“The government’s priority is the safety of students and teachers and we are implementing the law passed by Parliament in order for them to feel safe. We are not going to make any concessions around this. We will use the University Institutions Protection Teams and I assure you that “I hesitate to use the Police in every possible way if it needs to intervene in the universities for reasons of safety of teachers and students”, added the Minister of Civil Protection, Takis Theodorikakos.
“I believe that this is a demand of society. This is the progressive and meets the perspective needs of the Greek university,” he said, also answering a topical question from SYRIZA MP Nikos Filis, who said that the low crime rate in universities in relation to the totality of crime in the Territory does not justify the establishment of the university police and proves that this choice only serves authoritarian government policies and the dangerous intrusion of private interests in the field of higher education.
As Mr. Filis spoke about the recruitment of 1000 police officers, which will be used in the universities, the competent minister clarified that 368 were recruited, which are available for the four universities where a serious security problem has been identified, while the rest will be used as special guards in ELAS.
He also stressed that the University Protection Teams do not carry weapons when dealing with issues related to the university, ie at the entrances, the surrounding areas or inside the university. However, as he said, the special guards who belong to the University Protection Teams are special guards of ELAS, they have full training in weapons and during the time they are not employed in the universities, they will be employed as special guards where ELAS needs them, in police stations in Athens and Thessaloniki which are strengthened in this way.
“It is not our ambition to have police officers everywhere in universities because there is no reason for them to be. We have identified four universities that have a serious security problem and we are referring to them at this stage. I wish there were fewer tomorrow. But this institution exists to be used. “Everywhere you look today, the tide of protectionist sentiment is flowing. said Mr. Theodorikakos.
“We keep hearing abusive government slander against universities that he is a man of illegality and crime. There are some reasons given, but they are few and not the norm. We have not seen evidence of the extent of illegality and crime within universities. Only 200 offenses per year are reported, ie only 0.1% of all crime is committed in universities. Does this image justify your choice to establish a university police force? “to intensify the repression”, said Nikos Filis previously.
Responding, Mr. Theodorikakos stressed that he does not accept the political reasoning of the SYRIZA MP, pointed out that the government’s goal is to upgrade public higher education and this can not be achieved if we have not consolidated the sense of security within the university, while stating that as a father he accepts neither a crime nor a criminal act within the university.
“I can not compare the statistics in the university with what is happening in the society. I consider it unacceptable and only as a hypothesis. Your question aims to tell the public that there is no such crime in the universities” he remarked and addressed to Mr. A friend showed the photos depicting the rector of ASOE with the placard “Solidarity in the Occupations” hung around his neck, the walls built on the University Campus of Zografou and the 34-year occupation at the Aristotle University, calling on the party of the official to oppose democracy, freedom, knowledge and security or if you are in chaos and violence “.
“Of course we are with the Democracy, you are with the chaos that your policy creates,” replied the SYRIZA MP, who attributed to the competent minister that he speaks in terms of television, while he asks him for information about delinquency in universities. “The photos show real data and situations experienced by students and teachers. Democracy is a prerequisite for security and this can not be reversed. Have you ever been to Patision to see that various anarchists use the ASOE amphitheater for various criminal acts? which create a feeling of insecurity in students and teachers? “Mr. Theodorikakos countered.
Finally, the competent minister referred to the case of the Aristotle University, saying that following the categorical demand of the rector, the police are there to ensure that the rector’s office can operate the library smoothly, when it will be given to students and teachers.
SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
Source: Capital
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