Union decries lack of action over Monday’s attack on police officers

Officers of the Greek Police’s (ELAS) now-defunct motorcycle-riding DELTA force were attacked on Monday by a group of around 50 self-styled anarchists outside the Athens Court of First Instance.

Three were being treated at the capital’s 401 Military Hospital, one with head injuries, after the unidentified assailants hit them with helmets and wooden sticks.

The assault was witnessed by five YMET riot police officers, but the victims said no attempt was made to arrest the perpetrators.

“Even though the injured officers pointed out to their colleagues the individuals who had hit them, nothing was done by the officers in charge who were present at the scene,” the head of the union representing ELAS special guards told Kathimerini.

The police officers, who are currently members of the motorcycle-riding DIAS squad and the Crime Prevention and Suppression Team (OPKE), had been invited to testify in court as prosecution witnesses in a case relating to an incident that occurred in September 2012, when a large group of anarchists rode through the downtown Athens district of Aghios Panteleimonas, where Greece’s far-right Golden Dawn party has a strong presence, on motorcycles and scooters.

During the so-called “anti-fascist motorcade,” anarchists clashed with GD supporters before 21 of them were arrested by DELTA officers.

While in detention on the sixth floor of Attica Police Headquarters (GADA), they were allegedly subjected to torture and humiliation (seventeen police officers are set to appear in court over the case on November 29.)

Although the 21 defendants were originally charged with intended murder, they were eventually indicted to face charges of grievous bodily harm.

On Monday, supporters of the 21 defendants heckled the officers when they arrived at the court. An altercation followed inside the courtroom – interrupting the proceedings – and escalated into a fracas outside the premises.