Lawyer’s arrest for painting over neo-Nazi slogans prompts reaction

eKathimerini — Anti-fascist group KEERFA on Wednesday expressed outrage over the arrest  of lawyer Takis Zotos for spray-painting over pro neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn graffiti .

The lawyer, who has acted as a prosecution lawyer in the ongoing trial against the Golden Dawn, was on holiday with his family at his wife’s home village when he spotted the pro-Golden Dawn slogans spray-painted on a wall along the highway leading into Karpenisi in central Greece.

“I saw the fascist slogans at the entrance to Karpenisi, which was torched by the Nazis, as a challenge,” Zotos said in an announcement following his arrest for spray-painting over the slogans. “It is infuriating that the municipal authority had not erased it. We should not tolerate the descendants of Nazis dirtying our walls with Nazi symbols in martyred towns.”

Zotos was released from custody on Wednesday but still faces charges of defacing public property.

While police should be encouraged to take action against vandals who deface and vandalise property (public and private) in towns across the country KEEFRA questioned the motives of the police who only arrested the man covering up the slogans rather than the perpetrator of the original graffiti.

And ideally, as the arrested lawyer suggested, it would be good to see municipal authorities taking on the responsibility of cleaning the graffiti that plagues the buildings and public spaces in every Greek town.