Police violence against migrants and activists in Greece

During the past few weeks police violence against migrants and activists in Greece is becoming more and more intense. After the election of the new government, police has been given orders to intensify security checks all over Athens while areas like Exarcheia and Nikaia have been blocked in order to facilitate the "work" of the police. Arrests, body search and imprisonment of activists and migrants without justification have become commonplace. Following the death of Mohamed Kamran Atif, who has been tortured in detention at the police station of Nikaia, there was a mass demonstration. The police reacted violently, with tear gas, beatings and several arrests. During the weekend, Dimitris Parsanoglou, an anti-racist activist, has been arrested and detained without a legal representative for three days because he protested against the arrest and beating by the police of a migrant in a central spot of Athens.

These tactics employed by the new government are part of an overall plan to "protect the citizen" by openly demonstrating the ability of the state to control those who participated in the December revolt. The rise of the extreme right wing group LAOS and the xenophobic reports of the mainstream Media have played a vital role in this direction, emphasizing the need to secure Greece against foreigners and uncontrollable citizens. The Minister for the "protection of the citizen" ( the new name of the Minister of Public order) in a show of force anounced proudly in a press conference that more deportations will be enforced, while he also added (in a sensitive humanitarian tone) that deportations of minors will be stopped. Although police violence is a tradition in Greece, I think that there is something new here. Instead of trying to cover up police violence, the tactic is to publicize it "showing off" the ability of the state to be in control as a protective father taking care of all those "concerned citizens". Constructing migrants and activists as de facto threats makes police violence an "asset" in parliamentary politics, some kind of democratic achievement that seemingly draws more and more voters towards the party that can be more effective in its enforcement.