Altered Mug Shots Trigger Probe into Greek Police Beatings

Greek police have admitted to altering the mug shots of four men who were arrested on Friday, but it remains whether their injuries erased by Photoshop were from resisting arrest or police brutality, UPI.com reported.

The mug shots of four suspected Greek robbers were digitally altered and human rights groups have cried foul, prompting an inquiry as to whether the men were beaten by the police during questioning. According to news reports, human rights groups have long accused the Greek police of detaining immigrants and other prisoners, and treating them horrendously.

Photos published in the Greek media of the men, between the ages 20 to 25 and arrested on Friday, showed them bruised and bleeding while being escorted by police.

But mug shots released by the police over the weekend had these injuries missing. 

While acknowledging the photographs were changed, through Photoshop, Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias, argues that it was necessary to make the four men more recognizable to the public.

"Photoshop was used and I-just like you, just like any reasonable person asked why was this done?" he said on Greek Television. "If they hadn't been Photoshopped, in order to make them resemble an image that the average person would recognize them in, then the photos wouldn't have been published in the first place."

Human rights organizations, like Amnesty International, are irate, and are seeking an impartial and thorough investigation as to whether police brutality, even torture, had been used by law enforcement.

"The Greek authorities cannot just Photoshop their problems away. The culture of impunity needs to be stopped," said Marek Marczynski, deputy director of Amnesty's Europe and Central Asia Programme.

The four men were arrested during an attempted armed robbery at the branches of Greek lenders ATEbank and Hellenic Postbank in Kozana, a northern town in Greece. 

Tags

Greece, Police brutality, Human Rights Abuse

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