ATHENS — A three-member misdemeanours court has sentenced a vocational high school teacher to one year in prison, suspended for three years, after her arrest on October 23 on charges of not wearing a face mask in class.

The court found her guilty of violating measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and disrupting the operation of a service, while admitting the lack of a previous record as an extenuating circumstance.

The public prosecutor criticised the teacher for flouting the law and deciding that it was safe for her to remove her mask because she was taking other precautions, noting that if laws could be followed or not at will, "we will become a society of lawlessness".