International Religious Freedom Report, 2013: Greece

摘要

The constitution and other laws and policies protect religious freedom with some restrictions. In practice the government generally respected religious freedom, but imposed restrictions affecting members of non-Greek Orthodox religious groups. The government granted privileges and legal prerogatives to the Orthodox Church that it did not afford to other religious groups, such as preferential taxation and an institutionalized link to the government. Members and supporters of the opposition Golden Dawn political party (GD) continued to openly espouse anti- Semitism and racism and were linked to violent attacks against individuals perceived to be immigrants. Because religion and ethnicity were often inextricably linked, it was difficult to categorize many incidents specifically as ethnic or religious intolerance. Government leaders publicly condemned some anti-Semitic and racist incidents. In September, following the fatal stabbing of an anti-fascist musician by a selfproclaimed GD supporter, authorities initiated investigations and took legal action against GD on the grounds that it constituted a criminal organization. In October the parliament lifted the immunity from prosecution of six of GDs lawmakers to face criminal charges, and suspended state funding to the party in December. In January the government amended a law to hire 240 Islamic religious instructors to teach the Quran in Greek public schools in Thrace as an alternative to Greek Orthodox instruction. In August the government passed a law that provides exemptions for unauthorized buildings, including houses of prayer and worship in Thrace, that lack property titles and are not in compliance with zoning regulations thus allowing issuance of permits for renovation and reconstruction. Planning continued for a government-funded mosque in Athens, and on November 14, the government awarded the project to a consortium of construction companies.