Young offenders to be required to participate in sports

Young offenders will be required to join sports clubs and participate in sporting activities under new plans to tackle juvenile delinquency, two government ministers have announced.

The measure will apply to youths aged from 12 to 18 years who are before the courts on minor offenses, Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis and Deputy Sports Minister Yannis Vroutsis told an event at the Spyros Louis Olympic Athletic Center in Athens.

Addressing the same event, Yannis Evangelatos, a judge in a juvenile court, said he had resorted to the new measure in recent days in sentencing six minors.

“Only sport, with its pedagogical character, can teach all children, the new generation, values such as discipline, respect, solidarity, cooperation, loyalty, self-esteem and dedication to continuous self-improvement,” he said.

Vroutsis said sport “functions as a social tool for positive standards of behavior, integration, inclusion, equal treatment, the removal of inequalities and the elimination of discrimination.”

Other rehabilitation measures for juvenile offenders included in the Criminal Code included requiring minors to participate in cultural activities in order to transform their anger into positive energy and to engage in community service, Floridis said.

Kathimerini