ND filed its proposal against racism

The ND bill against racism and xenophobia, tabled in parliament today, provides for criminal sanctions for those who "endorse or underestimate the severity of genocides recognized by the Greek parliament, the Holocaust and the Nazi crimes."

The text, entitled "Amendments to Law 927/1979 and other provisions" includes four articles that complement the existing legal framework. According to the specific comments it provides for punishing of legal persons, if their legal representatives endorse or devalue the crimes of Nazism.

In particular, it provides for "strict administrative sanctions against legal persons, whose legal natural representatives are irrevocably sentenced for violations of the current law that were committed for the benefit or on behalf of the said entity. These sanctions relate to administrative fines (from 10,000 to 100,000 euros) and exclusion from State benefits of any kind such as grants, aid and commissions for a period of 1-6 months."

The main differences between the ND proposal and that of PASOK and Democratic Left are:

-       ND asks to prosecute those who "condone or underestimate the severity of genocides recognized by the Greek Parliament", including the Pontian Genocide. The PASOK and Democratic Left proposal includes only the genocides recognized by the International Criminal Court, which does not recognize the Pontian genocide

-       only the ND proposal exempts public entities and their institutions such as the church

-       the PASOK and DIMAR proposal provides for suspension of up to six months and fine of up to 200,000 euros for legal persons whose legal representatives engage in racist behavior while the ND proposal is limited to 100,000 euros

-       only the PASOK and DIMAR proposal includes violations of sexual orientation in racist behavior.