[ALBSA-Info] On Vlach minority in Greece

[Agron Alibali]

:  Letters of protest for Bletsa conviction


Mr. Romano PRODIPresident of EU CommissionYour Excellency,We express our worries on the conviction of Mr. Sotiris Bletsas, member ofthe Society for Vlach/Aromanian Culture, to 15 months imprisonment and500,000 drs. fine, on February 2, 2001. His distribution of European Bureaufor Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL) leaflets, comprising a map with what wasconsidered to be minority languages in Greece, was deemed to be thecriminal offence of  "dissemination of false information ", according toGreek Penal Code.We respectfully ask you to consider undertaking efforts for dropping thecharges against Mr. Bletsas, especially considering the fact thatprosecution against him has been commenced at the request of a Greekdeputy, member of the New Democracy Party. Such actions as those takenagainst Mr. Bletsas are banned by a series of international instruments.The most important of these instruments are Article 10 of the EuropeanConvention of Human Rights Safeguard (the freedom of expression) and theFramework Convention for Protection of National Minorities. Even if Greece is one of the few EU members along with France and Belgiumthat did not ratify the Framework Convention for Protection of NationalMinorities which it signed in 1997, it is still bound to respect its objectby virtue of Article 18 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treatiesthat stipulates: " A State shall refrain from completing any acts that maydeprive a treaty of its object and purpose…after the State has signed therespective treaty…".Nevertheless, the Bletsas case is one of a number of cases ofdiscrimination against the largest Vlach minority in Balkans, cases ofpeople being persecuted for expressing or disseminating opinions whichought to be respected in any democracy, regardless whether they areaccurate or acceptable by the large majority of population and theauthorities.Even though the public opinion of Greece views the issues involvingminorities with great suspicion, a human liberties and minority rightspolicy should not be limited to signing international conventions, that arethen not applied because this policy is not prepared to challenge thetraditionalist political culture. The human rights and minority rights issues should concern the Greekgovernment not only in relation with their internal public opinion, butalso with the latest European Union enhanced developments.We also refer to the European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence,following which the essential character of the freedom of expression in ademocratic society still applies for the information that may shock orproduce inquiries to the large majority of the population, as proved by theLingens v. Austria case.It is a pity that the victim of discrimination is a member of the"Vlach-speaking" population, this population being no political threat tothe Greek National State and one of the oldest communities that lives onGreek soil.Perhaps no country in Europe knows more than Greece about fight forpreservation of Europe's cultural heritage.That is why special attention should be given to the Vlach-speakingminority, due to its particularly threatened language.That is the reason for which we respectfully ask you to analyze thissituation and to initiate all the measures you consider optimal for apositive solution of the case in accord with the European standards ofhuman rights.Sincerely yours, Bogdan Grabowski - LawyerThe Human Rights ObserverResidency:Bucuresti, RomaniaBd. Stirbei-Voda, nr.71, ap.3Bucharest, February 2001Mr. George PAPANDREUForeign MinisterAthens, GreeceYour Excellency,We express our worries on the conviction of Mr. Sotiris Bletsas, member ofthe Society for Vlach/Aromanian Culture, to 15 months imprisonment and500,000 drs. fine, on February 2, 2001. His distribution of European Bureaufor Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL) leaflets, comprising a map with what wasconsidered to be minority languages in Greece, was deemed to be thecriminal offence of  "dissemination of false information ", according toGreek Penal Code.We respectfully ask you to consider undertaking efforts for dropping thecharges against Mr. Bletsas, especially considering the fact thatprosecution against him has been commenced at the request of a Greekdeputy, member of the New Democracy Party. Such actions as those takenagainst Mr. Bletsas are banned by a series of international instruments.The most important of these instruments are Article 10 of the EuropeanConvention of Human Rights Safeguard (the freedom of expression) and theFramework Convention for Protection of National Minorities. Even if Greece is one of the few EU members along with France and Belgiumthat did not ratify the Framework Convention for Protection of NationalMinorities which it signed in 1997, it is still bound to respect its objectby virtue of Article 18 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treatiesthat stipulates: " A State shall refrain from completing any acts that maydeprive a treaty of its object and purpose…after the State has signed therespective treaty…".Nevertheless, the Bletsas case is one of a number of cases ofdiscrimination against the largest Vlach minority in Balkans, cases ofpeople being persecuted for expressing or disseminating opinions whichought to be respected in any democracy, regardless whether they areaccurate or acceptable by the large majority of population and theauthorities.Even though the public opinion of Greece views the issues involvingminorities with great suspicion, a human liberties and minority rightspolicy should not be limited to signing international conventions, that arethen not applied because this policy is not prepared to challenge thetraditionalist political culture. The human rights and minority rights issues should concern the Greekgovernment not only in relation with their internal public opinion, butalso with the latest European Union enhanced developments.We also refer to the European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence,following which the essential character of the freedom of expression in ademocratic society still applies for the information that may shock orproduce inquiries to the large majority of the population, as proved by theLingens v. Austria case.It is a pity that the victim of discrimination is a member of the"Vlach-speaking" population, this population being no political threat tothe Greek National State and one of the oldest communities that lives onGreek soil.Perhaps no country in Europe knows more than Greece about fight forpreservation of Europe's cultural heritage.That is why special attention should be given to the Vlach-speakingminority, due to its particularly threatened language.That is the reason for which we respectfully ask you to analyse thissituation and to initiate all the measures you consider optimal for apositive solution of the case in accord with the European standards ofhuman rights.Sincerely yours, Bogdan Grabowski - Lawyer				The Human Rights ObserverResidency:Bucharest, RomaniaBd. Stirbei-Voda, nr.71, ap.3Bucharest,  February 2001Mr. Dimitris ReppasMinister of Press and InformationAthens, GreeceYour Excellency,We express our worries on the conviction of Mr. Sotiris Bletsas, member ofthe Society for Vlach/Aromanian Culture, to 15 months imprisonment and500,000 drs. fine, on February 2, 2001. His distribution of European Bureaufor Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL) leaflets, comprising a map with what wasconsidered to be minority languages in Greece, was deemed to be thecriminal offence of  "dissemination of false information ", according toGreek Penal Code.We respectfully ask you to consider undertaking efforts for dropping thecharges against Mr. Bletsas, especially considering the fact thatprosecution against him has been commenced at the request of a Greekdeputy, member of the New Democracy Party. Such actions as those takenagainst Mr. Bletsas are banned by a series of international instruments.The most important of these instruments are Article 10 of the EuropeanConvention of Human Rights Safeguard (the freedom of expression) and theFramework Convention for Protection of National Minorities. Even if Greece is one of the few EU members along with France and Belgiumthat did not ratify the Framework Convention for Protection of NationalMinorities which it signed in 1997, it is still bound to respect its objectby virtue of Article 18 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treatiesthat stipulates: " A State shall refrain from completing any acts that maydeprive a treaty of its object and purpose…after the State has signed therespective treaty…".Nevertheless, the Bletsas case is one of a number of cases ofdiscrimination against the largest Vlach minority in Balkans, cases ofpeople being persecuted for expressing or disseminating opinions whichought to be respected in any democracy, regardless whether they areaccurate or acceptable by the large majority of population and theauthorities.Even though the public opinion of Greece views the issues involvingminorities with great suspicion, a human liberties and minority rightspolicy should not be limited to signing international conventions, that arethen not applied because this policy is not prepared to challenge thetraditionalist political culture. The human rights and minority rights issues should concern the Greekgovernment not only in relation with their internal public opinion, butalso with the latest European Union enhanced developments.We also refer to the European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence,following which the essential character of the freedom of expression in ademocratic society still applies for the information that may shock orproduce inquiries to the large majority of the population, as proved by theLingens v. Austria case.It is a pity that the victim of discrimination is a member of the"Vlach-speaking" population, this population being no political threat tothe Greek National State and one of the oldest communities that lives onGreek soil.Perhaps no country in Europe knows more than Greece about fight forpreservation of Europe's cultural heritage.That is why special attention should be given to the Vlach-speakingminority, due to its particularly threatened language.That is the reason for which we respectfully ask you to analyse thissituation and to initiate all the measures you consider optimal for apositive solution of the case in accord with the European standards ofhuman rights.Sincerely yours, Bogdan Grabowski - Lawyer					The Human Rights ObserverResidency:Bucuresti, RomaniaBd. Stirbei-Voda, nr.71, ap.3Bucharest, February 2001Mr. Professor Mihalis StathopoulosMinister of JusticeAthens, GreeceYour Excellency,We express our worries on the conviction of Mr. Sotiris Bletsas, member ofthe Society for Vlach/Aromanian Culture, to 15 months imprisonment and500,000 drs. fine, on February 2, 2001. His distribution of European Bureaufor Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL) leaflets, comprising a map with what wasconsidered to be minority languages in Greece, was deemed to be thecriminal offence of  "dissemination of false information ", according toGreek Penal Code.We respectfully ask you to consider undertaking efforts for dropping thecharges against Mr. Bletsas, especially considering the fact thatprosecution against him has been commenced at the request of a Greekdeputy, member of the New Democracy Party. Such actions as those takenagainst Mr. Bletsas are banned by a series of international instruments.The most important of these instruments are Article 10 of the EuropeanConvention of Human Rights Safeguard (the freedom of expression) and theFramework Convention for Protection of National Minorities. Even if Greece is one of the few EU members along with France and Belgiumthat did not ratify the Framework Convention for Protection of NationalMinorities which it signed in 1997, it is still bound to respect its objectby virtue of Article 18 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treatiesthat stipulates: " A State shall refrain from completing any acts that maydeprive a treaty of its object and purpose…after the State has signed therespective treaty…".Nevertheless, the Bletsas case is one of a number of cases ofdiscrimination against the largest Vlach minority in Balkans, cases ofpeople being persecuted for expressing or disseminating opinions whichought to be respected in any democracy, regardless whether they areaccurate or acceptable by the large majority of population and theauthorities.Even though the public opinion of Greece views the issues involvingminorities with great suspicion, a human liberties and minority rightspolicy should not be limited to signing international conventions, that arethen not applied because this policy is not prepared to challenge thetraditionalist political culture. The human rights and minority rights issues should concern the Greekgovernment not only in relation with their internal public opinion, butalso with the latest European Union enhanced developments.We also refer to the European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence,following which the essential character of the freedom of expression in ademocratic society still applies for the information that may shock orproduce inquiries to the large majority of the population, as proved by theLingens v. Austria case.It is a pity that the victim of discrimination is a member of the"Vlach-speaking" population, this population being no political threat tothe Greek National State and one of the oldest communities that lives onGreek soil.Perhaps no country in Europe knows more than Greece about fight forpreservation of Europe's cultural heritage.That is why special attention should be given to the Vlach-speakingminority, due to its particularly threatened language.That is the reason for which we respectfully ask you to analyze thissituation and to initiate all the measures you consider optimal for apositive solution of the case in accord with the European standards ofhuman rights.Sincerely yours, Bogdan Grabowski - LawyerThe Human Rights ObserverResidency:Bucuresti, RomaniaBd. Stirbei-Voda, nr.71, ap.3Bucharest, February 2001Mr. Max Van der StoelHigh Commissioner for National MinoritiesExcellency,We express our worries on the conviction of Mr. Sotiris Bletsas, member ofthe Society for Vlach/Aromanian Culture, to 15 months imprisonment and500,000 drs. fine, on February 2, 2001. His distribution of European Bureaufor Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL) leaflets, comprising a map with what wasconsidered to be minority languages in Greece, was deemed to be thecriminal offence of  "dissemination of false information ", according toGreek Penal Code.We respectfully ask you to consider undertaking efforts for dropping thecharges against Mr. Bletsas, especially considering the fact thatprosecution against him has been commenced at the request of a Greekdeputy, member of the New Democracy Party. Such actions as those takenagainst Mr. Bletsas are banned by a series of international instruments.The most important of these instruments are Article 10 of the EuropeanConvention of Human Rights Safeguard (the freedom of expression) and theFramework Convention for Protection of National Minorities. Even if Greece is one of the few EU members along with France and Belgiumthat did not ratify the Framework Convention for Protection of NationalMinorities which it signed in 1997, it is still bound to respect its objectby virtue of Article 18 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treatiesthat stipulates: " A State shall refrain from completing any acts that maydeprive a treaty of its object and purpose…after the State has signed therespective treaty…".Nevertheless, the Bletsas case is one of a number of cases ofdiscrimination against the largest Vlach minority in Balkans, cases ofpeople being persecuted for expressing or disseminating opinions whichought to be respected in any democracy, regardless whether they areaccurate or acceptable by the large majority of population and theauthorities.Even though the public opinion of Greece views the issues involvingminorities with great suspicion, a human liberties and minority rightspolicy should not be limited to signing international conventions, that arethen not applied because this policy is not prepared to challenge thetraditionalist political culture. The human rights and minority rights issues should concern the Greekgovernment not only in relation with their internal public opinion, butalso with the latest European Union enhanced developments.We also refer to the European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence,following which the essential character of the freedom of expression in ademocratic society still applies for the information that may shock orproduce inquiries to the large majority of the population, as proved by theLingens v. Austria case.It is a pity that the victim of discrimination is a member of the"Vlach-speaking" population, this population being no political threat tothe Greek National State and one of the oldest communities that lives onGreek soil.Perhaps no country in Europe knows more than Greece about fight forpreservation of Europe's cultural heritage.That is why special attention should be given to the Vlach-speakingminority, due to its particularly threatened language.That is the reason for which we respectfully ask you to analyse thissituation and to initiate all the measures you consider optimal for apositive solution of the case in accord with the European standards ofhuman rights.Sincerely yours, Bogdan Grabowski - LawyerThe Human Rights ObserverResidency:Bucuresti, RomaniaBd. Stirbei-Voda, nr.71, ap.3Bucharest, February 2001




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