By way of the “Alternative Intervention – Legal Subversion”, six current and former directors on the Board of the Athens Bar Association, together with Greek participation, request the investigation of criminal responsibility for war crimes and acts of genocide in Gaza by the Israeli Army.

The lawyers filed a lawsuit on Monday, May 20, 2024, with the Athens District Attorney’s Office, which was notified to the Supreme Court’s Prosecutor’s Office, while the filing was preceded by a hearing of the directors by the Deputy Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Mr. I. Provataris.

As explained in their report, the lawyers Giorgos Vlachos, Thanasis Kabayannis, Eugenia Kouniakis, Dimitris Sarafianos, Angeliki Serafim and Thodoris Symeonidis, claim that the video that went public depicts the commission of war crimes and genocide, for which the Greek judiciary has the criminal jurisdiction due to the participation of Greek perpetrators, a fact that has also been reflected by the public use of the Greek flag by uniformed men in operations in Gaza.

During these operations, as can be seen in videos, photographs, publications, testimonies, etc., the Israeli Army exposes civilians (women, children, the elderly, the disabled, as well as the entire unarmed male population it arrests) to inhumane and degrading treatment, torture and illegal violence, unreasonably looting political infrastructures of the occupied area.

These actions constitute a violation of the provisions of the Greek Penal Code, Law 3948/2011 (Government Gazette A 71, 5.4.2011) entitled “Adaptation of the provisions of domestic law to the provisions of the Statute of the International Criminal Court ratified by Law 3003 / 2002 (A’ 75)”, as well as international Conventions ratified by Greece (Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Geneva Conventions on the Treatment of Prisoners of War, on the Protection of the Civilian Population in Time of War, etc.).

With the indictment, which includes photos and videos, the Greek prosecutorial and judicial authorities are requested to fully investigate “the commission of possible criminal acts, according to the provisions of Law 3948/2011, by Greek citizens who participated in the military operations of the Israeli Armed Forces in the Gaza Strip during the last six months.”

In the event of a criminal prosecution, according to Greek law, the Athens Three-member Court of Criminal Appeals is responsible for adjudicating the offenses, while the sentence is at least ten-year imprisonment.

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