The people and the institution

Panos Ruci, who mislaid his son Denis successful the deadly Tempe train clang successful 2023, is seen astatine a rally successful beforehand of the Parliament successful Athens, Greece, connected October 8, 2025, aft a authoritative accepted his petition to exhume his son’s assemblage for toxicological tests to find the origin of death. [Dimitris Sarelas/Intime News]

Greek nationalist sentiment is successful a state of imperishable disorder regarding the institutions and their functions. The information that so galore judge that the authorities is liable for the decisions of the judiciary is indicative not lone of a taste entreaty to suspicion, but besides of a broader cognition deficit. That is, some bash so disregard the separation of powers and truly judge that the demands of the hunger striker Panos Ruci – begetter of Denis, a victim of the 2023 Tempe train clang – autumn within the competence of the Council of Ministers.

Thus, until Ruci’s demands to exhume his son’s remains were accepted, the enforcement subdivision was blamed for not approving them; when they were accepted, there was nary 1 to person the praise: The competent judicial officers are considered nonexistent oregon manipulated and the authorities is the government, so adjacent when it hypothetically does what we inquire of it, adjacent when it’s not its job, it is still an enemy.

The praise was ultimately attributed to the hunger striker’s struggle. But who is to blasted for the successive misunderstandings? Even if we presume that citizens person the close to state ignorance astir however the state works, politicians are supposed to know. Why bash they perpetuate the misunderstanding? We should not beryllium funny successful the sentiment of 1 curate oregon different subordinate of Parliament connected a pending transgression case, and they, for their part, should not explicit it. Positive oregon antagonistic positions connected issues related to justness provender some ignorance and suspicion.

The truth down the stereotype

But governments bash interfere successful the work of justice, goes the counterargument. We person seen it happen, so however bash we cognize that it does not ever happen? Equating the problems of an instauration with the instauration itself is an absurd generalization that, insidiously and methodically, abolishes its need. Since judicial investigations and trials are unreliable procedures, fto us acceptable them speech altogether. Let the nationalist consciousness of justness determine everything (nobody knows however the nationalist will determine – possibly done the idiosyncratic shouting the loudest). Those who perpetually spot authorities interventions successful justness bash not person a occupation with the interventions arsenic a practice, but with the absorption of the interventions, with the information that they bash not service the version of things they anticipation for.

The truth, however, is that the information that a judicial/prosecutorial determination is delayed oregon does not fulfill us, does not successful itself represent grounds of injustice oregon authorities intervention. The reasoning down the hunger striker’s demands being granted is the proof. It was not a conspiracy. The prosecutors had nary crushed to lend to the torment of a grieving father. However, successful bid to beforehand his demands without breaking the law, they had to find the due ineligible ground – and they recovered it.

Justice is not an exertion of artificial quality to process motivation claims. It operates connected the ground of rules, mechanisms and bureaucracy.

Greek norm

The flawed narration of citizens with institutions is not so overmuch evident by the hunger strike arsenic an enactment of desperation by 1 person, arsenic by the support of the enactment by countless others arsenic an due way of exerting pressure. There is something crudely realistic and disarmingly bittersweet astir this support: More than extreme, the hunger strike was considered necessary, and this is due to the fact that outrageousness is ever portion of Greek reality. Regardless of whether those exercising powerfulness successful Greece workout it arsenic imperfectly arsenic we believe, astatine the extremity of the time nary 1 is convinced that the state will relation arsenic it should.
The essence of the substance is that we person go so accustomed to unreliability that we see a hunger striker camped successful Syntagma Square to beryllium a mean parameter of Greek normality. Panos Ruci whitethorn person been tutored by his lawyer; helium whitethorn beryllium justifiably unaware that justness is not a idiosyncratic service; but helium is surely not wrong if helium believes that, successful this country, going to extremes is often the lone way to get things done.