Greece is currently experiencing a third wave of the virus, with daily cases rising to all-time highs (about 2,000 new cases reported each day) with new, more contagious strains of the virus escalating, and capacity in ICUs in Athens reaching dangerously high levels.
We are in the fifth month of lock down, there is a 9pm curfew on weekdays, and on weekends there is a 7pm curfew. Masks are mandatory everywhere. Retail shops are closed, cafes & restaurants are closed (take out & delivery are allowed).
We can only leave our homes for six official reasons, ranging from going to/from work; going to the supermarket, pharmacy, medical appointments; going out for exercise (walking, jogging, cycling etc). Before leaving home, we must send a text message (including reason for going out, name, address) to 13033 (Civil Protection Agency), and receive an immediate reply, which verifies the request.
Last week, new stricter measures were announced, essentially limiting shopping and exercising to a 2km (1.2 mile) radius of your home. Failure to comply with measures will result in a €300 fine.
Nea Smyrni is located in the southern part of greater Athens, 4.5 km (2.7 miles) from downtown Athens’ Syndagma Square, and has a population of about 73,000. Nea Smyrni has one of the largest squares in the Athens area, its main square is pedestrianized and lined by many shops, cafes, fountains, etc. The size of Nea Smyrni’s main square is over 20 stremmata (about 5 acres). There is a large park (alsos) near the square, which is 50 stremmata (about 12 acres).
I have been living in Nea Smyrni for over 20 years.
The main square is a 2-minute walk from my apartment, and I pass through the square on a daily basis. Since lock down began in November 2020, the square has always been busy. People of all ages, from families with babies in strollers to the elderly, are always out and about in the square – walking, rambling, taking in the sun, getting take out coffee and sitting on the benches, low walls and steps that line the middle of the square, around fountains and shallow pools of water.
I have a favorite spot myself, at one end of the square, where the sunlight hits just right during that certain time of day, where I like to sit on the steps (away from others) and enjoy the warmth, the sound of the gurgling fountain, and take down my mask to sip my takeout coffee. A much-needed respite from the pandemic, a brief escape into pretending everything is normal, before I walk back to my apartment and resume lock down life.
Small rituals like this – it’s something that people in Nea Smyrni, in Athens, in Greece, people everywhere, have been doing since the pandemic began, to help us cope and retain our sanity.
Yesterday, Sunday March 7, was like other Sundays – many people out and about in the square and in the park (including me), walking around, getting a breath of fresh air and feeling like we’re going ‘somewhere’ and ‘doing something’ even though we’re just literally wandering around in circles.
When I walked through the square around 2pm, there were a few policemen on motorcycles in the middle part of the square, where people are usually sitting all around on the benches and low walls. However, this middle part of the square was emptied out – no one sitting around. So I assumed the police were trying to keep people moving, and prevent people from sitting around the square and congregating. Until now, this was something new. Because for the past five months, people have been sitting around the square even when police have been present, patrolling or just standing in the square.
Around 3pm, an incident occurred in the square. I was not present when it happened, but there have been countless videos posted online, from eye witnesses who were there.
First reports by police stated that policemen were attacked by a group of 30 young people, they called for backup, scuffles ensued and 11 were detained.
Then, dozens of videos began to emerge online from witnesses who saw police talking (calmly) to a young man, when suddenly a policeman starts grabbing, pulling, beating the young man while other officers look on, while the young man shouts that they are hurting him, and people (visibly upset) are telling the officers to stop.
Many eye witnesses have come forward to explain what sparked the violent incident. A family, including two children, were sitting in the square when officers approached to check their IDs etc and tell them they must keep moving and not sit in the square. The statement from this woman, who was in the family group (with the children) that was approached by police, details the exchange (1:00’), which I have translated below:
“We were sitting and three officers on motorcycles stopped in front of us, and they gestured to us, in a very rude way, for us to ‘leave, right now’ and we stood up and asked why. They said ‘give us your phones, have you sent the required text? You are out for no reason’ and I replied, telling them we’ve been out walking and just stopped here to rest a bit, and then he said he has to give us a ticket ‘I’m giving you a ticket and you can send your complaints to Hardalias’ [Deputy Minister of Civil Protection]. He told us ‘I’ve been ordered to give tickets’ and I asked him to stop shouting, he has frightened the children, to which he replied ‘We don’t care about the children’… And then one of them took out a club and started hitting the young man for no reason. I took out my phone and began to video the incident, they were hitting him for no reason, people were shouting. An officer told me ‘give me your phone right now’ and I replied ‘don’t touch me, I’m not giving you my phone, you have no right to demand it’ and he tried to grab the phone from my hands.”
The efforts of law enforcement to clear the area, or prevent people from congregating seem to have backfired, as the incident resulted in hundreds of citizens gathering in the square in protest, walking through the streets past the Town Hall, to the police station and back to the square. Videos of the protest and march have emerged as well, showing riot police throwing stun grenades into the crowd and spraying tear gas. Helicopters were also dispatched over the area.
Important to note that although the square was filled with people when the initial incident occurred, there are no eye witness videos (or any witness accounts) of the group of 30 young people who the police claim attacked them.
The incidents on Sunday sparked a national outrage, with people declaring that unnecessary force was used, arguing that police brutality took place, that authorities attempted to spread fake news to cover up the incidents and many even demanded that government officials step down.
By Sunday evening, the chief of police stated that an official inquiry into what happened in Nea Smyrni will be conducted. And by Monday morning, an Athens prosecutor ordered a preliminary hearing to determine if any punishable offenses were carried out by the officers involved.
What is also important to add is that such clashes between
police and citizens is not an uncommon occurrence in Athens. If Sunday’s
incident had happened downtown, and/or in an inner-city area, public opinion might
have been swayed in the other direction (‘just another protest, people getting
out of control, same old troublemakers’)…and the incident might not have gained such attention.
But the fact that it occurred on a Sunday afternoon in Nea Smyrni (which is considered an upper-middle class suburb) has made people pay closer attention; has raised awareness on the reality of uncalled for and unnecessary force; has influenced public opinion (some might even say ‘dangerously’ influenced public opinion); and has put things in a clearer perspective. It also raises the issue of double standards in society and the ‘uncomfortable’ conversation around class differences.
The incidents that occurred in Nea Smyrni on Sunday spark many questions and concerns. It goes beyond party lines, beyond left and right – it is an issue of human decency and faith in the very foundations of a democracy, such as the agencies which are tasked with protecting citizens and public health.
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