Police arrest leader of racist far-right group

Greek police’s racial violence unit arrested on Thursday a 48-year-old man believed to be the leader of a shadowy, extreme right-wing group called Krypteia, which has in the past few years claimed responsibility for a number attacks against migrants.

The suspect, who works as a professor, will appear before a prosecutor on Thursday afternoon to face charges of arson, damage to foreign property, repeated threats and possession of weapons.

The group was first heard of in November 2017, when its members pelted with stones the home of an 11-year-old Afghan boy in the Athens suburb of Dafni.

Amir was chosen to carry the Greek flag at an Ochi Day parade, but was not allowed to carry the flag and instead carried the school’s sign. The attackers left a message on a cardboard in which they demanded that his family leave Greece at once.

Krypteia has also claimed responsibility for an arson attack on an Afghan community center in central Athens on March 2018 that caused significant damage, but no injuries.

In April 2018, the group firebombed a migrants centre in the Athenian district of Exarcheia, causing damages at the entrance.

In June 2018, Krypteia claimed responsibility for setting fire to a makeshift camp of migrants who work in fields in Nea Manolada, Ilia.

The news was announced by Mihalis Lolis, an officer with police’s racial violence unit, on his official Facebook account.