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Christiana Stilianidou
Excessive police violence against defendants in a courtroom
21 • 07 • 2021

In July 2021, the defense lawyers of 11 Turkish and Kurdish refugees and asylum seekers denounced the “completely degrading” treatment that their clients were subjected to by police officers during their trial.

On 8-7-2021, the defense attorneys of 11 Turkish and Kurdish refugees who were being tried before the First Three-Member Court of Criminal Appeals, denounced the conditions of the trial and the treatment of their clients during a brief break in the proceedings.

Where is the problem with the rule of law?

In a state governed by the rule of law, the actions of the police authorities must be governed by certain principles such as the principle of legality, the principle of proportionality, the prohibition of the abusive exercise of police power, and the respect and protection of human rights. 

Although the police may use force in order to enforce the law, this does not mean that all use of force on their part is legal. On the contrary, the arbitrary use of violence is a dangerous phenomenon for a democracy.

In this particular case, as highlighted by the defense attorneys, the defendants were dragged away from a criminal trial and subjected to extreme violence and vulgar insults by masked police officers.

These phenomena, especially when they take place in a courtroom during the trial of a criminal case (even if it has been temporarily suspended), are not in line with the principles of the rule of law.

Christiana Stilianidou
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