Teen brothers accused of assault released, but under strict terms

Two teenage brothers accused of brutally assaulting an Athens metro stationmaster were released from custody on Tuesday but were also slapped with strict bail terms and assigned a social worker.

Following a deposition that lasted nearly five hours on Tuesday, the two boys, aged 15 and 17, were released from custody but were also ordered to pay 2,000 euros each in bail, to report to their local police station three times a month and to come under close supervision by a social worker.

The strict terms of their release are seen as indicative of the seriousness with which their alleged crime is being treated by the magistrate who was responsible for hearing the two boys’ account of the events that transpired at the downtown Omonia metro station last Wednesday.

According to police investigators, the brothers were caught on camera throwing a soda can at the 52-year-old stationmaster after he reprimanded them for not wearing a mask on the train, as mandated by law, and then punching and kicking him repeatedly, even as he fell to the ground.

The boys, who reportedly took the next train to Monastiraki station and called their mother for help after leaving the 52-year-old metro official lying senseless on the Omonia station platform, have reportedly admitted to the assault but claim they were provoked by the stationmaster after he made disparaging remarks about their upbringing.

A special guard with the Hellenic Police (ELAS) was also released from custody pending an investigation into charges that he aided and abetted the teenagers by offering them tips on how to elude arrest and by seeking to influence the treatment they received by the arresting officers who took them into custody on Friday.