Rallies planned in solidarity with Thessaloniki mayor
Supporters of Thessaloniki Mayor Yiannis Boutaris, who was on Saturday attacked by nationalist extremists in Greece’s northern port city, have organized a solidarity rally for Monday at 5 p.m. at the capital’s Kotzia Square.
A similar rally will be staged in Thessaloniki on Wednesday night, at the site of the assault, next to the city’s iconic White Tower.
A Thessaloniki prosecutor on Monday ordered an urgent preliminary investigation into the attack that left the 75-year-old Boutaris hospitalized. Four people have so far been arrested as suspects.
About a dozen people set upon Boutaris during a commemoration of the World War I genocide of the Pontic Greeks. He was thrown to the ground and kicked all over his body.
Greece’s mainstream political parties have all condemned the incident.
