Greece: Conviction of Gregory Vallianatos, co-founder of Greek Helsinki Monitor

On 3 July 2025, the Single Judge Misdemeanours Court of Athens sentenced Gregory Vallianatos to four years and four months in prison on the charge of "concurrent aggravated defamation" (Article 363 of the Greek Criminal Code). The sentence was commuted to a payment of 10 Euros for each day of imprisonment (approximately amounting to a total of 15,600 Euros), and its execution was suspended pending the appeal that Mr Vallianatos filed on the same day.

The process originated from a series of social media posts in which Gregory Vallianatos denounced the rehabilitation methods used in the Centre for the Treatment of Addicted Persons (KETHEA), characterising them as inhumane and degrading. KETHEA is the largest rehabilitation and social reintegration network in Greece. It has been operative since 1983, providing various types of services to people suffering from addiction. The Centre is a private entity under Greek law and operates under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Health, which appoints its Board of Directors.

Gregory Vallianatos maintains that the methods used at KETHEA - particularly with regard to the humiliation of patients and the adoption of a "dry" rehabilitation method which does not contemplate the use of substitutes for harm reduction - exposes patients to unnecessary suffering and violate their human rights (such as the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, the right to an adequate standard of living, and the right to freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment).

In a Facebook post published on his own profile on 29 October 2019, Mr Vallianatos wrote that "unscrupulous, immoral, inhumane, and abusive 'doctors' and 'nurses' systematically mistreat people undergoing rehabilitation" at KETHEA, and contested the success of its programme, arguing that data "is lacking and misleading". He denounced KETHEA's methods as a "crime". In response to this post, in early 2020 12 KETHEA employees filed a complaint for defamation against Gregory Vallianatos. Following some postponements, the trial began on 27 May 2025.

During the trial, Mr Vallianatos argued that his statements were intended to spark debate on the treatment of addiction in Greece, a topic often ignored by public opinion and shrouded in silence. His two defence witnesses - namely, Daphne Chronopoulou, President of the Peer Network of Users of Psychoactive Substances (PeNUPS), and Marios Atzemis, Advisory Committee member of the Correlation - European Harm Reduction Network (C-EHRN) and Deputy Director of the Centre for Addiction Prevention & Psychosocial Health Promotion of the Municipality of Athens - recognised how Mr Vallianatos' accusations were not unfounded and his concerns were legitimate. Nevertheless, the Court found the accusations to be false and damaging to the honour and reputation of the plaintiffs.

In an interview given after the conviction, Gregory Vallianatos provided a more comprehensive explanation of the reasons behind his public denunciation and of why he believes that the methods used by KETHEA are at least inhumane and degrading, if not outright torture. He also clarified that his accusations were not directed specifically at the 12 people who filed the complaint, but rather at the institution as such and at its methodological approach.

The OMCT recalls that this is not the first episode of retaliation against members of GHM for their human rights advocacy. On 15 February 2022, the Three-Member Misdemeanours Court of Athens sentenced Panayote Dimitras and Andrea Gilbert to a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for three years, on the charge of "false accusation" for having denounced an antisemitic statement by the Metropolitan Bishop of Piraeus. Mr Dimitras is the Co-founder and Spokesperson of GHM, and Ms Gilbert is GHM's Specialist on anti-Semitism. The two were then acquitted on appeal on 16 June 2023.

Mr Dimitras himself has faced, over the last few years, several abusive criminal proceedings for his human rights work. Most recently, on 18 June 2025, he was acquitted of the charges of "false accusation" and "aggravated defamation" for having denounced racist comments by the former Mayor of Limni - Mantoudi - Agia Anna. Currently, he is still facing two lawsuits and two criminal complaints.

The OMCT is concerned about the conviction of Gregory Vallianatos, which may be intended at obstructing his human rights advocacy. We call on Greek authorities to:

• Consider the opinions expressed by Gregory Vallianatos in light of his human rights advocacy; and
• Protect human rights defenders from abusive proceedings in retaliation for their human rights work.