How the argument started

A man who was pulling his car out of a parking space in Thessaloniki objected to a traffic police officer who was writing tickets for cars parked on the street. According to the reports, the man told the officer that he was making a mistake in the spot where he was writing the vehicles, and that stopping and parking were banned at a different point on the road. The officer reacted sharply, asking the man what he was telling him and whether he knew who he was, according to an eyewitness cited by the reports. The officer has been identified and, according to information reported in the media, serves with the Thessaloniki traffic police.

What the camera shows

A security camera at a nearby underground garage recorded the scene, and SKAI presented the footage first in its Reportaz programme. In an account attributed to an eyewitness, the officer took off his bulletproof vest, baton, belt, service weapon and jacket and left them exposed by the kerb until the two men were separated. NewsIT described the officer leaving his equipment, including his gun, on the pavement while trying to come to blows with the man. Reports differ on how far the confrontation went, with iefimerida describing the two men as having got into a physical fight and NewsIT saying the officer tried to start one. Reports credit a colleague and passers-by with separating the two men.

Inquiry and next steps

A sworn administrative inquiry (Ένορκη Διοικητική Εξέταση, ΕΔΕ) has been ordered into the incident, and the reports say it is ongoing. The reports do not say who ordered it. When the SKAI report was published, the reaction of the Hellenic Police (ΕΛΑΣ) leadership was still awaited.