Μake us preferred on Google Michalis Chrysochoidis, the minister of Citizen Protection, said Wednesday morning that people facing prosecution for domestic violence will be fitted with an electronic ankle monitors, while repeat offenders will be sent straight to prison. “A defendant will wear this monitor, and if someone reoffends, they go to prison,” Chrysochoidis explained. As he described it, the measure applies to people formally charged in domestic violence cases, not only those already convicted.
The Minister of Citizen Protection outlined the plan in a television interview in which he also addressed the latest developments in the 2024 femicide of Kyriaki Griva outside an Athens police station, as well the phenomenon of electricity theft in rural areas, and the enforcement of drunk driving and e-scooter rules.
The Griva Case
Twenty-eight year-old Kyriaki Griva, was fatally stabbed by her former partner outside a police station in Athens on April 1, 2024. She had gone to the police because she feared her ex-partner, who was outside her home, and asked officers to escort her there. Instead, she was directed to call the emergency line who informed her that the police “is not a taxi service” and it was while she was on the phone with the dispatcher outside the station that her former partner stabbed her to death.
The four officers who dealt on the day with Griva, the officer on duty, the supervising officer, the police guard and the emergency call operator, have been referred to trial on felony charges over the killing. According to the judicial council’s ruling, they “intentionally, through omissions, exposed another person to danger and left her helpless,” despite having a specific legal obligation to act.
“That date marked the police force” Chrysochoidis said during the interview. “So many failures in just a few minutes. Since then, the police have changed their approach. There are protocols now, and stricter legislation.”
Other Issues Raised
Chrysochoidis also addressed electricity theft, which he described as widespread but usually small scale, running to hundreds of cases. He said the scale is far more serious among businesses, and that his ministry wants more technical help from the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator (HEDNO/DEDDIE). He also pointed to cases in rural areas where members of Roma communities have stolen transformers from fields, cutting off irrigation for farmers, according to the minister.
On road safety, Chrysochoidis said traffic deaths fell from 69 in August of last year to 34 this August. Breathalyzer tests over the first eight months of the year rose from about 1 million last year to more than 2 million this year. Motorcycles and mopeds make up 10 to 12 percent of vehicles on Greek roads, he said, calling helmet use essential to reducing fatal crashes.
E-scooter accidents killed two people in 2025 and one so far in 2026, he said, with 11,000 violations recorded. Six traffic cameras are currently operating and issuing fines, and the ministry aims to expand that network to 1,000 cameras by early 2027.
