Haralambos Athanassiou, the Greek Minister of Justice, submitted a bill that foresees tough penalties for racist behaviors and crimes, to the General Accounting Office .
This anti-racism bill is a combination of proposals submitted by different parties. It is expected to be finalized and submitted to the Parliament for approval.
According to the bill, racist attacks will be sentenced for up to three years imprisonment and financial penalties of up to 20,000 euros.
The praise of nazism, Holocaust or other internationally recognized genocides will also be punished.
The bill foresees the suspension of state funding for political parties, unions and organizations whose members display racist behavior, for up to six months.
Another provision prohibits the so-called “Greeks only” food distribution and other charities, based on origin, skin color or religion, which are organized by the neo-Nazi party, Golden Dawn.
In 2012, the organization Human Rights Watch had published a report for the increase of racist attacks in Greece and the failure of the Greek authorities to prevent these incidences.
“With people being attacked on the streets, Greece urgently needs to beef up its criminal justice response to hate crimes,” said Judith Sunderland, a researcher of the human Rights Watch.
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