The Minister of Public Order Yannis Panousis told Mega Channel that he was confident that the occupation at the Rectorate of the University of Athens would end in a few hours. Mr. Panousis stressed that he would not do the anarchists the favor of “making them heroes” in a clash with the police.
When asked whether tackling occupations and anarchists was causing friction within the government, the Minister responded that there was a disagreement regarding ideas and opinions. He did suggest though that the police changed its stance, after his meeting with the Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Following the meeting between the two, many police units have surrounded the occupied university buildings in down town Athens.
Mr. Panousis however was also critical of university authorities, claiming that they do not dare open doors to storage areas, where anarchists are thought to store “ammunition” for their clashes with police whenever a university building is occupied. The Minister stated that “we cannot station the police outside every office”.
Finally, the Public Order Minister reiterated his fear that a citizen or police officer may get killed in the clashes, which in turn could trigger an escalation of violence and unrest similar to that which followed the murder of Alexis Grigoropoulos in December 2008. Mr. Panousis added that the police is unable to solve the problem in Skouries, claiming that is a matter which the relevant ministries must address.
He also noted that democracy is about equality before the law, not covering up any form of violence and underlined that the easy option for him would be to submit his resignation.
