According to reports, police officers violently arrested a person in Ermou street on 9-11-2022 following tensions with the public earlier that day. This person, however, appears to have been a passerby and had nothing to do with unrest that had taken place previously that day. As per audiovisual footage, it appears that the police officers were trying to prevent other bystanders at the scene from recording the incident (see 1, 2, 3, 4).
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 Decree 141/1991 and Decree 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 in excess of legal limits is a dangerous phenomenon for a democracy.
The reported behaviour of police officers on 9-11-2022 in Ermou (and in particular the report of the violent arrest of a passer-by) calls into question, however, the observance of the above-mentioned requirements of the rule of law.
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