On 28-10-2023, a minor sustained head injuries during riots after an anti-fascist concert in Neo Heraklion, resulting in her being hospitalized. Reports subsequently alleged that she had been beaten by police officers (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10).
For its part, the Hellenic Police denied the reports and stated that the incidents of that day are being investigated at both a disciplinary and criminal level (see the Hellenic Police Statements of 29-10-2023 and 15-11-2023).
Of particular note in this case, are: a) the ambiguities and inconsistencies in police accounts (see 1, 2, 3), b) the allegations of a citizen that he was not allowed to testify in the case and c) the actions of the police following the incident and in particular the arrest of the minor for her (suspected) involvement in an assault on police officers (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) raise serious concerns.
As the Hellenic League for Human Rights states in its publication “Police Brutality and Fundamental Rights: An overview of police arbitrariness in Greece,”: “ the case involving the serious injury of a 16-year-old female on October 28, 2023, raises questions. According to allegations made by the family and their lawyer, the minor is said to have been beaten by police officers from the Crime Prevention and Suppression Unit (OPKE). In this case, the contradictory statements from the police—who rushed to place the minor in a group that allegedly attacked the police forces while simultaneously categorically denying any involvement of the officers in her injury—combined with reports of obstructing eyewitnesses from testifying, highlight another dimension of police violence. This dimension pertains to the communicative and operational management of such incidents, suggesting a cover-up.”
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 complaints describing the beating of a minor in Neo Heraklion raise serious concerns as to whether the requirements and obligations set by the legal order for the action of police officers were followed.
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