Prime minister rejects criticism of minister over police station murder
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday rejected calls for Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis to take responsibility for the murder of 28-year-old Kyriaki Griva by her abusive ex-partner outside an Athens police station just moments after she had sought help from the authorities.
“The fault cannot always lie at the top when something goes wrong in the state,” Mitsotakis told Antenna TV in an interview on Thursday morning, saying that there is “no political responsibility” for the events that unfolded at the Agioi Anargyroi police precinct on the night of April 1.
Minister Chrysochoidis “is making a big effort to right what’s wrong,” he said, conceding that “everything was done wrong” on the night of Griva’s murder.
Griva was stabbed to death outside the Agioi Anargyroi precinct as she was on the telephone with the emergency dispatch operator asking for a police car to take her home after the on-duty officer at the station said he was unable to provide an escort. The 28-year-old had sought the police’s help after seeing her former partner – against whom she had previously filed complaints for abuse and rape – loitering outside her house.
“Changing the culture within an organization is not easy,” Prime Minister Mitsotakis said, adding that the government “needs to do more” to ensure that the events of April 1 are not repeated.
“Setbacks, even tragedies, make us stronger in the effort to make structural changes to the state,” he said.
