Vassilis Tsiartas, the former player of AEK and the Greek national team, was sentenced by the Single-Member Misdemeanor Court of Athens to 10 months in prison and a 5,000 euro suspended fine for his ‘transphobic’ post on social media in 2017.

Vassilis Tsiartas became the first person to be sentenced under the anti-racism law, as amended in 2014. The Transgender Support Association had filed a lawsuit against him, through its president, Marina Galanos, who had also denounced those who had issued threats against her recently.

Tsiartas in 2017, shortly before the passing of the bill for the redefinition of gender identity, had proceeded to post a statement through which it was deemed by the court he incited readers to acts of hatred and discrimination.

More specifically, he had posted on his Facebook account that he wished “the first gender changes will be made to the children of those who voted for this disgrace [bill]. Let’s see how prideful they feel when their kids are marching down the streets. P.S Legalise pedophiles and complete the crimes.” In the second post of his, a few hours later he commented “God created Adam and Eve”.

The conviction against Vassilis Tsiartas, as the lawyer Vassilis Sotiropoulos states in his post on Facebook, is the first decision to implement the anti-racist law 927/1979 for public incitement to violence or hatred due to gender identity.