At dawn on Saturday, 30 September 2023, the police carried out the evacuation of the “Evangelismos” squat in Heraklion, Crete. As stated in the press release of 30-9-2023, during the operation a total of 10 people were identified and arrested. This was followed by a series of complaints alleging the use of verbal and physical violence by the police authorities during the evacuation (see among others 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Of particular note are:
(b) the post about the evacuation of the occupation on social media by a police officer (see inter alia 1, 2, 3)
In a state governed by the rule of law, the police authorities must be governed by certain principles, including the principle of legality, the principle of proportionality, the prohibition of the abuse of police power and the respect for and protection of human rights.
The powers of the police authorities and the conduct to be displayed by them in the performance of their duties are regulated, inter alia, by Presidential Decrees 538/1989, 141/1991 and 254/2004.
Although the police may use force to enforce the law, this does not mean that all use of preventive or repressive force by the police is lawful. On the contrary, the arbitrary use of the power to use force and police action in excess of the legal limits is a dangerous phenomenon for a democracy.
In this particular case, the behaviour of the police authorities during the operation to evacuate a squat in Heraklion, Crete, appears to be beyond the legal limits of police action.
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