It was just three days ago that the deputy Citizen’s Protection Minister declared that “the state has zero tolerance” for the actions of the anarchist group Rouvikonas.
Just yesterday, the group once again displayed its nihilistic practices by attacking and smashing the windows of a department store on Pireos Street.
Does the deputy minister stick by her statement? Does her zero tolerance permit acts of violence against commercial businesses and the diplomatic missions of foreign countries in Athens?
The deputy Citizen’s Protection Minister has been the target of the ironic remarks of members of the group. There is no reason for her to bring grist to their mill.
On the contrary, there is reason for her to work with her possibly more restrained but equally ineffective supervising minister and with state organs to root out a phenomenon that disturbs the public peace and exposes the country internationally.
There are tools to combat such phenomena, but political will cannot be limited to vacuous declarations.
Greek society just as societies around the world faces a host of problems. However, nothing justifies violence on the part of self-appointed judges who purport to take on the role of punishers.
The first people who must make this basic principle clear are those entrusted with protecting life and property, but this cannot be done with communications-oriented pronouncements.
