Prosecutor to probe assault on Athens Mayor Kaminis

The head of the first instance prosecutor’s office Panagiota Fakou ordered on Monday a preliminary investigation into the attack on Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis on Sunday.

Kaminis was treated for minor injuries after being assaulted as he left a meeting of mayors from around Greece in central Athens on Sunday.

The Athens mayor accused the head of the municipal workers’ union (POE-OTA), Themis Balasopoulos. of being the attack’s “moral instigator” and of maligning him during a speech at the meeting. Balasopoulos denied encouraging the assault and suggested that far rightists and members of Golden Dawn had been responsible.

“This fascist attack does not represent anyone,” said Balasopoulos, who insisted he was not making Kaminis a scapegoat for the government’s decision to place thousands of municipal workers, including local policemen, in a labor mobility scheme that could lead to some of them losing their jobs.