“Greece, racism and the church – Your genocide or mine?“, The Economist Blog, 29 Αυγούστου 2014.
A long awaited bill whose stated aim is to combat racism has been limping its way through the Greek Parliament, despite several bishops from the national church denouncing it as “catastrophic” while some liberal observers say it does not go far enough.
In its latest iteration the bill would: impose fines and a ban on state funding for parties or groups that promote racism; punish “racist acts” with up to three years in jail; and lay down a similar penalty for “praising or denying the significance of genocide, crimes against humanity, the holocaust or Nazism” in a way which could provoke racial hatred or violence.
In a country where up to 10% of the vote goes to the ultra-nationalists of the Golden Dawn party—whose leadership is facing prosecution—it will take more than a law to stamp out either racist attitudes or acts of violence against immigrants and other vulnerable groups. But human-rights campaigners around the world have welcomed the bill as a step in the right direction.
Σχετικές αναρτήσεις:
- FRA (2014) “Fundamental rights: key legal and policy developments in 2013. Highlights 2013“, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Ιούλιος.
- Zikos, A. (2013) “Party Euroscepticism in Greece during the Financial Crisis, the Cases of SYRIZA and Chrysi Avgi“, National and Kapodestrian University of Athens, Ιούνιος.