Galery

1

A day before the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination the district court in Athens postponed for the fourth time the case against three people accused of an assault against three Afghans. Their actions are defined as dangerous bodily harm, as one of the victims had serious injuries to the chest.
 
The case was postponed to 23 May, although the court had ruled for the personal presence of the accused Ioannis Loukianos, George Markoulakis and Themis Skordeli. In an attempt to justify their absence from the meetings, the lawyer of the third defendant has declared that she was suffering from a mental illness. This made the court rule out that Themis Skordeli should be taken to court, even by force.

The attack against the three Afghans seeking asylum in Greece took place on 16 September, 2010. They were attacked in a cruel way in front of their house in the neighbourhood of Agios Pantelemonas. As a result, one of them was taken to hospital with serious knife wounds in the chest area. The second young man was attacked at the same time and he was taken to hospital too due to severe head wounds. According to representatives of leftist organizations, police captured three of the attackers after the Minister of Immigration of Afghanistan had informed the then Minister of Citizens Protection Christos Papoutsis about the case.
 
The victims’ defenders attach particular importance to the case. In their opinion, the determination and perseverance of the men from Afghanistan to capture their attackers are the reason for bringing them to justice in practice. "The truth is that these people have been fighting for years to have their refugees' rights recognized and against racism," writes one of their defenders in court, Eleftheria Kouniaki.

She says that the attackers captured are well known in the area of ​​Agios Pantelemonas. "The first among them is Themis Skordeli. She has repeatedly hurled racist abuse and has participated in attacks on immigrants and refugees living in the area. She has participated in all meetings of far-right organizations and especially of the neo-Nazi "Golden Dawn". She acted based on the patience and guise of the police station in Agios Pantelemonas. She could swear, attack, humiliate and intimidate not only immigrants and refugees, but also all those who resisted her far-right racist beliefs and actions. The feeling of complete freedom to act and behave this way made her go to the police station to support the first captured defendant after the attack with a knife. The persistence of the eyewitness and victim forced the police to arrest her too."

The defender believes that the arrest of Ioannis Loukianos who is a member of "Golden Dawn" is even more important. "Especially at a time when the organization has the ambition to take a higher position in the central political system using the severe economic and political crisis. Its aim is to spread its racist poison and encourage persecution against immigrants and refugees."