The authorities recorded 109 hate crimes, including two homicides, 51 assaults, one case of incitement to violence and eight cases of threats.
Greece amended its legislation by adding gender identity to the list of protected grounds in Criminal Code’s aggravating circumstance provision. The amendment also forbids the suspension of the sentence in cases where bias motivation has been established as an aggravating circumstance.
Ministry of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights has requested ODIHR to assist in developing the capacity of the criminal justice system. Workshops on prosecuting hate crimes will take place at the National School for Judges in Thessaloniki in 2014. Implementation of ODIHR’s PAHCT programme is being considered.
The Racist Violence Recording Network reported one murder, 133 physical assaults, 75 of which resulted in serious injuries, and two arson attacks. The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe reported one arson attack against the Turkish Consulate. World Without Nazism reported one murder, three physical assaults, including one carried out by a group against two men from Pakistan, and two incidents of damage to property, in which groups destroyed two cafes.
The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe reported one physical assault resulting in serious injury, two incidents of damage to property and two incidents of the desecration of a place of worship, including one in which a pig’s head was left outside a mosque.
The European Association of Jehovah's Christian Witnesses / Jehovah’s Witnesses – Greece reported one physical assault. World Without Nazism reported two incidents of the desecration of places of worship.
Transgender Europe reported two physical assaults resulting in serious injuries, one of which involved an attempt to pour gasoline over the victim. The Racist Violence Recording Network reported one physical assault against a gay man, three physical assaults against transgender women and three incidents of threats. The Lesbian and Gay Community of Greece (OLKE) reported 53 cases of physical assault resulting in serious injuries, 34 cases of physical assault, 13 cases of damage to property and four cases of arson.
World Without Nazism reported one incident of the desecration of a cemetery.
World Without Nazism reported arson attacks against six homes and four cars belonging to Roma families, as well as two physical assaults, including one against a Roma person.
The three Personal Representatives of the OSCE Chairperson‑in‑Office on tolerance and non‑discrimination made a joint visit to Greece. Following the visit, the Personal Representatives presented their recommendations for the country, which included police training on hate crimes.
The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe recommended that the country use criminal sanctions against individuals, and restrict the activities of organizations, that incite intolerance or that are implicated in hate crimes. The Commissioner further recommended the continuous provision of anti-racism training for the police, coast guard, prosecutors and judges.
The thematic situation report on “Racism, Discrimination, Intolerance and Extremism: Learning from Experiences in Greece and Hungary”, published by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), collected and analysed information from both countries, and presented EU Member States with a number of suggested good practices in combating racism, discrimination, intolerance and extremism.
ODIHR observes that the law enforcement agencies of Greece have not recorded the bias motivations of hate crimes.