Thousands of Greek students on Wednesday protested against lawmakers who are preparing to approve a plan creating a special police force to combat endemic violence at universities. Some 5,000 students gathered in Athens, a police source said, despite a recent ban on protests over 100 people to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Riot police used tear gas to disperse a small group of protesters in front of the parliament building and skirmished with club-wielding demonstrators who tried to break through their line. Around 20 people were detained for questioning according to an AFP journalist. The university bill is to be put to a vote on Thursday. The conservative government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has been accused of authoritarianism over the plan to create a dedicated 1,000-strong force to patrol campuses. The functioning of Greek universities has been disrupted for decades by clashes and violence against staff, often blamed on youth organisations affiliated with leading political parties. Drugs and firearms have also on occasion been found stashed on university park grounds. The main opposition leftist Syriza party has branded the measure undemocratic. The issue of police entering universities is highly sensitive in Greece, where memories of student beatings and killings by security forces during the 1967-74 military dictatorship are still raw. Greece remains under a national lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, with movement restricted between regions and people required to give a valid reason for leaving their homes. More than 6,000 deaths in Greece have been attributed to coronavirus since the start of the pandemic. Over 270 people are in intensive care. str-hec-wv/jph/lc