“We support Greece for Distomo!”

The decision of the Greek government to intervene in the International Court of Justice in the Hague, on the matter of the German compensation for the «Distomo massacre», has found an unexpected ally!

A team of prominent German lawyers based in Munich, who stand by to our country and fight with every possible means so that the case for one of the biggest massacres of civilians in Europe is completed, talk to protothema.gr and explain the reasons why the victims of Distomo must claim the damages, while expressing reservations about the motives of the Greek government.

«Arbeitkreis Distomo» (Work Group for Distomo) consists of some of the most important Munich lawyers, who are trying to prove to Greek, Italian and recently international courts that there can already be a compulsory enforcement against the German Federation.

«It is very important the Greek government has taken this step since so far they hadn't wanted to implement a compulsory enforcement against Germany due to immunity, since only in Greece is the signature of the Justice minister needed for the implementation of compulsory enforcement against another country» states lawyer Gabriele Heinecke, a member of the group and the committee for the reopening of the trial of the «butcher of Crete», the Wehrmacht Lt. Josef Eduard Scheungraber.
 
“The European Court in Luxembourg has jurisdiction”

«You didn’t have to go to The Hague. The Supreme Court in Greece has already decided, just as the Supreme Court in Italy has. The Hague Court has jurisdiction only in claims of legal persons, such as States».

In claims of physical persons the court which has jurisdiction is in Luxemburg. The issue is between the Distomo victims and the German Federation and not between the countries» says Heinecke, who repeats «the Italian and Greek courts have already decided, simply the compulsory enforcement has not been implemented yet».

To our question on the motives of the Greek government ,she answered: «I’m not convinced that the Greek Government is doing this for the Distomo victims. I suspect it is a political decision but even so, it is a very good move. The German press paid much attention to the subject since it’s not just Italy but also Greece that are interested for the sake of their victims. I have nothing else to say, from here on Justice will decide».
 
What is compulsory enforcement?

A trial is a legal battle and the formal terminology refers to «winners» and «losers». In such a case, compulsory enforcement is the means through which the winner will receive what the Court has ordained.

It is the process whereby the law defines the way in which the winner of the proceedings may seek their satisfaction. An internationally known example is that of Great Britain in 1849, which sent its fleet to Piraeus and with the threat of bombardment, attempted compulsory enforcement of the Court’s decision on the compensation of her consul, Don Pacifico.