Protests against university police continues in Greece; police fire tear gas

Protest against the introduction of police patrols on university campuses continued in several places in Athens on Saturday, with police officers resorted to using tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protestors. According to local media reports, several protests have been organised by both students and teachers in universities for the last two weeks. They have been demanding the withdrawal of ‘University Police’ on campuses. The report said several college groups including activists from the Students Struggle Front (MAS) and Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) participated in the protests.

Major protests were organised near Constitution Squares in Athens and Thessaloniki. During the protest, all voiced concern over the deployment of University Institutions Protection Teams (OPPI), which allegedly aims to protect academic centres from "anarchism" and vandalism. The protests got backing from several political parties including the Progressive Party which extended their support to the teachers and students. They criticised the deployment of the University police as a right-wing ploy to subjugate free speech, dissent and radical student politics on campuses. Local media reports claimed that the same attempt was made in 2019 but was revoked later following the nationwide protest.

Student unions call govt initiative 'irrelevant step'

It is worth mentioning Athens has a long history of extremist student movements where college played a significant role. Though the government is still adamant regarding the deployment of the university police, the Students Struggle Front in a statement called the police to leave the campus. According to MAS, when thousands of students do not know if they will be able to continue their education due to soaring rents and poor university funding, the government has allocated 50 million euros for the university police and for cameras and turnstiles inside campuses.

Image: @partizanGreece1/Twitter