Police brutality Excessive use for force, torture and other ill-treatment by police officers and other law enforcement officials has been reported. The Greek Police, known officially as the
Hellenic Police, assumed their current structure in 1984 as a result of merging the Gendarmerie (Chorofylaki) and the Urban Police Forces (Astynomia Poleon). Composed of central and regional departments, the Hellenic Police have a relatively long history of
police brutality. One of the first documented incidents dates back to 1976, where 16-year-old activist Sideris Isidoropoulos was killed by police while he put up campaign posters on a public building. In 1980, during a demonstration commemorating the
Athens Polytechnic uprising, 20-year-old protester Stamatina Kanelopoulou and 24-year-old Iakovos Koumis
were beaten to death by the Greek police. The protests still occur to this day for protesters to commemorate the 1973 uprising. The protests are still commonly affected by police brutality around the time of the event. On 17 November 1985 another protester, 15-year-old
Michalis Kaltezas, was murdered by the police during the demonstration commemorating the Polytechnic uprising. The level and severity of police brutality in Greece over the last few years have been profound. Due to the recent financial crisis, many austerity measures have been enforced, resulting in many individuals and families struggling to survive. Greek citizens opposed these austerity measures from the beginning and showed their disapproval with strikes and demonstrations. In response, police brutality has significantly increased, with consistent reports on the use of tear gas, severe injuries inflicted by the police force, and unjustified detention of protesters. Allegations against police have emerged specifically concerning their use of unprovoked brutal force towards journalists documenting the demonstration and against many students who partook in a peaceful protest. Police allegedly sprayed protesters with chemical irritants from close range – in one instance a 17-year-old girl with asthma had been treated in the hospital after this attack and when she informed police of her condition they laughed.
Conscientious objection In 2020, Amnesty International reported that a continuation of "serious violations" of the rights of
conscientious objectors occurred resulting in arrests, prosecutions, fines, trials in military courts, repeated punishment and suspended prison sentences. The replacement service is also much longer than the military service and is therefore regarded as a punishment for
prisoners of conscience. ==Amnesty International==