In Brief
Parking rage
Father and son hospitalized after attack by immigrants A 56-year-old Thessaloniki man and his 22-year-old son were both in a serious but stable condition in hospital yesterday after being attacked by a group of immigrants in a row over a parking place near the northern city’s center. According to witnesses, the 22-year-old had tried to park his car in a spot that a group of seven immigrants had been saving for a friend of theirs. The migrants protested, triggering an argument between them and the two Greek men. At some point, knives were drawn by some of the migrants and the two Greeks were both injured in the brawl that ensued. Police arrested one of the migrants who was yesterday also in hospital, with minor injuries and under armed guard. Cabby compassion No Easter ‘gift,’ no extra hike The country’s taxi drivers will not be adding the 1-euro surcharge – or «gift» – that they traditionally add to fares over the Easter period this year after yesterday’s decision by the Transport Ministry to approve a proposal by the Panhellenic Federation of Taxi Drivers to express «solidarity with passengers who have been hit by the economic crisis.» Transport Minister Dimitris Reppas also announced that the third in a series of incremental taxi fare hikes, due to come into effect in May, will not be implemented. Grigoropoulos trial A 17-year-old boy who witnessed the fatal shooting of teenager Alexis Grigoropoulos in December 2008 in Exarchia, central Athens, told a court in Amfissa yesterday that the policeman who fired at the 15-year-old did not shout a warning first. The witness, who cannot be named, described how 10 to 12 youngsters had gathered at the spot where Grigoropoulos was shot. He said that some of the youths had a verbal exchange with the special guard who fired, Epaminondas Korkoneas, and his colleague, Vassilis Saraliotis. But the witness insisted that none of the youngsters behaved aggressively. The 17-year-old broke down when he described the moment he realized Grigoropoulos had been fatally wounded. Peloponnese rockfall A section of the national road between Tripoli and Ancient Olympia in the Peloponnese had to be closed yesterday after a rockfall on Sunday night. Nobody was injured but the road surface was severely damaged, making it impossible for vehicles to pass. Repair crews began working on the highway yesterday and a temporary diversion is currently in place around this section of the national road, near the village of Lagadia. Bombs neutralized Police bomb disposal experts yesterday carried out controlled explosions to destroy two explosive devices discovered outside two different targets in Thessaloniki’s Evosmos district. The bombs were located shortly before 4 a.m. – one outside a branch of a major toy retailer and the other outside a bank – and destroyed them before they could detonate. The bombs had been placed inside rucksacks which triggered police suspicions.
