[ALBSA-Info] Minorities in Greece

[Agron Alibali]

IFEX- News from the international freedom of
expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ACTION ALERT - GREECE

5 February 2001

Aromanian activist convicted for distributing EU
leaflet on minority
languages

SOURCE: Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM), Athens

(GHM/IFEX) - GHM strongly condemns the conviction on 2
February 2001 of
Sotiris Bletsas, a member of the Society for Aromanian
(Vlach) Culture, to
fifteen months in prison and a 500,000 drs. (app.
US$1,400) fine for
dissemination of false information (under Article 191
of the penal code).
The charges were based on the fact that, in July 1995,
he had distributed in
an Aromanian
festival a publication of the European Union's (EU)
semi-official European
Bureau for Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL - in which
Bletsas was the Greek
"observer"), which mentioned the minority languages in
Greece (Aromanian,
Arvanite, Macedonian, Pomak, Turkish) and in the other
EU member states. His
prosecution was triggered by charges pressed by
conservative New Democracy
Deputy Eugene Haitidis and, according to Bletsas, the
prosecution's
witnesses included the Aromanian mayor of Prosotsani
(Northern Greece). The
latter considered the reference to the Vlach
language as a minority language defamatory to the
Vlachs. Bletsas appealed
the sentence and was set free pending the appeal.

GHM considers the verdict obscurantist and a flagrant
violation of freedom
of expression. The organisation wonders why the Greek
authorities have not
prosecuted the authors of the publication, the EU and
EBLUL, and/or those
making it widely available in Greece, which include
the EU delegation in
Athens.

BACKGROUND:
Greece acknowledges the existence of only one
religious minority, the
"Muslims" of Thrace, and of their mother tongue,
Turkish. Associations that
reflect the existence of national minorities by using
Macedonian or Turkish
in their title have not been able to officially
register, while members of
the respective minorities have been prosecuted for
making such claims.
Moreover, as the vast majority of Aromanian or
Arvanite (Albanian) speaking
persons identify as Greeks, even references to these
two languages as
minority languages, let alone to the existence of
respective linguistic
minorities, have been repeatedly condemned, including
by leaders of
Aromanian or Arvanite associations. It may be
characteristic that two
newspapers ("Avghi" 3-2-01 and "Epohi" 4-2-01) and one
organisation (the
Network for Social and Political Rights, in "Avghi")
who protested the
verdict opted to mention that the EBLUL leaflet
referred to Aromanian,
Arvanite, Pomak and Turkish, thus silencing the
reference to Macedonian (a
third paper, "Eleftherotypia" 5-2-01 did not list the
languages).

Moreover, on 28 June 2000, an international seminar on
"Greece and the
European Charter on Regional or Minority Languages,"
co-organised by the
Council of Europe and the Greek Minority Groups
Research Center (KEMO), was
to be held in the amphitheater of the Greek Ministry
of Foreign Affairs
(MFA). Participants included the (Greek) president of
the European
Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) and
representatives of the
Council of Europe and the EU-sponsored EBLUL. It was
supposed to be the
conclusion of a controversial series of
semi-restricted seminars on Greece's
minority languages. KEMO's membership includes many
regular or occasional
experts of the MFA. The Greek foreign minister had
already sent his opening
message.

A week before the seminar, four of the most senior
leaders of the opposition
New Democracy party tabled a parliamentary question,
protesting that the
seminar "leads to presenting as minorities either
non-existent groups or
people who do not wish to be treated as minorities". 
Soon after, the Greek
MFA withdrew the authorisation for the use of its
amphitheater, thus leading
to the seminar's
cancellation. Although the official reason given was
"technical", potential
participants not informed of the cancellation who went
to the Foreign
Ministry saw that the amphitheater was empty, hence
available: the next day,
another seminar was indeed held there (on the new ECRI
report on Greece).
Greece and Turkey are the only Council of Europe
countries that have
prevented such a seminar from being held.

However, from 8 to 10 December, the "First
International Conference on the
Vlach-Speaking Hellenism" was organised at the
University of Macedonia in
Salonica, by the "Union of Vlach Scholars" under the
auspices of the
Ministry of National Defense. It received a message
from President of the
Hellenic Republic Costis Stefanopoulos, which stressed
that "the
Vlach-Speaking Greeks are an indivisible part of our
ethnic entity and have
contributed to the creation and development of the
Greek State." The opening
address was delivered by Minister of National Defense
Akis Tsochatzopoulos.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Send appeals to authorities:
- condemning the verdict and the authorities' attitude
as a violation of
freedom of expression and an indication of acute
intolerance towards
minorities
- asking for a condemnation of the verdict, a swift
review of the trial and
the quashing of the charges
- asking that Greece abolish its intolerant policies
towards minorities,
acknowledge the presence of national and linguistic
minorities, as well as
sign and ratify the European Charter on Regional or
Minority Languages, and
ratify the Framework Convention for the Protection of
National Minorities it
signed in 1997

APPEALS TO:

George Papandreou
Foreign Minister
Athens, Greece
Fax: +30 1 36 81 433
E-mail: gpap at m...

Dimitris Reppas
Minister of Press and Information
Athens, Greece
Fax: +30 1 36 06 969

Professor Mihalis Stathopoulos
Minister of Justice
Athens, Greece
Fax : +30 1 77 55 835

Romano Prodi
President of EU Commission
E-mail: sg-info at c...

Please copy appeals to the source if possible.

For further information, contact GHM at P.O. Box
60820, GR-15304 Glyka Nera,
Greece, tel: +30 1 347 2259, fax: +30 1 601 8760,
e-mail:
office at g..., Internet: http://www.greekhelsinki.gr

The information contained in this action alert is the
sole responsibility of
GHM. In citing this material for broadcast or
publication, please credit
GHM.
_________________________________________________________________
DISTRIBUTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
EXCHANGE (IFEX) CLEARING HOUSE
489 College Street, Suite 403, Toronto (ON) M6G 1A5
CANADA
tel: +1 416 515 9622, fax: +1 416 515 7879  alerts
e-mail: alerts at i...

 


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 
a year!  http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/