A 37-year-old man from Serres is in prison and serving a 40-day sentence for refusing to wear a COVID-19 protection mask.
According to sources used by Sputnik Hellas, the 37-year-old was known to police authorities as he often went in public without wearing a mask, for which authorities imposed the relevant fine of 300 euros.
Once during an inspection, he was found to be in possession of pepper spray.
In Serres, police located him once again not wearing a mask and approached him.
However, at the time of the search, the 37-year-old resisted and refused to be checked, thus leading to his arrest.
As local lawyers told Sputnik, during the hearing the judge saw his file and the fines.
The decision of the Single-Member Misdemeanor Court was a catapult after sentenced him to serve 40 days in prison.
According to legal circles in Serres, the 37-year-old, although he accepted to be tried without a lawyer, immediately after hearing the sentence and being taken to Nigrita prison, started looking for a lawyer to be released.
Legally there is no room to appeal as this sentence is irrevocable and must be executed.
"He will serve 2/5 of his sentence, ie he will stay in prison for 16 days and then he will be released," a local lawyer told Sputnik.
Police sources clarified that according to the law, the violation of protection measures is both administrative and criminal.
However, if all the fines given for the specific violations were filed, this would mean the collapse of the courts.
For this reason, no cases are filed by the Police for fines related to not using a mask.
In the case of the 37-year-old, the same sources said that "his attitude towards the police was aggressive, he had been found other times and had been fined for the same reason."
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