Despite the effort of the conservative New Democracy government and Minister of Citizen Protection Chrysochoidis to attribute this activity to “isolated incidents”, it is evident that police aggression is part of the governmental policy and goes hand by hand with the implementation of the anti-worker, anti-people agenda.
The latest orgy of Greek police brutality took place yesterday, Sunday 7 March, in the Athenian district of Nea Smyrni. Widely circulated videos and images on Sunday showed a young man being severely beaten to the ground by police officers patrolling in Nea Smyrni's square. The man can be heard shouting “it hurts”, while passers-by express outrage.
“The ND government bears full responsibility for today's attacks of police forces against residents in Nea Smyrni” points out a statement issued on Sunday by the Press Bureau of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE).
The KKE strongly denounced the incident: “In face of the pandemic, the government doesn't find necessary to support the public health system, to provide free tests and increased protection measures in workplaces and transportation but (to deploy) more police forces to intimidate the people and families with little children, thus imposing terrorism and authoritarianism”.
“The ND government bears full responsibility for today's attacks of police forces against residents in Nea Smyrni” points out a statement issued on Sunday by the Press Bureau of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE).
The KKE strongly denounced the incident: “In face of the pandemic, the government doesn't find necessary to support the public health system, to provide free tests and increased protection measures in workplaces and transportation but (to deploy) more police forces to intimidate the people and families with little children, thus imposing terrorism and authoritarianism”.
The Communist Party statement adds: “The repression, the daily incidents of police violence, the military-style police patrols in neighborhoods and squares is a conscious governmental policy and the result of the whole effort to incriminate the people for the course of the pandemic”.
The KKE “calls the people to demand, right here, right now, measures for the protection of their health and rights, to raise their militant stature against the intensification of repression that accompanies anti-people policy”.
Police brutality was also condemned in a statement issued by the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME) which points out:
“The last days, while the working people suffer and the Greek Government takes no measures for the protection of Health, against the big employers, with dozens of dead inside the workplaces, with a National Health System crumbling because of shortages and the Government bargaining its funding to Private Health Corporations, the only measure imposed is the escalation of state oppression targeting the workers and the youth.
Masks have fallen! The extreme oppression and state violence against workers, students and locals in the neighborhoods has nothing to do with protection of Public Health!
Enough is Enough!
We Break Repression- They Will Not Intimidate Us!”.
