Humanitarian workers released on bail, still face serious charges

Association

As the CIVICUS Monitor has previously reported, in August and September 2018 Greek police arrested four humanitarian volunteers and activists for allegedly helping migrants "illegally" enter the country. After months in detention, on 4th December 2018, the four - Sarah Mardini, Sean Binder, Nassos Karakitsos and Panos Moraitis - were released on bail, although they still face a range of serious criminal charges, including people smuggling, which carry a sentence of up to 25 years. 

Amnesty International labelled the charges "absurd". Kondylia Gougou, Amnesty International’s Greece Researcher said:

“This case is just the latest example of how authorities are mis-using anti-smuggling laws to target activists and criminalize rescue. To detain dedicated volunteer humanitarians who helped people in need defies logic. People who selfless act in these ways should be lauded not imprisoned. These baseless charges should be dropped.”

Earlier, on 5th November 2018, Human Rights Watch (HRW) published an analysis of court records and other documents in the cases of two of those arrested, Sarah Mardini and Sean Binder. According to HRW, the criminal accusations against the volunteers appear to be entirely unfounded. Bill Van Esveld, senior children's rights researcher at HRW said:

“Accusations of money laundering, people smuggling, and espionage appear no more than an effort to criminalize humanitarian activism on behalf of refugees and migrants in Greece. These charges should be dropped, and the activists should be freed.”

Peaceful Assembly

The right to freedom of peaceful assembly continues to be an integral part of Greek political culture. Protests, strikes and large-scale gatherings are regularly held throughout the country, most of them peacefully, without interference or disruption by authorities. Some recent examples of peaceful protests in 2018 include:

• On 26th September hundreds protested the brutal killing of LGBTQ activist Zak Kostopoulos in Athens. The protesters wanted to call attention to the growing number of violent crimes against minorities and marginalised communities in Greece.
• On 11th October culture ministry workers staged a strike and shut the ancient Acropolis down to protest the potential inclusion of several landmarks in a fund of assets for privatisation.
• On 8th November taxi drivers in Athens protested the unfair competition from ride-hailing operators.
• On 14th November the union representing civil servants held a 24-hour strike and a protest rally to Parliament to demand an increase in salaries and pensions.
• On 19th November members of the union representing municipal workers held a protest aiming to draw attention to recent fatalities suffered by some workers.
• On 20th November driving instructors protested to demand certain benefits, including insurance in case of accidents.

In the past two months, however, there were also a number of protests that turned violent. A few examples below:

• On 29th October a student protest against education reform turned violent. Protesters threw stones, flares and petrol bombs at police who set off tear gas in response.
• On 31st October a rally to protest a fatal police shooting of an Albanian-Greek citizen, Constantinos Katsifas, in Albania turned violent. The police responded with tear gas and flash grenades.
• On 17th November more than ten thousands took part in a demonstration marking the 45th anniversary of a 1973 student uprising against the military junta that ruled the country from 1967 to 1974 and saw at least 24 people killed. 

After the march ended, clashes broke out between police and protesters. The police fired tear gas at the demonstrators who threw chairs or threw petrol bombs at police. The clashes continued late into the night with the police bringing a water cannon to disperse rioters and put out fires. 19 protesters were arrested, a few others were provisionally detained but later released. Two police officers were injured. Similar clashes took place in Greece's second-largest city, Thessaloniki, albeit in a smaller scale. 

While many protests in Greece are well police, there are also some concerns about the frequency of the abuses of police powers in Greece.