The chief of police, Anastassios Dimoschakis, is set to appeal against the decision of a disciplinary board to merely suspend five officers who last year allegedly beat up a student and left him with a broken nose and severe bruising.

The panel imposed suspensions of 2 to 6 months on five officers alleged to have attacked 26-year-old Cypriot student Avgoustinos Dimitriou after the November 17 protest march in Thessaloniki last year. Two other officers were cleared.

All the policemen were free to return to work as they have already served their suspension.

Sources said that Dimoschakis was unhappy with the disciplinary committee’s verdict as it does not conform to the concept of zero tolerance to police irregularities that he wants to introduce in the force.

The criminal trial of the policeman was recently postponed until April because the court in Thessaloniki ran out of time to hear the case, to the disgust of Dimitriou who had traveled to Greece to testify in the hearing.