Refugee / International concern over the criminalization of solidarity in Greece
International humanitarian organizations speak of an “attempt to silence with the aim of criminalizing the action of human rights defenders
Panagiotis Dimitras, defender of human rights for forty years and founder of the Hellenic Observatory of the Helsinki Accords, is accused of setting up criminal organizations by facilitating the entry and residence of citizens of third countries in the territory. it is recommended that he be placed under house arrest or banned from leaving the country, as well as the payment of a monetary sum of 10,000 euros. His case is indicative of the fate of the solidarity of this country and it is not the first time that it has concerned international public opinion.
Complaints about re-promotions
Since the spring of 2021, he and his organization have reported 62 cases of asylum seekers requesting the intervention of Greek institutions to ensure that people are not pushed back, as is often the case, and that legal asylum procedures are initiated. The prosecution carried out by the prosecutor and the investigator of Kos concerns one of these cases.
Specifically, on June 10, 2021, the refugee group complains that it was pushed back by the Greek side. The relaunch is captured on video automatically published by the Aegean Boat Report Facebook page. On July 13, the team is again in front of the Greek gates. On that day, a BBC report entitled “The EU country “pushingback” asylum seekers at sea” is published, which also includes the video of the pushback. Thus, P. Dimitras, Tommy Olsen (of Aegean Boat Report), but also the refugee who appears by name in the BBC report accused of participation in a criminal organization, without having ever met them in person and with the only alleged illegal activity the entrance of its passengers. boat in the country. International humanitarian organizations and members of the movement speak of an “attempt to silence with the aim of criminalizing the action of human rights defenders”, of a fabricated indictment, of vindictiveness by the Greek authorities as well as of falsification of data and procedural annulments.
The UN rapporteurs are worried
It is not the first time that the case of Dimitras concerns the Greek and international journalism. The UN rapporteur for human rights defenders herself had expressed strong concern about the way in which the Greek authorities and some “powerful social actors” treated both P. Dimitras himself and A. Gilbert (researcher of EPSE for anti-Semitism) after the lawsuit it brought against the Metropolitan of Piraeus Seraphim for “public action in violence or hatred” and “abuse of ecclesiastical office”, which they filed in April 2017 before the Anti-Semitism Department) of the Greek Police.
According to the EPSE lawsuit, the content of a public statement made by the metropolitan on April 27, 2017 was anti-Semitic and incited discrimination, hatred or violence against Jews in a way that endangered public order or threatened lives, freedom and Zoe. physical integrity. However, while the Greek authorities filed the lawsuit, the prosecutor prosecuted P. Dimitras and A. Gilbert for “false defamation” and referred them to trial without first conducting an investigation, as required by law.
On February 15, 2022, the Tripartite Criminal Court of Athens sentenced P. Dimitras and A. Gilbert to a prison sentence of twelve months with a three-year suspension on the charge of “false defamation” (Article 229 of the Criminal Code). The conviction was appealed.
The UN special rapporteur for human rights defenders Mary Lawlor together with five other experts send a letter to the Greek institutions expressing their concern about the possibility that the prosecution against P. Dimitras and A. Gilbert comes as “retribution for the the fact that they have drawn international attention to the human rights violations” committed by the country. In her letter, she also wonders about the possibility that state mechanisms operate simply to prevent defenders from exercising their right to report human rights violations, the behaviors of “perpetrators are powerful social factors” and suggests that Greek institutions refer to the relevant provisions of International Law and return with answers.
The Greek response fell short of expectations
Despite the fact that one would have expected the Greek side to come back with strong arguments in order to eliminate the reservations of the UN special rapporteur, the publicized response comes to overturn expectations.
General answers
It is a short text, without any argument at all regarding the way in which the EPSE complaints reflect the deficit of Democracy and the cessation of the Rule of Law. In the first paragraph there is a general reference to the fact that Greece respects human rights and freedoms. In the next paragraph, the signatory Nikos Dendias, Minister of Foreign Affairs, quotes another abstract statement. He claims that the powers in Greece are completely separated, i.e. that the Judiciary is independent. It then simply describes the incident and the legal process that was followed.
What it does not mention is that its main competence is that of the control of judges who violate the law and its intervention in the event that there are relevant indications. In other words, it is possible to order a disciplinary control of judicial officials if there are reservations about the way they perform their duty. Indeed, the UN’s concerns, which, together with the UN’s special report on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor, are co-signed by the special rapporteur for the promotion and protection of Freedom of Expression, Irene Khan, are not an indication of the problematic functioning of the Greek Justice special rapporteur on minority issues Fernand de Varennes and UN special rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief Ahmed Shaheed; Were the concerns of these five institutional representatives not enough to start an audit process? How is the second prosecution of Dimitras justified, the one concerning the establishment of a criminal organization, when international concerns have already been expressed about the criminalization of his actions by the Greek institutions?
Black exposure
It is noted that on Thursday, January 12, Human Rights Watch published its report on human rights, describing Greece in black colors. In this report there is a special mention of civil society where:
* Note the sentencing of the two executives of the Hellenic Observatory of Helsinki, Panagiotis Dimitras and Andrea Gilbert, in February to a 12-month prison sentence with a three-year suspension.
* UN Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor reports on the “environment of fear and insecurity” imposed on human rights defenders in Greece, especially for migrants.
* The accusation of the Greek authorities against international NGOs for cooperation with human traffickers is being criticized, because they ask the ECtHR to prevent pushbacks, as well as the “investigations” against NGOs active in Evros.
Also in yesterday’s letter from Council Commissioner Dunja Mijatovic it is pointed out: “The prosecutions of 24 volunteers of a research and dissemination NGO, as well as other human rights defenders, such as Panagiotis Dimitras, a long-term colleague of my office, go in the opposite direction. The defender of human rights and of people involved in acts of solidarity is incompatible with the international principles of states and has given chills to the work of human rights. I call on the Greek authorities to ensure that human rights defenders and journalists can work safely and freely, providing a favorable environment for their work and publicly recognizing their important role in a democratic society.”
It may be that the case of Panagiotis Dimitras has not concerned the Greek Justice except for the criminalization of his action. But it has certainly been busy at an international level.