FALCON POWERS – Lawyers for nine protesters from Germany, Britain, France, Italy, and Spain who were arrested last week during a pro-Palestinian demonstration at the law school of the University of Athens said that it has been decided to deport them from Greece.
Last week, the police arrested 28 Greek and foreign protesters who occupied the college building on charges including disrupting the operation of a public institution and assisting in damaging foreign property, according to court documents. The protesters denied committing any violations.
The documents stated that the evidence included Palestinian publications and flags, smoke flares, protective gas masks, helmets, paint cans, and banners, as well as a statement uploaded in Greek and English on a website calling on others to join the protest.
The Greek protesters were released on bail on May 28th pending trial, but the nine foreign protesters, who are one man and eight women aged 22 to 33, are still detained pending an administrative deportation order.
Lawyers for the foreign protesters said in a statement that deportation orders have been issued, preventing the accused from attending their trial.
Two of the lawyers said their clients live and work in Greece and plan to appeal the decision.
A lawyer for a third defendant described the decision as “arbitrary and illegal.”
Pro-Palestinian supporters have organized several protests in Greece since the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Gaza in October.
Greece repealed legislation in 2019 that banned police from entering universities, saying it had been abused as cover for lawbreaking.
The legislation, enacted after a crackdown by the military junta in 1973 to suppress a student uprising, was aimed at protecting protesting students and freedom of ideas. Critics condemned its repeal, saying it was an attack on democracy.
