BBC: Greek police accused over racism and asylum rights

[pampango]

Newsnight's report on the Greek far-right party Golden Dawn made headlines across Europe last week.

In it, MP Ilias Panagiotaros claimed Greece was "in civil war" and indeed advocated a new kind of civil war, pitting the far-right against migrants, anarchists, etc. Within 24 hours Mr Panagiotaros had retracted his claim that Greece was "in civil war", saying instead "there is no civil war" and accusing Newsnight of "paraphrasing" his words. We had simply broadcast them, un-edited and in English.


Golden Dawn MP Ilias Panagiotaros

Now three new reports cast light on the substance of our story - which was: alleged police torture of anti-fascist detainees, Golden Dawn's influence inside the Greek police force, and its potential influence on the operational behaviour and priorities of the police in the Attica region around Athens.

So in a period of a week, the Greek police force stands accused by NGOs, coroners and UNHCR of mistreating anti-fascist protesters in custody, of "indifference" towards mistreatment of asylum seekers and of actual participation in racist attacks on migrants.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-20068145