Trial on Golden Dawn’s “battalion squads” in Metamorfosi: the Kontomus case

The two articles published below were translated into english by the blog “I cant relax in Greece“.

The first one is based on articles in “Ethnos” and “To Vima“. The second one is the translation of an article written by Aphroditi Tziantzi, in “Efimerida ton Syntakton“.

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Perpetrator of a series of racist attacks with knife got arrested

The freshly established Services for the Confrontation of Racial Violence of the Security department of Attica Police solved the case of a barrage of bloody attacks with knives against Pakistani immigrants. The attacks took place ​​last September in Metamorfosi, Likovrisi and Iraklio, Attica.

The investigation carried out by the Services for the Confrontation of Racial Violence of Attica and the office of the Security Subdivision of Northeast Attica led to an arrest of a member of a racist group, after a warrant was issued for his arrest. The group had stabbed four Pakistanis and one Greek, and had beaten other immigrants during ‘campaigns’ they were carrying out with the aim of ‘cleansing’ the area of foreigners.

The arrested is a 20 year old man. He participated in the attacks and was accused of involvement in a criminal organization, complicity in attempted murder, arson, serious bodily harm, robbery and offenses that involve the use of explosives.

Overall, four cases of attacks against foreigners were solved, while the police has been ordered by the Prosecutor to disclose the person’s details and photos so that he could be recognized in case he was  involved in other similar crimes.

The first attack took place on the 10th of September 2012 in a barbershop in Metamorfosi and the remaining three on the same day (22nd of September 2012) successively in Heraklion, Likovrisi and Metamorfosi.

In detail, the arrested:

1) On 10.09.2012, at 20:30, along with eight other unidentified assailants invaded a barbershop, property of a Pakistani national at Gkinosati 47 in Metamorphosi and attacked two employees, Pakistani nationals, and a Greek customer, wounding with a knife the customer (for his choice to have a haircut in the store of an alien) as well as one of the employees. They also threw a handmade Molotov bomb into the shop, thereby causing damage by fire.

2) On 22.09.2012, at 19:50, the 20 year old, together with another two unknown accomplices, attacked two immigrants from Pakistan with a knife at a bus stop on Iraklio Avenue in Iraklio, Athens, injuring one of them severely with a knife in the chest and taking away money and personal belongings.

3) On the same day (22.09.2012) at 20:15, in Likovrisi, while riding a car with another two unidentified individuals, they ‘blocked’ a motorcycle, ridden by two Pakistani immigrants, causing its overturn. Then they took the motorcycle away. It was eventually found on 09/27/2012 completely burnt in Metamorfosi.

4) Half an hour after the previous attack, the same individuals together with other accomplices ridding a car and a motorcycle, attacked three foreigners, nationals of Pakistan, with a knife.  The Pakistanis were walking down Ermou Street in Metamorphosi when the perpetrators wounded two of them (one had severe injuries in the chest), and removed their belongings.

The arrested man was taken to the Prosecutor of Athens and the research for the identification of other offenders continues.

[Translated from ‘Ethnos’ newspaper, 28/02/2013, found online at: http://www.ethnos.gr/article.asp?catid=22768&subid=2&pubid=63789858]

Konstantinos-Kontomous-a

According to Greek police’s statement, the arrested man is Konstantinos Kontomous, of Alkiviadis and Dimitra, born in 1993 in Maroussi, Attica.

[Source: ‘To Vima’ newspaper, 01/03/2013, found online at: http://www.tovima.gr/society/article/?aid=500850]

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Trial on Golden Dawn’s “battalion squads” in Metamorfosi

In the dock of the accused sat Konstantinos Kontomous, who had been identified by eyewitnesses as one of the eight perpetrators that invaded the barbershop of a Pakistani immigrant, attacking with knives one of the two employees and a customer, while afterwards they burned the barbershop.

By Afroditi Tziantzi

Kontomous

After the demonstration on the 22nd of September as prostest for the arson attack against the barber shop, a racist pogrom took place and many Pakistanis were stabbed and robbed in Metamorfosi, Lykovrisi, and Irakleio. K. Kontomous seen on the right.

The trial of Konstantinos Kontomous, accused of participating in racist attacks by a nazi battalion squad in Metamorfosi on September 2012, continued on the 5th of February, 2014, with statements by witnesses at the Mixed Jury Court. The long trial was interrupted at 4 pm and will continue on February 26.

Konstantinos Kontomous was arrested last February, almost five months after the racist attacks, and it was the first announcement that the Services for the Confrontation of Racial Violence ever published, which launched its function after the murder of Sahjat Lukman in Petralona by Golden Dawn members.

The fatal night   

Kontomous, who is currently 20 years old, has been identified by eyewitnesses as one of the eight perpetrators that, at the night of September 10, invaded a barbershop of a Pakistani immigrant, attacking with knives one of the two Pakistani employees and a Greek customer, while right afterwards they burned the shop with an improvised incendiary device. As testified on February 5, 2014 by neighbors that saw the attack, at least one of the perpetrators was half-naked and had a tattoo that wrote “Golden Dawn”.

The case was then made known by anti-fascist organizations, while on September 22 a massive anti-fascist march took place in Metamorfosi, which denounced the nazi attacks. The same night after the march, a pogrom followed, and as a result of it, four Pakistanis were stabbed in Iraklio and Metamorfosi and another Pakistani was robbed in Likovrisi.

On February 5, 2014, the Greek client that had been stabbed testified, confirming his testimony at the police, according to which Kontomous attacked him, while there was a second person that stabbed him as well. In that way, the alibi of the accused collapsed. According to information from the case file, the accused had claimed that during the night of the attack he was in Corfu.

The testimonies

“They asked me “where are you from” and they stabbed me in the abdomen and in the heart,” as R.A., immigrant from Pakistan who lives 20 years in Greece, testified. He was among the victims of the pogrom that took place on September 22 and who nearly died, as the stab was just one centimeter from his heart.

The testimony by the victim’s Greek doctor was enlightening; the night of the attack, he received a phone call by his patient’s cell phone: “A Greek young voice told me: “Your friend X… is dead.” I found that peculiar because he said a wrong name and he was Greek, while, all these years, my patient is hanging out only with his compatriots. After that, I called him back myself to ask for explanations. With a very angry tone he told me: “He didn’t die. We killed the Pakistani and we will take care of the others and you for giving them job. I am a member of Golden Dawn and I will kill you all.” They thought that I was their employer.”

The doctor’s testimony implicates Kontomous as well, as calls from the stolen cell phone were allegedly made to individuals among his friends, as resulting from the lifting of the telephone privacy that was conducted.

The police had not even published announcement about the racist attacks, while some days after the barbershop’s arson, the New Democracy MP Adonis Georgiadis submitted question to the Parliament, demanding to investigate if the victim of the attack “has legal documents or is illegal immigrant.” Immigrants who were undocumented and denounced the attacks, received the document of deportation the very next day; however, the civil action succeeded their stay in order to testify at the trial.

“This case opens a window to the society so that it will see what the activity of the battalion squads of Golden Dawn means: attacks, arsons, carrying of weapons, attempted homicides,” as the advocate of the civil action, Thanasis Kampagiannis, commented at “Ef.Syn.”

Undisturbed       

The battalion squads were acting undisturbed during that period, strengthened by the -then newly acquired- representation of Golden Dawn in the Parliament and the police immunity. It was only after Lukman’s murder that the Services for the Confrontation of Racial Violence functioned, announcing Kondomous’ arrest and bringing his photograph to public attention. However, all the rest perpetrators of the pogroms still escape.

“We believe that there has been insufficient investigation and we ask for the complete clarification of the case and for all the perpetrators of the specific acts to be found,” the advocate of the civil action concluded. On February 26, the police officers that conducted the suspects’ recognitions are called to testify, while the Pakistani employee that recognized Kontomous, the barbershop’s owner and the relatives of the accused will testify as well.

Translated from ‘Efimerida ton Syntakton’ newspaper. Originally published 06/02/2014.

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