Citizen’s Protection Ministry

No one has been punished for the death of three employees due to the torching of a bank branch in the centre of Athens [during a huge anti-bailout memorandum protest march οn 5 May, 2010].

The state has a duty to proceed with a rational redistribution of Greek Police forces to avert developments that will further challenge the already burdened image of the city centre.

Especially in periods of crisis and the underfunding of Greek Police, for many years entire neighbourhoods of Athens and Thessaloniki were controlled by criminal groups.

One can safely assume that the climate in the days before, during, and after the commemoration of the 8 December killing of teenager Alexandros will be extremely tense.

If the police are unable to isolate a small number of troublemakers, either they are incompetent or they are executing instructions unrelated to maintaining order issued by their superiors.

'There is great pressure at the Evros border. At the same time, direct communications on site between the Greek and Turkish sides has been cut off, further aggravating the problem,' said one Greek public order ministry official.