As reported in the press and seen in a video circulated on social media and media outlets, police officers in Victoria Square beat a protester who was already immobilized and lying on the ground (see 1, 2, 3, 4 among others).
An announcement of the Hellenic Police Headquarters announced that an urgent administrative investigation has been ordered to investigate the incident. As mentioned in the press (see among others 1, 2) a criminal investigation has also been initiated.
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.
The behaviour captured on video, displayed by police officers on 1 November 2023 in Victoria Square (using force against a person who was immobilised and lying on the ground) appears, however, to be beyond the legal limits of police action.
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