Greece: “Eleftheros Kosmos” convicted for anti-Semitism – Double GHM vindication Date: 12-03-2008
Author: GHM
Greece: “Eleftheros Kosmos” convicted for anti-Semitism – Double GHM vindication
 
Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) welcomes today’s conviction by the Athens Eleventh Three-Member Misdemeanors’ Court “based on the indictment because there was an offense to the religious group of Jews,” as announced by the presiding judge Asimina Petropoulou-Salata (member judges Consatninos Velissaris and Harikleia Tsagarou) of far-right weekly “Eleftheros Kosmos” publisher Dimitrios Zafeiropoulos, editor Theodoros Georgiou (tried in abstentia) and columnist Theodoros Hatzigogos. They were found guilty for the violation of anti-racism Law 927/79 because, as said in the attached indictment, in a 12 March 2006 text, “with undoubtedly offensive phrases, on the one hand they express hatred and contempt against the Jews and a wish that Jews no longer exist in Thessaloniki and in general, and on the other hand they directly deny and deride the fact of the annihilation of thousands of Jews by the Germans in concentrations camps during the Second World War.” The trial’s prosecutor Stavros Sakellariou had previously asked for their conviction, arguing that “because of their journalistic function they knew that what they were writing was offensive to the Jews”. A sentence of seven months in prison was imposed on each person convicted: it was suspended for Georgiou and Hatzigogos who had no prior convictions and committed to a fine of 5 euros per day for Zafeiropoulos who has an irrevocable prior conviction to six months in prison. The execution of the sentences was suspended until a possible appeals trial.  
 
An important element of the trial was that, at the beginning of the procedure, only GHM’s Andrea Gilbert, in charge of monitoring anti-Semitism and a Jew, constituted herself civil claimant (considering that she was directly offended by the text on trial) through GHM’s legal counsel Thanasis Tartis. The defendants filed an objection against the presence of the civil claimant. Following a prosecutor’s recomemndation to reject the objection, the court indeed accepted the presence of the civil claimant. After GHM’s civil claimant status was approved, based on that court decision, the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece (KIS)’s board members Moises Konstantinis and Avraam Reitan also asked to constitute themselves civil claimants, a request that was granted. So in the procedure of this trial three lawyers for the civil claimants participated. It is recalled that, in the previous Kostas Plevris - “Eleftheros Kosmos” trial, again for anti-Semitic texts, in December 2007, the GHM and KIS civil claimants had been expelled, so their lawyers did not participate in the procedure. Against that expulsion, an appeal was filed only by GHM which believes –based on extensive Greek and international case law- that civil claimants must be accepted in such trials: today’s ruling is a vindication of GHM in that point as well. A surprise of the trial was the unexplained absence of witnesses Spyros Vougias and Yannis Boutaris (both former candidates for mayor in Thessaloniki and the first also former PASOK minister and MP) who had testified during the preliminary investigation since the incriminating text was also offending to them. On the contrary, absent and excused (he was in Cyprus) was the remaining witness, Professor George Tsiakalos. GHM’s Panayote Dimitras, KIS’ Moises Konsantinis and Avraam Reitan, and Jewish Community of Thessaloniki’s Samouil Iosafat and Iakov Benmayor testified in the trial, along with two witnesses for the defense.
 
 
Finally, it is recalled that the case started with a complaint report filed by GHM with the Athens Chief Misdemeanors Prosecutor, on 12 March 2006. The Prosecutor launched a preliminary investigation which started with a filing of civil claimant status on 27 March 2006 by Andrea Gilbert, who also recommended as witnesses inter alia the KIS board members who also filed a civil claimant status on 29 March 2006; she also recommended as witnesses Spyros Vougias, Yannis Boutaris, George Tsiakalos –all three testified then- and Jewish Community of Thessaloniki’s President David Saltiel –who did not testify in the preliminary investigation, when Samouil Iosafat and Iakov Benmayor recommended by KIS, did testify.  The case file was then “forgotten” for almost one year in some prosecutor office until 11 September 2007, literally on the eve of the 18-month prescription, when the defendants were summoned to trial. Now the prescription is suspended for two years; so the judgments must become irrevocable and final by 11 September 2009.
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