The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) will examine a complaint by 42 Bangladeshi workers against Greece over the violation of Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits slavery and forced labour.
The case, which concerns shooting at and injuring 28 migrant farm workers – four of them seriously – who were demanding unpaid wages by foremen at a strawberry farm in the southwestern town of Manolada in the Peloponnese in April 2013, will be examined after January 20, the Greek Council for Refugees said Friday.
“The appeal to the ECHR will hopefully mark a first step in the effort to restore legality and avert similar incidents in the future,” the Athens-based NGO said.
In 2014, a Greek court acquitted the farm owner and a supervisor and sentenced two foremen to prison terms of seven and 14 years on charges of causing grievous bodily harm. They were later freed pending an appeal. The decision prompted an outcry from unions and rights groups.
An appeal against the decision was turned down by the Supreme Court.
The Greek state is now being accused of failing to prevent human trafficking as well as to punish the migrants’ employers.
“A judicial failure”
The Greek court’s decision to acquit farmers who admitted shooting 28 Bangladeshi strawberry pickers when they asked for months of back pay sparked outrage in the country at the time. Politicians, unions and anti-racist groups condemned the verdicts, describing them as a black day for justice in a case that had shone a light on the appalling conditions in which migrant workers are often kept in Greece.
Media investigations showed the migrants to be working in subhuman conditions without access to proper hygiene or basic sanitation.
The court also ruled that the Bangladeshi migrants are liable for legal costs amounting to 12000 euro .
