GREEK armed riot police squads assisted by other police units yesterday continued, for the fourth day running, the biggest pogrom against immigrant workers and their families in Athens.
Code-named Xenios Zeus, it is being carried out under the pretext of searching for ‘illegal immigrants’.
Literally thousands of police, with vans and buses, have cordoned off large chunks of the city centre arresting everyone on sight that does not look Greek.
The arrested persons are made to stand in line or sit on the pavement; then police officers check their identity papers or passports and make lists.
All arrested persons are then bussed to the Athens police HQs where they are further interrogated.
Their fate is decided by police officers alone with no lawyers present.
On police officers’ jurisdiction, the arrested persons are deported or taken to the Amygdaleza ‘illegal immigrants’ concentration camp just outside Athens, or put in cells.
The Greek government named the operation Xenios Zeus (Foreign Zeus), which in ancient Greece denoted Zeus as the protector of foreigners and those seeking help or refuge!
This operation was preceded by a general police occupation of half of central Athens.
According to Greek police data, in the period 28 July to Friday 3rd August, some 4,340 police officers and 1,000 police vehicles were employed in the Xenios Zeus operation.
Nearly 14,000 persons (3,500 Greek nationals and 10,500 other nationalities) were rounded up during that period.
Of these, 500 Greeks and 3,800 foreigners were charged with minor offences and arrested.
Police say that they also searched nine buildings in the Athens city centre.
During this week-long operation ten grams of heroin and ten kilos of cannabis were confiscated according to the police statement.
Last Saturday, operation Xenios Zeus began centred on three main Athens squares with armed riot police making sure that their weapons were in full view of bystanders and tourists just under the Acropolis.
Again, according to released police figures, 4,900 persons were rounded up of which 1,130 were arrested as ‘illegal immigants’.
Nine public prosecutors were involved in the police search of 52 buildings.
Last Sunday, police said that 1,130 persons were rounded up of which 395 were arrested as ‘illegal immigrants’. 88 immigrants have been deported.