The one-member Criminal Court of Thessaloniki imposed a one-year prison sentence and a fine of 5,000 euros with a three-year suspension on a trade unionist as he was found to have made statements inciting racist violence or hatred.
The statements were made in May 2019, when immigrants of Pakistani origin beat a butcher in the Kapani market of Thessaloniki.
In his trade union capacity, the accused allegedly gave a telephone interview to a media outlet in Thessaloniki, saying, among other things: "We will bury the Pakistanis in Aristotelous Square."
According to Proto Thema, these statements were reproduced from a local website and found by police officers of the Department for Combating Racist Violence in Thessaloniki.
At the same time, an indictment was filed by a representative of the Hellenic Observatory of the Helsinki Accords.
In his testimony to the court, he denied the accusation leveled against him, stating, among other things, that he is not a racist, nor does he have xenophobic views.
He appealed against the decision to be re-tried by a higher court.
