REPORTS
Police violence against demonstrators at a student rally at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Excessive police violence was reported by students during a rally held at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The demonstration was called to protest overcrowding after a student fell from the third floor of the Faculty of Law during a class because the room where the class was being held was overcrowded, forcing dozens of students to sit on the windowsills. Riot police appeared during the protest and threw flash-bang grenades at those protesting.
The Manifold is compiling a file of allegations of excessive police violence. 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 Decree 254/2004 (Code of Police Ethics) and in the 2005 Circular issued by the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police Force.
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