PRESS RELEASE

Geneva, December 4th, 2003

GREECE: The acquittal of a policeman who killed an Albanian man - a
dark day for the fight against impunity in Greece


The International Secretariat of OMCT is deeply concerned by the
acquittal of police officer Ioannis Rizopoulos, who was being tried
by the Second Three-Member Misdemeanours Court of Athens on November
24th, 2003 for the manslaughter of 20-year-old Albanian immigrant
Gentjan Çelniku. The trial reportedly included clear violations of
Greek law and international standards.

On November 21st, 2001, Mr. Gentjan Çelniku reportedly died from a
gun-shot wound to the head while being arrested. It is worth noting
that this is not an isolated case, as there have been a spate of
incidents involving the ill-treatment, injury or killing of Albanians
in Greece, and the acquittal of police officer Rizopoulos is
therefore of great significance. For more information about this
context and in particular the cases of 42 Albanians at the border
areas with Albania, please consult OMCT's urgent appeal from October
16th entitled:
"Greece: severe beatings, injuries and/or killings of Albanian
citizens at border areas"
(http://www.omct.org/displaydocument.asp?DocType=Appeal&Index=3706&Lan
guage=EN).

In only one case has there been an effective judicial inquiry, while
in another recent case, which had led to the death of an Albanian, an
initial criminal investigation - formally identical to the Officer
Rizopoulos case mentioned above - has been initiated. The Greek
Helsinki Monitor (GHM), a member of OMCT's global NGO network, sent
an appeal requesting that at least some of these cases be
investigated to the region's Deputy Appeals Prosecutor. On November
17th, 2003, however, GHM received an answer that there was no reason
for any further investigation.

The International Secretariat of OMCT believes that the acquittal of
Officer Rizopoulos marks a dark day in the fight against impunity in
Greece, notably as this will do little to abate the ongoing
violations being perpetrated against Albanians in Greece, notably at
the border area between the two countries, where many of the afore-
mentioned incidents have and continue to take place. It is vital that
the Greek authorities take immediate steps to investigate these
incidents in a prompt and impartial manner and to ensure that all
state agents found guilty of such violations be brought to justice in
line with national law and international standards and receive
appropriate sanctions.

Background information

According to information provided by GHM, police officer Ioannis
Rizopoulos was initially indicted on charges of reckless homicide (a
felony). However, the Misdemeanours Judicial Council indicted the
defendant only on manslaughter charges (a misdemeanour) under ruling
Ref. No. 4652/9-10-2002, and this despite appeals by Amnesty
International and the International Helsinki Federation to the
Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, asking for an appeal to be filed in
order for a proper inquiry to be conducted. Despite a similar request
made by GHM to the Chief Prosecutor of the Appeals Court, the appeals
prosecutor charged with the case did not file an appeal. Alongside
this, the Sworn Administrative Inquiry (EDE) conducted by the
Hellenic Police (EL.AS.) was concluded, and recommended that Ioannis
Rizopoulos be suspended from duty. The First Instance Disciplinary
Council, however, did not impose any punishment on the police
officer. An appeal against the decision was lodged by EL.AS. High
Command, and the case is still pending in the Second Instance
Disciplinary Council.

Both the judiciary and EL.AS. have based themselves on the reportedly
unfounded claim made by the defence that Mr. Çelniku's death came
about when the firearm that the police officer was holding (pointing
upwards) went off after he had been kicked in the elbow by the
deceased, who was facing Officer Rizopoulos while he was approaching
the victim from the right. However, the bullet entered the victim's
head from behind on the right side, but while he was face-down on the
ground in an open
space. The defence's argument would suggest that the direction of the
bullet should have been upwards, not downwards as events suggest.
Furthermore, the courts and
EL.AS. have ignored a second injury: a contusion on the upper left
back side of Mr. Çelniku's head, which was noted by the forensics
medical expert and the doctor on
duty at the IKA hospital where the deceased was originally
transferred. It is believed that the injury resulted from a blow to
the head before the fatal gunshot was fired.
Proper consideration of these points should have lead to an
indictment on reckless homicide (a felony).

During the five-hour court hearing, no one offered an explanation as
to how the defendant, who was facing the victim - according to all
witnesses and the defendant - shot
him in the back of his head. The victim's family lawyer based his
explanation on the only eyewitness who had not changed his statement
between the inquiry and the
hearing. The witness had claimed that, prior to the shooting, the
policeman pulled the chair upon which the victim was sitting to make
him fall down like the other Albanians
who were being arrested, and that, during the fall, the victim kicked
the policeman not in his elbow or anywhere else in his hand, as the
defendant claimed, but somewhere
else in his body, following which a shot was fired. The lawyer argued
that this helped explain the victim's second head wound and indicated
that after the fall the victim was
face down and was shot while the policeman was standing or kneeling
above him.

Of major importance is the fact that the two other Albanians, who
were being arrested along with the victim, when testifying before the
court, retracted many of the things
that they had said during the inquiry. When asked about the
discrepancies, they said that the night of the incident, the
policemen who were taking their statements "put
words in their mouths", and that one of them was threatened with
arrest for perjury if he did not confirm his first statement during
the ensuing police sworn administrative
inquiry. The court, however, did not react to these serious
accusations. Moreover, a passer-by who arrived at the scene of the
incident moments after the shooting, testified
to the court that the defendant had ill-treated the hand-cuffed the
Albanians while they were face down on the ground. This passer-by, a
former state agency deputy
governor, had said the same thing the day after the event in an
interview. When asked by GHM about the fact that this allegation was
not in his sworn deposition during the
inquiry, he responded that the investigative judge did not want to
include it.

Finally, the court room and the surrounding area were filled with
plainclothes and uniform police officers, including some 4-5 in the
bullet-proof uniforms of the OPKE anti-
crime unit to which the defendant belonged at the time of the
incident. The latter reportedly made repeated controls of the
Albanian witnesses who were awaiting the hearing. When the lawyer
protested, the police reportedly attempted to search him too.

GHM's lawyer filed a request for an appeal (the victim's relatives
who were civil claimants cannot appeal the judgment) with the
Prosecutor's office. GHM will also help the relatives file a
complaint to the ECHR if an appeal is not filed.




For further information, please contact: Michael Anthony - tel: + 41
22 809 49 39, e-mail: ma@...
Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture (OMCT)
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Organización Mundial Contra la Tortura (OMCT)
8 rue du Vieux-Billard
Case postale 21
CH-1211 Geneve 8
Suisse/Switzerland
Tel. : 0041 22 809 49 39
Fax : 0041 22 809 49 29
E-mail : omct@...
http://www.omct.org