A court in Veria, northern Greece, ruled on Thursday that access to electricity is a basic social right and acquitted an activist who was on trial for reconnecting  the home of an unemployed man to the electricity grid. 

The court also acquitted the man whose home was reconnected. The initial incident had taken place in the town of Verioa, in September 2011. Members of the “Citizens of Veria” activist group, among whom was Nikos Aslanoglou, the accused, went to the home and restored power, which had been cut by DEI because of an unpaid bill.

It was the first such reconnection nationwide, Mr. Aslanoglou told the court. He not only defended his decision but said he would continue restoring power to the homes of those unable to pay their bills.  

“It was a breath of fresh air,” Mr. Aslanoglou told ThePressProject in a telephone interview on Friday. “In this critical time, when people will be feeling the cold, we get a chance to help as much as possible,” he said.

In a separate interview, Mr. Aslanoglou told the Avgi newspaper  that he doesn’t help cheats, but those “neglected” by a state that does not respect the law, “depriving them of their inalienable rights, such as water, food and electricity”. 

“It would have been a case of theft if we had bypassed the electricity meter. Whatever the people used, would be recorded, but they couldn’t pay for it,” he said. “The poor are living in a state of wretchedness and those who were holding up with dignity, are now having a hard time,” he added.   

“I know what’s it like not to have electricity when raising a child. I’ve lived through it,” Mr. Aslanoglou said.

The ruling is especially important for two reasons. Apart from its social implications, there is also a political dimension.  

The government introduced a new property tax in September 2011, in order to cover a €2 billion funding gap. The tax, called the “haratsi” in popular language, was payable through electricity bills. It was meant as a one-off levy. Up to then, most Greeks paid real estate taxes when they bought, sold or inherited property. They also paid municipal taxes, which were relatively small.

The new tax was based on square footage, the age of the building and the average value of a neighborhood, and had nothing to do with a taxpayer’s income. Those who wouldn’t pay their property tax, would have their electricity cut off. Out of this, grew a citizens’ resistance movement, where activists would illegally restore power to those homes where it had been cut off.

The practise of cutting off people’s electricity was later found unconstitutional, meaning that people still had to pay the tax, but their electricity would not be cut off. The government is currently in the initial process of replacing the old property tax with a new, equally unpopular one.