Following a protest in Thessaloniki, a group of demonstrators went to the port where a NATO ship was unloading military equipment bound for Eastern Europe. The protesters threw red paint and wrote slogans. Police officers approached them and started pushing them away. Tensions escalated as a police officer knocked down a protester and then stomped on him.
Among the 11 arrested were members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, and the Communist Youth Party, a journalist and trade unionists. One person was injured by the police. Furthermore, a video shows a police officer breaking a car window and then immobilising the driver. A total of 11 protesters were brought in to the police station. Three were then released, while the other 8 were held until late.
The Manifold is compiling a file of allegations of police brutality. Check it out here.
The right to assembly is enshrined in both the Greek Constitution (Article 11) and the European Convention on Human Rights (Article 11). Although the police have the legal authority to attend public gatherings and to disperse them for specific reasons such as a threat to public order, the measures they take must be proportionate. The indiscriminate use of violent means that threaten the life or physical integrity of citizens is illegal in a state that adheres to the rule of law.
In addition, the ability of police officers to use violence is governed by the same guarantees as in any other case, as reflected in the Code of Criminal Procedure (Article 256), Presidential Decree 141/1991 (Article 120), Presidential Decree254/2004 (Code of Police Ethics) and in the 2005 Circular issued by the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police Force.
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