Wiesenthal Centre to Greek Justice Minister: "Tomorrow's Appeal - a Test for Antisemitism with Impunity"

Wiesenthal Centre to Greek Justice Minister: "Tomorrow's Appeal Trial of pro-Nazi Publicist will be a Message to Young Greeks whether Incitement to Racism can be expressedwith Impunity"

In a letter to Greek Justice Minister, Sotirios Hatzigakis, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's Director for International Relations, Dr Shimon Samuels, expressed his concern at "reportedirregularities in the ongoing legal case against K. Plevris."

Samuels noted that "this spokesman of the extreme right LA.O.S (Popular Orthodox Rally) Party last year received a 14 months suspended sentence for his book's incitement toantisemitism. 'The Jews: The Whole Truth' is a passionate elegy to Hitler, the SS and the Third Reich. This scurrilous hate manifesto criticizes the Nazis for not completing theextermination of the Jews, 'although they were in a position to do so'."

The letter continued, "the Court was noted to have expelled plaintiff's counsel and a Public Prosecutor allegedly denoted this Nazi text as 'scientific writing'", adding, "followingthe trial, Plevris apparently became a television star, thus granting publicity to the bigoted and xenophobic platform of the LA.O.S party."

The Centre pointed to the fact that "LA.O.S leaders have, apparently, claimed that the Greek Ministry for Youth be handed to the overtly neo-Nazi Skinhead movement, Chryssi Avgi(Golden Dawn)."

"No wonder that the desecration of Jewish cemeteries and Holocaust memorials has increased, as in last month's YouTube outrageous spectacle of high school students urinating on themonument to the deported Jews of Rhodes," lamented the Centre.

Samuels called on the Minister to pay special attention to "Plevris' appearance tomorrow morning before the five Judge Court of Appeal. Greek honour is at stake as the chargesagainst him not only violate the 1979 law 927 on 'incitement to violence against citizens for their race, nation or religion'. If Plevris is not sentenced to a concrete prison term,the Greek court will be demonstrating contempt for your government's commitments to combat antisemitism under the provisions of the European Union, the Council of Europe and theOrganization for Security and Cooperation in Europe."

Samuels also emphasized that "acquittal or a suspended sentence will pass a message to young Greeks that antisemitism and racism can be expressed with impunity, thus making yourjudicial authorities complicit before the fact in any subsequent violence against minorities."

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre announced its solidarity with the appeal of the Greek Antinazi-Initiative, "for true justice tomorrow in the case of hatemonger K. Plevris."

For further information, please contact Shimon Samuels at +33.609.77.01.58