Two related articles in the Athens News this week about the conditions in police stations and prisons in Greece.

Firstly, the Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) has stated that there has been no improvement in how law enforcement officials treat detainees.

A report published by the Strasbourg-based CPT on February 8 says there has been “no improvement” regarding how law enforcement officers treat detainees.

“The delegation heard, once again, a considerable number of allegations of ill-treatment of detained persons by law enforcement officials,” reports CPT. “Most of the allegations consisted of slaps, punches, kicks and blows with batons, inflicted upon arrest and during questioning by police officers.”

Read the full article here

Secondly, I think almost everyone here will have seen or at least heard of the video (circulated on YouTube) showing two young men at Omonia (central Athens) police station being forced to hit and slap each other in the face while police officers kick them and hit them with a stick while telling them to strike each other harder.

Immediately after the incident, there was a rush to do something because the video got huge exposure. However, since the initial outcry, the charges of police brutality brought against two of the police officers and the charge of complicity against another two, the charges have been greatly reduced to that of humiliating detaintees. Only the police sergeant remains suspended from duty on 30% salary.

As the Athens News points out the officers could get off with just a slap on the wrist

Technorati: police, brutality, greece, detainees, youtube, video, law