Criminal complained against Mr. Eleftherios Sinadinos
Attorney Gokhan Cindemir filed criminal complained against Mr. Eleftherios Sinadinos by submitting application to Public Prosecutor of Istanbul for the words he mentioned in a debate on the EU-Turkey summit on 9th March 2016 (prosecution registration numbered 2016/37324, dated 11,03,2016). ,Synadinos, a member of Greece’s Golden Dawn party, told the Strasbourg-based European parliament that “as it has been expressed in scientific literature, the Turks are dirty and barbaric.” “Turks are like wild dogs when they play, but when they have to fight against their enemies, they run away,” he added. “The only effective way to deal with the Turks is with decisive and resolute attitudes.” ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsIgRj8N5nM )
Under Turkish Penal Code, Article 122 explicitly penalizes the conducts based on racial, lingual discrimination with motivation of hatred and in addition Article 301 of Penal code penalizes the act of a person who publicly denigrates Turkish Nation. Unlike article 122, Article 301 Paragraph (4) is subjected approval of Turkish Justice Ministry to be proceeded. Accordingly, we are in the stage of waiting for approval decision of Turkish Justice Ministry to initiate prosecution for the crime which was committed explicitly in Strasbourg, France. Turkish Authorities may also request from European Parliament to give a statement regarding racist speech of Mr. Synadinos. It is believed that painful memories and unforgettable experiences of Europe stemming from WW2 will lead the Parliament for cooperation with Turkish Authorities in order to prevent further breaches of article 165 of the rules of procedure representing a breach of the values of the EU.
Under Turkish Penal Code, alleged crime is also committed in territory of Turkey by means of press and broadcast. In our complaint, alleged crimes attributed to Mr. Synadinos mentioned as the following:
Article 122
-(1) Any person who makes discrimination between individuals because of their racial, lingual, religious, sexual, political, philosophical belief or opinion, or for being supporters of different sects and therefore;
a) Prevents sale, transfer of movable or immovable property, or performance of a service, or
benefiting from a service, or bounds employment or unemployment ofa person to above listed reasons,
b) Refuses to deliver nutriments or to render a public service,
c) Prevents a person to perform an ordinary economic activity, is sentenced to imprisonment from six months to one year or imposed punitive fine.
Article 301
Denigrating the Turkish Nation, the State of the Turkish Republic, the Institutions and Organs of the State
1. A person who publicly denigrates Turkish Nation, the State of the Republic of Turkey, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the Government of the Republic of Turkey or the judicial bodies of the State, shall be sentenced a penalty of imprisonment for a term of six months and two years.
2. A person who publicly denigrates the military or security structures shall be punishable according to the first paragraph.
3. Expressions of thought intended to criticize shall not constitute a crime.
4. The prosecution under this article shall be subject to the approval of the Minister of Justice.
