Tinos: 20-year-old arrested over venue violations

Officers of the Tinos Police Station arrested a 20-year-old Greek national on the afternoon of Tuesday 18 August. According to the report by Naxos Times, which cites the police announcement, the arrest followed an inspection of a food and drink establishment run by the 20-year-old. During the inspection two violations were found: the existence of unauthorised wooden structures on the premises and the operation of a speaker system emitting music above the permitted limit. The man arrested is presumed innocent until judged by the courts, and it has not been made known whether he was brought before the prosecutor or whether a case file was opened under the in flagrante procedure.

The two violations recorded fall under different legislative frameworks. Unauthorised structures at food and drink establishments concern mainly the occupation of public space and expansion beyond what the operating licence provides for, while in traditional settlements there are also the restrictions imposed by the special decrees on architectural form. Exceeding the limits on sound emission, on the other hand, is regulated by the health regulation on music in such premises and is checked through measurements carried out by the competent services. Both violations can entail administrative fines, withdrawal of the music licence or temporary closure. The in flagrante procedure applies when the violation is established at the moment it is being committed, in which case the person arrested is brought before the prosecutor within a short time.

Inspections of food and drink establishments are stepped up in the Cyclades during the peak months, when night-time activity is at its height and complaints from residents about noise pollution multiply. On Tinos, where the centre of Chora combines homes, shops and the area around the Monastery of the Evangelistria, the issue takes on an added dimension because of the large numbers of pilgrims in August. Similar inspections have been recorded on other islands too, with the police authorities of the Cyclades regularly announcing arrests on Syros, Thira, Naxos and Tinos as part of targeted operations. Tinos has more than forty settlements and its population increases significantly in August, with the result that both infrastructure and inspection services come under pressure.

It has not been announced whether an administrative fine was imposed on the establishment or whether a procedure to withdraw the music licence was initiated, nor whether the case was forwarded to the competent municipal service over the unauthorised structures. The police gave no details about the location of the establishment or the time of the inspection, and it was not made known whether a complaint from neighbours had preceded it. The island’s authorities are continuing inspections through the summer season, with an emphasis on compliance with opening hours and sound emission limits. The case will be judged by the competent court and until then the presumption of innocence applies.