GREEK HELSINKI MONITOR (GHM)
Address: P.O. Box 60820,
GR-15304 Glyka Nera
Telephone: (+30) 2103472259 Fax:
(+30) 2106018760
e-mail: office@greekhelsinki.gr website:
http://cm.greekhelsinki.gr
PRESS
RELEASE
10 June 2013
Greece:
Unlawful detention of lawyer Electra Koutra
in
the framework of police racial profiling operation against transgender persons
in Thessaloniki
Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) denounces the unlawful
detention of lawyer Electra Koutra,
President of the Hellenic Action for Human Rights and GHM legal counsel, in the early hours
of 5 June 2013 at the Democratias Square
Police Station in Thessaloniki when, in her capacity of lawyer for the Greek Transgendered Support
Association, she went to defend a transgender person
abusively detained for the third time in the last four days, in the framework
of an extensive police operation of objectively wanton, apparently bullying and
consequently unlawful detentions of transgender persons on the eve of Thessaloniki Pride (14-15 June 2013). We
reproduce below the common public statement of 13 Greek NGOs and an updated
description of the facts by the victim who is now also the subject of a
complaint by the police officer against whom she had previously filed a
complaint.[1]
It is noteworthy that two parliamentary questions were tabled by the Radical Left Coalition – SYRIZA[2]
and the Democratic Left – DIMAR[3]
parties.
GHM appeals to the international NGOs and to the intergovernmental
organizations, asking them to take appropriate action towards the Greek
government demanding the punishment of those responsible for the abusive and
unlawful detention of the human rights defender and lawyer as well as to put an
end to the extensive use of racial profiling by police against migrants, Roma,
transgender persons, drag addicts, HIV-positive etc.. It is to be recalled that
recently Nils Muižnieks, Council of
Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, asked Greece to put an end to this
practice.[4]
GHM recalls that
similar was the experience of GHM legal
counsel Theodore Alexandridis on 13 October 2005, when he went to the Aspropyrgos Police Station to file a
complaint for the obstruction to Roma children’s access to a public school by
non-Roma parents: he was then detained unlawfully because the police advised
the parents against whom the complaint was filed to file a counter-complaint
against the lawyer. For those events protests were filed by two international
NGOs[5] (but by no Greek
NGO…). While the European Court of Human
Rights (ECtHR) convicted Greece for the exclusion of Roma children from school
(Case of Sampanis v. Greece)[6] making reference
to the 13 October 2005 events, Greek justice did not find any wrongdoing in the
detention or even the pupils exclusion from school, despite the ECtHR judgment.
Joint Public Statement
Athens
6 June 2013
We are expressing our profound concern over accusations made by the Board
of the Hellenic Action for Human Rights (HAHUR) ‘Pleiades’ in today’s press
release[7] regarding the treatment of the President of HAHUR lawyer Electra-Leda
Koutra by police officers at the Democracy Square Police Station in
Thessaloniki in the early hours on Wednesday 5 June 2013. We are demanding a
prompt independent and impartial investigation into the incident and, if the
reported facts are confirmed, appropriate sanctions to be imposed on the
officers responsible.
ActUp HELLAS
“AITIMA” NGO
Amnesty International Greek Section
Amnesty International Greek Section
ARSIS - Association for the
Social Support of Youth
Ecumenical Refugee Program (KSPM) of the Church of Greece
Greek Council for Refugees
Greek Forum of Refugees
Ecumenical Refugee Program (KSPM) of the Church of Greece
Greek Council for Refugees
Greek Forum of Refugees
Greek Helsinki Monitor
Greek Transgendered Support
Association
Group of Lawyers for the
Rights of Migrants and Refugees - Athens
Hellenic League for Human
Rights
Initiative for the Rights of Detainees
Network for Social Support of Refugees and Immigrants
Network for Social Support of Refugees and Immigrants
Accusations made by lawyer Electra Koutra (6/6/2013)
“I have just returned from the Police Station, after
an extremely long night in Thessaloniki during which I was subjected to the
most devastating experience in my lifetime of psychological violence from
police officers against whom I have since filed a complaint with a plethora of
offences against me, including felonies.
To summarize: When attempting to visit, in my professional capacity, in the Democratias Square Police Station, a transgender individual who had been detained for the third time in four days (like many other transgender people during the past five days, in response to some kind of order to “clean them up” from the specific area of Thessaloniki), I was prevented from seeing him. When I managed to obtain access, after having called the police emergency number “100” to protest for the impediments in the right of a lawyer to communicate with their client, the duty police officer threw me into the police station’s cell together with a number of other detainees most of them prostitutes that had been detained, and locked me in without giving any reason for my detention.
The other police officers present appeared to encourage these actions by the officer in duty, despite my protests that they should not accept such behavior from their colleagues which is in direct contravention of their oath. Indeed, they were teasing me and telling me 'you asked to be locked in'.
When I demanded to file a formal complaint, the duty police
officer responded that he too will file a complaint against me. When I replied
that this was of no concern to me and insisted that my formal complaint be
registered, he refused to do so and insisted that I leave. In the middle of the
night, I went to the Lefkos Pyrgos Police Station to file the complaint against
the duty police officer and his colleagues present at the first police station for
torture and other forms of offense to human dignity (a felony), abuse of
authority, unlawful detention, unlawful; use of violence, abduction, threats,
and unprovoked insult with actions. The Public Prosecutor was urgently informed
of the incident and decided that the perpetrator could not be arrested as we
was acting while on duty. I would like to thank lawyer Xanthippi Moisidou, whom
I woke up, for standing by me as a lawyer and a friend, as well as Maria Pagou
and Andria Andria who stayed with me until daybreak.”
Update (10/6/2013)
“I inform you that
apart from my detention with my illegally held transgender client, and
following the psychological assault I was subjected to by about ten police
officers present during the incident who encouraged the duty police officer in
his illegal actions, I have now been informed that a complaint against me has
been filed by the duty police officer for false accusation and aggravated defamation
(it seems that he claims that he did not put me in the detention cell, but
rather ‘showed me the waiting area’ outside the detention cells).”
[1] We thank Nikos Charalambous and Mandi Millen for their contributions
in the translation of these documents into English.
[5] «Greece: Arbitrary
arrest and subsequent release of Roma rights defender Theo Alexandridis» (World Organization Against Torture – OMCT http://cm.greekhelsinki.gr/index.php?sec=194&cid=1256)
«Greece: Rights defender illegally
detained - Police collusion towards segregated schooling for Roma?» (International Helsinki Federation for Human
Rights – IHF http://cm.greekhelsinki.gr/index.php?sec=194&cid=1281)
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