«Explicit, without conditions, condemnation of the phenomenon, from all over society, is the only recipe to stop the phenomenon to exist“, Noted by the Minister of Citizen Protection, Michalis Chrysochoidisspeaking to SKAI 100.3 R/F, on the occasion of the bomb attack on Hellenic Train offices.
As he said, ‘Terrorism, as it appeared in the years of the transition, in the early years, was then dismantled … Now, there are less events and smaller ones, but it still exists. ” Commenting on the perpetrators of this new attack, he said that “they are the same as the previous ones …. There are small groups that have succeeded and want to be the sequel. But, they won’t. And our debt, democracy, society and the police in the end, is the dislocation. And be sure that this group, which has caused these two incidents (EN: Labor and Hellenic Train), will be arrested and referred to the prosecutor. Be sure of this“, He concluded.
Concerning the episodes in the Exarchia area, Sunday morning, after a concert on Streff’s hill, Mr. Chrysochoid commented that, “Whenever things in the country are exacerbated, depending on political developments, the political climate, every time there are internal or external events, which create polarization, intensity or when polarization and intensity are cultivated, there are extreme elements each time, which unfortunately in our country are multiplied. Mostly after the transition, generations are constantly nourished by the perception of violence and continue a tradition, causing disasters and, above all, scattering violence. ” He added, however, that very important steps had been taken in the Exarchate area to address these phenomena. “Exarchia was an area where we had permanently, for about fifty years, fires, Molotov attacks on the offices of Harilaou Trikoupi, arson, all of which have been limited to a minimum.“, He said and emphasized that” those who burn property, so because they want to serve their ideas, through violence, must be arrested and arrested. “
At the same time, he spoke of resigning the effort he had begun to reform and shaping the area on Streff’s hill. “In the face of this effort then there was a part of the residents who did not want modernization and the safest neighborhood. That is why, unfortunately, we have police forces to protect the installation, the infrastructure there, and this is very unpleasant on the one hand because this is not the role of the police forces and many police officers are employed in a project that should be self -helpful and useful for the area.“, He added with emphasis. “There is a place where various people gather for fun. There is no entertainment center license, dining area or anything else. All this is illegal and will never be allowed to have rallies there again. To make it known to everyone that whoever is still there for fun, to make a concert know that it is forbidden. We have to finish with them“, He concluded.
In fact, he stressed that very important things have been done in Exarchia and the region’s physiognomy has changed as thousands of people visit the area on weekends for leisure. As he said ‘They have a different neighborhood and I think the subway will be the next step. However, there are still these minorities, which operate anti -social, by violence. What happened on Saturday night will not go unpunished. Investigations are being done and they will continue».
In addition, regarding the role of the police he added: ‘Let’s be precise and fair. Police have done a lot of work in Exarchia and it is not her job to humanize an entire area. There are many factors involved in it and many services. Police do her job. Exarchia is no longer what was once. It is a normal neighborhood, which, at times, some use as a base».
He also added that the police managed about 2,000 rallies since the beginning of the year, which did not report incidents – except for a few cases – and arrested people who attempted to disrupt, to disperse the rallies, as was the high concentration on 28th. “Police work and mission is really valuable to Greece and in the fight against crime“, He noted.
The Minister then referred to the amendments to the provisions of the Criminal Code that turned into a felony the use and throwing of Molotov bombs. “A frame has been restored, which is quite rigorous, for example the issue of Molotov use. Now, the Molotov cast, which has been a joke for many decades … Throwing a Molotov means that you can kill someone, to kill him. Because Molotov contains gasoline, it can also have other materials, that is, murderous materials such as irons, screws, etc., and kill a human. What for many years in our country was a joke, now is a felony».
Concerning the Marfin case and the fact that the perpetrators remain unmistakable, Mr. Chrysochoidis said: “Personally, this is a burden and debt at the same time, at the same time, in the memory of the dead, towards both their relatives, but also against democracy. It is a blotch for the police and for democracy and be sure that there is still a great effort in this direction».