KEERFA: Racist attack on delivery driver in Athens
Aslam recounted the incident, stating: “On Saturday, the 12th of October, during the rally for the murder of Mohammed Kamran, I was in Victoria Square with other colleagues from Wolt and eFood. I had forgotten my card at home and rushed to retrieve it in order to withdraw money from a bank near the Rossignol bridge in Sepolia. As I approached the bank, a white car with three men ignored a STOP sign and stopped dangerously close to me. When I pointed out they should have stopped, they began to hurl insults at me.”
Aslam described how the men followed him to Manitaki Street and, at the intersection with Dyrrachiou Street, they confronted him at a red light. “All three suddenly got out of the car and attacked me, beating me in the face and head with iron fists. They were hitting me like boxers. The blows were so brutal that my Wolt helmet broke and fell off.”
The assailants left Aslam bloodied and injured. Passers-by came to his aid, calling an ambulance and the police. He was taken to the Red Cross Hospital, where he was treated for multiple head injuries, including cuts requiring stitches beneath his eyes and on his chin, as well as two broken teeth.
“They were shouting, ‘Dirty Pakistani, go back to your country,’ and ‘Who do you think you are, you coloured?’ I’ve lived in Greece for 18 years, I’m a worker. These days, we are on strike for our rights. We are humans, not animals. I want those racists to be punished,” Aslam declared.
KEERFA condemned the attack, linking it to a broader rise in racist violence. “These attacks are fuelled by the government’s racist policies, which drown refugees in Pylos and murder immigrants like Mohamed Kamran at the Agios Panteleimon police station. The government’s overtures to the far right have emboldened fascists, leading to pogroms in areas like Sepolia, where underage refugees have been attacked. In 2017, the same area saw fascists targeting a refugee structure by firing at its windows and vandalising the power supply.”
KEERFA is calling for the immediate arrest and punishment of the attackers, emphasising that “these incidents cannot be left to police departments that have been complicit in the torture and mistreatment of immigrants.” The organisation also announced that delivery workers from Wolt and eFood will participate en masse in meetings, as well as a 24-hour strike scheduled for Thursday, 23 October, with a gathering at the Ministry of Labour.
KEERFA is demanding justice for Mohamed Kamran, the legalisation of immigrants, an end to police brutality, and a stand against fascism in every neighbourhood. “We call on trade unions and student associations to stand in solidarity with immigrants and unite to push back against the government responsible for the deaths in Tempe, Pylos, and in police custody,” the statement concluded.
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