Police stationed at capital’s metro, ISAP stops after vandalism spree

In a bid to combat a recent upsurge in acts of vandalism, the Ministry of Citizens’ Protection has relocated the entire motorcycle-riding DIAS squad to metro and ISAP train stations across Athens.

The measures, that were implemented on Wednesday, follow a three-day spree of attacks, which began on Friday, by a group of at least 20 hooded individuals who went on a rampage and used sledgehammers to smash windows as well as ticket dispensing and validation machines at Kerameikos, Monastiraki and Aghios Eleftherios stations.

They also sprayed graffiti on station walls. The office of the Monastiraki station master was targeted too.

No one was arrested as there was no security personnel present at the stations at the time of the attacks.

Meanwhile, members of the Rubicon anarchist group, which has committed acts of vandalism on public property in the past, staged a protest outside the Hilton Hotel in Athens on Wednesday, where representatives of Greece’s international creditors are staying.

Police detained 12 people after they approached the lobby entrance, distributed flyers and hung a banner denouncing ongoing negotiations between the Greek government and the country’s lenders and partners over a review of Greece’s new bailout program.

The incident occurred while Greek government officials were meeting with the creditor representatives.