Greece | HCRW

Greece regularly reports hate crime data to ODIHR.

In 2017, Greece implemented ODIHR’s Prosecutors and Hate Crime Training (PAHCT). In June 2018, an "Agreement on inter-agency co-operation on addressing racist crimes" was concluded by relevant state authorities and a network of civil society organizations (CSOs) as part of ODIHR's project on "Building a Comprehensive Criminal Justice Response to Hate Crimes". Consequently, the agreement has led to improved hate crime recording and data collection. On February 2022, ODIHR held an online diagnostic workshop with government representatives, criminal justice actors and CSOs to assess structures and services for hate crime victim support in Greece.

In 2022, an office within the Ministry of Justice was tasked with overseeing the systematic collection of statistical data on hate crimes.

SELECT YEAR

Download the 2009 hate crime report for Greece

OFFICIAL DATA REPORTED BY STATES

Year	Hate crimes recorded by police	Prosecuted	Sentenced
2023	97	115	22
2022	99	32	20
2021	110	2	1
2020	171	34	0
2019	Not available	Not available	Not available
2018	164	17	4
2017	128	46	6
2016	40	6	2
2015	60	27	4
2014	71	29	5
2013	109	9	0
2012	1	1	Not available
2011	Not available	Not available	1
2010	2	Not available	Not available
2009	2	2	Not available

Download official data

KEY OBSERVATION

No information is available.

Incidents reported by civil society, international organizations and the Holy See

Reports

Anti-Semitic hate crime

The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece reported 13 cases of vandalism, including the desecration of cemeteries, synagogues and Holocaust memorials in January 2009. The Greek Helsinki Monitor reported an arson attempt on a synagogue and two cases each of the vandalization of a synagogue, a Jewish cemetery and a Holocaust memorial. The Stephen Roth Institute reported three violent incidents.

Anti-Muslim hate crime

The Western Thrace Minority University Graduates Association reported three arson attacks and the desecration of a cemetery. The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe reported three assaults, two arson attacks (one against a mosque) and five acts of vandalism (two of mosques and three of memorial sites).

INTERNATIONAL REPORTS

Racist and xenophobic hate crime, Anti-Semitic hate crime

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) strongly encouraged the authorities in Greece to “combat racist crimes more actively”. It also expressed concern about anti-Semitism.

Racist and xenophobic hate crime

In Greece, in May 2009, a police officer allegedly defaced an extract of the Koran during an identity check on an Iraqi man. This led to demonstrations by the Muslim community that degenerated into violent clashes with the police. More than ten people were injured, dozens of cars were badly damaged and 46 people were arrested. In the two days following the protests, an unidentified group of people in Agios Panteleimonas set fire to a building used for prayer by the Muslim community. UNHCR reported that “members of extreme-right organizations and some local residents abused human rights activists”. The playground in Agios Panteleimonas where Afghan mothers used to go with their children was closed and immigrants have since been kept out of the square by local squads of vigilantes. A Greek flag has been raised inside the closed playground.