Teacher gets suspended term for violating mask law

A Greek misdemeanors court has given a teacher at a secondary school in the Athens suburb of Ymittos a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for three years, after finding her guilty of not wearing a face mask in her classroom, in violation of restrictions imposed by the government to curb the spread of the coronavirus. 

The ruling was made public on Wednesday following the teacher’s arrest on October 23 following claims by schoolchildren’s parents that she had not worn a mask in class.

In her defense, the teacher told the court that she had told both the principal of the school and her pupils that she would be removing her mask frequently due to suffering from otitis – inflammation of the ears.

She claimed, however, that she observed all other health protocols including hand disinfection and social distancing, insisting that she would never put her pupils’ health at risk.

The court, however, aligned with the proposal of the prosecutor, who noted that she had not respected the law and questioned whether she had grasped the level of the risk she posed by failing to wear a face mask in class.