Officer is suspended after brawl in shop
Moments after Citizens’ Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis said yesterday that the government would adopt a policy of zero tolerance toward violence «wherever it comes from,» it was announced that a police officer was suspended following allegations that he punched the owner of a store in central Athens while off duty. In a statement, the police said that the officer, from the force’s instant-response unit, was involved in a fight with the store owner that led to the shop being damaged. The alleged victim then filed a suit against the unnamed officer. In an unrelated speech, Chrysochoidis said that a separate body to investigate claims of police misbehavior would be up and running by February and that disciplinary rules would soon be changed so that officers can be arrested on the spot for some offenses.
