The People Reserve Their Rights - Stop the Punitive COVID Fines

“Can you not understand that liberty is worth more than just ribbons?”

― George Orwell, Animal Farm

The state authorities have overstepped the line of proportionality with the huge COVID fines burdening businesses and individuals at a time of economic distress.

The state of emergency resulted in far more than necessary punitive measures and a line must be drawn here.

Decrees do not supersede the constitution and are not laws or rules, according to Dr. Christos Clerides, law professor and head of the bar association. I heartily agree with this view.

If the authorities see fit to impose fines in the name of preventing the spread of COVID, they should be applied with discretion and not be in the hundreds or thousands of Euros. A warning system could be used, similar to the points on a driver’s license. We’re human, not robots. Three warnings or cautions could be issued and then the fine could be imposed. This would be a fairer way to approach the safety measures.

It feels like the authorities have forgotten how to be measured, proportional and balanced. Instead, the police use fear to intimidate the people.

But the people reserve their rights to their constitution and to their freedom from scare tactics.

We are tired of being coerced, tired of having the book thrown at us and tired of being forced into the role of the guilty party in this COVID mess.

Testing for COVID doesn’t have to be mandatory, it can stay voluntary and the authorities can make access to testing in the workplace easier. The take-up of the rapid testing has been excellent, on some days there were 22,000 tests carried out.

The staged lockdowns also work well even if some of the priorities are distorted and the arts have suffered disproportionately.

After nearly a year of sacrifices, the least the state could do is recognise society’s immense efforts to battle COVID and show some appreciation by lifting the system of fines or applying them in a proportional way. By that I mean warnings for the less serious cases like someone forgetting to send an SMS and fines only in the cases of extreme and repeated abuse of measures like mask wearing, curfew breaking or lockdown breaches.

There is still a long way to go. There may be a third wave and considerably more burden on the health system but there’s one thing for sure, the authorities cannot keep demoralizing society in this way and expect continued support. Eventually there will be a backlash.

This potential backlash is completely avoidable with some respect shown to people’s rights.