Greek Police’s ‘Unlawful Force and Impunity’ Criticised in Amnesty Report

Police offer first aid to injured colleague in clashes that broke out at a protest against police brutality in Nea Smyrni, Athens, 9 March 2021. Photo: EPA/ORESTIS PANAGIOTOU

Amnesty International Greece’s report “ Protest is not a battlefield: Patterns of unlawful use of police force and impunity ,” published on Thursday, says that Greek police commit “serious violations” of the right to assemble both “in law and in practice”.

“The harm caused by the Greek police through the unlawful use of force during demonstrations, combined with the overwhelming levels of impunity for police abuses, threatens to have a chilling effect on the right to peaceful protest, yet survivors refuse to be silenced,” Lia Gogou, Amnesty International Researcher, told BIRN.

The report is based on audiovisual material from 2020 to 2025, as well as on testimonies from more than a hundred people, including protesters, lawyers and journalists.

Based on an examination of 15 protests between February 2024 and December 2025, it was found that stun grenades are thrown without warning, causing serious injuries. There is also the illegal use of batons, chemical irritants/tear gas, and water cannon.

As a result, 17 people, including journalists, reported suffering hearing loss, burns, injuries to the body or aggravation of existing health problems, while some developed respiratory problems due to use of chemicals. Others were mentally affected.

Amnesty International says Greece’s law on outdoor assembly is not compatible with international human rights law. It criticises the mandatory notification of a protest and its dissolution if it has not been declared, the wide discretion of the authorities in deciding on rallies, as well as the responsibility assumed by rally organisers for any material damage or harm to life.

It says abusive arrests and checks are “used as a means of deterrence,” while noting complaints about poor detention conditions, humiliating body searches, denial of access to lawyers as well as deprivation of water, food, or medical assistance.

Amnesty International notes a “chronic lack of accountability” on the part of police officers. Few are punished, while riot police officers often do not visibly wear their identification badges – or erase/smudge them – making their identification impossible.

The National Mechanism for Investigating Incidents of Arbitrariness, EMIDIPA, is understaffed and lacks the authority to impose penalties, being able to make recommendations only.

“We demand a ban on the use of stun grenades in the policing of demonstrations, not only in Greece, but worldwide. These are military-style ‘less-lethal weapons’,” Christos Dimopoulos, Director of Amnesty International Greece, told BIRN.

“According to our research, [they] have caused serious injuries and permanent damage, such as hearing loss and severe burns, while the panic they cause when used against dense crowds of peaceful demonstrators can have tragic consequences,” he added.