Interim Report - Report No 66, 1963

Case No 295 (Greece) - Complaint date: 25-APR-62 - Closed

1. 496. The complaint of the Athens Printers' Association is contained in a communication dated 25 April 1962 which was supplemented by a communication of June 1962. The com plaint and the additional information supplied by the complainants were forwarded to the Government in two letters dated 10 May and 19 June 1962 respectively. The Government sent its observations to the Office in a communication dated 23 June 1962.
2. 497. Greece has ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 498. The complainants allege that Messrs. S. Papaioannou, president of the Piraeus Journeymen Bakers' Union, I. Theocharis, adviser of the Athens Woodworkers' Union, and D. Malagardis, a member of the General Council of the Panhellenic Federation of Accountants, were arrested on 23 April 1962 and deported " simply in order to terrorise the workers in their trades ".
2. 499. According to the complainants the anti-trade union character of the action taken is particularly evident in the case of Mr. Papaïoannou, since it came shortly after a strike called by the bakery workers and before the trade union elections.
3. 500. In the additional statement which they made subsequently, however, the complainants stated that after spending three days under arrest Mr. Papaïoannou was released, and that his deportation was deferred.
4. 501. In its reply, the Government first expressed surprise at the fact that it was the printers' union which lodged a complaint concerning trade unionists who represented bakery workers, woodworkers and accountants respectively.
5. 502. The Government goes on to assert that neither their occupations nor their trade union activities had anything to do with the reasons for the action taken against the arrested men. It states that according to information supplied by the Ministry of the Interior the three persons in question were deported on the grounds that they " were endangering public order and public safety ".
6. 503. In conclusion the Government confirms that the decision to send Mr. Papaïoannou into exile was suspended, and that he was released on 25 April 1962.
7. 504. As far as Mr. Papaïoannou is concerned, the Committee considers that no useful purpose would be served by further consideration of this aspect of the case, since he has been released.
8. 505. On the other hand, as regards the other two trade unionists mentioned by the complainants, namely Messrs. Theocharis and Malagardis, it is apparent both from the complaint itself and from the Government's reply that the persons in question are still under arrest.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 506. In previous cases, where allegations that trade union leaders or workers have been arrested for trade union activities have been met by governments with statements that the arrests were made for subversive activities, for reasons of internal security or for common law crimes, the Committee has followed the rule that the governments concerned should be requested to submit further and as precise information as possible concerning the arrests in question and the exact reasons for them. If in certain cases the Committee has concluded that allegations relating to the arrest or detention of trade union militants did not call for further consideration, this has been after it has received information from the governments showing sufficiently precisely and with sufficient detail that the arrests or detentions were in no way occasioned by trade union activities but solely by activities outside the trade union sphere which were either prejudicial to public order or of a political nature.
2. 507. In this particular case the Government merely states that the reason for the deportation orders issued in respect of the persons concerned lies in the fact that these persons " endangered " public order and public safety.
3. 508. The Committee considers that if it is to be in a position to reach a conclusion based on a full knowledge of the facts and to decide whether the allegations made are well founded or not, it is necessary for it to obtain from the Government more precise information as to the reasons for the arrest and deportation of the two persons concerned, and particularly as to the specific acts or exact activities of which the said persons are held to have been guilty.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 509. In these circumstances the Committee has requested the Director-General to obtain from the Government the specific information mentioned in the preceding paragraph, and has decided in the meantime to defer further consideration of this aspect of the case. The Committee, therefore, recommends the Governing Body to take note of its present interim report.