Greece
08.10.01
Urgent Interventions

Press Release: OMCT expresses its concern about the trial of policemen accused of beating two Romas in Greece

Monday October 8th, 2001

World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)

Press Release

OMCT expresses its concern about the trial of policemen accused of beating two Romas in Greece

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), is concerned about the outcome of the trial of policemen that were involved in the beating in custody of two Romas – Lazaros Bekos and Eleftherios Kotropoulos – on May 8th, 1998, at the police station in the town of Mesolongi, Greece. The Romas were 17 and 18 years old at the time of the beatings.

The trial is set to start today, October 8th, 2001, and OMCT fears that the policemen in question, Apostolos Tsikrikas and Andreas Avgeris, will be acquitted despite clear evidence against them. This fear is based on the fact that the evidence collected so far, both via a forensic report and a police investigation, have been ignored by both the police and the government. Furthermore, it is believed that several witnesses for the Romas have not been summoned to take part in the trial, indicating that there is little chance that justice will be served as a result of these proceedings.

According to the information received from the Greek Helsinki Monitor, the two Romas in question were beaten by police officers during their detention in May 1998, with a subsequent forensic report concluding that they had received “medium bodily injuries, inflicted with a broken instrument.” In July 1998 the two men pressed charges and, in December, three police officers were indicted under Criminal Code Article 136A paragraph 3, section 1, for “jointly-induced bodily harm caused by a person, whose duties are the investigation of possible criminal acts, with the intent to extort from another person under his authority a confession, a deposition or an information.” Following appeals from several NGOs, the Greek Police launched a Sworn Administrative Inquiry (SAI) into the matter, from which it was announced in September 2000 that the SAI had concluded, “it was not possible to reach a safe conclusion as to when and how the afore-mentioned wounds were inflicted on the arrested,” and that, “two police officers of the Mesolonghi Police Station were held responsible for not preventing the ill treatment of the two arrested individuals and relevant disciplinary sanctions were imposed on them.” These sanctions were reportedly made in the form of fines.

In September 2001, however, details from the SAI’s June 1999 final detailed report came to light, which contradict the previous claims about the investigation’s findings. The report, which was signed by Major General Efthimios Skouras, 3rd General Inspector of the Greek Police, recommended that the two officers be placed on “temporary suspension,” because, “during the early hours of the 8/5/1998…they behaved with exceptional brutality towards the two young individuals,” with the report then detailing the brutal beating.

It is therefore clear that the Greek Police have not taken into account the results of the forensic report or the conclusions of the SAI and have made misleading statements to NGOs about the conclusions of the investigations, in order to protect the officers in question. Furthermore, the Greek Minister for Public Order has declined to comment on this situation, which further enables the perpetrators to benefit from impunity.

OMCT recalls that the United Nations Committee Against Torture, in its latest session, stated that it was concerned about “evidence that the police sometimes use excessive or unjustifiable force in carrying out their duties particularly when dealing with ethnic and national minorities and foreigners.” Furthermore, the European Committee for the prevention of Torture has also highlighted the situation of ill-treatment of detainees in police custody in Greece and recommends that “the Ministry of Public Order remind police officers, through a formal statement, that they should be respectful of the rights of persons in their custody and that the ill-treatment of such persons will be the subject of severe sanctions.”

OMCT will continue to monitor the trial and hopes that the policemen will be brought to justice, based on the available evidence against them.


For further information, or if you would like to receive this Press Release in French, please contact:

Michael Anthony
The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Tel.: ++41 22 809 49 39
Fax: ++41 22 809 49 29
E-mail: omct@omct.org