Greece said Saturday it had sacked its national police chief, days after clashes between security forces and demonstrators broke out in the wake of the.
[World News](/News/world) [Probe into train tragedy in Greece shows ‘serious’ safety faults in rail network](https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2023/03/17/Probe-of-train-tragedy-in-Greece-shows-serious-safety-faults-in-rail-network) [AlArabiya](/)
Greece said Saturday it had sacked its national police chief, days after clashes between security forces and demonstrators broke out in the wake of the ...
[Greece](https://www.france24.com/en/tag/greece/)'s transport minister resigned after the disaster, and the stationmaster on duty during the accident and three other railway officials have been charged and face a possible life sentence. [angry and occasionally violent protests](https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20230308-tens-of-thousands-protest-in-greece-over-country-s-deadliest-train-disaster), and has piled major pressure on the conservative government of Prime Minister [Kyriakos Mitsotakis](https://www.france24.com/en/tag/kyriakos-mitsotakis/) ahead of elections expected in May. "The appointment of a new police chief aims (to introduce) a more positive and efficient implementation of modern police operational plans on citizen safety," the PM's office said. [handling of protests](https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20230316-clashes-break-out-in-greece-as-thousands-protest-against-train-tragedy) over the February 28 tragedy in which 57 people were killed when two [trains](https://www.france24.com/en/tag/trains/) collided. In the latest protest on Thursday, a riot police squad was filmed charging and striking peaceful demonstrators at the central Syntagma Square in Athens. Greece said Saturday it had sacked its national police chief, days after clashes between security forces and demonstrators broke out in the wake of the country's deadliest train tragedy.
The chief's discharge comes amid widespread public criticism which the police are facing due to how they are handling demonstrations over the February 28 ...
Another scene was filmed where a police tow truck was ramming a group of protesters who were trying to block an Athens street with garbage bins. It came amid widespread public criticism that the police are facing due to how they are [death of at least 32 people and injured 85 others](https://english.almayadeen.net/news/miscellaneous/deadly-greek-train-crash-prompts-strike-over-work-conditions), according to local authorities.
With Greece facing intense international criticism over pushbacks and wider human rights concerns related to migration and asylum, the Greek government has ...
While the report acknowledges that the landscape for some civil society groups in Greece is better, experience from [other European](https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2022/country-chapters/hungary) [countries](https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2023/country-chapters/poland) indicates that a degrading environment for civil society in one sector can easily spread. The commission should step up its engagement on the issue and press Greece to stop harassing civil society groups, activists, and journalists. “Journalists have also faced criminal lawsuits and strategic lawsuits against public participation for their investigative reporting on corruption and environmental pollution.” [By Eva Cossé,](https://www.hrw.org/about/people/eva-cosse) Senior Researcher, European Union “[H]uman rights lawyers, humanitarian workers, volunteers and journalists [working on migration], have been subjected to smear campaigns, a changing regulatory environment, threats and attacks and the misuse of criminal law against them, to a shocking degree,” she writes in the 19-page report. “News reports that are inconvenient or unflattering for the government, including reporting on serious human rights violations, do not get sufficient coverage on many media outlets,” the report says.