Twenty five people have been detained in central Athens following a violent anti-immigrant protest by a far-right group.
Several hundred youths took part in the march on Tuesday and Thursday night in central Athens, chanting “Foreigners Out” and “Greece for Greeks” in a rally held after a 44 year-old man was stabbed to death during a street robbery in an area of Athens where many immigrants live.
Police said the protesters smashed the glass entrance of an apartment building and a nearby storefront. The youths, some carrying clubs, also chased immigrants through a central district of Athens before riot police intervened. Violent far-right groups have won growing support in recent months.
The leader of extremist group Chrysi Avgi won a seat on Athens city council for the first time in a November election. Manolis Kantaris, 44, had been on the way to pick up his car from a parking garage on Triti Septemvriou Street when he was attacked by three people shortly before 5am, police said.
He had been carrying a bag of baby clothes and a video camera with which he had planned to record the birth of his second child. According to witnesses, the assailants approached Kantaris and demanded that he hand over the camera. When he resisted, they started stabbing him in the back and neck before grabbing the camera and fleeing.
The man was found dead by his wife who came down to search for him after he failed to return. The latest in a series of violent robberies and muggings in the centre, where trade in drugs and crime are thriving, the murder was condemned by politicians. Government spokesman Giorgos Petalotis called it a “shocking incident.”
But central and local authorities appeared to pass the buck over policing. “We are determined to encourage the mayor of Athens and to cooperate with him to secure the highest possible level of safety for citizens,” Citizens’ Protection Minister Christos Papoutsis told Parliament.
In a written statement, Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis said that “a great deal of effort is required by police to get the situation under control” but expressed his willingness to cooperate with police. Source: The Canadian Press/ Kathimerini