Lawyer’s arrest for painting over neo-Nazi slogans prompts reaction
Anti-fascist group KEERFA on Wednesday expressed outrage over the arrest earlier in the day of lawyer Takis Zotos for spray-painting over graffiti in support of neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn.
The lawyer, who has acted as a representative for the prosecution in the ongoing trial against the party, was on holiday with his family at his wife’s home village when he spotted the pro-Golden Dawn slogans spray-painted on a wall along the highway leading into Karpenisi in central Greece.
“I saw the fascist slogans at the entrance to Karpenisi, which was torched by the Nazis, as a challenge,” Zotos said in an announcement following his arrest for spray-painting over the slogans. “It is infuriating that the municipal authority had not erased it. We should not tolerate the descendants of Nazis dirtying our walls with Nazi symbols in martyred towns.”
KEERFA said that Zotos’s arrest was “unconscionable” and accused the Hellenic Police (ELAS) of harboring neo-Nazi elements within its ranks. Zotos was released from custody on Wednesday but still faces charges of destroying public property.
