Media Reporting and Reference Guide on LGBT Issues

3. National legal framework on hate speech, hate crime <strong>and</strong>
discrimination.
Hate crime <strong>and</strong> hate speech
Law No. 4285/2014, Articles 1-5, Amendment of Law 927/1979: Imprisonment <strong>and</strong> fines up
to 20.000 euro are possible penalties for people “who publicly incite, provoke, or stir, either
orally or through the press, the Internet, or any other means, acts of violence or hatred
against a person or group of persons or a member of such a group defined by reference to
(…) sexual orientation, gender identity (…)” – among other protected characteristics – but
only “in a manner that endangers the public order <strong>and</strong> exposes the life, physical integrity,
<strong>and</strong> freedom of persons defined above to danger”. The court has also the right to impose
deprivation of political rights 1-5 years to those who are imprisoned for violating this Law. If
the perpetrator is a public official or employee, harsher penalties are applied.
Furthermore, similar penalties face people who “intentionally, either orally, through the
press, online, or by any other means or methods, condone, trivialize, or deny the existence or
seriousness of the crimes of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, the Holocaust,
or Nazi crimes, when those crimes have been established by international court decisions
or the Greek Parliament, if this conduct is directed against a group of persons or a member
of such a group defined by (…) sexual orientation, or gender identity <strong>and</strong> in a manner that
is likely to incite hatred or violence or is of a threatening or insulting nature against such a
group or one of its members”.
Moreover, penalties may be imposed to legal entities or groups of persons, when a person
violates this Law acting alone or as a member of this legal entity or group of persons, for the
benefit of this entity or group.
Finally, violations of this Law are investigated <strong>and</strong> prosecuted ex officio; therefore, the
victim(s) do not have to pay for a fee of 100 euro any more, as they used to.
Law No. 4356/2015, Article 21, Amendment of Article 81A Criminal Code: Harsher penalties
are imposed for crimes committed if the motive of the perpetrator(s) was prejudice against
a person’s (or a group of persons) characteristic(s). The protected characteristics include
sexual orientation, gender identity <strong>and</strong> sex characteristics.
Law No. 4356/2015, Article 29, Add Article 361Β to the Criminal Code: According to
this Article of the Criminal Code, the exclusion of people from goods or services or the
announcement of such exclusion of people out of contempt for their sexual orientation or
gender identity – among other protected characteristics – is punished with –at least – 3
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