Chris Avramidis reported that he covered a demonstration in which, as he wrote, members of the riot police were continuously pushing protesters and even moved towards banners held by children. He said he recorded with video and photos how some officers had indistinct identification numbers written with a marker, while others in the same unit did not wear identification. Avramidis said he asked the government what the timeline was for implementing the identifiers, which, he stated, had been announced since 2019. According to him, the government spokesman initially responded that the police did not allow the road to be closed and, when asked about the identifiers, referred to the ministry, saying that the government had responded many times. He added that he reminded the spokesman of an 84-page report by Amnesty International on police violence in Greece, which, he said, demanded that there be identifiers so that police officers could be identified. He mentioned that he raised the question about the timeline again and received the same response. He also stated that he had sent inquiries to the Ministry of Citizen Protection via email without receiving a response. Avramidis argued that New Democracy announced the measure when it took over the government, but seven years later had not announced when it would be implemented. He concluded that officers without clear individual identification were harder to identify and hold accountable for their behavior, attributing responsibility for the situation to the government. #antireport #αστυνομία #διακριτικά #διαμαρτυρία (translated)
