The decision of the administrative lower court to review, of its own volition, the legality of the Aliens Bureau’s decision to remand in custody once again the Turkish officer who had been granted asylum, in the context of the administrative process of granting asylum, is a step towards restoring democratic legitimisation.
The government’s handling of the case obviously is not in accord with the tenets of a democratic country which respects democratic legitimacy and the rule of law.
It is outlandish that – as is apparent from the document on the basis of which the Turkish officer’s arrest was ordered, and which was revealed by in.gr, that ‘’with him as a pretext, serious dangers are provoked from individuals abroad who want to undermine the country’s and the people’s security and peace, due to their own aspirations’’! A citizen who is patently being prosecuted is, according to Greek authorities, a threat to the security of the country.
The government’s machinations and arbitrary actions in this case, as laid out by the Greek Council for Refugees, are a clear violation of the law. As Athens Bar Association President Nikos Vervesos said, this issues transcends the eight Turkish nationals, as it concerns broader issues of democracy and human rights.
Despite the clear and absolutely well-reasoned ruling of the Greek Supreme Court, which definitively barred the road to the extradition of the Turkish officers, the government arbitrarily insists on preserving Erdogan’s charges, characterising them arbitrarily as coup plotters. It challenges the decision of the asylum committee, despite the fact that the committee is comprised mainly of judges.
To please Erdogan, the government also remanded in custody the officer once again.
The government is negating the erstwhile sensitivity of the Left to the persecuted, and it engages in interventions that are alien to European legal culture and to liberal moral and political principles, which are the cornerstone of democratic institutions.
Unfortunately, for some, the decline is endless.
