Eğitim Sen İzmir Branch No. 3 for Universities Statement on Prosecution of Greek Academics and Faculty Unionists in Solidarity with University Students’ Struggle

As Eğitim Sen İzmir Branch No. 3 for Universities, we strongly condemn the prosecution of Associate Professor Elias Kondilis — President of the Faculty Members’ Union (ΕΣΔΕΠ ΑΠΘ) at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh)— together with two members of the Union’s Executive Board, on serious legal charges.

We regard the prosecution of three unionist faculty members for their participation in a demonstration held in solidarity with dormitory students as unacceptable. University dormitories in Greece remain part of the public service system and continue to offer free accommodation to students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The newly introduced regulation substantially restricts students’ rights and creates class-based obstacles to access to education, particularly by imposing additional financial burdens on low-income students.

This case constitutes the first case in Greece in which academics are being prosecuted under the new disciplinary framework enacted by the Greek Government in 2025. This framework introduces harsher disciplinary measures and criminalizes faculty support for collective student actions that university authorities may define as “disruptive to order.”

Based on our own experience in Turkey, we are well aware that the removal of dormitory services from the sphere of free public provision represents a serious infringement upon the right to education. We also emphasize that restrictions on union struggle and activity inevitably lead to wider violations of democratic rights and freedoms. Furthermore, the prosecution of academics contributes to the erosion of freedom of expression and limits the ability of scholars to participate in public and social debate.

As the Executive Board of Eğitim Sen İzmir Branch No. 3 for Universities, we express our profound concern regarding these anti-democratic developments.

We hereby declare our solidarity with the three Greek academics currently on trial and call for the immediate termination of all legal proceedings brought against them.

Executive Board

Eğitim Sen İzmir Branch No. 3 for Universities

26 May 2026