Greece
04.12.03
Urgent Interventions
Greece - Press Release: acquittal of a policeman who killed an Albanian man
PRESS RELEASE
Geneva, December 4th, 2003
GREECE: The acquittal of a policeman who killed an Albanian man – a dark day for the fight against impunity in Greece
The International Secretariat of OMCT is deeply concerned by the acquittal of police officer Ioannis Rizopoulos, who was being tried by the Second Three-Member Misdemeanours Court of Athens on November 24th, 2003 for the manslaughter of 20-year-old Albanian immigrant Gentjan Çelniku. The trial reportedly included clear violations of Greek law and international standards.
On November 21st, 2001, Mr. Gentjan Çelniku reportedly died from a gun-shot wound to the head while being arrested. It is worth noting that this is not an isolated case, as there have been a spate of incidents involving the ill-treatment, injury or killing of Albanians in Greece, and the acquittal of police officer Rizopoulos is therefore of great significance. For more information about this context and in particular the cases of 42 Albanians at the border areas with Albania, please consult OMCT’s urgent appeal from October 16th entitled:
Greece: severe beatings, injuries and/or killings of Albanian citizens at border areas
In only one case has there been an effective judicial inquiry, while in another recent case, which had led to the death of an Albanian, an initial criminal investigation - formally identical to the Officer Rizopoulos case mentioned above – has been initiated. The Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM), a member of OMCT’s global NGO network, sent an appeal requesting that at least some of these cases be investigated to the region’s Deputy Appeals Prosecutor. On November 17th, 2003, however, GHM received an answer that there was no reason for any further investigation.
The International Secretariat of OMCT believes that the acquittal of Officer Rizopoulos marks a dark day in the fight against impunity in Greece, notably as this will do little to abate the ongoing violations being perpetrated against Albanians in Greece, notably at the border area between the two countries, where many of the afore-mentioned incidents have and continue to take place. It is vital that the Greek authorities take immediate steps to investigate these incidents in a prompt and impartial manner and to ensure that all state agents found guilty of such violations be brought to justice in line with national law and international standards and receive appropriate sanctions.
Background information
According to information provided by GHM, police officer Ioannis Rizopoulos was initially indicted on charges of reckless homicide (a felony). However, the Misdemeanours Judicial Council indicted the defendant only on manslaughter charges (a misdemeanour) under ruling Ref. No. 4652/9-10-2002, and this despite appeals by Amnesty International and the International Helsinki Federation to the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, asking for an appeal to be filed in order for a proper inquiry to be conducted. Despite a similar request made by GHM to the Chief Prosecutor of the Appeals Court, the appeals prosecutor charged with the case did not file an appeal. Alongside this, the Sworn Administrative Inquiry (EDE) conducted by the Hellenic Police (EL.AS.) was concluded, and recommended that Ioannis Rizopoulos be suspended from duty. The First Instance Disciplinary Council, however, did not impose any punishment on the police officer. An appeal against the decision was lodged by EL.AS. High Command, and the case is still pending in the Second Instance Disciplinary Council.
Both the judiciary and EL.AS. have based themselves on the reportedly unfounded claim made by the defence that Mr. Çelniku’s death came about when the firearm that the police officer was holding (pointing upwards) went off after he had been kicked in the elbow by the deceased, who was facing Officer Rizopoulos while he was approaching the victim from the right. However, the bullet entered the victim’s head from behind on the right side, but while he was face-down on the ground in an open space. The defence’s argument would suggest that the direction of the bullet should have been upwards, not downwards as events suggest. Furthermore, the courts and EL.AS. have ignored a second injury: a contusion on the upper left back side of Mr. Çelniku’s head, which was noted by the forensics medical expert and the doctor on duty at the IKA hospital where the deceased was originally transferred. It is believed that the injury resulted from a blow to the head before the fatal gunshot was fired. Proper consideration of these points should have lead to an indictment on reckless homicide (a felony).
During the five-hour court hearing, no one offered an explanation as to how the defendant, who was facing the victim – according to all witnesses and the defendant - shot him in the back of his head. The victim’s family lawyer based his explanation on the only eyewitness who had not changed his statement between the inquiry and the hearing. The witness had claimed that, prior to the shooting, the policeman pulled the chair upon which the victim was sitting to make him fall down like the other Albanians who were being arrested, and that, during the fall, the victim kicked the policeman not in his elbow or anywhere else in his hand, as the defendant claimed, but somewhere else in his body, following which a shot was fired. The lawyer argued that this helped explain the victim’s second head wound and indicated that after the fall the victim was face down and was shot while the policeman was standing or kneeling above him.
Of major importance is the fact that the two other Albanians, who were being arrested along with the victim, when testifying before the court, retracted many of the things that they had said during the inquiry. When asked about the discrepancies, they said that the night of the incident, the policemen who were taking their statements “put words in their mouths”, and that one of them was threatened with arrest for perjury if he did not confirm his first statement during the ensuing police sworn administrative inquiry. The court, however, did not react to these serious accusations. Moreover, a passer-by who arrived at the scene of the incident moments after the shooting, testified to the court that the defendant had ill-treated the hand-cuffed the Albanians while they were face down on the ground. This passer-by, a former state agency deputy governor, had said the same thing the day after the event in an interview. When asked by GHM about the fact that this allegation was not in his sworn deposition during the inquiry, he responded that the investigative judge did not want to include it.
Finally, the court room and the surrounding area were filled with plainclothes and uniform police officers, including some 4-5 in the bullet-proof uniforms of the OPKE anti-crime unit to which the defendant belonged at the time of the incident. The latter reportedly made repeated controls of the Albanian witnesses who were awaiting the hearing. When the lawyer protested, the police reportedly attempted to search him too.
GHM’s lawyer filed a request for an appeal (the victim’s relatives who were civil claimants cannot appeal the judgment) with the Prosecutor’s office. GHM will also help the relatives file a complaint to the ECHR if an appeal is not filed.
For further information, please contact: Michael Anthony - tel: + 41 22 809 49 39, e-mail: ma@omct.org
Geneva, December 4th, 2003
GREECE: The acquittal of a policeman who killed an Albanian man – a dark day for the fight against impunity in Greece
The International Secretariat of OMCT is deeply concerned by the acquittal of police officer Ioannis Rizopoulos, who was being tried by the Second Three-Member Misdemeanours Court of Athens on November 24th, 2003 for the manslaughter of 20-year-old Albanian immigrant Gentjan Çelniku. The trial reportedly included clear violations of Greek law and international standards.
On November 21st, 2001, Mr. Gentjan Çelniku reportedly died from a gun-shot wound to the head while being arrested. It is worth noting that this is not an isolated case, as there have been a spate of incidents involving the ill-treatment, injury or killing of Albanians in Greece, and the acquittal of police officer Rizopoulos is therefore of great significance. For more information about this context and in particular the cases of 42 Albanians at the border areas with Albania, please consult OMCT’s urgent appeal from October 16th entitled:
Greece: severe beatings, injuries and/or killings of Albanian citizens at border areas
In only one case has there been an effective judicial inquiry, while in another recent case, which had led to the death of an Albanian, an initial criminal investigation - formally identical to the Officer Rizopoulos case mentioned above – has been initiated. The Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM), a member of OMCT’s global NGO network, sent an appeal requesting that at least some of these cases be investigated to the region’s Deputy Appeals Prosecutor. On November 17th, 2003, however, GHM received an answer that there was no reason for any further investigation.
The International Secretariat of OMCT believes that the acquittal of Officer Rizopoulos marks a dark day in the fight against impunity in Greece, notably as this will do little to abate the ongoing violations being perpetrated against Albanians in Greece, notably at the border area between the two countries, where many of the afore-mentioned incidents have and continue to take place. It is vital that the Greek authorities take immediate steps to investigate these incidents in a prompt and impartial manner and to ensure that all state agents found guilty of such violations be brought to justice in line with national law and international standards and receive appropriate sanctions.
Background information
According to information provided by GHM, police officer Ioannis Rizopoulos was initially indicted on charges of reckless homicide (a felony). However, the Misdemeanours Judicial Council indicted the defendant only on manslaughter charges (a misdemeanour) under ruling Ref. No. 4652/9-10-2002, and this despite appeals by Amnesty International and the International Helsinki Federation to the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, asking for an appeal to be filed in order for a proper inquiry to be conducted. Despite a similar request made by GHM to the Chief Prosecutor of the Appeals Court, the appeals prosecutor charged with the case did not file an appeal. Alongside this, the Sworn Administrative Inquiry (EDE) conducted by the Hellenic Police (EL.AS.) was concluded, and recommended that Ioannis Rizopoulos be suspended from duty. The First Instance Disciplinary Council, however, did not impose any punishment on the police officer. An appeal against the decision was lodged by EL.AS. High Command, and the case is still pending in the Second Instance Disciplinary Council.
Both the judiciary and EL.AS. have based themselves on the reportedly unfounded claim made by the defence that Mr. Çelniku’s death came about when the firearm that the police officer was holding (pointing upwards) went off after he had been kicked in the elbow by the deceased, who was facing Officer Rizopoulos while he was approaching the victim from the right. However, the bullet entered the victim’s head from behind on the right side, but while he was face-down on the ground in an open space. The defence’s argument would suggest that the direction of the bullet should have been upwards, not downwards as events suggest. Furthermore, the courts and EL.AS. have ignored a second injury: a contusion on the upper left back side of Mr. Çelniku’s head, which was noted by the forensics medical expert and the doctor on duty at the IKA hospital where the deceased was originally transferred. It is believed that the injury resulted from a blow to the head before the fatal gunshot was fired. Proper consideration of these points should have lead to an indictment on reckless homicide (a felony).
During the five-hour court hearing, no one offered an explanation as to how the defendant, who was facing the victim – according to all witnesses and the defendant - shot him in the back of his head. The victim’s family lawyer based his explanation on the only eyewitness who had not changed his statement between the inquiry and the hearing. The witness had claimed that, prior to the shooting, the policeman pulled the chair upon which the victim was sitting to make him fall down like the other Albanians who were being arrested, and that, during the fall, the victim kicked the policeman not in his elbow or anywhere else in his hand, as the defendant claimed, but somewhere else in his body, following which a shot was fired. The lawyer argued that this helped explain the victim’s second head wound and indicated that after the fall the victim was face down and was shot while the policeman was standing or kneeling above him.
Of major importance is the fact that the two other Albanians, who were being arrested along with the victim, when testifying before the court, retracted many of the things that they had said during the inquiry. When asked about the discrepancies, they said that the night of the incident, the policemen who were taking their statements “put words in their mouths”, and that one of them was threatened with arrest for perjury if he did not confirm his first statement during the ensuing police sworn administrative inquiry. The court, however, did not react to these serious accusations. Moreover, a passer-by who arrived at the scene of the incident moments after the shooting, testified to the court that the defendant had ill-treated the hand-cuffed the Albanians while they were face down on the ground. This passer-by, a former state agency deputy governor, had said the same thing the day after the event in an interview. When asked by GHM about the fact that this allegation was not in his sworn deposition during the inquiry, he responded that the investigative judge did not want to include it.
Finally, the court room and the surrounding area were filled with plainclothes and uniform police officers, including some 4-5 in the bullet-proof uniforms of the OPKE anti-crime unit to which the defendant belonged at the time of the incident. The latter reportedly made repeated controls of the Albanian witnesses who were awaiting the hearing. When the lawyer protested, the police reportedly attempted to search him too.
GHM’s lawyer filed a request for an appeal (the victim’s relatives who were civil claimants cannot appeal the judgment) with the Prosecutor’s office. GHM will also help the relatives file a complaint to the ECHR if an appeal is not filed.
For further information, please contact: Michael Anthony - tel: + 41 22 809 49 39, e-mail: ma@omct.org