Four Greek policemen suspended after abuse video

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

ATHENS, June 17 (Reuters) Three Greek police officers and their captain were suspended after a video showing two Albanian detainees being beaten up at a central Athens police station appeared on Greek media, police said today.

The one-year-old video, which was first posted on the Internet and then picked up by TV stations this weekend, showed a sergeant ordering the two men to slap each other repeatedly and beating them with his baton at the sound of laughter.

''Those responsible will get an exemplary punishment,'' Public Order Minister Byron Polydoras said in a statement. ''The case is being sent to the public prosecutor.'' Human rights groups have reported several incidents of Greek police abuse, especially of immigrants or Roma, and the US State Department's 2006 human rights report listed several cases in Greece.

Nearly two million immigrants, mainly from Eastern Europe, have sought a better life in Greece after the collapse of communism.

Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis expressed his shock at the latest incident, saying it offends the Greek state and tarnishes Greece's image.

The socialist opposition PASOK party accused the government of letting policemen involved in abuse cases go unpunished, creating a climate of impunity.

''The Greek citizen feels unprotected,'' PASOK spokesman Petros Efthymiou said. ''Mr Karamanlis should assume complete political responsibility instead of just expressing his displeasure.'' Greek media reported that the 30-year-old sergeant, who joined the police force in 1996, told investigators that he and his colleagues at the central Omonia police station ''were just joking around''.

REUTERS SW KN1810

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