Did Tom Hanks flee the United States to live in Greece where pedophilia is a "disability?" No, neither of those points is true. A persistent conspiracy theory about the A-list actor and his wife, Rita Wilson, has reappeared after the couple were given honorary citizenship in Greece, with the claim adding that they fled the U.S. to avoid implication in the Jeffrey Epstein/Ghislane Maxwell case since the country does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S. All of that is wrong. Greece and the United States do have an extradition treaty, pedophilia is not a disability in Greece, Hanks and Wilson did not move there and they are not involved in the Epstein/Maxwell case.
The claim appeared as a post (archived here) where it was published on Facebook on July 27, 2020. It opened:
Run Forrest Run!Tom Hanks & his wife Rita Hanks have both fled The United States and are now living in Greece.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Thu Aug 6 19:56:41 2020 UTC)
Here are the claims laid out in the post:
Run Forrest Run!
Tom Hanks & his wife Rita Hanks have both fled The United States and are now living in Greece.
Let me put this into perspective for those new to Hanx and why he is running
Tom Hanks was a frequent flier on The Lolita Express and had been to Epstein Island Multiple times with his wife.
They are both implicated in the Ghislaine Maxwell case with the new evidence that is due to be released to the public.
Little Known fact about Greece too is that they recently named Pedophilia a disability granting it immunity from legal repercussions.
Also there are no extradition laws in Greece
It's a sanctuary country, FOR PEDOPHILES
THERE ARE NO COINCIDENCES
Tom Hanks, "You're a sad, strange little man"
NOBODY escapes this, NOBODY
PAIN IS COMING
#QAnonArmy
#WWG1WGA
#TheGreatAwakening"
Here is a similar post linking Hanks to Greece, and falsely claiming there is no extradition:
TOM HANKS GOES TO GREECE AND BECOMES A GREEK CITIZEN..GREECE IS A NON-EXTRADITION COUNTRY. NOTHING TO SEE HERE, FOLKS...
Posted by Joey Crowson on Monday, July 27, 2020
Let's break down these claims.
Hanks and Wilson did become Greek citizens, according to the country's prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The couple were given honorary citizenship in Greece 2019 and made it official in the photo with the couple showing off their Greek passports in July 2020.
Hanks Tweeted about the news himself:
Starting 2020 as an Honorary citizen of all of Greece! Kronia pola! ( more or less, "happy year!"). Hanx pic.twitter.com/b8fmrgjvYP
-- Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) January 2, 2020
"Tom Hanks is a person who showed real interest in the people who suffered from the fire in Mati and promoted this issue in the global media," Greek Interior Minister Takis Theodorikakos announced in a statement at the time, CNN reported. "[He] promotes Greece through his frequent visits during summer in Antiparos where he owns property."
Hanks converted to the Greek Orthodox religion and his wife is part Greek. He spoke about his fondness for Greece at the 2020 Golden Globes.
"I've been Hellenic now for the better part of 32 years," he told reporters. "Greece is a haven ... I've been around the world, I've been to the most beautiful places in the world, none of them tops Greece. The land, the sky, the water, it's good for the soul, it's a healing place," Hanks said.
As for a connection between Hanks and Esptein, that does not exist.
Reuters reported that Hanks does not appear anywhere on the Epstein flight logs.
Here are copies of the Epstein flight logs uploaded by Gawker here.
Here are the documents on Scribd.com.
Epstein Flight Logs by Saranac Hale Spencer on Scribd
And Greece does in fact have an extradition treaty with the United States:
As contemplated by Article 3(2) of the Agreement on Extradition between the United States of America and the European Union signed 25 June 2003 (hereafter "the U.S.-EU Extradition Agreement"), the Governments of the United States of America and the Hellenic Republic acknowledge that, in accordance with the provisions of this Protocol, the U.S.-EU Extradition Agreement is applied in relation to the bilateral Treaty of Extradition between the United States of America and the Hellenic Republic signed 6 May 1931 and the Protocol thereto signed 2 September 1937 (hereafter collectively "the Extradition Treaty") under the following terms"
Also, pedophilia or sexual abuse of children is a crime in Greece.
The Greek Criminal Code (CC) includes several provisions to combat the phenomenon of sexual abuse of children. In specific: Article 342 (sexual exploitation with abuse of power on minors), Article 343 (b) (sexual exploitation with abuse of power in educational institutions), Article 345 (issues of incest), Article 346 (sexual intercourse between relatives), Article 347 par.1 (b) (unnatural sexual intercourse of an adult on a minor by seduction), Article 348 par. 3 (facilitating debauchery alia), Article 348A (child pornography), Article 349 par. 1 § 2 (solicitation to prostitution of minors), Article 351 par. 4 (child trafficking) Article 351A (indecency assault with a minor for pay), Article 353 par. 2 (b) (provoking a scandal through licentious acts on a minor) and Article 360 (neglecting child surveillance)."
Pedophilia is not a "disability" in Greece.
There were many news articles in January 2012 when the Greek government announced a proposal to include pedophilia as a disability. The proposal was immediately rejected.
The BBC wrote at the time:
A Greek government plan to categorise paedophiles and pyromaniacs as "disabled" has alarmed disability groups, who fear it could undermine their state benefits."
Here is an article addressing the outrage as the country scrambled to reverse the designation, using Google translate to English.
The Ministry of Labor is now running to collect its unthinkable blunder, which froze public opinion, causing a storm of reactions.The Minister of Labor and Social Security decided to establish a new Special Scientific Committee, with the aim of updating the regulation, which determines the rates of disability, which entails any illness or injury or physical or mental or mental weakness, decided the Minister of Labor and Social Security , George Koutroumanis.
In October of 2012 the Greek National Confederation of Persons with Disabilities published a press release noting that pedophilia had been removed from the Disability Identification Table, using Google translate to English.
Significant positive changes in the new disability assessment panel
With stubbornness, synergy, perseverance and militancy, ES.AmeA claimed the reform of the new Disability Determination Table as it was published in the Government Gazette 2611 / TBD in November 2011. The new Table published in the Government Gazette 1506 / TBD / 4-5-2012 contains significant positive changes in disability rates of severe permanent disability categories...
Pedophilia, pyromania, voyeurism, ostentation, sadomasochism, after the huge upheaval that occurred throughout Greek society were removed from the new Disability Identification Table."
Snopes.com reported that pedophilia had been included in a "draft list" of disabilities but it was never officially added to the list.
Lead Stories recently debunked a claim about Tom Hanks:
Fact Check: Tom Hanks, Others NOT Arrested For Pedophilia Or Other Crimes in QAnon Conspiracy
