#Nikos Sabanis

[djuvlipen]

After more than four months of silence from the police, public prosecutor, and ministry of interior, the family of a 27-year-old Romani man who died after police intervention are still without answers. The ERRC have written to the Albanian General Prosecutor and Minister of Internal Affairs to demand justice.

Jani Rustemaj, 27, was arrested at 15.00 on 13 April 2023 close to the “Delijorgji” residential block in Tirana by police officers from Police unit no. 2. He was later pronounced dead in police custody after going into a coma at the "Mother Teresa" University Hospital Center in Tirana due to an alleged methadone overdose. 

Jani’s death has raised concerns about allegations of police misconduct and violence towards him in the hours preceding his death. The hospital initially attributed Jani's coma to a methadone overdose. However, his family denied these allegations by stating that their son was not a drug addict and had no health issues when the police took him into custody. The family accuse the police of exercising violence and have provided evidence of contusions, broken front teeth, and a broken leg as indications of police brutality, which they noticed and photographed during their visits to the hospital. 

Multiple organisations have begun investigating the incident, with the Albanian Helsinki Committee (AHC) revealing that Jani was denied admission to two penitentiary institutions without providing valid reasons for their refusal. The AHC is concerned about the lack of transparency and accountability in the admission process of penitentiary institutions. They have highlighted mistreatment, racial bias, and discriminatory practices against Roma by state authorities and called for a thorough investigation into the matter to ensure that Jani's rights were not violated. 

“It is deeply troubling that Jani Rustemaj, a 27-year-old Romani man, died under such circumstances while in police custody. This incident highlights the pressing issue of police misconduct and brutality targeting Roma individuals. Jani Rustemaj's family's allegations of visible signs of violence on his body indicate the urgent need for a thorough and impartial investigation into his death. This incident should catalyse broader discussions and actions aimed at eradicating discrimination against the Romani community and ensuring that justice is served.” Said the ERRC’s Legal Consultant in Albania, Manjola Veizi.

Despite several requests for information from the relevant authorities, it has been over four months since Jani Rustemi's tragic death, and the family has received no response from the authorities regarding the status of the investigation or the results of forensic examinations.  Given the ineffectiveness and failure of authorities to ensure justice, the family has decided to pursue legal action independently. Transparency and accountability are vital in cases involving potential human rights violations. This prolonged lack of information has caused immense distress to the grieving family, prompting the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) to act. The ERRC has written to Mr. Taulant Balla, Minister of Internal Affairs, and Mr. Olsian Cela, General Prosecutor, and called for an immediate and thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding Jani Rustemi's arrest, the alleged maltreatment by police officers, and his untimely death. The organisation urges the relevant authorities to expedite the investigation and give the Rustemi family the answers they deserve.

Jani’s death is not an isolated incident. The ERRC has reported on and litigated numerous cases of suspicious deaths of Roma by police across Europe that have caused significant international outrage and calls for justice. Henri Lenfant, a young Romani man in France, lost his life under suspicious circumstances while under police custody. Another disturbing incident was the death of a Romani man, Stanislav Tomas, in the Czech Republic, which was recorded by a witness and went viral. The video showed Tomas being restrained by multiple officers with a knee on the back of his neck in a pose reminiscent of the police murder of George Floyd in the United States. In Greece, Nikos Sabanis, an 18-year-old unarmed Romani man, was fatally shot by Athenian police, leading to widespread protests. Most recently, the ERRC brought a criminal complaint regarding the death of Muszunye Mircea Vișan, a 33-year-old Romani man, who died in a police station in Arad, Romania, after police officers beat him until he went into cardiac arrest. 

These incidents are not limited to a specific geographic area. For a comprehensive understanding of the extent of the problem, this map visually represents the alarming frequency and distribution of incidents of police harassment, brutality, disproportionate force, torture in custody, or law enforcement actions resulting in the death of a Romani person across Europe.

Suspicious deaths of Romani people while under arrest in Europe highlight a systemic problem of discrimination and mistreatment towards Roma within the criminal legal system. When viewed at a European level, it is clear that the problem is not merely one or two isolated incidents of brutality but a systemic issue of institutional racism. Measures must be taken to ensure accountability for any misconduct or negligence that leads to the death of Romani individuals in police custody. It is essential to consider the history of racial bias in the policing of Roma and to examine any potential racial motivations in the investigation. 

Killings of Roma by law enforcement in various European countries have sparked outrage and calls for justice in recent years.  The lack of action and fair investigation in response to Jani’s death and the countless Roma before him is a stark reminder that prejudice and discrimination persist in societies claiming to uphold democratic values and human rights. 

It is vital that we do not allow the memory of these lost lives to fade into history. Their names must be remembered as a catalyst for change. We must demand accountability from those responsible, advocate for reforms in police training and procedures, and tirelessly work to dismantle the systemic discrimination and racism that afflicts our criminal legal systems. Only by ensuring that those responsible for these crimes are legally answerable can we hope to end the mistreatment of Roma and ensure that such tragedies are never repeated.

Another Romani man killed by the police

[greekconcertstatus]

Would you like to see the talented #Greek singer George #Sabanis live in #Concert ??

[crimethinc]

Greece: Still Fighting Against the Odds

https://cwc.im/GreeceDecember2021

After two years of repression and lockdown, anarchists took the offensive at the end of 2021 with fierce demonstrations against the murder of Nikos Sabanis and commemorating the revolutionary anniversaries of November 17 and December 6.

[elladastinkardiamou]

At least a hundred Roma demonstrators blocked traffic on Greece’s national highway on Thursday afternoon outside Athens in protest at the decision to release seven police officers accused of killing a Roma man on Saturday night during a traffic stop.

The seven cops were initially arrested for investigation into the shooting, which has infuriated civil society and leftist activists and set off protests around the country. But late Wednesday night, Minister of Civil Protection Takis Theodorikakos ordered their unconditional release, leaving the police union head to brag that the seven would be back at work on Thursday morning without restrictions.

[romanationmovement]

Roma Man Killed by Greek Police Had 'Hands Up' When He Was Shot

[polyglottraveler]

Top 5 Favorite songs in different languages

Here are some of my favorite songs in some languages I love, let me know about yours!

English:

Desert rose – Sting           Hotel California – Eagles                               Wind of change – Scorpions Machines – Crown the empire Surrender – Bruce Springsteen

French:

Caravane – Raphaël                         J’ai demandé à la lune – Indochine           Jeunesse lève-toi – Saez               Les lumières dans la plaine – Mickey 3D                 J’temmène au vent – Louise Attaque

Spanish:

Despacito – Luis Fonsi El mismo sol – Alvaro Soler Reggaetón lento – CNCO               Enamorate – Dvicio   Subeme la radio – Enrique Iglesias

Portuguese:

Amar pelos dois – Salvador Sobral           Ninguém é de ferro – Wesley Safadao   Samba do Brasil – Bellini Você partiu meu coração– Nego do Borel, Anitta             Nao se passa nada - Piruka

Greek:

De fevgo – Michalis Hatzigiannis               Kati Dynato - Michalis Hatzigiannis Nihta ki alli nihta – Giorgos Sabanis         Ligo akoma – Thanos Petrelis Thelo na me nioseis – Nikos Vertis

Italian:

Con te partiro – Andrea Bocelli   Vivo per lei – Andrea Bocelli       Occidentali’s Karma – Francesco Gabbani             Vietato Morire – Ermal Meta Ti amo – Umberto Tozzi

A few other languages:

Japanese:           We are - One ok rock     I was king – One ok rock              

Korean: Not today – Bangtan Boys            Spring day – Bangtan Boys

Yemenite Arabic:             Habib Galbi – A-WA

German:               Feuerwerk – Wincent Weiss       Nur ein Herzschlag entfernt – Wincent Weiss Ist da jemand – Adel Tawil

Turkish:               Küsme Aşka – Oğuzhan Koç

[mygladbook]

Ah! Aceeaşi frustrare de altădată când văd că lumea îl cere repetat pe Nikos când sunt atâtea, dar atâtea voci bune care ne-ar putea vizita ţara. Şi da, înţeleg bine de ce Vertis, însă grecii-s ca rapsozii noştri: mulţi şi buni, indiferent de culoare, greutate, înălţime. Vrem bunăciune tânără? Chemăm Argiros! Doamnelor, căutaţi-l pe Kwnstantinos, vă provoc! Vrem jelanii? Sabanis sau Ploutarxos (bunăciuni condiţionate de gust, pe-al meu îl satisfac) Vrem ritm? (Kotsiras, Maraveyas) Vrem clasice? Le cântă şi Hatzigiannis şi Dimos Anastasiadis. Îi vrem mai în vârstă, dar nu chiar de vârsta lui Dalaras? Grecia are de toate...deci, de ce doar Vertis?

(31 ianuarie 2018)

[djuvlipen]

11.11.2023, Christos Michalopoulos, a 17yo Greek Romani teenager, was shot dead by the police.

09.19.2023, a Molotov cocktail is thrown at a Sinti encampment in Prato, Italy.

08.07.2023, Muszunye Mircea Vișan, a 33yo Romanian Romani man, is beaten by the Romanian police until he went into cardiac arrest and died.

04.13.2023, Jani Rustemaj, a 27yo Albanian Romani man, is beaten to death by cops while in police custody.

12.05.2022, Kostas Frigoulis, a 16yo Greek Romani teenager, was shot dead by the police. They fired 30 times.

07.25.2022, Hasib Omerovic, a 36yo Italian Romani, disabled man was beat up by the police and pushed out of his bedroom window, falling from a height of nine meters. He has been in a coma ever since.

07.2021, Brasilian military police murders the Romani families living in Vitória da Conquista. At least six Romani people were shot dead and another 15 wounded on the 13th of July. The following day, a 14-year-old Romani boy was shot dead by the police.

10.23.2021, Nikos Sabanis, an 18yo Greek Romani teenager, is shot dead by the police.

06.19.2021, Czech police officers kneel on the neck of Stanislav Tomas, a Czech Romani man, until he stopped breathing.

05.2021, Pîtea Constantin Daniel (22) and Constantin Dănuț Aurel (45), two Romanian Romani men, were beaten up by the police and threatened with execution: "Wait and see for yourself. We will take you to the field and there you will see that we will kill you

05.25.2020, Gabriel Djordjevic, a 14yo French Romani boy had to undergo surgery and almost lost his eyesight after being beaten by the police. He suffered PTSD following the attack.

09.27.2018, Henri Lenfant, a 23yo French Romani man, was shot dead by the police.

04.13.2017, a Romani man and his son were beaten by Bulgarian police.

09.26.2014, Raymond Gurême, an 89yo French Romani man, Holocaust survivor, and former Resistance fighter who helped liberate France from the Nazis, was beaten up by French cops in his own trailer.

[djuvlipen]

11/13/2023. Another Romani teen shot dead by Greek police

By Bernard Rorke

Around midnight on Saturday, 11 November, Greek police shot a 17-year-old Romani boy after a car chase in the town of Thebes, north of Attica. According to media reports, the car, with four passengers, two boys and two girls aged 15-17, failed to stop when ordered. In the ensuing pursuit, the car was surrounded by police in a dead-end alley in the Liontari village. 

Witnesses said a gun shot was heard, fatally wounding the 17-year-old. The police claim that one of the underage passengers tried to snatch the policeman’s gun which ‘went off’ killing the boy. The victim’s brother claimed that it was the policeman who fired the gun. 

In a statement, the Minister for Citizen’s protection Giannis Oikonomou expressed condolences to the family of the young victim and stressed that “the circumstances under which the sad incident took place are under investigation by the competent authorities.” An autopsy will take place to determine the exact cause of death. 

Police shoot dead three Romani teens in three years 

This is the third such incident in three years, and based on past experience, the police account should be viewed with deep suspicion. On 14 December 2022, more than 1,500 mourners gathered in a Roma neighbourhood in Thessaloniki for the funeral of Romani teenager Kostas Frangoulis, who died of his wounds after being shot in the head by a police officer during a chase over an unpaid EUR20 gas station bill. 

In the immediate wake of the shooting, about one hundred Romani men erected barricades and set fire to rubbish bins outside the hospital, and 1500 protestors clashed with police in the streets of Thessaloniki. Not many there credited the official claim that the victim’s actions had “placed the lives of the police officers in immediate danger.” The fatal shooting sparked three nights of rioting and protests in Greece.  

One year earlier, on 23 October 2021, seven Greek motorcycle police officers in pursuit of a stolen car opened fire on the three unarmed Romani occupants of the vehicle, killing 18-year-old Nikos Sabanis, and seriously wounding a 16-year-old. Between 30 and 40 shots are clearly audible in a video recording of the incident, and a radio conversation between the police operational centre and the attending officers shows that the officers were aware that the occupants of the vehicle were three Roma.

The police press release after the incident mentioned injuries to the seven police officers, that the deceased was 20 years-old and had a criminal record, and that the minor who was shot only had light injuries. These were all later proven to be false; no police officers were injured, the victim was 18 and had no criminal record, and the 16-year-old boy was seriously wounded.

‘The European tradition for protecting minorities’

In the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests across European capitals in June 2020, the Greek EU Commissioner Margaritis Schinas, responsible for ‘promoting our European way of life’ claimed that Europe does not have issues “that blatantly pertain to police brutality or issues of race transcending into our systems”, and that because of the “European tradition for protecting minorities, we have less issues than they have in the States". 

Following the police shooting of Nikos Sabanis, in an open letter to the Greek Prime Minister on the 27 October 2021, the European Parliament Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup (ARDI) and the ERRC urged the authorities to investigate the possibility of racial motivation behind the disproportionate use of force; expressed concern at the national news coverage which triggered a wave of anti-Roma sentiment, with the prosecutor referring to Roma as a ‘social menace’; and called for a swift response from the competent authorities to declare that hate speech is unacceptable, and that there is no impunity for law enforcement concerning crimes against Roma or other ethnic minorities. 

This latest killing of yet another Romani teenager serves as a tragic reminder that when it comes to policing Roma and other racialized minorities, contrary to Commissioner Schinas’s assertion, Greece and the European Union does indeed ‘have issues.’ 

[djuvlipen]

On Tuesday, scuffles broke out between protestors and police outside a courthouse in Thessaloniki where a police officer appeared before the court on a felony charge of attempted manslaughter, for shooting a 16-year-old Romani boy in the head after he allegedly failed to pay a €20 gas station bill. The victim remains in critical condition in a Thessaloniki hospital. 

In the immediate wake of the shooting, about one hundred Romani men erected barricades and set fire to rubbish bins outside the hospital, and 1500 protestors clashed with police in the streets of Thessaloniki. Not many there credited the official claim that the victim’s actions had “placed the lives of the police officers in immediate danger.” 

For this comes just one year after Greek police shot dead an 18-year-old Romani youth Nikos Sabanis, and seriously wounded another teenager in a car chase outside Athens. Between 30 and 40 shots were fired by as many as seven police officers.  The police press release after the incident claimed all of the officers sustained injuries, that the deceased was 20 and had a criminal record, and that the minor who was shot only had light injuries. 

These claims were all later proven to be false – no police officers were injured, the victim was 18 and had a clean record, and the 16-year-old was seriously injured. Audio recordings revealed that the officers were aware that the occupants of the vehicle were Roma.

A catalogue of violence against Roma

The outrage that followed the tragic death of the young Romani man Stanislav Tomáš under the knee of a ‘restraining’ Czech police officer in the town of Teplice in June 2021, should have been a wake-up call for European and national authorities to get serious about tackling racist policing, rights abuses and justice denied for Roma. 

However, the official denials and the Prime Minister’s disparagement of the victim as somebody who was not ‘normal or respectable’, followed by the dismissal of all charges against the officers, suggested that Europe’s reckoning with racial justice remains a long way off – and 2022 brought no respite, but rather more incidents and evidence of police brutality against Roma.

In late November in Italy, it was announced that four police officers will face charges of torture, giving false testimony and attempted murder following a house raid, which left a 36-year-old Romani victim in a coma. Hasib Omerovic, who has been deaf since birth, sustained serious injuries when he ‘fell’ nine metres from his bedroom window during an unauthorised police raid on his apartment on 25 July 2022. 

On the 7 July 2022, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) awarded a Romani applicant €19,500 following an incident back in 2014, when he was assaulted and racially abused by Hungarian police officers. The ECtHR found in multiple cases that Hungary had violated the right to life or the prohibition of torture when failing to carry out adequate and effective investigations into allegations of ill-treatment by police officers, including failure to investigate possible racist motives.

On 2 June 2022, the Slovak Government reached a friendly settlement agreement in the ECtHR with eight Romani men who were brutalised by police officers in 2013 during a notorious mass police raid on a Romani community in Moldava nad Bodvou. ERRC Operations Director Marek Balaz described the almost decade long struggle for justice: 

“The real story is one of a completely botched internal investigation of the raid; scapegoating of the victims by prominent politicians; deliberate obstruction of the Ombudsperson’s investigation; blocking victim testimonies at the parliament; and finally adding insult to grievous injury, by charging some of the victims with perjury. These are some of the essential ingredients of a case where the combination of corruption, lies and racist malice beggar belief.”

Right across Europe, week in and week out, ERRC gets reports of police misconduct against Roma: of collusion between law enforcement and far-right paramilitaries; ethnic profiling, harassment and over-policing in one district, and under-policing by deliberate failures ‘to serve and protect’ in another; mass raids on Romani neighbourhoods, and serious injuries even deaths resulting from beatings in custody or during arrest. The emergency lock-downs due to Covid-19 witnessed an upsurge in incidents of police brutality against Roma, most notably in Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia, where a considerable number of actions taken by law enforcement in policing the pandemic constituted cruel and inhumane behaviour. 

Brutal, bigoted and unashamedly racist

Police racism against Roma is pervasive right across Europe, and the European Institutions just don’t want to talk about it. Infamously, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests in June 2020, European Commission Vice-President Schinas claimed that Europe does not have issues “that blatantly pertain to police brutality or issues of race transcending into our systems”, and that because of the “European tradition for protecting minorities, we have less issues than they have in the States". 

Commissioner Schinas’s myopic intervention about that ‘European tradition’ came just days after a 14-year-old Romani boy sustained a fractured eye socket and four broken teeth in the course of being detained by French police. The boy, Gabriel Djordjevic told reporters, “There were four of them. One of them put handcuffs on me and put his knees on my back. A woman [officer] held my feet while a bearded police officer kicked me in the face.” 

ERRC’s research and caseload reveal the extent to which anti-Roma racism is endemic and systemic within police ranks. Rather than being the case of a few “bad apples” law enforcement agencies are saturated with antigypsyism. The ERRC’s report Brutal and Bigoted comprises a catalogue of official lies and botched investigations, testimonies concerning incidents of excessive, arbitrary, and sometimes lethal violence against young and old, deliberate attempts to discredit and intimidate victims, and protracted struggles through the courts for remedy, where justice for Roma is often denied and always delayed.

For more on this see the ERRC report: Brutal and Bigoted: Policing Roma in the EU

[djuvlipen]

Greek Police have shot dead a 17-year-old Romani boy after a car chase in the city of Thebes, north of Attica. The Associated Press (AP) and the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) reported the case.

The incident is the third case of a fatal shooting by Greek Police of a Romani teenager in the last three years. According to media reports, the police were chasing a car with four passengers, two boys and two girls between 15 and 17 years old, which failed to obey a police order to stop.

The car was eventually stopped and surrounded in a dead-end alley in Liontari municipality around midnight on 11 November. Witnesses heard the gunshot that fatally injured a 17-year-old youth.

Police claim one of the minor passengers in the vehicle attempted to take the weapon away from the officer and that it then “went off”, killing the boy. The brother of the victim said the officer shot him.

Citizens’ Protection Minister Giannis Oikonomou issued a statement expressing condolences to the family of the young victim and emphasizing that “the circumstances under which the sad incident took place are under investigation by the competent authorities”. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the exact cause of death.

A police officer who is a member of a unit involved with preventing and suppressing crime was charged with intentional homicide that same evening and was suspended on Wednesday, 15 November. The AP reported that the incident sparked protests by the Romani community in more than one Greek city.

In Thessaloniki, young people clashed with police during the evening of 15 November after a protest march. Several protesters were arrested.

In Athens, the main highway was closed for a short time after Romani youths lit fires there and threw stones at police. There was an outbreak of similar violence in a suburb of Athens mostly inhabited by Romani people.

Third fatal shooting in the last three years

This is the third such incident in the last three years in Greece. In mid-December 2022, more than 1,500 mourners assembled in the Romani quarter of Thessaloniki for the funeral of Kostas Frangoulis, a Romani youth who died as a result of the injuries he suffered when a police officer shot him in the head during a car chase after Frangoulis failed to pay for EUR 20 worth of gas at a filling station.

Immediately after news of the shooting reached the Romani quarter, about 100 Romani people erected barricades in front of the hospital where Frangoulis was being treated and set garbage cans on fire. A total of 1,500 protesters clashed with police in the streets of Thessaloniki.

Almost nobody there believed the official version of events that the victim’s behavior during the car chase had “posed an imminent risk to the lives of police officers”. The fatal results of the shooting sparked three nights of protests and unrest in Greece.

One year earlier, on 23 October 2021, seven Greek police officers on motorcycles fired on three unarmed Romani teenagers in a vehicle being pursued on suspicion of having been stolen, killing 18-year-old Nikos Sabanis and seriously wounding another 16-year-old youth. On the video recording of the incident, 30-40 shots can clearly be heard, and from the radio communications between the operations center and the intervening police officers it is clear the officers knew the passengers in the vehicle were three Roma.

The police press release after the incident falsely alleged that seven officers had been injured, that the deceased was 20 years old and had a criminal record, and that the minor who was shot suffered just slight injuries. All of that later proved to be untrue – no officers were injured, the victim was 18 years old and had a clean criminal record, and the 16-year-old boy who was shot was seriously wounded.

In reaction to the police shooting of Nikos Sabanis, the European Parliament’s Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup (ARDI) and the ERRC sent an open letter to the Greek Prime Minister urging that any eventual racial motivation for the use of such disproportionate force be investigated. Both organizations also expressed their concern over the news coverage statewide, which had sparked a wave of anti-Romani sentiment because the prosecutor had referred to Roma as a “social menace”, and they called for the relevant authorities to quickly respond by stating that hate speech is unacceptable and that the members of law enforcement do not enjoy impunity for crimes committed against Roma or other ethnic minorities. 

11/13/2023. Another Romani teen shot dead by Greek police

By Bernard Rorke

Around midnight on Saturday, 11 November, Greek police shot a 17-year-old Romani boy after a car chase in the town of Thebes, north of Attica. According to media reports, the car, with four passengers, two boys and two girls aged 15-17, failed to stop when ordered. In the ensuing pursuit, the car was surrounded by police in a dead-end alley in the Liontari village. 

Witnesses said a gun shot was heard, fatally wounding the 17-year-old. The police claim that one of the underage passengers tried to snatch the policeman’s gun which ‘went off’ killing the boy. The victim’s brother claimed that it was the policeman who fired the gun. 

In a statement, the Minister for Citizen’s protection Giannis Oikonomou expressed condolences to the family of the young victim and stressed that “the circumstances under which the sad incident took place are under investigation by the competent authorities.” An autopsy will take place to determine the exact cause of death. 

Police shoot dead three Romani teens in three years 

This is the third such incident in three years, and based on past experience, the police account should be viewed with deep suspicion. On 14 December 2022, more than 1,500 mourners gathered in a Roma neighbourhood in Thessaloniki for the funeral of Romani teenager Kostas Frangoulis, who died of his wounds after being shot in the head by a police officer during a chase over an unpaid EUR20 gas station bill. 

In the immediate wake of the shooting, about one hundred Romani men erected barricades and set fire to rubbish bins outside the hospital, and 1500 protestors clashed with police in the streets of Thessaloniki. Not many there credited the official claim that the victim’s actions had “placed the lives of the police officers in immediate danger.” The fatal shooting sparked three nights of rioting and protests in Greece.  

One year earlier, on 23 October 2021, seven Greek motorcycle police officers in pursuit of a stolen car opened fire on the three unarmed Romani occupants of the vehicle, killing 18-year-old Nikos Sabanis, and seriously wounding a 16-year-old. Between 30 and 40 shots are clearly audible in a video recording of the incident, and a radio conversation between the police operational centre and the attending officers shows that the officers were aware that the occupants of the vehicle were three Roma.

The police press release after the incident mentioned injuries to the seven police officers, that the deceased was 20 years-old and had a criminal record, and that the minor who was shot only had light injuries. These were all later proven to be false; no police officers were injured, the victim was 18 and had no criminal record, and the 16-year-old boy was seriously wounded.

‘The European tradition for protecting minorities’

In the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests across European capitals in June 2020, the Greek EU Commissioner Margaritis Schinas, responsible for ‘promoting our European way of life’ claimed that Europe does not have issues “that blatantly pertain to police brutality or issues of race transcending into our systems”, and that because of the “European tradition for protecting minorities, we have less issues than they have in the States". 

Following the police shooting of Nikos Sabanis, in an open letter to the Greek Prime Minister on the 27 October 2021, the European Parliament Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup (ARDI) and the ERRC urged the authorities to investigate the possibility of racial motivation behind the disproportionate use of force; expressed concern at the national news coverage which triggered a wave of anti-Roma sentiment, with the prosecutor referring to Roma as a ‘social menace’; and called for a swift response from the competent authorities to declare that hate speech is unacceptable, and that there is no impunity for law enforcement concerning crimes against Roma or other ethnic minorities. 

This latest killing of yet another Romani teenager serves as a tragic reminder that when it comes to policing Roma and other racialized minorities, contrary to Commissioner Schinas’s assertion, Greece and the European Union does indeed ‘have issues.’