US embassy cable - 05THESSALONIKI7

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 THESSALONIKI 0007 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SE, G/TIP, EUR/RPM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, ECON, SMIG, ZL, GR, AMB 
SUBJECT:  NORTHERN NOTES JANUARY 2005 
 
 
Following is a summary of recent political and economic 
developments in northern Greece: 
 
STIFF TRAFFICKING SENTENCES UNDER NEW LAW 
 
1.  (U) In a case that marks the first reported sentence 
handed down under Greece's 2002 Anti-trafficking 
law, a Kavala court convicted a 40-year-old 
trafficker, Petros Kokkalidis, to 12 years and 10 
months of imprisonment and fined him 52,625 Euros. 
[Note: The anti-TIP legislation came into force 
under a 2003 Presidential Decree. Endnote].  Anti- 
trafficking NGOs from the STOP NOW network assisted 
the young Ukrainian victim in this case, who had 
found refuge in an Ioannina shelter, and provided 
psychological support during the trial.  The victim 
testified for a grueling five and a-half hours. 
Public support for the trafficker from residents of 
his village made her ordeal all the worse but did 
not affect sentencing.  The victim now resides and 
works legally in Ioannina. 
 
2.  (U) In another TIP case on January 27, an Appeals 
Court in nearby Komotini (Thrace) upheld the 
convictions of nine Greek nationals implicated in a 
trafficking ring.  The defendants had been arrested 
last year for kidnapping a foreign woman and forcing 
her into prostitution.  Four of them were sentenced 
to 10 years and four months imprisonment while the 
others received five-year sentences. 
 
3.  (U) More potential TIP arrests were also reported 
this month.  Two Greek nationals and a Turkish 
citizen were arrested January 8 on the Turkish side 
of the Evros River (Greek-Turkish border) along with 
four women, believed to be from Georgia.  On January 
18 Thessaloniki security police dismantled a 
trafficking ring of ten Greek and foreign nationals 
who were engaged in forcing young women from Eastern 
Europe into prostitution.  One of the victims 
managed to escape and went to the police.  The 
victim was officially recognized and accorded police 
protection. 
 
4.  (U) Comment: Absent statistics on prosecutions, it 
is not possible to assess whether these individual 
cases point to a positive trend but they are 
certainly a step in the right direction.  Police and 
justice officials seem to be enforcing anti-TIP 
legislation more vigorously.  The Consulate General 
is sponsoring a TIP training workshop for Northern 
Greece prosecutors, judges and police on February 15 
with the Ministries of Justice and Public Order. 
The Macedonia- Thrace Ministry also submitted a 
proposal for participation in the EU's "AGIS" 
program, a project for police, judicial and NGO 
cooperation on TIP.  End comment. 
 
ALIEN SMUGGLING ON THE RISE 
 
5.  (U) At a January 20 meeting with Northern Greece 
counterparts, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Police 
Director, Brig. General Katsaras, cited alien 
smuggling as the largest problem in the region. 
Thrace saw a 46 percent increase in illegal aliens 
in 2004 compared to the previous year.  Meanwhile, 
TIP cases in Thrace decreased from 21 cases in 2003 
to 16 in 2004. 
 
6.  (U) Thrace border guards arrested January 17 a 39- 
year-old Turkish national for transporting 52 
illegal aliens on a tractor-trailer and another 
three Turkish nationals in a private vehicle acting 
as lookouts.  The migrants (13 Iraqi, 9 
Palestinians, 6 Somali, 6 Bangladeshi, 4 Sudanese, 4 
Syrians, 3 Nepali, 3 from Sri Lanka, 2 Algerians, 
and 2 Mauritanian) had crossed the Evros River in a 
plastic boat with the help of two Iraqi traffickers. 
Migrants' destination was Athens where, upon 
arrival, they would each pay 2,800 euros. In an 
unrelated case on January 13 a Greek national was 
sentenced to six years and four months imprisonment 
and a fine of 69,000 Euros for transporting 65 Asian 
and Middle Eastern illegal immigrants in a truck. 
TRANSPORT LINKS BETWEEN BLACK SEA REGION AND EU 
 
7.  (U) The Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) pact 
Ministerial was held in Thessaloniki on January 27 - 
28, under the Greek presidency.  In a joint 
statement, BSEC transport ministers stressed the 
need for transport links to the EU and proposed 
extension of the Inter-European Transport network 
into the Black Sea region and establishment of 
maritime routes connecting Black Sea and 
Mediterranean ports.  Greek Transport Minister 
Liapis concluded that this statement would 
contribute to the development of the wider Black Sea 
region.  Turkish Transport Minister Gildirim 
underlined the importance of transport to Turkey's 
trade in the region and with the EU, and said that 
the overland transport corridor linking Istanbul 
with Thessaloniki by road and rail would be 
completed in a few years. 
 
ANARCHISTS RAID GOLDEN DAWN OFFICES 
 
8.  (U) On January 22 a group of approximately one 
hundred anarchists trashed the downtown office of 
the far right Golden Dawn coalition in Thessaloniki. 
Upon the police's arrival, the anarchists sought 
refuge on the campus of Aristotle University to 
avoid arrest.  Police believe this episode was 
related to the private visit of French National 
Front leader Jean Marie LePen to Athens the same day 
to attend the wedding of Greek National Front leader 
Makis Boridis. 
 
NARCOTICS AND COUNTERFEITING 
 
9.  (U) Press reported the following cases: 
 
-- Komotini border guards arrested January 8 two 
Turkish nationals bearing forged Bulgarian passports 
purchased for 2,500 euros, each. 
 
-- Thessaloniki police arrested January 10 two Albanian 
nationals and a Greek woman on felony drug smuggling 
charges, following the confiscation of a 1.7 kilos of 
heroin. 
 
-- An Albanian national was arrested January 26 in 
Karditsa (Thessaly) for cultivating 21 kilos of 
unprocessed hashish in his field. 
 
-- Thessaloniki police arrested January 29 three 
foreign nationals in possession of 88,5 kilos of 
hashish. 
 
-- Thessaloniki police arrested January 30 four foreign 
nationals and seized 1.5 kilos of heroin found in their 
possession. 
 
-- On January 19 a court in Thessaloniki sentenced a 
50- year-old Bulgarian, Sorit Stoef, a member of a drug 
smuggling ring active in Northern Greece, to life 
imprisonment.  His 23-year-old son, and his Greek 
partner, Dimitris Boltsis, were each sentenced to ten 
years imprisonment.