“I thought he was black, Pakistani,” the crew member who pushed 36-year-old passenger Antonis from a ferry in Piraeus port last week is heard saying to captain revealing also a racist motive.
The audio recording published by Mega TV on Tuesday, captured the dialogue between the captain and the crew officer on ferry Blue Horizon ferry shortly after Antonis Karyotis was pushed from the vessel’s loading ramp, fell into the sea and drowned.
In the audio, the deceased is referred to as a “fool” and “j@rk” by the crew.
“I thought he didn’t have a ticket. I thought he was black, Pakistani, because he was out there walking around. But he didn’t show us any ticket. All he said to me was ‘I will travel,’” the crew member is heard saying in the audio.
Note that Antonis, a native of Crete and very popular as “a gentle soul” in the local community, was known to the ferry crew as he would often travel the route between Piraeus and the island.
The victim who had some disabilities in the autism spectrum, had bought a ticket as always.
Initially there were efforts to cover up the criminal act, but videos filmed by the ferry passengers and CCTV cameras and posted on social media revealed the shocking truth, thus triggering an outrage in the Greek society.
Authorities arrested four crew members including the captain, high-ranking officers of the Piraeus Port Authority were removed from their posts, while the Shipping Minister was forced to resign.
