RACIALLY MOTIVATED
ASSAULT OF A HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER – JOURNALIST.
MYTILINI, 22-11-2017
November 24, 2017
The Human Rights
Defenders Support Network, a Joint Venture of the Organizations
“Pleiades” Hellenic Action for Human Rights and Lawyers Without
Borders, were informed through reliable sources that on 22nd November
2017 a criminal incident with racist motivation against journalists
and photojournalists took place at the time in which they were
covering a police operation to evacuate Sappho Square in Mytilene
from the refugees protesting there. Notably, the evacuation was
ordered and executed, in lack of a plan for the refugees’
appropriate relocation and without prior consultation.
The only journalist
who dared report the incident perpetrated against her was Mrs. Anthi
Pazianou, who, while trying to report on a small group of Afghan
refugees tightly surrounded by police, was assaulted by far-right
elements of Mytilene, who, following their constant insults and
threats left unhindered by the police officers present on spot, were
thus emboldened to assault the journalist, under the very gaze of the
police officers.
As far as we know,
no arrests were made, nor was there an initiation of any criminal
investigative procedure into the incident, although it was reported
that the Deputy Prosecutor of Mytiline was on site, according to
eyewitnesses.
The Editors Union
Board of Directors for the Peloponnese-Epirus-Islands, proceeded with
a "lukewarm" intervention, denouncing "the abuse and
insults" that their member suffered while performing her
function, and stated that "from any direction such tactics come
from aiming at intimidating and silencing the journalistic world will
not be tolerated." In spite of the aforementioned declarations,
it called on the "Mytilene Prosecutor's Office to take
appropriate measures to prevent such incidents ... in the future",
leaving its member who "dared to denounce" exposed to the
impunity of what happened "in the present" and failed to
independently investigate whether other of its members affected would
"dare" to report the way in which they were prevented from
exercising their function.
The Human Rights
Defenders Support Network:
- Records the
incident against a Defender, appearing to have taken place in sight
of the Police and Prosecuting Authority, so far without any
consequences to the perpetrators.
-States its
availability to legally support the affected person if she so
desires.
- Calls on the Greek
Government to guarantee in practice its declarations of respect to
the "UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders"
- Calls on the Greek
Government
a) to ensure that
such incidents are investigated by an independent, impartial and
effective authority, in this case, and under the given circumstances
(participation of the Mytilene Prosecutor's Office with the physical
presence of the Prosecutor at the time and place of the crime without
however having initiated any criminal proceedings , as owed) should
lie outside of Mytilene.
b) to guarantee in
any case that Defenders, often including Reporters, will be able to
work without fear of retaliation, harassment and crimes against them.
c) to legislate on
the incorporation of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders by
utilizing the relevant Civil Society Model Law adopted by a large
number of experts and translated and adapted to Greek by the
“Pleiades” Hellenic Action for Human Rights
- Calls on the
Ombudsman, functioning as the "National Mechanism Investigating
Arbitrary Incidents", to intervene on its own initiative and to
investigate the incident independently (and not just "follow its
investigation").
We reaffirm our
commitment to appropriate support of defenders in the country and
declare to them that "You are not alone!"
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