MAY 1998

(Comments in italics are made by the GHM)

8/5/98: Eleftherotypia page 20.

Sensitivity for the Roma

The Greek Ministry of Public Administration and representatives of the local authorities are putting into practice a special program for the Roma which has been launched by the European Union. In a panel discussion at the inauguration of the program some of the most urgent needs of the Roma in Athens were mentioned: lack of electricity, water supply, frequent disinfection and garbage collection. Apart from that, the program will deal with the problems of housing, education, health, and professional guidance.

A positive report in favor of the initiative.

9/5/98: Nea [M. Daliani] pages 14 – 15.

Instead of Carpets, Our Sons Sell Hashish

The coexistence between Greek Roma, Albanian Roma and Albanian immigrants seems to be very problematic. Competition over control of the hashish market is the constant source of conflicts in the camps of Zefiri, Aspropyrgos and Menidi. The Albanian Roma try to establish their place in the «hashish network» through cooperation with the Albanian Mafia - their main suppliers of cheap hashish. In this way they want to eliminate the predominance of the Greek Roma in this market. The whole thing is a sort of «love and hate» coexistence and sometimes things are difficult to be kept within the limits. Albanians and Albanian Roma provide Greek Roma with hashish. The Greek Roma are then responsible for the traffic. The different roles in this game are not always respected. Albanians want to take over the hashish market, Greek Roma dealers try to limit the Albanians’ power to some extent, while the majority of the Greek Roma campers want to get rid of the criminals’ presence. Neither the leaders, nor even the police do anything in this respect. «We’ve given up the potato and the carpet markets. Now we sell drugs.» says Mr. E. Dimitriou, President of the Filiki Eteria Roma Association. He puts the blame on the unbearable living conditions and the misery that the majority of Roma live in. Things are even worse for the Albanian Roma campers who, hoping to start a new life, end up in a camp. Those who do not deal in hashish find it hard to make the two ends meet. They are squeezed in the worst corners of the camp, while their Greek «brothers» move freely all over the area and decorate their shelters with ornaments and flowers. The ghetto seems to have a hierarchy of its own. The same strict rules are applied when it comes to distributing the begging sites, the price of potatoes, the agricultural work, the metal scrap found in the garbage collecting places, etc… Thus the balance between the various «tribe borders» is extremely fragile.

The report tries to present all dimensions of the problem of hashish dealing in some Roma camps. It tries to avoid generalizations and easy labeling. Not all Roma are thieves, criminals and hashish dealers. The deep economic and social reasons that urge Roma to hashish dealing are also presented. All this applies to Albanian Roma as well. They are presented as even greater victims than the Greek ones.

9/5/98: Nea page 31.

Ethnos page 52.

Whispers of the Heart Wins Over the Greek Football Cup Final

The highest ranking program the list of the most successful programs on Greek Television for the period 27/4 – 3/5/98 is the famous serial Whispers of the Heart. The data published by AGB Hellas point out that the serial has attracted the attention of some 1,438,000 TV viewers. The second best rating program is the Greek Football Cup Final which stands far behind with some 799,000 viewers.

Neutral reports, which present just the statistics of Greek TV ratings, without any further comments.

10/5/98: Ethnos [V. Benekou] page 30.

«I work here and there, so that my child has a better life and education»

«I wanted to prove that if the Roma want, they can escape from misery.» Takis Tsopanelis, a young Roma man from Agia Varvara, is a second-year Medicine student and is very proud of his achievement. He is one of the five Roma children who have managed to pass the Greek University exams. His sister, Calypso, is in her second year at college. These two youngsters - together with all the 56 Roma kids who have finished high school, have graduated from college and even from University - were honored by the Municipality of Agia Varvara and the local Roma Association. Takis Tsopanelis attributes the high percentage of Roma illiteracy to the Roma mentality -they do not consider school useful for the professional success of their children - as well as to the racist feelings of the non-Roma towards the Roma.

A very positive report, presenting a very optimistic picture for the future and the opportunities of the next generations’ Roma.

11/5/98: Exoussia [A. Zois, N. Batsis]

200,000 Roma Live in Misery

Panayote E. Dimitras and Sofia Nikolaides from the Greek Helsinki Monitor describe the living conditions of the various Roma communities in Greece. The human rights activists, together with two members of the European Roma Rights Center, made a special field trip all over Greece, so that they register the problems of the Greek Roma. Apart from the unbearable living conditions which the Roma population in Greece has, most of the Roma are illiterate. Furthermore, police violence seems to be the rule and not the exception. Of course, problems vary from place to place, according to the special circumstances of history and local administration policy.

A very positive report, emphasizing the substantial problems of the Roma community in Greece, which come to existence due to the inertia of the local authorities and the intolerance of the non-Roma population.

11/5/98: Eleftheros Typos [V. Moissis] page 38.

Nea page 38.

Ethnos [V. Ignatiades] page 39.

Whispers of … Honor for Fighting Against Racism

The Roma Association of the city of Thessaloniki took the initiative to organize an evening celebration dedicated to all people who fight every day against the social exclusion of the Roma and try to help the latter have a better life in Greek society. Needless to say that this happening could not have gone without the presence of the director and the actors of the serial Whispers of the Heart. The President of the Association, S. Georgiades, honored them for their contribution to the improvement of the image of the Roma before the Greek public.

Very positive reports - accompanied by many photos - transmitting a very optimistic message for the future of the Roma community and its coexistence with the rest of Greek society. Roma are presented as kind-hearted people who love to sing, dance and enjoy their lives, in spite of the serious problems that their lives are full of.

11/5/98: Nea page 28.

Roma Festival

An international Roma festival, together with a Roma beauty contest, are going to take place next September. The festival will be held in one of the biggest stadiums of Athens. Many Roma musical groups from all over Europe are already on the list of participants.

A very positive report, openly in favor of the initiative.

12/5/98: Eleftherotypia page 20.

Roma Abused in a Police Station

The Greek Helsinki Monitor and Minority Rights Group-Greece denounced the abuse of two Roma youngsters in the police station of the town of Messologi. On their arrest the two young men were beaten with clubs, after they had tried to break into a kiosk. They were later taken to the police station and set free on the next day.

13/5/98: Eleftherotypia page 16.

Investigation on Police Abuse Over the Roma in Messologi

The Greek Minister of the Press, D. Reppas, assures that an official police investigation has been ordered immediately after the publication of the articles about the abuse over the two Roma youngsters in the police station in Messologi. Apart from the main facts presented, Mr. Reppas uses the opportunity to remind, both to the journalists and to the general public, of the existence of a special student card for all students whose parents are nomads. This card helps all Roma families - most of whom do not have any permanent residence - provide their kids with the opportunity to go on in their studies.

Neutral reports. They are the only ones mentioning the incident in question. From all the eight daily newspapers monitored during the period, only one dealt with the case.

15/5/98: Eleftherotypia page 41.

Nea page 32.

Whispers Against Basketball

For the umpteenth time Whispers of the Heart tops the list of the most successful programs on Greek TV. The data published by AGB Hellas show that even the basketball games in the Greek Championship were not able to alter the latest TV ratings (4/5 – 10/5/98).

Neutral reports, without any further comments.

15/5/98: Nea page 14.

Roma Woman Stabs Pensioner

A 24-year-old Roma woman stabbed an old man, whom she had been visiting lately in the hope that he would give her the money he had been promising her. He never fulfilled his promise, so she decided to take revenge by stabbing him with a knife.

The highlighting of the Roma identity of the suspect, together with the taken for granted guilt of the latter, reinforce the already existing negative stereotypes on the Roma. There is no analysis of the reasons which have led to the crime, only the certainty that the woman is guilty, in spite of the fact that the decision for the warrant was based on some incriminating circumstances and not on a confession.

18/5/98: Eleftherotypia [S. Balaskas] page 57.

Eleftheros Typos page 28.

Priest Refuses to Baptize Two Roma Children

The vicar of St. Nicolas in Mytilini refused to baptize two Roma kids, claiming that he is not allowed to baptize anyone lacking the necessary official registration papers. According to the godfather-to-be (who is also the teacher at the school of the Kara Teke Roma camp of Mytilini) the necessary bureaucratic procedure for the acquisition of these papers is a pain for every Greek citizen, let alone for the Roma. Illiterate as the majority of them are, it is obvious why they avoid getting into this kind of demanding procedures. Moreover, such procedures are absolutely alien to their culture and traditions. The situation gets more and more complicated when the parents also lack the necessary documents proving their marriage. The majority of Roma couples get married following the Roma traditions. Still, as a counterpoint to all this, S. Balaskas is wondering how the same priests baptize whole groups of illegal non-Orthodox immigrants who also lack registration papers.

Very positive reports, trying to explain the circumstances and the reasons due to which Roma shun away from any kind of contact with Greek bureaucracy.

21/5/98: Nea [M. Mitsos] page 56.

The newspaper reproduces a report of the Bulgarian 24 Chassa (24 Hours) daily on the initiative of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee and three other Bulgarian human rights NGOs who condemned the «racist demonstrations» against Bulgarian Roma citizens. The organizations denounced the inertia of the authorities as regards the investigation on the murder of a 15-year-old Roma boy committed by skinheads. Seven other kids were seriously injured after the skinheads’ raid over their camps. K. Kanev, Chair of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, mentioned «many cases of police violence against Roma suspects, which can be attributed to racist feelings.»

A very positive report, supporting the efforts made by these human rights NGOs to defend Roma by making the world realize the various difficulties that they deal with on an everyday basis.

23/5/98: Eleftherotypia [S. Balaskas] page 20,45.

Eleftheros Typos page 10.

Happy Ending for the Baptism of the Roma Kids

The two Roma kids were finally baptized thanks to the sensitivity of a local priest, who took over the responsibility, disregarding the Metropolitan’s rules. Instead of the registration papers, all he asked for was an official declaration on behalf of the parents that the children had not been baptized before.

Positive reports, sincerely enjoying and approving of the conclusion of this story.

28/5/98: Eleftheros Typos [S. Kanaki] page 43.

Four Possible Scenarios for the Last Episode of Whispers of the Heart

The director of the serial, Mr. Manoussakis, has not come up with an end for his story yet. He seems to be in two minds, not knowing which one of his four ideas would be the most appropriate for the last episode of Whispers of the Heart. Mr. Manoussakis gave a very brief diplomatic answer related to the possible scenarios: «union, separation, life and death.» He did not want to reveal more about his intentions, claiming that he will decide at the last minute.

A neutral report answering to the interest of the Greek audience.

27/5/98: Eleftheros Typos page 24.

Ethnos page 22.

A Roma Thriller with the Villanakis Family As the Main Actors

The protagonists of the serial Whispers of the Heart are named after the flesh-and-blood members of the Villanakis family who live in the area of Yannouli in the town of Larissa. This family seem to be the scriptwriters and the leading actors in a very real thriller, which is going on in their very real neighborhood and not in the TV studios. K. Villanakis, who is also the leader of the local tribe, shot and killed his nephew, V. Villanakis, son of his brother Athanassios. The victimizer’s son, Angel Villanakis was also seriously injured. Nobody can say for sure how and why all this happened. Some claim that the victim and his family have raised serious objections to the acceptance of an offer made by the non-Roma citizens of Yannouli to the tribe. The non-Roma residents of Yannouli offered to buy the houses and the land of all Roma from the wider area, so that an end is put to the constant conflicts between the two different communities. The leader and victimizer, K. Villanakis, was given 40 million drachmas to sell his house and persuade all the others to sell their places, leave the area and settle down somewhere else. It seems that the family was divided over the offer. This is a possible explanation but nothing has been stated officially.

Neutral reports, presenting the folkloric dimension of the incident as well as the real one. Roma are very proud people. For them family honor is the first and foremost value. They solve their problems without police intervention, according to their values, beliefs and feelings.

28/5/98: Eleftheros Typos [V. Beskenis] pages 26 – 27.

31/5/98: Eleftheros Typos page 72.

Whispers of the Heart with Real Kalasnikovs

Related to the incident mentioned above. The offer made by the residents of Yannouli to the Roma community of the town was related to the control of the local bazaar as well. The Roma were to have all rights over this bazaar, provided they left the area immediately and conceded to sell their houses. The non-Roma residents claim that they were led to this decision - although they lacked the necessary amount of money - by the unbearable coexistence with the Roma. Robberies, blackmailing, fights were rather the rule than the exception according to them. The Villanakis family was accused of selling guns and drugs. Some say that Angel Villanakis, the victimizer’s son, was shot by his father, in an attempt to build a self-defense alibi.

Two rather negative reports, presenting the Roma as anti-social and aggressive.

29/5/98: Nea page 31

Whispers of the Heart invaded the web site of CNN. In one of its Internet pages, CNN presents the famous serial and speaks of the Greek viewers’ attachment to the program which has made them learn more about the life and traditions of Roma and change their stereotypes.

A positive report, indirectly analyzing the role of the mass media in the construction and reinforcement of stereotypes.

30/5/98: Nea page 29

Whispers of the Heart Scores High for the Umpteenth Time

Not even the Champions’ League Final Game between Real Madrid and Juventus was able to score against Whispers of the Heart. Once again, the statistics of AGB Hellas proved that the famous serial is far ahead of the other most favorite programs on Greek Television (1,489,000 viewers against 912,000 show the difference).