Read this Release in French
The European
Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today condemned the behavior of the Greek
police and its special riot forces who this week brutally attacked journalists covering
rallies in Athens following the suicide of a retired person on Monday.
"We call upon once
more on the Greek authorities, and in particular the police to let journalists
do their work freely. We express our deep anger and frustration that Marios
Lakos, the President of the Union of Greek Photojournalists, and other
journalists were beaten by the police," said EFJ President Arne König. "The Greek people as well as European citizens
have the right to know what is happening in Greece. This implies the respect
for basic standards of the press freedom and fundamental human rights."
Marios Lolos suffered
serious head injuries yesterday when covering the protests which were sparked
by the suicide of a 77- year- old retired pharmacist in Syntagma Square,
Athens, who took his own life on Monday morning while people were passing by. He
left a hand written note which was found nearby, saying that despite paying all
his life for a decent pension, he could not live with decency on his reduced
pension.
During the
protests following this very grave incident the police used excessive violence
against journalists and photojournalists covering the events in Syntagma Square
and injured seven more journalists. The previous day, journalist Rena Maniou
was also severely beaten by security forces.
The EFJ supports
the continuing efforts of all its affiliates in Greece who have been discussing
the need for safety and press freedom rights with the former Minister of Protection of
the Citizen. Last year, the authorities told journalists' leaders that "the
political and physical leadership of EL.AS. (Greek Police) is devoted to the
protection of the democratic rights and treats the information vocation with
the needed sensitivity and shall make every effort so that it can be exercised
freely and unobstructed". Despite these assurances, police violence against
journalists continues unabated.
There
have been several recent incidents in which journalists suffered excessive
police brutality while doing their job, including the case of journalist
Manolis Kypraios who lost his hearing, Dimitris Trimis JUADN president who had
an arm broken, journalist Georgos Avgeropoulos and photojournalist Tatiana
Bolari.
The EFJ is the European group of the International
Federation of Journalists
The EFJ represents over 260,000 journalists in 30 countries
For more information contact the EFJ at +32 2 235.2200