Top prosecutor orders probe into possible hate crimes
Supreme Court prosecutor Xeni Dimitriou on Tuesday called for a special investigation into two crimes to ascertain whether they should also be tried under a law penalizing racism and other forms of discrimination.
The first case Dimitriou called for a fresh probe into was the death of 33-year-old Zak Kostopoulos, an LGBTQ activist who died last month after being attacked by a jewelry store owner and another man in downtown Athens.
Her request was prompted by publications in the media suggesting that Kostopoulos had sought shelter in the jewelry store (where he was allegedly mistaken for a robber) after being targeted for his sexual orientation and role as a gay rights activist.
The second incident concerns a fire that broke out in June at a makeshift migrant workers’ camp in the rural area of Manolada in the northwestern Peloponese.
According to the National Committee for Human Rights, the fire resulted in 164 foreign laborers losing all of their personal documents, including work and residence permits.
