Greek police union wants to arrest EU/IMF officials

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ATHENS | Fri Feb 10, 2012 1:13pm GMT

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's largest police union has threatened to issue arrest warrants for officials from the country's European Union and International Monetary Fund lenders for demanding deeply unpopular austerity measures.

In a letter obtained by Reuters on Friday, the Federation of Greek Police accused the officials of "...blackmail, covertly abolishing or eroding democracy and national sovereignty" and said one target of its warrants would be the IMF's top official for Greece, Poul Thomsen.

The threat is largely symbolic since legal experts say a judge must first authorize such warrants, but it shows the depth of anger against foreign lenders who have demanded drastic wage and pension cuts in exchange for funds to keep Greece afloat.

"Since you are continuing this destructive policy, we warn you that you cannot make us fight against our brothers. We refuse to stand against our parents, our brothers, our children or any citizen who protests and demands a change of policy," said the union, which represents more than two-thirds of Greek policemen.

"We warn you that as legal representatives of Greek policemen, we will issue arrest warrants for a series of legal violations ... such as blackmail, covertly abolishing or eroding democracy and national sovereignty."

The letter was also addressed to the European Central Bank's mission chief in Greece, Klaus Masuch, and the former European Commission chief inspector for Greece, Servaas Deroose.

Policemen have borne the brunt of the anger of massed protesters who frequently march to parliament and clash with police in riot gear. Chants of "Cops, pigs, murderers!" are regularly hurled at policemen or scribbled on walls.

Thousands turned out on Friday for the latest protest in Athens, this time against new austerity measures that include a 22 percent cut in the minimum wage.

A police union official said the threat to 'refuse to stand against' fellow Greeks was a symbolic expression of solidarity and did not mean police would halt their efforts to stop protests getting out of hand.

(Reporting by Lila Chotzoglou, Writing by Deepa Babington, editing by Tim Pearce)
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Comments (2)
Anepo wrote:
I think ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
Now the EU MUST let Greece go into default and demand FULL payments and reverse all AID and change it into DEBT and ask for it’s money back due to LACK of co-operation & the lack of implementation!

Feb 10, 2012 5:04pm GMT  --  Report as abuse
ter2622 wrote:
Since Europe does not understand that countries have been turned into individuals who owe money to investment banks, something which is unspeakable (comparing the magnitude of a country to an investment organization) I believe that Enough is Enough. Greece should choose to exit the EU and should also decline any further help from IMF/EU.Since this country loses its sovereignty and becomes prey to Franco-German interests. Let be credited with the German reparations from the Hitler era in Greece of up to 168 billion euros and let us be alone to deal with this the way we know. And as history has shown, we can do. This way we may lose the alleged support from Europe, but Europe will be like a child without a birth certificate.

Feb 12, 2012 2:56pm GMT  --  Report as abuse
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