Unknown attackers beat Angelos Syrigos , Professor for International and Regional Studies at Panteion University and Secretary General of Population and Social Cohesion, and sent him to the hospital.
Syrigos was kicked and beaten by three unknown perpetrators inside the premises of the Panteion University in Neos Kosmos suburb of Athens on Wednesday afternoon.
According to media reports, the three perpetrators were spraying graffiti on the university walls. When the professor urged them to stop the vandalism, they sprayed him with paint and even hurled the spray cans at him, injuring him on the head. Then they threw him on the ground and kicked him several times.
Syrigos was taken to a hospital. He has suffered head injuries from the kicks and the hurled spray cans.
The perpetrators fled the scene before the police arrived.
Both left-wing SYRIZA and conservative New Democracy immediately issued statements condemning the attack.
Later, Skai TV reported that police had detained two people and arrested one.
Well, there goes my older tolerance of graffiti writers in Athens. They seem to be as thuggish as any — and within the university grounds, too. The next step will be that all universities will abandon the so-called asylum status (which is anachronistic anyway) over events like this, and ask the police to patrol the university grounds.
You suggest that Greece abandons sanctuary just as US universities and whole cities adopt it? Interesting.
Dare I point out that graffiti happens every day in Greece since forever and no one is harmed or attacked. So ONE attack makes it a dangerous murderous activity?
A mean Greek, to use ktg’s formula, might suspect a set-up to tar graffiti sprayers.
UK universities had this legal status in the 19th century. It was abandoned at some point in the 20th century, when it became clear that the police have the legal duty to investigate and discourage crime everywhere. All public spaces should be accessible to the police in every civilised country: universities whether state or private are included as public space. The fact that the Greek police are poorly trained, poorly recruited, poorly monitored and largely unaccountable even to the government of the day is a symptom of a dysfunctional state. This is what is needed to be addressed — not treating Greece as a Third World country where nothing ever works properly, and nothing can be changed.
The abolition of the right to Academic Asylum was carried out as part of the education reform bill submitted by education minister Anna Diamantopoulou.
First raid happened in Nov 17 in 2011 in Salonika, not?
Really? I don’t know…
Obviously upset somebody. Almost always violence occurs due to no filter and being opinionated. Seems that university breeds a few of those , one on here also
Are you referring to yourself? I have seen your rather nasty far right opinions, but I didn’t imagine that you had a university education.
Absolutely disgraceful!