Deputy minister defends police who evicted minors from ‘Joker’ screenings

Deputy Citizens' Protection Minister Lefteris Economou on Friday defended the police officers involved in the controversial eviction of 15 minors from two Athens movie theaters showing the "R" rated fantasy thriller "Joker" last weekend.

"Parliament legislates and police enforce. The police were acting on the basis of the 2010 law that prohibits minors from watching films that have been deemed unsuitable and not on whether it is constitutional," Economou said in Parliament on Friday, responding to a question from a lawmaker with leftist MeRA25.

The decision to remove the children from the screenings was not taken by the police, Economou said, stressing that officers were simply responding to a complaint lodged by two Culture Ministry employees who called the force's 100 emergency hotline to report the presence of children at the theaters.
"There are no directives...