On Sunday 1 November 2020, six days before a new nationwide lockdown came into force (7/11), a group of demonstrators had planned a rally in the area of Lambrini in Galati, which was however suppressed by the police with the use of violence and chemicals, resulting in 13 arrests and injuries to demonstrators. The incident started in a pedestrian street next to a cafeteria, and even spread inside the cafeteria, in front of the eyes of frightened customers who until that moment were drinking their coffee without a care (the implementation of measures such as the “lockout” of the cafeteria came six days later).
Residents and workers in the area who witnessed the events complained of an indiscriminate attack by police forces, stating that the riot police beat and threw chemicals indiscriminately, despite the fact that there were families and young children at the scene. In fact, witnesses also spoke of the presence of a 5-year-old child inside the restaurant, who was in danger during the scenes of indiscriminate violence and repression, with the National Police, however, denying it.
NEWS 24/7, brings to the public an exclusive video document, which reveals through three different shots, what really happened in Galatzi that Sunday afternoon, November 1, but also what is the truth about the presence of a 5-year-old girl at the time of the brutal attack.
Unprovoked attack and chemicals in the world
From the above video, questions are raised as to why the protesters were surrounded by riot squads, both from the upper and lower side of the pedestrian street, in an outdoor café area, i.e. in a place with tables occupied by customers of all ages (their faces are covered for obvious reasons).
Among them, at 0:36 of the video (photo below), a man is seen holding a baby in his arms, trying to remove it from the scene safely.
Shortly afterwards, in the second shot of the video (2:08), a man and a woman are seen running away from the scene carrying a baby stroller.
As we can see, the demonstrators are led into the pedestrian zone, without any provocation on their part, while the customers of the shop remain in their seats, as, until that moment, everything seemed calm.
In the first shot, from the lower side of the pedestrian walkway, a policeman (0:28) is seen running at full speed and attacking the protesters, while seconds later, his colleagues follow him. Another one sprays tear gas (bubble) at the demonstrators, and does so in a prolonged manner (0:33), at points where customers are passing by, trying to escape in a hurry. At the same time, from the second shot of the video, the simultaneous attack of the upper platoon is visible, with riot police men striking with batons indiscriminately, causing panic among the people present at the spot, damage to the café, as well as the injury of protesters, some of whom were taken to hospital.
At certain points in the video, the ferocity with which the police officers beat the protesters is evident, continuing unabated and without mercy to strike people who are lying on the ground with batons, while at another point a police officer is seen hitting a person with his knee (2:24), despite the fact that he has already been arrested.
Beating in front of 5-year-old girl in cafeteria
From the video document released by NEWS 24/7, the first two shots capture the -yet- scene of police violence that unfolded on the pedestrian street outside the café. At the same time, as the third shot shows, a manhunt and “blind” beatings by the police officers follow inside the cafeteria, in front of a 5-year-old girl.
In the video we see a frightened woman (witnesses say that she is the mother of the minor), at the sight of the savage attack, looking for a way out to the store's toilet, while behind her, a little girl follows her (2:48)
The door does not open, the minor girl tries to “hide” behind her mother and the two of them remain at the spot, where some demonstrators rush to the toilet in an attempt to escape. A crush is caused in front of the door which appears to be “jammed” for a few seconds and then police officers are seen in the shot charging at the protesters, right in front of the mother and the 5-year-old girl.
At the moment they are beaten with batons, a man is seen in the crowd in front of the door (reportedly the girl's father) making a distinctive gesture with his hand towards the police officers, indicating that the minor girl is among them (3:06). The door opens, most people enter the toilet, however, one police officer is clearly seen batoning a protester in the head before his arrest follows. At that moment, the same man who had waved to the police officers about the girl's presence is seen exiting the toilet, holding the minor in his arms, and leaving the scene, to the shocked mother's gaze.
The EL.AS in its statement saw “an attack of the protesters” and “disappeared” the child
The day after the incident, the Hellenic Police issued a statement, in which it denied complaints of an unprovoked attack against demonstrators and those that said that the life of a 5-year-old child was at risk during the incident. He stated that “about two (2) hours after these incidents, it was reported that two (2) minor children, who with their relatives were passing at that time (i.e. after two hours) from an adjacent place, reported discomfort in the neck”.
As for the incidents with the demonstrators, he noted that “most of those gathered had their faces covered and carried objects suitable for violence, namely wooden and metal poles. Police officers who attended the scene repeatedly and insistently called on the gathered people to disperse, due to the risk of disrupting public safety and to avoid spreading covid -19. The assembled people refused to leave and then some of them moved in a threatening manner towards the police officers, attacking them with the poles they were holding and with tables and chairs from an adjacent catering establishment.”.
In fact, last week, and specifically on 16 March, the Ministry of Citizen Protection included the incident in a statement entitled “26 lies, inaccuracies, fake news, half-truths and slander from the abundant press releases of SYRIZA on police violence”, stating:
“Lie: riot police sprayed a five-year-old child and his mother during a raid on a café.
Really: There was an unplanned gathering in St. Andrew's Square where 50 people with hoods and wooden and metal poles gathered. Police officers repeatedly tried to persuade the assembled people to disperse to avoid spreading the coronavirus. The assembled people refused and attacked the police using tables and chairs from a catering shop in addition to the poles. Three policemen were injured in the attacks. 13 people were arrested. During the incidents the police forces used tear gas once. After two hours of the incidents it was reported that two minor children with their relatives passing by at that time (i.e. 2 hours after the use of tear gas) complained of neck discomfort. So no assault, no spraying against a five-year-old boy and his mother by the ELAS”.
The video of NEWS 24/7 confirms the complaints of the workers and the residents of the area, refuting the claims of the EL.AS.
At no point in the video did the protesters appear to “attack the police using, in addition to poles, tables and chairs from a catering shop”. Instead, protesters can be seen falling on tables and chairs from the repeated police beatings and customers rushing away in an attempt to avoid them.
At the same time, the (third) shot from inside the cafeteria and the image of the frightened juvenile, trapped in the crowd, being continuously beaten with batons do not belong to events that took place “approximately two (2) hours after these incidents”, nor do they relate to persons who were “passing at that time (i.e. two hours later) from an adjacent place”, but to that very hour of absolute chaos and terror spread by the police, both inside and outside the café.
The violent “premonition” and the repeated “coincidences”
The images of police arbitrariness on 1 November in Galatzi were the last before the implementation of the new lockdown in the country, but also the first of a tension that escalated in the following period until today, and culminated with another incident of uniformed violence in another middle-class area, such as Nea Smyrni.
Taking a brief look back over these four months, the events in Galatsi are today a forerunner of what happened on the 17th of that month during the celebration of the anniversary of the Polytechnic, with images of repression in the centre of Athens, but also in the area of Sepolia, while there were complaints of police violence in other areas of the country, such as Ioannina. Similar images followed a few days later, on the anniversary of the murder of Alexis Grigoropoulos, while a number of complaints of excessive violence by the police were also made during the demonstrations that followed for Dimitris Koufontina, where there were also incidents of beatings of journalists and photo reporters.
Police arbitrariness, however, culminated in March with the attack against citizens in Nea Smyrni Square, with images of brutal repression and police brutality making the rounds on the internet recently, both from the events of Sunday 7 March and those that followed the rally that took place in the area two days later. Police officers of the “DRASI” group appeared in many different videos using indiscriminate violence against citizens, arrested persons, ordinary passers-by during those two days in Nea Smyrni, damaging a car in Panormou, while there was also an image that raised questions about the object held by a police officer of the “DRASI” group that looked like a weapon.
The common denominator of all the above events that make up a tense period with many recurring incidents of uniformed violence, most of which, for the record, were characterized as “isolated” by the Hellenic Police and the Ministry of Culture, was the position taken by the Greek police in the announcements that followed them.
In many cases, the announcements were contradicted by the events and by the images that circulated on the internet, with a prime example being Nea Smyrni, where the claims of the National Police referred to an “unprovoked attack of 30 people” on Sunday 7 March at noon, but also what NEWS 24/7 reveals today about Galatzi. The questions about the attitude of the Police are many and should be answered by the competent authorities.
Christos Barounis
