T. Theodorikakos: 1,200 police officers have been specially trained to deal with incidents of domestic violence

The Minister of Citizen Protection, Takis Theodorikakos, referred to the incidents of domestic violence and the actions of the Greek Police to effectively deal with them, in an interview he granted to the MEGA television station.

As of October 2021, 6 Domestic Violence Offices have been set up and are operating, 5 in Athens and 1 in Thessaloniki, while 1200 police officers have been specially trained to handle these cases.

As Mr. Theodorikakos pointed out, case files are filed for all reported cases: “The six offices you mentioned have been staffed with women and men of the Greek Police who are specially trained. You know how many incidents they have dealt with in the Greek police and the Ministry Protection of the Citizen in the first eight months of this year? 5140 incidents! We are not talking about incidents where someone picked up a phone and said something, we are talking about court cases, about cases with which the Police and the Judiciary deal with of course”.

A case file must be filed for all complaints

The Minister urged women to trust the Police and to report incidents of domestic violence: “If someone comes to the Police it is mandatory that a case file is created and the case goes to Justice.

This is an obligation of the Greek Police, because domestic violence offenses are ex officio, i.e. lawsuits are filed directly. I want to urge every woman listening to us, every citizen victim of domestic violence to speak, speak openly, speak freely! He should know that he will find the ear of the state sensitive, to listen with suitable people, trained people, to stand up for them, to support them”

The murderer of Zakynthos was arrested again and brought to justice

Referring to the case of Zakynthos, the Minister of Citizen Protection pointed out that the murderer was arrested again by the Greek Police, following a complaint by the victim, in June 2022 and described in detail what happened a few hours before the brutal murder: “In the shocking case of Zakynthos, which we dealt with very separately to see if and what the Greek Police could do more.

The killer was arrested following a complaint by the woman, who unfortunately was the victim of the murder, on June 18 of this year. The Greek Police had arrested him, took him to the Justice, took him to the prosecutor. The prosecutor dealt with the case, detained him, drew his conclusions and when he was temporarily released with an express trial for February 2023, with the limiting condition that this man cannot approach his wife, his wife at a shorter distance from 100 meters.

This is an unemployed builder, his wife seems to have taken pity on him along the way and come back home. The woman had unfortunately given the possibility to this man to be by her side again and to display his despicable aggressive and violent behaviors again. On the evening of July 31st, she herself went to the Police Department, apparently at the urging of a friend and her children, and reported the incidents. She stated that her husband has left the house, because the police asked where he is to go and arrest him directly.

Unfortunately the picture given is that she is not at home, she asked to leave to return to her children, because we are talking about minor children, she returned home. Suppose she was escorted home by someone. He was not at home, he later went home. This man had decided to kill her, the only solution in this particular case would be that under no circumstances should these two people be in the same house again, to protect himself, to find himself in some structure, to seek other kinds of advice. That’s why I told you something at the beginning. Addressing the problem is a complex affair.”