Racist Violence Crimes

In Greek legislation, so-called “racist violence” crimes are provided for in Law 927/1979, which criminalizes hate speech, Law 4443/2016 on the prohibition of discrimination in the commercial supply of goods or provision of services, and Article 82A of the Criminal Code, where such motivation constitutes an aggravating circumstance for all ordinary criminal offenses when the victim is selected because of characteristics such as race, color, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex characteristics.

These offenses are essentially divided into two categories: crimes with racist characteristics (hate crimes) and so-called “hate speech”.

The first category includes offenses in which the victim was chosen by the perpetrator because of their race, color, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender characteristics. In other words, the perpetrator’s act is in any case a punishable offense already provided for in the Criminal Code or in a Special Penal Law and is punishable by imprisonment or a monetary fine. The particular characteristic of the victim, as the perpetrator’s motive, is what differentiates the offense and renders it a “hate crime” or a “crime with racist characteristics.” For this reason, a harsher penalty is prescribed.

When a prosecutor receives a complaint, report, or denunciation concerning such a crime, beyond investigating the objective and subjective elements of the “basic” (ordinary) offense, they also examine whether the perpetrator acted with racist motives. In other words, they examine whether, for example, a victim of insult was targeted not simply as an individual person but because of their origin, religion, gender characteristics, etc. Therefore, during the investigation (especially during the preliminary examination), authorities seek evidence indicating racist motivation. Such evidence may include:

1. The content of the crime itself
2. The choice of place and time of the offense
3. Previous commission of similar offenses against victims with the same characteristics
4. The perpetrator’s participation in a group whose members have concerned authorities for similar offenses or have publicly or online expressed hatred against specific groups

 

The second category, hate speech, concerns public, or online, oral or written incitement, stimulation, or encouragement of acts that may provoke discrimination, hatred, or violence against a person or group of persons identified on the basis of race, color, religion, ancestry, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex characteristics, disability, etc., in a manner that endangers public order. In this case, there is no already-committed crime that becomes more severely punished because of the victim’s characteristics. For the offense to be established under Article 1(1) of Law 927/1979, the following must exist: a) the perpetrator publicly or online expresses hostility toward a specific group of people (due to their characteristics), b) the speech encourages an indeterminate number of persons to act against those people and c) public order is endangered.

The prosecutor must distinguish whether these conditions are met (therefore a crime exists) or whether it is merely the expression of a negative opinion about a specific group, which may still fall within freedom of expression protected by Articles 5, 14 and 16 of the Greek Constitution and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. During the investigation, the prosecutor seeks evidence showing that the perpetrator did not simply express an offensive opinion aimed at persuading others, but rather intended to incite others to commit acts of violence against the targeted group. Evidence may include the actual content of the speech or previous racist-violence offenses by the perpetrator or repeated posting of similar texts online.

The primary means assisting the prosecutor and judge in handling cases of crimes with racist characteristics or hate speech are witness testimony and documents. Particularly important is the assistance of specially trained investigative officers, such as those serving in the Hellenic Police Directorate for the Combat of Racist Violence, for investigating crimes with racist characteristics.