In the early hours of May 12th, a 21-year-old Bangladeshi migrant was stabbed to death in Kato Patissia district of Athens. The victim was lethally stabbed almost certainly by fascist thugs who have launched a series of attacks in the wider centre of the city following the murder of a Greek man on Tuesday night (May 10th), on the corner of Ipirou & Tritis Septemvriou Street. This later incident has been widely exploited by the Neonazis in order to start their murderous menace.
Eye witnesses report that the murderers of the 21-year-old Bangladeshi migrant chased him around the neighbourhood and spoke Greek. On Wednesday night alone (May 11th), fascist thugs roamed through a number of districts of central Athens, injuring at least another fifteen migrants, most of which were hospitalized.
On May 12th there was a demo in memory of the 44-year-old father-to-be who was stabbed to death, in which many fascists took place and hit many immigrants. The incidents took place near Omonoia square with full police tolerance. The blog media are referring to 1-3,000 people but an estimation of 500 is more likely.
Between midday and early evening of the same day, Neonazis have attempted to carry out anti-migrant pogroms in central Athens.
May 12th: Neonazi pogrom against migrants. One of these scums is holding a knife while chasing a migrant.
Meanwhile, a demonstration called in the city in response to the murderous police attack against May 11th general strike demonstration saw approximately 5,000 people gather together.
Clashes between anti-fascists and migrants on the one side, and fascists and riot police on the other side took place in the centre of the city while the rally in Propylaea was about to start. At about 18.25 (GMT+2) several dozens of fascists, assisted by riot police units, attempted to attack against Villa Amalias squat, near Victoria Square. Once again, the squatters defended Villa Amalias successfully and forced the Neonazis off the streets. Riot police responded with tear gas in order to make way for the Neonazis to escape. Earlier, in front of Athens School of Economics, Neonazis were chased by anti-fascists comrades.
During the anti-repression demonstration the crowd was once again attacked by riot police, at the exact same point where the 30-year-old demonstrator Yannis K. was brutally beaten by police on Wednesday. Comrade Yannis K. is still in artificial coma and is fighting for his life. It is expected for a clearer picture of his medical condition to emerge by midday Friday (May 13th).
Solidarity gatherings and rallies against the repression of Athens’ general strike demonstration were held in about 17 cities across Greece in the evening of May 12th.
As Athens Indymedia reports, in the town of Rethymnon, on the island of Crete, two Albanians were brutally beaten up by five Neonazis. One has been hospitalized for carrying injuries in his visceral cranium and a broken nose while the condition of the second immigrant is less severe. The attack took place in a car-parking area located in the ‘Four Martyrs’ in the centre of Rethymnon, at the time when the immigrants were trying to get to their car.
Coma, comma, question mark
The second morning after [May 13th] is covered by the shroud of normality. Curious commuters on the streets, friends at the other end of the line, random people in shops tune their conversations to unveil it. ‘-How is Yannis doing?’ ‘-Still the same.’ ‘-Will he make it?’ ‘-We shall see.’ People take turns in making and answering the questions, sharing the little they already know. A peculiar mantra, a chit-chat over life and death. A collective, irrational belief that makes so much sense right now: If we ask the question enough times, things might be ok.
…
Someone remarks: it’s like that movie, La Haine. Vinz and Saïd spend their hours waiting for news from their friend Abdel, who has fallen into a coma, hospitalized after a riot. Vinz and Saïd roar through the streets practicing the idea of revenge, waiting. We, the anarchists, are not in that different a situation. ‘If only Yannis doesn’t make it…’ Yesterday’s demonstration was a collective ‘if only’ flying through the city. Fists in the air, and for a moment, even a waiting moment, we seemed to grapple control.
But Athens in May has little cinematic about it. In the past two days the killer gangs have come out. They aren’t waiting. The 21-year-old from Bangladesh is not waiting, he’s already dead. Last night, at the barricade defending Villa Amalias we encountered some of his friends. They had walked down from the Northern suburbs, chains and crowbars in hand, looking for his murderers. They aren’t waiting.
Will Yannis make it? I can only hope so, with my whole heart. I have no god on which to lay any hope and no faith in any state justice either. Will he make it, will he not? Will we take revenge for him, for our 21-year-old brother whose name they still conceal from us? Will we at least, and at last see that the other pole is grouping together —the packs of national unity, of racial purity, of peace-seeking lackeys? Will our time come? There is little of a comma to stop us and no punctuation mark to set down any affirmation of what will now happen. This is the time of the question marks. Will our own time come?
sources: athens indymedia/ occupied london/ eagainst
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