During a protest gathering of student associations against the presence of riot police in the university, tensions escalated as police violently pushed back students who were shouting slogans and asking the police to leave.
Police used chemicals to disperse the crowd, and a police officer fired a stun grenade at close range into a student’s face. The student was taken to the hospital, and initially discharged but returned when their condition subsequently worsened.
For more details, see: 1, 2, 3.
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 Decree254/2004 (Code of Police Ethics) and in the 2005 Circular issued by the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police Force.
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