ATHENS – Police forces throughout the country have been placed on general alert following the death of the 16-year-old Roma boy shot in the head by a police officer on 5 December. The boy died of his injuries on Tuesday, in an ICU at Thessaloniki’s Ippokration Hospital.
The order signed by the chief of police, Lieutenant General Konstantinos Skoumas, advises that all police officers should be on standby in case they are called up for duty for “emergency, serious and urgent service reasons”. In this context, all leaves have been cancelled while all police officers serving on front line units must remain at their posts, even after the end of their shifts, until further notice.
At the same time, according to sources, all Roma camps are to be kept under constant supervision while measures have been planned in the case of mobilisations in the cities, with police ordered to maintain a strong but not provocative presence and to intervene immediately in the case of violent incidents.
The citizen protection ministry also clarified that there will be no change in planned police operations within Roma settlements, which will go ahead in order to tackle crime and especially to find drugs and weapons.
Ministry officials appealed to all sides to let justice do its work regarding the shooting of the 16-year-old and the police officer who shot him and not seek to exploit this tragic incident, in order to avoid further incidents.