On October 26, 2021, a number of people gathered in solidarity to prevent the compulsory taking of the DNA of 14 people who were suspected of participating in an occupation in a university in 2020. According to a series of complaints, police officers were unnecessarily violent to citizens – those who participated in the protest as well as passers-by. The police reportedly resorted to the use of chemicals such as tear gas without provocation. During a subsequent manhunt through the streets of Exarcheia, on Solonos Street a police officer allegedly punched a fallen protester, whilst another officer broke the window of a bookstore where a suspect was hiding and verbally harassed a passerby who complained about his behaviour. The police made six arrests and later filed charges for the offenses of attempted bodily harm, disobedience, resisting arrest, and violation of the law on weapons.
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 Decree 254/2004 (Code of Police Ethics) and in the 2005 Circular issued by the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police Force.
The same circular prohibits arbitrary arrests that occur without any concrete suspicion of a crime having been committed. However, a series of complaints from lawyers alleges that the police often charge detainees with non-existent offenses in order to justify unnecessary police violence, which is in practice arbitrary arrest.
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