Opposition and jurists slam Greek government’s decision to penalize wearing of hoods

18 March 2009 - FOCUS News Agency

Athens. Greek government’s decision to penalize the wearing of hoods has triggered the opposition’s reaction and was slammed by jurists, Greek Antenna television announced.

On Tuesday Justice Minister said the people who were wearing hoods or hiding their faces and were arrested during vandalism incidents would have their sentences increased by between two or ten years. The aim of the government is to deal with the masked groups who are regularly involved in vandalism incidents and clash with the police.

In the parliament Minister of Economy Yannis Papathanasiou said “we have to decide what type of police we want and whether the police would observe the laws or would stay with their hand in their pockets.”

According to opposition PASOK the government is fooling the public.

Deputy chairman of the lawyers’ association in Athens Dimitris Varbesos says that after the introduction of the new measures Greece will have a reserved place in the European Court of Human Rights. He says the measures are not serious, but have an image character. Chairman of the prosecutors’ union Sotiris Bayas thinks the measures do not have a perspective and opposes them.



From GR Reporter :

Greeks want their hoods back and inviolability in universities

Greeks want their hoods back and they are not so worried about hooliganism. This became clear after the government suggested yesterday that strict measures should be applied for those who wear hoods and hide their faces during protests and demonstrations. The news broadcasts of the big Greek TV stations Mega, Alpha, Alter, and Antenna dedicated much of their air time on the government’s intentions to curb the Athenian troublemakers and gave voice to journalists, lawyers, and the opposition, who basically rejected the new measures.

The viewers who watched last night’s debates found out that the strict punishments, when someone hides their face, are dictatorship, police, and state terrorism manifestations. Let us remind you that wearing a hood, by itself is not a crime. But if someone is committing a crime and wearing a hood, then his punishment will be aggravated compared to not wearing a hood or a mask. For example, this way the punishment for a small hooligan act can be increased with 2 to 10 years because of the hood and for more serious crimes, including murder, the punishment can reach life in prison.

Kostas Karamanlis’ government was pressured to act with more strict measures, in order to secure the public peace in Athens and in other big cities. The street riots, which started last year on December 6th after the death of the 16 year old Alexis Grigoropoulos, brought many damages mainly to the small and middle businesses in the center of the Greek capital. Damages, which exceed €1 billion. The cherry on top of the ice-cream was last week, when vandals raged unpunished in the central neighborhood Kolonaki.

Though, in Greece there is a public will and a consensus for dealing with street hooligans. The media, opposition and right-protecting organizations also reject the other suggestion of the Justice Minister – to abolish the inviolability of all universities. According to Greek law, the police do not have the right to enter universities without a court order. It is a practice after every riot in Athens, the vandals to enter universities, where they take off their hoods and masks, get mixed with the students and disappear. And until the police get a court order, the hooligans are already gone. The police remind that one “hooligan crusade” happens very fast. The damaging takes only few minutes and the place of action is chosen in a way to have a university nearby as a sanctuary.

The Greek Communist Party and the Coalition of the Radical Leftists are certain that the inviolability of universities should not be abolished. PASOK said that the current laws are enough, they just need to be applied right, in order to fight hooliganism. The only ones who agreed with the measure were the nationalistic Party LAOS.

www.grreporter.info


From The Earth Times :

Greek government considering punishing demonstrators who wear masks

Athens - The Greek government is considering punishing demonstrators who wear hoods or masks as part of its effort to battle the ongoing wave of violence that has plagued the country since the police shooting of a teenager in December, officials said Tuesday. "The Greek citizen does not hide and is not afraid of showing his face, especially when he is protesting," said Justice Minister Nikos Dendias.

He said the use of hoods or masks during demonstrations to hide identities would be perceived as incriminatory instances and punishable by law.

Dendias said the new measure was among many the government was looking at enforcing to protect the public following major riots in December and a spate of attacks by far-left militant groups.

The government has promised to reorganize parts of its police force by creating a rapid-response unit for central Athens and has asked the assistance of Scotland Yard.

Counter-terrorism experts from Britain, who helped Greek authorities break up the terrorist organization November 17 in 2003, reportedly arrived in Athens late Monday to advise their Greek colleagues on how to tackle an emerging terrorism threat.

Reports said British experts would provide advice on restructuring Greece's counter-terrorism unit and to recommend tactics for curbing violence.

Greece has been plagued by daily bombings and arson attacks on banks and multinational businesses since the shooting of the teenager in December which sparked the worst riots the country has seen in decades.

Experts fear that the militant group Revolutionary Struggle and the newly-emerged Sect of Revolutionaries have recruited new members since those riots and have acquired large quantities of arms and explosives.

On Friday, around 40 masked rioters ran through central Athens with axes and iron rods, destroying shop windows of more than 50 businesses and damaging dozens of cars.

The violence has embarrassed Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis' government, which has been criticized for its inability to protect the welfare of citizens.