With this logic, when the policeman started beating on the young man with a steel retractable baton at the base of the neck, the incident which actually started this latest round of street fighting, he also couldn't control whether he would cripple or kill him. And following that logic, since the policeman had no health bar above the young man to know when to stop, it could also end up really badly.
The difference is the first case is that you have an allegedly "trained" civil servant, whose pay comes from our taxes not to terrorize citizens arbitrarily but to upkeep the law, while on the second hand you have an angry mob. These two incidents are not the same, nor should they be discussed as such. Consider also that policemen are practically instruments who, without having leave from their superiors, do not leave their formation - what we see is the outcome of a political decision, either from the Police Chief, the Minister or the Prime Minister himself.
According to the ombudsman, again, police violence reports have increased by 75% during the last two years; it just so happens that Nea Demokratia is also ruling the country during that same period, and has been purchasing policemen and equipment like we have millions to spend; and fails miserably to train them, unleashing them on the streets. It's quite an achievement to turn a quiet, family neighborhood like Nea Smyrni into a battleground but they are so incompetent they managed to even do that!
As to there being good policemen; I assume there are good people doing dirty work. What is that to us, as citizens, if we are at the arbitrary whims of any policemen we chance to happen to? The fact remains: the Greek police is not an institution for good, and has failed to clear themselves of the 'bad apples'. Much worse, the bad apples seem to be the only ones in the basket. Even Amnesty International has
issued a special edition to demonstrate just how much Greek police acts like hooligans at best, as murderers at worse.
And frankly, the idea that a policeman -- and even worse a Greek policeman -- and their safety should be placed above that of the common citizenry (who end up having their own safety jeopardized by the same policeman) is fast loosing any legitimacy. Especially when policemen keep breaking the law with astounding regularity and utter disregard for civic society.
In the one thing I agree is that some are indeed stuck in Civil War rhetoric; like the three MPs from Nea Demokratia who, talking of the first victim, doxxed him on national television and assured us that he, being an activist, is not "just any regular citizen". Or the government thinking that any problem can go away if they throw enough policemen at it; and let's not discuss that half the government is made up of individuals who have questionable backgrounds at best.
To sum up, even when you want to blame both sides equally you forget you don't have two hooligan clubs duking it out; you have rioters on the one side and the state on the other. And they are increasingly acting the exact same way. And that should worry everyone.
P.S: Actually, even during the War of Independence there was a civil war going on, from
1823-1825 between Mavrokordatos and Kolokotronis and their followers. They didn't put their differences aside; Kolokotronis lost, and he was jailed.
@Aexodus,
It's not illegal to take a stroll; it's not even illegal to remain stationary as the policemen initially told the citizens present; the fines turned out to be given out arbitrarily, and many people
contest them in courts - this is not the first time happening. An example is the police giving 300 euro fines to
homeless people for not declaring a permanent residence in their form. At the same time the PM has been repeatedly caught
breaking the lockdown rules himself, while accusing people of not conforming to the necessary restrictions.
As to the videos from the square incident, here's some of them. Hope it helps clearing the situation out:
1,
2,
3,
4
The reason for calling reinforcements according to the official police statement is the assault of a patrol squad by 30-60 anarchists. As you can see from the videos, these anarchists are nowhere to be found. There's old men, women, a couple of guys and that's it. Basically what they're saying is 'shame on you, bastards."
Despite the extreme measures the government has taken, Greek people have behaved admirably in upkeeping them. Just for reference, with an NHS severely underfunded and understaffed from 10 years of economic crisis, just 6.500 people have lost their lives due to Covid-19. The outrage has little to do with the covid measures, and more to do with a government that is increasingly acting authoritatively.
Well, you wouldn't call 9 AM late in Greece. Late is like 2-3 AM, maybe. The reason why the protest went on until 21:00 was because the government has issued a curfew from 9-6 AM. Otherwise they would stay the night there.
Civilians fighting the police stems from historical reasons, and a long history of police injustices both real and imagined. Without giving a full account of brutalities: imagine that for us, the police is like the English in Ireland.
Greece: Civil unrest following police brutality
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Originally Posted by Gyrosmeister
s btw. Doxxing people’s identities is not on and can only invite harassment.
