The Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF) submitted a written statement entitled “Freedom of the Minority Press in Greece and Excessive Fines Imposed on Gündem and Millet Newspapers” to the 17th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council to be held from 30 May to 17 June 2011 in Geneva. In its written statement, ABTTF criticizes the astronomic amount of compensation penalties levied on two major newspapers Gündem and Millet which belong to the Turkish minority of Western Thrace in Greece. The Greek teacher Hara Nikopoulou, who worked between 2005 and 2010 in the Turkish minority primary school in the village of Büyük Derbent (Megalo Derio), had sued the above-mentioned newspapers since they had reported that she had asked the first-grade pupils in the concerning minority primary school to draw the picture of God. ABTTF notes that both of the newspapers are not able to pay the excessive fines and so at the brink of bankruptcy. ABTTF underlines also that this situation threatens freedom of press of the Turkish minority, and the amount of compensation fines should not result in unjust enrichment of the claimant, but rather it should compensate the moral loss of the claimant.
ABTTF states that during her teaching period at the Turkish minority school of Büyük Derbent, Hara Nikopoulou was warned by the Greek Ministry of Education, Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs due to her extracurricular activities, these ‘extracurricular’ of activities of Nikopoulou were appeared in the Turkish minority press including Gündem and Millet and on several websites. However, Nikopoulou claimed that the news that she had asked her pupils to draw the picture of God was unfounded and sued subsequently Gündem and Millet asking for 1 million-Euro-compensation from each newspaper. The authorized Greek courts levied compensation fines of 150.000 euros for Gündem and 120.000 euros for Millet to pay to Hara Nikopoulou. The sentence also forces the newspapers for immediate payment of 32.600 euros for Gündem and 22.300 euros for Millet even if they are to appeal. Unable to cope with such harsh measures, the newspapers were not able to submit to the immediate fines resulting in the freezing of the journalists’ bank accounts in April 2011. ABTTF also notes that the cases were adjourned and will be revised on 24 February 2012 by the Thrace Court of Appeal.
In the written statement, it is stated that in her regular report to the Permanent Council, Ms. Dunja Mijatovic, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, mentioned the cases of Gündem and Millet. According to this, Mijatovic states in her report that the compensatory damage awards that can be levied to ensure that judgments do not lead to bankruptcy and thus weaken media pluralism in the country. Moreover, ABTTF refers also to the concern of the Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), over excessive fines levied on Gündem and Millet. ABTTF notes that in the 2010 World Press Freedom Index released by the Reporters Without Borders, Greece has fallen to the 70th place which is the worst position held by an EU member country, and calls upon the Greek Government to reconsider and revise the relevant legislation with regard to the compensation penalties levied on Gündem and Millet.
The full text of the written statement submitted by ABTTF to the 17th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council is available at:
http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/sdpage_e.aspx?b=10&se=116&t=7
