Rapport définitif - Rapport No. 15, 1955

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 65. The complainant alleges that, despite his alarming state of health, Mr. Antonis Ambatielos, Secretary-General of the Federation of Greek Seamen, who is now serving a sentence of life imprisonment, has been transferred to the penitentiary at Corfu, the most humid of state penitentiaries.
   • ANALYSIS OF THE REPLY
2. 66. In its reply dated 2 January 1955, the Government states that it pertains to the competent government services to decide on the transfer of any person who has been convicted under the Penal Code, and that this question has no connection whatsoever with the application of the principles of freedom of association. It states that, together with other persons, Mr. Ambatielos was condemned for having committed acts contrary to the interests of the State and falling in the domain of penal law, and that the Committee on Freedom of Association has decided that this matter does not come within the purview of freedom of association.
3. 67. The Government nevertheless furnishes a copy of a letter addressed by the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Labour, from which it appears that Mr. Ambatielos was transferred from the Kalamoki penitentiary in Crete to the Corfu penitentiary by reason of repairs being done at the penitentiaries in Crete. It emphasises that Mr. Ambatielos himself had expressed a desire to this effect and it indicates that there exists in Corfu a general hospital in which several ailing convicts have been accommodated. The Government affirms that all facilities would be available to the convict if he were found in need of hospitalisation, since the present regulations are applied in the same manner to all the convicts and cases of hospitalisation are examined in a liberal spirit. In support of this affirmation, the Government states that in Athens there is a special hospital for convicts and that 40 of the 50 beds in it are now occupied by Communists who have been transferred from different state penitentiaries. The same treatment is reserved for Mr. Ambatielos if the need therefor arises.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 68. In its Sixth Report, the Committee examined a number of allegations relating to the prosecution and conviction of trade union leaders, including Mr. Ambatielos, and, considering the observations made by the Government showing that the persons concerned were condemned by the military court of Athens following a procedure held freely and publicly and after long deliberations, as a result of which it was established that they had conspired with a view to detaching a portion of Greek territory and had contributed towards the accomplishment of this project, it concluded that the allegations, being of an essentially political character, did not call for further examination. The Committee also took note with satisfaction of the measures of clemency taken by the Government, by virtue of which the death sentences were commuted in most cases to life imprisonment and in certain cases to temporary confinement.