Greece’s ranking on Transparency International list of corruption has improved in “Corruption Perception Index 2017” when the country ranked on position 59/180 and score 48/100 behind Saudi Arabia and Jordan. In 2016 Greece was holding position 69.
According to survey findings, complains about instances of corruption decreased by 8.5% in 2017 when compared to 2016. The number of public sector officials, bureaucrats and professionals arrested “red-handed” decreased by 44%. This development is attributed to the decrease of complains.
The Department for Home Affairs of the Greek Police presented its own report about the corruption cases it dealt with in 2017. It is highly interested that the majority of complains, that is 62%, were against police officers and special guards.
From 1,126 complains in total in 2017:
- 62% of the complains referred to policemen and special guards (703)
- 22% to civil servants (244)
- 9% to private sector (99)
- 8% referred to denouncements/information about crimes in which police officers and civil servants were involved (80)
With regards to Greece’s public sector, majority of complains referred to
justice (264 cases out of 459 in total),
followed by municipalities (54), hospitals (33), ministries (28), public administration and institutions (21), financial services (17), regional government (15), fire service (9), armed forces (8), coast guard (7), education institutions (7), customs authorities (5), social security funds (3), consulate services (1), parliament (1), other institutions (4).
The Home Affairs Dept of the Greek Police dealt with 473 case files.
- 284 refereed to police officers
- 136 to other civil servants
A total of 73 people were arrested within the process of “in flagranti delicto” caught red-handed.
Of those 20 were police officers, 3 special guards, 19 civil servants and 31 private persons.
According to the report of Greek Police, complains about corruption sharply increased after 2014 (data 2008-2917.)
Corruption by police officers of all ranks and age groups refer so several offenses among them threat, theft, bribery, fraud, breach of duty, abuse of power, blackmail, but also fake assets declaration. via Greek Police report in pdf page 63
The Police report details also case of extreme and violent behavior by police officers. This is of great interest and top priority to deal with, the Directorate for Internal Affair report notes.
From 2009 to 2017, a total of 201 such cases were dealt with.
65 case relate to offenses against Greek nationals and 136 to foreigners. Of these, 13 and 14 respectively refer to the year 2017.
Especially for cases of torture, all cases dealt with by the Department were 55 (39 against foreigners and 16 against Greek nationals. 7 of the cases concerned 2016 and 6 in 2017.
For cases involving extreme police behavior (years 2009-2017), a total of 164 prosecutions were filed, out of which 56 in 2017.
From the evolution of the 201 cases as a whole since 2009, 156 were submitted to prosecuting authorities, 39 were arrested and the remaining 6 were pending for investigation.
The report stresses that “corruption is a global and multidimensional phenomenon that is encountered in all seasons and in all countries, developed and underdeveloped” and “in extreme cases, corruption undermines citizens’ confidence in democratic institutions and processes,” the report by the Department for Home Affairs of the Greek Police stressed.
Curruption decrease is attributed to government efforts and citizens’ awareness and active participation in tackling the problem.
