Varoufakis says he will accept police protection after attack

Yanis Varoufakis, leader of the small party MeRA25, said on Tuesday he had decided to accept the police protection provided by the Citizen Protection Ministry, after he was viciously attacked outside a restaurant in central Athens on Friday night.

Appearing on a morning TV news show with bruises on his face and a cast on his nose, he said his nose was broken in six places and thanked the medical staff at Evangelismos Hospital where he was treated.

“Things will probably change now, due to my wife’s demand…who tells me that, from now on, you will have the police officers,” Varoufakis told ANT1, but went on to complain he felt “imprisoned” if I goes somewhere with a security detail. “This is purely a personal choice. I will try to avoid it, I will try to escape it…[but will keep the police protection] until the elections are held, when I will be freed from the police grip.”

Describing the attack, he said seven people walked in the Yiantes restaurant on Valtetsiou Street, in the central Exarchia district, where he was dining with members of his DiEM25 party from all over Europe. The unknown individuals started shouting that he had “signed bailouts” and he agreed to step outside the restaurant to talk, where he was punched repeatedly.

Commenting about a 17-year-old arrested in connection with the attack, Varoufakis said he was the lookout. 

Police are looking for two more suspects linked to the attack. The suspects are expected to face charges of assaulting a political official and of wounding with intent to cause serious bodily harm.

Citizen Protection Minister Takis Theodorikakos has noted that the MeRA25 leader, “at his own initiative, was not accompanied by his personal police detail” while at the restaurant.