‘Audacious, outrageous’: Gaza protesters slam Greek deportation order
Al Jazeera
Greece’s government has pledged not to allow protests against Israel to escalate on university campuses as they have in other countries.
Nine people from the United Kingdom and the European Union member states are facing deportation from Greece days after they took part in a protest in solidarity with Palestine at a Greek university.
A total of 28 people were arrested by Greek police during the protest and encampment at the Athens Law School on May 14 on charges including disturbing the peace, damaging property, trespass as well as violations of the laws on weapons and flares, all of which they deny.
Of those arrested, the nine UK and EU nationals have been designated as “unwanted aliens” and deemed a threat to public order and national security, facing deportation in an unusual move by authorities.
The group of lawyers representing the nine non-Greek protesters say they will challenge the decision to deport them at their trial in Athens set for Tuesday. In a statement, they asked whether the right of free movement of European citizens “only applies to tourists and investors and is suspended in the case of political action, especially if it concerns Palestine”.
According to them, the arrested protesters are currently being held in the Amygdaleza detention centre just outside Athens in “deplorable conditions” and with “no interpreters”.
