More than 5,000 university students and sympathirsers gathered outside a Thessaloniki court yesterday to show their support of the 31 students who had been arrested after violence at a protest against a new campus security law passed by the Greek parliament on Monday.
The new law allows for police to patrol university grounds and make arrests.
In introducing the law, the conservative New Democracy government argued that previous laws that restricted police access to campuses allowed criminal activities and violent protests to take place there.
Critics say the government was using the new law to give police greater powers without allowing for proper debate.
READ MORE: Campus police approved in Parliament despite fierce demonstrations
The law runs counter to a tradition of university autonomy that dates back to the years of military dictatorship (1967-1973. A bloody university student revolt in Athens in 1973 helped to bring down the dictatorship.