‘Beasts’ who beat up metro official will be brought to justice, says ministry

In a strongly worded press release, the Citizen's Protection Ministry pledged to bring to justice the two young men who punched and kicked a metro station manager in Athens on Wednesday after he asked them to wear their masks in the train, calling them “beasts.”

“Today, Wednesday 13 January, two young men treated the Omonoia station manager like beasts. When told that they were not wearing a mask, they spat on him, insulted him and beat him horribly. He is in hospital,” the ministry said. “They will be arrested. They will be brought to justice.”

The incident occurred on the red line that serves the route from Anthoupoli to Omonoia, when the employee asked two young men to wear their masks and one of them to take his legs off the seat.

The two men initially verbally attacked the station chief and then followed him when he disembarked on Omonoia station where they punched and kicked him repeatedly.

The attackers fled while other metro employees called an ambulance and alerted the police.

STASY, the public company responsible for managing the metro, tram and electric railway, “unequivocally condemned the unprovoked attack” on Wednesday while its management pledged to “assist in taking all necessary measures to prevent similar violent incidents in the future.”