Pakistanis elaborate on abduction claims
Athens prosecutor Dimitris Papangelopoulos, responsible for overseeing a probe into allegations that Pakistani migrants were abducted and questioned by security forces, said yesterday that his office had the «guts» to get to the bottom of the claims. Speaking after a meeting with Supreme Court prosecutor Dimitris Linos, Papangelopoulos said that if police officers had acted improperly they would be prosecuted. Eight Pakistanis have already testified that they were kidnapped from their homes in Athens and interrogated after the terrorist bombings in London in July, said prosecutor Nikos Vegaitis, who Papangelopoulos has assigned to the case. The migrants said they were blindfolded and taken on a journey of an hour-and-a-half. Vegaitis said their heads were covered with hoods and they were questioned about relatives in London by men speaking Greek. None of the migrants was tortured. Human rights group Amnesty International said Public Order Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis had been «irresponsible» last week when he denied the allegations before an inquiry had taken place. The group called for a «serious and impartial» investigation.
