπηρεσία- μετανάστευση οδηγεί σε απόδοση καθεστώτος διεθνούς προστασίας σε ποσοστό 66,5%, σύμφωνα με τα επίσημα διαθέσιμα στοιχεία, σε α’ βαθμό μάλιστα[2] και έχει ευρύτερη κοινωνική και βαθιά ανθρώπινη διάσταση.
Η Υπηρεσία μάλιστα επαίρεται ότι «κατά τη διάρκεια της περιόδου που εξετάζει η έκθεση αυτή, … συνέβαλε καθοριστικά …. στην καταγραφή και αποτύπωση του αμφιλεγόμενου, έως και ποινικά κολάσιμου, ρόλου συγκεκριμένων μελών ΜΚΟ.»
Παρότι δε η Υπηρεσία αναφέρει ότι την απασχόλησαν κατά προτεραιότητα «προσπάθειες διείσδυσης σε μεταναστευτικούς πληθυσμούς τρομοκρατικών στοιχείων, οι τάσεις ριζοσπαστικοποίησής τους και η χρήση τους για αποσταθεροποιητικές ενέργειες», τα δύο από τα τρία παραδείγματα που επικαλείται ότι παρείχε τις υπηρεσίες της αφορούν υποθέσεις ποινικοποίησης δράσεων μελών ΜΚΟ.
Ως μέλη της Κοινωνίας των πολιτών που παλεύουμε, αγωνιζόμαστε και υποστηρίζουμε το δικαίωμα στο άσυλο όλων των κατατρεγμένων που επιχειρούν ειρηνικά να αναζητήσουν προστασία στη χώρα μας και συνακόλουθα σε όλη την Ευρώπη, δεν μπορεί παρά να μας ανησυχεί η, για άλλη μία φορά, στοχοποίηση των οργανώσεων που ασχολούνται με την υποστήριξη προσφύγων και μεταναστών από τις κρατικές υπηρεσίες και δη από την ΕΥΠ. Η δε εξίσωση των ΜΚΟ που ασχολούνται με την υποστήριξη προσφύγων και μεταναστών με εξωτερικές απειλές, κατασκοπευτικές δράσεις, τρομοκρατικές οργανώσεις ή οργανωμένο έγκλημα δεν μπορεί παρά να μας εξοργίζει.
Η έκθεση πεπραγμένων της ΕΥΠ αποτελεί μια ακόμη προσπάθεια δαιμονοποίησης και απαξίωσης[3] του έργου αυτών που επιχειρούν να υπερασπιστούν τα δικαιώματα του ανθρώπου στη χώρα μας[4]. Η αντιμετώπιση της μετανάστευσης ως απειλή για την ασφάλεια της χώρας δίνει άλλοθι στην περαιτέρω στοχοποίηση και ποινικοποίηση της δράσης ατόμων και οργανώσεων που υπερασπίζονται τα δικαιώματα του ανθρώπου, στοχοποιεί τους μετανάστες και τους πρόσφυγες, καλλιεργώντας επικίνδυνα την ξενοφοβία και τον ρατσισμό, ενώ υπονομεύει το δικαίωμα της πρόσβασης στο άσυλο, πλήττοντας τα θεμέλια του μεταπολεμικού κράτους δικαίου, που είναι η σημαντικότερη κατάκτηση στην ιστορία του πολιτισμού.
[2]Με ένα άλλο ποσοστό 26,1% να μην λαμβάνει καθεστώς για διαδικαστικούς λόγους και μόνο ένα ποσοστό 7,4% να απορρίπτεται η αίτησή τους για ουσιαστικούς λόγους. Βλ. Στατιστικά Διεθνούς Προστασίας Παράρτημα Α Υπουργείου Μετανάστευσης και Ασύλου Δεκάμηνο Ιαν – Οκτ 2023 σε https://migration.gov.gr/statistika/
REPORT ON EYP’S ACTIVITIES: DEMONISATION OF MIGRATION AS A THREAT TO THE COUNTRY AND TARGETING OF THE ACTIVITIES OF ORGANISATIONS DEFENDING HUMAN RIGHTS
Athens, 10 December 2023
“Illegal” immigration is described as the fourth in a row threat to the country’s security by the National Intelligence Agency (EYP) in its 2022 – 2023 activity report recently published by the Agency.[1]
In the first ever report in its history that it has compiled, although, as it says, “for a number of reasons that refer to our troubled history of civil wars and dictatorial, or even authoritarian, regimes, the EYP still has a lot of work to do to attain in the common consciousness the position it should have as a national state institution in the service of the state and the people as a whole”, the Agency again seems to adhere to the logic of fabricating internal enemies that threaten the security of the country.
Thus, successively, following external threats, espionage activities, terrorism and violent extremism, it is “illegal” immigration that threatens the security of the country, in fact, ahead from organized crime and cybersecurity.
According to the Agency, this threat lies in the “instrumentalisation of the drama of thousands of people seeking a better fate by unscrupulous traffickers and illegal organized crime rings, acting with the tolerance, encouragement or cooperation of third parties, both governmental and non-governmental,” thus leading to “difficult to manage situations with a wider social and deeply human dimension”.
It is indeed of concern that an Agency whose purpose is “to prevent, deter, contain and neutralize the espionage and militant threat in order to protect the country and defend national interests” includes “illegal” immigration as one of the main threats to the country’s security. This is all the more so when this irregular – ‘illegal’ according to the Service – immigration leads to the granting of international protection status to 66.5 % of all applicants, according to the official data available, in fact from the first instance procedure,[2] and has a broader social and profoundly human dimension.
The Agency even boasts that “during the period covered by this report, … it has been instrumental …. in documenting and establishing the controversial, even criminal, role of certain members of NGOs.”
Moreover, although the Agency states that it was primarily concerned with “attempts to infiltrate migrant populations with terrorist elements, their radicalizing tendencies and their use for destabilizing actions”, two of the three examples which it mentions in the report that it provided its services relate to cases of criminalization of NGO members’ actions.
As members of the Civil Society who are fighting, struggling and supporting the right to asylum of all persecuted people who peacefully attempt to seek protection in our country and consequently throughout Europe, we cannot but be concerned by the targeting, once again, of organizations involved in supporting refugees and migrants by state agencies, especially by the EYP. The equation of NGOs involved in supporting refugees and migrants with external threats, espionage activities, terrorist organizations or organized crime cannot but infuriate us.
The report on the activities of the EYP is yet another attempt to demonize and devalue[3] the work of those who attempt to defend human rights in our country.[4] Treating immigration as a threat to the security of the country provides an alibi for further targeting and criminalizing the actions of individuals and organizations defending human rights, targeting migrants and refugees, dangerously fostering xenophobia and racism, and undermining the right of access to asylum, thus damaging the foundations of the post-war rule of law, which is the most important achievement in the history of civilization.
CO-SIGNATORIES (in alphabetical order)
ARSIS-Social Organization for Youth Support http:/arsis.gr
[2] With another 26.1% not receiving status on procedural grounds and only 7.4% having their application rejected on substantive grounds. See. Statistics on International Protection Annex A of the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum Decade Jan – Oct 2023 in https://migration.gov.gr/en/statistika/
The whole (unpublished) interview of GHM’s Vassilis Tsarnas by Queralt Castillo Cerezuela for “Eldiario”
• How the assassination of Alexis Grigoropoulos and the December uprising marked a turning point for modern Greek history and new generations? Which were the effects off the massive protestes back in 2008 and how they shape Greek future/ Greek society as we know it today.
Well’ I’m sorry if will sound like a killjoy but these are my thoughts. At least, by now, I can’t see a good impact that has persisted. It did mark a turning point but not in a good way. Same impunity for police violence as before, more cynicism and conservatism is what, practically, followed. There was an important exception in this particular case, the case of Korkoneas, the police officer who murdered Alexis. He went to prison for about 11 years, in contradiction with all other police officers who had killed people while performing their duties before or did so later. Before that, even the torturers who worked for the military Junta hadn’t been imprisoned (2 of them were assassinated by terrorist groups). All these are telling, concerning what kind of country Greece is. It is as if the message from the authorities themselves is that violence is the only road to some kind of justice.
Practically, I think the reason that nothing positive remained, despite the fact there was a temporary enlargement of the “progressive” political scene, is that this did mean more and new, mainly radical, groups but not also more people who would do practical things to improve the society or having plans towards this direction. One of the 1968-like slogans of December was “End of Discipline, Magical life”. But, as empowering as it sounds, it has proved to be more of a literal manifestation of magical thinking. Finally, 2 years later came the Marfin arson, a case in which anti-austerity demonstrators, reportedly, burned a bank while people were working inside, during a strike, resulting in 3 deaths. The lack and/or the low effectiveness of self-criticism inside the radical movement that followed this crime was, somehow, the tombstone of the “spirit of December” in the rest of society.
• However, Epaminondas Korkoneas is already free. How Greek justice operate regarding police brutality? (Also, policemen who beat Zackie Oh were acquitted last year).
The fact that he is free, eleven years later, is not necessarily bad by itself but the comparison with other sentences, sometimes imposed for much less heinous crimes, certainly is. The judges in Greece are repeatedly proving that most of them see, even deadly, police violence as something always necessary. Even the fact that most police officers expectedly don’t have a criminal record is typically used for shorter and not executable sentences to be imposed, while the opposite should be highlighted. It is the police before anyone else that should be strictly bound by the law. Otherwise, the message is the law of the jungle. Zackie Oh’s murder was captured on video and police officers were seen by everyone kicking the victim. As you know, they were just acquitted as if this never happened… And the fact that the left was in power while this case was already used to showcase not a “clean-up” in the police but another cover-up, made everyone interested believe that we are in a dead end.
• In the last three years, the Greek police has murdered three Roma boys (Sampanis, Frangoulis and Michalopoulos, recently). It seems there is a kind of racist pattern here. How the government is working -or not- to change this situation? Are there any controls? In those deaths there are a lot of contradictions between reality and policemen versions, but it seems it does not matter to the judiciary system.
Yes, exactly, it is a racist pattern. The Roma community is the one most discriminated in Greece. The bias is so widespread, that even many people who are against most other forms of racism, reproduce it without second thoughts. I recall a man commenting on social media who said that all the Roma are criminals while having a cover photo seeking justice with George Floyd… When Nikos Sampanis was shot and killed in a car chase, the Minister of the Police stated how pleased he was that the independent judiciary released the police officers without any restrictions while it was he who had visited them while they were in custody to make sure the judiciary will decide so independently! I know that in most Western democracies the rule of law is backsliding, especially when it comes to structural racism. But in Greece the starting point was impunity and it seems that we are heading to more cynicism, with politicians openly advertising their racism against the most targeted communities because they mostly care about an audience of haters.
• And how the murder of those three Roma boy have not been a turning point for Greek Society as Grigoropoulos death did?
Well, it came as a big surprise that for the first time in its history, the Greek antiracist movement has openly supported the Roma community in similar cases, with demonstrations demanding justice. Of course, this wouldn’t be comparable with the 2008 uprising since most people still identify only with what “looks like us”. A few days before Alexis Grigoropoulos 2 Pakistani migrants Montaser Mohammed Asrhaf and Mazher Iqbal Mohammed Shapf, one of them also a teenager, were killed while the riot police were pushing a queue of desperate people waiting for hours and days to renew their papers outside the Petrou Ralli police station. There were zero demos. When Shehzad Luqman was killed by Nazis and many other, even unidentified, migrants before him, almost no one reacted. It had to be a Greek victim for everyone to demonstrate, leading the Nazi criminals of “Golden Dawn” to jail. This might be starting to change, even a little, and that could be a start.
In 2008, Alexis Grigoropoulos was only 15 years old when police officer Epaminondas Korkoneas shot him to the heart. That sparked such massive protests throughout Greece that Kostas Karamanlis, the country’s prime minister at the time, took the Army to the streets. However, he was unable to appease the anger of a citizenry that was already beginning to suffer the ravages of an economic crisis that would put the country in the spotlight throughout Europe. That murder was one of the greatest upheavals ever experienced in Greece and, since then, every December 6 the date is remembered and commemorated.
Divisions deepen Syriza crisis after Tsipras’ departure
It is 6:30 p.m. and people begin to arrive at Panepistimio, the place from which the demonstration in memory of Grigoropoulos will start. Giorgia Pidakou was 13 years old when he was killed and he remembers those days perfectly. “He had never seen so much violence. I remember that classes were cancelled, we occupied them for several weeks. It was when I began to be aware of police violence. She was a teenager, but she could perfectly understand what was happening.” Giorgia assures that for her, “that was the beginning of everything”, her political awakening. “I saw myself in Grigoropoulos and it marked me,” she says. “The protests that came after the murder, and those of the economic crisis, made it very clear to us who the Government’s objectives were: a certain social sector with a certain ideology.”
Manolis is 22 years old and has little memory of those days, since he was seven years old, but also because he grew up on Naxos, one of the Greek islands. There the protests were not as intense as in the big cities and the murder of Grigoropoulos did not mark his life. However, as he grew older, he learned the meaning of it all. It is the first time that he has attended the December 6 demonstration.
The Grigoropoulos case had a full impact on Greek society: during the following days, the streets of the country’s main cities witnessed the largest and most massive citizen uprising since the establishment of democracy in 1974. “At that time we were not aware We didn’t analyze what all that meant. It was only later that we realized that this murder was the starting signal for all the protests that would come later. I was part of all that. Even non-politicized people and sectors of society that usually did not attend demonstrations took to the streets,” says Nikos, 47, also present at the demonstration.
2008, beginning of an era that would end in 2015
A lot has happened since 2008 and now, Greek society, after the crisis and everything it has meant for the Greek country, is different. That dynamited the streets, but over time, the impulse to want to change things faded. Vassilis Tsarnas, activist and member of the Greek Helsinki Monitor, an organization that monitors the violation of human rights in Greece, believes that, although the Grigoropoulos case was a wake-up call for the Greek Government of the time, “the impact has not persisted.” . He assures that “it marked a turning point, but not in a good way, since police violence continues to go unpunished and now there is more cynicism and more conservatism.” Tsarnas recognizes that there was a temporary expansion of the “progressive” political scene that resulted in the appearance of new radical groups and the involvement of more people in politics, “but it was not as empowering as it seems,” since at some moments “ self-criticism was lacking.”
Regarding the disappearance of the ideas that were born from that murder, Spiros Dapergolas, from the Rouvikonas anarchist movement, also agrees: “Grigoropoulos’ death came like a storm, we did not expect it. A few years earlier, the police had killed another boy, and there were some protests, but nothing comparable to what happened in 2008. We still don’t know what made so many people take to the streets. However, the 2008 era, which began with those revolts, ended in 2015.”
Dapergolas attributes this to different factors: “What began in 2008 came from the anarchist movement and the radical left, but when the revolts ended, there was no political power to reap what had been sown. Syriza benefited from that rebellion and this continued during the memorandum years, but the radical parties were unable to continue the movement. On the other hand, he considers that “exhaustive work has also been done by the right and conservative powers to destroy the memory of this uprising, a fact that has caused an important part of Greek society to consider the 2008 uprisings as something chaotic and bad.”
Other cases of recent police violence
The murder of young Alexis Grigoropoulos marked a before and after in Greece, but it was not the only case of police violence in the country’s recent history. Without going any further, on November 11, the Greek police also shot and killed Christos Michalopoulos, a 17-year-old Gypsy boy. It happened in Thebes, in the center of the country. The young man died after being shot by police following a chase. The case is reminiscent of that of Kostas Frangoulis, another 16-year-old Gypsy teenager shot by the police in Thessaloniki, a year ago, on December 5, 2022. Frangoulis had left a gas station without paying 20 euros for fuel. The boy would end up dying eight days later in the hospital.
Previously, on the night of October 22, 2021, Greek police killed Nikos Sampanis, also an 18-year-old Gypsy. It happened in Perama, on the outskirts of Athens, during a car chase. The police officers fired up to 36 times at the vehicle in which Sampanis was riding. The other occupants were seriously injured. In the case of Sampanis, the police stated in a statement that seven officers had been injured, a fact that was not true, and the vehicle in which the young gypsies were traveling was dismantled without the knowledge of the Prosecutor’s Office.
At street level, Nikos believes that the Greek police are “(…) fascist, racist and Nazi.” “Nazi because they have been shown the relationships he had with Golden Dawn. The police have not represented us for years, we have lost respect for them,” he explains. He is also critical of Greek society: “What we should ask ourselves is why we do not mobilize with the murdered gypsy boys as we did and do every year with Grigoropoulos.”
After the death of Kostas Frangoulis, in December 2022, an important part of Greek society did take to the streets. “It was a great surprise to see how, for the first time in history, the Greek anti-racist movement openly supported the Roma community and demanded justice. However, it was not comparable to the 2008 uprising, as most people still identify only with those ‘who look like us’. A few days before the murder of Grigoropoulos, two Pakistani immigrants, Montaser Mohammed Asrhaf and Mazher Iqbal Mohammed Shapf, one of them also a teenager, were murdered while riot police pushed away a group of people who had been queuing for days to renew their documentation in front of to a police station. There were no demonstrations,” says Vassilis Tsarnas.
Another murder related to police violence that shocked the country occurred on September 21, 2018. Zak Kostopoulos, also known as Zackie Oh, LGTBQ activist, died after a beating at the hands of two men in a jewelry store. When the police officers arrived, they continued kicking him to death. The forensic autopsy never left any room for doubt: the young man died as a result of the beating he received.
Impunity
Many Greek youth and adults perceive the police as violent and close to far-right movements. Added to this is the feeling of impunity. Epaminondas Korkoneas, the police officer who shot Grigoropoulos, was sentenced to life in prison in 2010 but in 2019 his sentence was reviewed and he is now free. The seven police officers involved in the death of Nikos Sampanis were also released, since the main evidence: the vehicle that was shot at was destroyed. The police officer who shot Kostas Frangoulis in December 2022 in Thessaloniki was immediately released, pending trial, with the only condition of not leaving the country. Regarding this murder, last October, the Prosecutor’s Office assured that the police officer should be tried for intentional homicide and for illicit use of his weapon, but there is still no judicial resolution. In the case of the recently deceased Christos Michalopoulos, the agent who shot him has also been released after an initial statement and has been temporarily suspended. The four police officers who were initially charged with fatal injuries to Zack Kostopoulos were acquitted of all charges in 2022.
The demonstration in memory of Grigoropoulos ends like every year: with police charges and violence in the heart of Exarchia, in the surrounding streets where the young man was murdered 15 years ago. Many of those who are now demonstrating and throwing Molotov cocktails at the police were teenagers when the country burned with protests. These are the young people who grew up witnessing police violence that is still very present in the Greek country and that could cause another uprising similar to that of 2008, according to Dapergolas.
“We are in a completely different moment than in 2008: people are poorer, the extreme right is stronger than 15 years ago, the radical left and anarchism are more weakened and now we have something that we did not have in 2008, the propaganda machine. from the right and the extreme right. I wouldn’t like to be cynical, but the way the Greek police have been acting for the last four years, there could be another Grigoropoulos. It’s a matter of time. I don’t know if the result will be the same, rebellion, but given the path the increasingly repressive police are taking, it is likely to happen. On top of that, sooner or later, society will take to the streets again. And not just because of police brutality. In Athens we have a huge problem with housing and we have to work twice as hard as we did three years ago to be able to live. “We are at a very critical moment,” concludes the activist.
“Η συστηματική συκοφάντησή τους ως δρώντων εναντίον των συμφερόντων της χώρας ή/και η σύνδεση της δράσης τους με τρίτες χώρες ή/και με εγκληματικά δίκτυα, η επιβολή δυσανάλογων διοικητικών εμποδίων για τη δραστηριοποίηση τους στην Ελλάδα και η κατάχρηση του ποινικού οπλοστασίου εις βάρους τους, αποτελούν εκφάνσεις αυτής της στοχοποίησης. Πρόσφατα παραδείγματα περιλαμβάνουν (…) την ποινική δίωξη σε βαθμό κακουργήματος εις βάρος του διευθυντή του ‘Ελληνικού Παρατηρητηρίου Συμφωνιών του Ελσίνκι’ και του ιδρυτή και διευθυντή της οργάνωσης ‘Aegean Boat Report’, για την οποία δύο Ειδικοί Εισηγητές του ΟΗΕ (Δικαιωμάτων του Ανθρώπου και Δικαιώματα Μεταναστών) έχουν ήδη αποστείλει επιστολή τις ελληνικές αρχές με την οποία υπογραμμίζουν ότι «η κίνηση ποινικής διαδικασίας με βάση την πράξη της κοινοποίησης πληροφοριών στις ελληνικές αρχές σχετικά με την παρουσία προσώπων εντός της επικράτειας της Ελλάδας που επιθυμούν να ασκήσουν το δικαίωμά τους να ζητήσουν άσυλο, δεν συνάδει με το διεθνές δίκαιο και τα πρότυπα για τα ανθρώπινα δικαιώματα».”
Η Ελληνική Ένωση για τα Δικαιώματα του Ανθρώπου παρακολουθεί με ιδιαίτερη ανησυχία την αυξανόμενη τα τελευταία χρόνια στοχοποίηση υπερασπιστών/τριών δικαιωμάτων του ανθρώπου, συμπεριλαβανομένων δικηγόρων και οργανώσεων της κοινωνίας των πολιτών που παρέχουν συνδρομή σε πρόσφυγες και μετανάστες, ιδίως δε εκείνων που συνδράμουν άτομα που καταγγέλλουν άτυπες αναγκαστικές επαναπροωθήσεις ή τεκμηριώνουν την ύπαρξη αυτής της πρακτικής.
Η συστηματική συκοφάντησή τους ως δρώντων εναντίον των συμφερόντων της χώρας ή/και η σύνδεση της δράσης τους με τρίτες χώρες ή/και με εγκληματικά δίκτυα, η επιβολή δυσανάλογων διοικητικών εμποδίων για τη δραστηριοποίηση τους στην Ελλάδα και η κατάχρηση του ποινικού οπλοστασίου εις βάρους τους, αποτελούν εκφάνσεις αυτής της στοχοποίησης.
Following the communication from the Greek Helsinki Monitor, published on the Committee of Minister’s Website, please find below, for your information, links to the Notes and Decisions in the group of cases Sidiropoulos and Papakostas v. Greece (Application No. 33349/10), as adopted by the Committee of Ministers at their 1483rd CM-DH meeting (5-7 December 2023):
Department for the Execution of judgments of the European Court of Human RightsDirectorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law – DGI Council of Europe – Conseil de l’Europe + 33 (0) 3 90 21 55 54/ Fax + 33 (0) 3 88 41 27 93 http://www.coe.int http://www.coe.int/execution DGI-Execution@coe.int
Greek Helsinki Monitor - Ελληνικο Παρατηρητηριο των Συμφωνιων του Ελσινκι 