MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Article 4 of the European human rights convention outlaws forced labor and slavery.
"It is the first time such a case has been filed against Greece, and the first time that the large-scale phenomenon of forced labor is to be addressed at a European level. At the same time four international human rights organizations and an academic institution have announced their plan to support the lawsuit. The Greek authorities are invited on January 20, 2016 to comment on the breach of obligations under Article 4," the council's press release said Friday.
The Bangladeshi migrants had been working on strawberry plantations in the Nea Manolada community, where around 200 migrants, mostly from Bangladesh and Pakistan, protested against a six-month long delay in wages in 2013. Overseers responded by opening fire on the workers, injuring 28, according to police reports. Numerous labor and human rights violations have been reported in the area.
In July 2014, two of the plantation's employees were sentenced to over 14 years and seven months and eight years and seven months for illegal use of firearms and inflicting grievous bodily harm. The indicted overseers were then allowed to pay monetary fines instead of serving the terms.
