Μake us preferred on Google The government had repeatedly rejected calls from political parties and organizations to establish different criminal treatment for femicides — the killing of women because of their gender. “We cannot dilute the concept of the human being by saying that everyone is different,” Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis said (Open, Dec. 9, 2024).
The prime minister, in an article published in this newspaper, stressed that “I use the word ‘femicides’ to more precisely define the nature of these crimes and not, obviously, to classify them legally. Because then I would be differentiating the value of human life based solely on gender or age” (TA NEA, Oct. 1, 2022).
Logical. But the same government that strongly rejects the “classification of murders” based on gender recently announced the “classification of fraud” according to age. The same minister who said that “we cannot dilute the concept of the human being by saying that everyone is different” recently said, regarding those who carry out telephone scams targeting elderly people, that “we are going to take very tough measures,” which, according to media reports, would mean prison sentences of up to eight years.
Why, then, the different sensitivity toward what different social groups endure? The first, easy answer is that Mr. Floridis is elderly and not a woman. The second, more serious explanation concerns the vulnerability of older people when confronted with scammers who are, as a rule, younger and more resourceful. But then again, women are also physically weaker than men. A third explanation is the “cultural wars” that the government periodically wages to demonstrate its liberal — heaven help us! — credentials. The demand for different criminal treatment of murders in which the victims are women came from the left and was introduced in Parliament by the then-powerful SYRIZA party.
There is also a fourth explanation, based on the history of the multiple amendments to the Criminal Code in recent years. The most complete answer is: this is what the television channels are playing now.
Is it summer and are there wildfires? Here is Article 264 of Law 5090/2024, which provides for “up to 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine” — with the possibility of life imprisonment under the relevant provisions — for arson, even when committed through negligence. It should be noted that this amendment to the Criminal Code led to people who went to help put out wildfires being placed in pretrial detention, including a volunteer firefighter who spent 11 months in prison in 2021 before being emphatically acquitted in court.
The almost annual amendment of the Criminal Code’s Article 290A, concerning dangerous driving, is also characteristic. In 2021, reckless driving became a felony if it resulted in death or serious bodily injury (Law 4855/2021). Two years later, excessive speed was added to the same Article 290A of the Criminal Code (Law 5039/2023). Law 5090 of 2024 added running a red light, while in 2025 the use of a mobile phone at the time of a crash was added — again to the same article — under Law 5209.
The patchwork provision on dangerous driving is continually reshaped according to whichever accident happens to be in the news. Before the death of Giorgos Mazonakis, scams targeting elderly people were dominating the television headlines…
The old grudges against NGOs
Those who hear the Apostle Paul say in his Letter to the Hebrews (13:2), “Do not forget to show hospitality; for by doing this some have entertained angels without knowing it,” should forget it. That, too, has been criminalized. Law 5276/2026 was drafted at a time when television channels were constantly broadcasting stories about the “migrant invasion of Crete.” It tightened penalties for “facilitating residence” and added that “if the act is committed by a member of a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) […] imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine of at least 20,000 euros shall be imposed.”
We know that people on the far right hold grudges against anything that is non-governmental, that is, non-state. But they hold even greater grudges against anything left-wing, and it is curious that Mr. Plevris did not add: “if the act is committed by a member of SYRIZA or an even more left-wing party […] imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine of at least 200,000 euros shall be imposed.”
After all — and if we look at the opinion polls — left-wing parties are also non-governmental organizations.
Seriously now: such flashes of “smart politics,” besides being ineffective, continually expose a country that wants to be regarded as European. The “Urgent Opinion [issued] by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe regarding Greek legislation [introduced by Thanos Plevris] on NGOs” received little attention. The commission found that several provisions governing the NGO registry of the Ministry of Migration exceeded “what is necessary in a democratic society.” The commission also criticized the heightened criminal liability imposed on NGO members simply because of their status as members, noting that this violates the principle of individual criminal responsibility. I should simply point out that, almost word for word, the same conclusions had been reached by the Plenary of Greece’s Council of State in a ruling on the same law approximately 10 days earlier (Mikropolitikos, Sept. 29, 2026).
Thus Spoke
John Stewart: “I can’t believe that artificial intelligence already has more freedom than we do…”
The famous American television host was referring to Donald Trump’s refusal to regulate artificial intelligence and his ongoing efforts to censor the media.
