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Friday, August 22, 2014

One Week Postponement for Anti-racism Bill

The Parliament’s second summer session has postponed the discussion regarding the anti-racism bill for one week, after the request of Greece ‘s Justice Minister Charalambos Athanassiou. Meanwhile, former chamber secretary Takis Baltakos stated that this anti-racism bill is unconstitutional and “a legal monstrosity that will lead the country back to medieval obscurantism,” which caused a strong reaction from the government opposition. SYRIZA MP Vasiliki Katrivanou commented on Baltakos’ statement, saying that the anti-racism bill was in danger of “being remembered as the ‘frozen’ bill of the last years.” The anti-racism bill has caused great tension, conflicts and suffocating pressure. It is expected to be submitted to vote during the third summer session of the Greek Parliament. Despite the fact that the Greek Justice Minister has assured the Parliament that the new legislation will include genocides that have been recognized by the Greek Parliament, classifying them as an offense, there is still tension between the parties. In its announcement, PASOK spoke against the 38 New Democracy MPs who sent a letter to the Prime Minister requesting the inclusion of the Pontian and Asia Minor genocides in the anti-racism bill. “There is no point in these type of fake heroism acts,” stressed PASOK, noting that the inclusion of these genocides in the bill was obvious. Meanwhile, DIMAR stated: “The new postponement of the tabling of the anti-racism bill in the Parliament, reveals the intense efforts of New Democracy’s conservative enclaves to prevent the adoption of a modern anti-racism legislation.”


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com