Filenews 9 June 2022 - by Michalis Hadjivasilis
Endless is the list of extrajudicial fines issued by the Police during the 26 months of the pandemic, when restrictive measures were in place, resulting in citizens being reported. According to the evidence, two out of three who were reported did not pay their fine and as a result they are now in danger of being sent to court. After the abolition of all measures, the result of the pandemic, in addition to the deaths and other consequences, left huge economic damage for the citizens.
According to police data, from 28/3/2020 until 31/5/2022, 44,344 out-of-court fines were issued for citizens who were found to be violating the decrees. Of these, only 17,466 were paid out of court, i.e. 39.4%, while another 26,828, or 60.5% have not been paid. In the cases of extrajudicial cases, there are not a relatively small number of cases, where they will be taken directly to the Court of Justice, since by law, they could not be settled out of court. They mainly concern companies that were found to be breaking the law through their premises - repeatedly.
Most of the extrajudicials of the Police concerned the non-use of a protective mask or that they brought it but not in the appropriate way, for the violation of the lockdown, the non-sending of SMS for the movement, even because people were found dancing in clubs while it was forbidden, or exceeded the allowed number in gathering places. Many citizens considered the measures as unconstitutional because they were restricting their basic freedoms, which is why they deliberately refused to pay their extrajudicial documents, while some fellow citizens could not really pay €300, since they were either unemployed due to the pandemic, or because they could not respond due to their financial straits.
The question is what will happen now to the almost 27,000 people who did not pay for their extrajudicial documents? Already many cases have reached the courts which impose, depending on the case, fines. However, it is considered certain that when all these thousands of cases are registered, the courts that already have a burdened case will be drowned, with the result that in cases where someone does not declare an admission, it is unknown when their case will be heard. There is a problem with those who are not found at the address they declared - mainly foreigners - since when they are searched it is found that they have changed their address.
