KKE condemns far-right assault on members, calls protest

The Communist Party (KKE) on Friday vehemently condemned an overnight assault on eight of its members in Perama, near Piraeus, by suspected supporters of the ultra-right Golden Dawn, describing it as «a devious and murderous attack» and calling on poor and unemployed Greeks to isolate «fascist thugs».

KKE called on members and supporters to gather in the main central square in Perama, a run-down working-class district, for a protest rally due to start at 6 p.m. on Friday

Nine people were taken to the hospital after a group of Golden Dawn supporters attacked members of the Communist Party (KKE) as they were putting up posters in Perama, near Piraeus, late on Thursday. Police said the incident occurred shortly before midnight, when a group of about 50 people armed with iron bars and wooden bats attacked the KKE supporters, who numbered about 30.

KKE said the assailants approached the flyposters in cars and on motorcycles, surrounded them and beat them with iron bars and sticks. The assault «confirms the Nazi character of Golden Dawn whose permanent target is KKE which is fighting to overturn the capitalist system that has spawned fascism and Nazism,» the party said in a statement.