No limits to police arbitrariness?
Every time the issue of the arbitrariness of the police comes to the fore again, we learn new and interesting things. For example, when a special guard fired his service weapon into the air to warn off aggressive protesters earlier this year, we discovered that the Aegean Ministry – which he had been guarding – is in central Syntagma Square. And now, with the publication of the video showing two foreign detainees being beaten by police – and forced to slap each other – we have discovered that we have border guards serving in Omonia. One has to wonder why on earth border guards are being stationed in central Athens? Border guards were the government’s answer to the mass waves of illegal immigrants, chiefly from Albania, that besieged the country not so long ago. The measure proved to be efficient for a while. But then the state decided to start tackling the problem of illegal immigration with smarter measures. The authorities realized that they need economic migrants for jobs that natives do not want to do and started issuing residence and work permits to foreigners living in Greece. Of course, the problem was not solved entirely but the situation began to improve. Meanwhile, economic growth in neighboring Albania succeeded in somewhat curbing the influx of immigrants to Greece and Western Europe. Of course, this did not stop a desperate few from illegally crossing the border but mass waves of migrants became a thing of a past. Nevertheless, the border guards still had a job to do. Although thousands of illegal immigrants are no longer crossing the border, there are plenty of traffickers trucks loaded with drugs and counterfeit cigarettes trying to sneak into the country. But it appears the border police force has started to follow the well-worn track trodden by other public servants: It hires staff to guard the borders but if any of these recruits has a «contact» he may well clinch a transfer to central Athens. It is also clear that the border guards who have been charged with the beating of the detainees are not the only ones stationed in Athens. Soon we will hear protests from the police workers’ union regarding inadequate protection of the border because «a large section of the force has been transferred to other jobs.» We will likely see similar developments with the new «ecological police force» being introduced as a further burden to our budget this year. Certain individuals will be hired, ostensibly to guard the country’s fields, and will end up patrolling the National Gardens in Syntagma. The taxpayer will shoulder the cost, the country’s fields won’t be guarded and Athens will acquire eco-policemen to add to its border guards. All this may end up having some electoral impact on ruling New Democracy. Undoubtedly ND can count on the votes of those who have benefited from transfers. But will these votes outweigh the votes of disgruntled citizens fed up with petty politics?
