29-07-06 Education Ministry bill decriminalises student sit-ins

In regard to the criminal prosecution of (four) high school students in Sami, Cephalonia, on charges that they participated in student demonstrations at their schools, the Education Ministry reiterates its complete opposition to the practice of taking students to court for protest mobilisations decide by the student community collectively.

This opposition is based primarily on paedagogical principles, which must be respected above all by educators themselves, and it is independent of any agreement or disagreement with the manner that students each time press their demands.

Expressing this policy in practice, the Education Ministry recently submitted to parliament a provision in a bill (article 45, par.2 of law 4386/16) which abolishes a 1999 legislative decree (ratified in law 2811/2000), which criminalized student mobilisations, leading students to the well-known “school courts”. The 2000 law criminalised student sit-ins and actions blocking the operation of schools, making these punishable with a jail term of at least six months/