Greece / Mixed-Jury Appeals Court of Athens/Decision on the Appeal against Decision No. 398/2014 of the Mixed-Jury Court of Athens/Luqman Case
Country
Greece
Title
Year
Decision/ruling/judgment date
Incident(s) concerned/related
Related Bias motivation
Groups affected
Court/Body type
Court/Body
Key facts of the case
The Decision of the Appeals Court upheld on a unanimous vote the verdict of the first instance court. The Mixed Jury Court of Athens convicted two men with alleged ties to the Golden Dawn party for murdering a 27 year-old worker from Pakistan on his way to work. The case was introduced to the courts as a ‘quarrel gone wrong’ however the Judgment of the Court was the first to examine the elements capable of establishing a racist motivation such as the circumstances of the attack, the vulnerability and identity of the victim and the modus operandi of the perpetrators. The accused were sentenced to life in prison with the aggravating circumstance of racist motivation under Article 79 (3) of the Greek Penal Code (which has now been amended to include racist crime). It was the first time a Greek Court adjudicated on a hate/racist crime.
Main reasoning/argumentation
N/A. The Court's Decision has not been published yet.
Is the case related to the application of the Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia, the Racial Equality Directive?
Key issues (concepts, interpretations) clarified by the case
The case was first introduced to the court under the characterisation of "a quarrel gone wrong”. The Mixed-Jury Court in the first instance unanimously rejected this, stating that the circumstances of the case such as the numerical superiority of perpetrators – at midnight- attack against an individual unknown to them, targeted as a Pakistani migrant, with the use of knives, in an area frequented by migrants and the possession of far-right pamphlets indicate that the offences committed were carried out with a racist motive. The racist motive was maintained in the Appeals phase.
Results (sanctions, outcome) and key consequences or implications of the case
The Mixed-Jury Appeals Court of Athens sentenced the defendants to 21 years and 5 months prison terms each. Due to good behaviour, they were given shorter sentences than those imposed by the first instance court.
Key quotation in original language and its unofficial translation into English with reference details
N/A