Greece

Greece does not have an HIV-specific provision but other laws in the Penal Code may be applied, for example, causing bodily harm/injury (sections 308 to 314).

At least thirty four people have been prosecuted in relation to HIV. In the first known case in 2010, it was reported that a Thessaloniki court reportedly found a man guilty of ‘bodily injury through serial negligence’ and ‘violation of measures imposed by the authority responsible for the spread of disease from deliberate negligence’ because he unknowingly donated HIV-positive blood which then resulted in HIV transmission to several blood recipients. The man, who was undiagnosed at the time he gave the blood donation, was found to be culpable because he had not disclosed that he had previously had sex with a sex worker. He was sentenced to 33 months’ imprisonment, suspended for three years. It is not clear under which provision the man was sentenced, though it was likely article 134 of the Penal Code which criminalises physical injury caused by negligence (see our report, Bad Blood, for a global analysis of the criminalisation of blood donations).

In 2012, Greece had a notorious case in which almost 100 women were arrested after the health minister called for the criminalisation of condomless sex with sex workers. The women were detained by police, forcibly HIV tested, and the 32 women who tested HIV-positive were charged with a felony, imprisoned and publicly vilified. Although all of the women who had been charged with intentionally infecting people while allegedly working as sex workers were released or acquitted by May 2017, this came at a huge personal cost to the women who had always maintained their innocence; three of whom died before their case was concluded.

The case had hinged on Public Health Decree 39A (2012) which allowed police to detain and forcibly test people suspected of being HIV-positive, which could then facilitate quarantine, arrest and deportation of ‘illegal’ migrants. The law was strenuously opposed by scientists and human rights advocates, leading to its eventual repeal in April 2015.

In the most recent case, an HIV-positive man was charged with attempting to cause bodily injury and attempting to cause serious bodily injury with deception on the grounds that he did not use a condom during sex with a woman with whom he had an occasional sexual relationship. Supported by the Greek community organisation, Centre for Life, the case introduced scientific evidence regarding the accused’s sustained undetectable viral load as a result of effective treatment. The 2nd Joint Court of Athens found that given the scientific evidence on transmission risk, the charges were not met, finding the man not guilty. This is the first Greek case where a court has explicitly adopted scientific evidence regarding effective treatment and HIV transmission risk.