A bus driver in Thessaloniki who reportedly admitted being a member of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party has been charged by two immigrant passengers with forcing them off because he didn’t like the color of their skin. The web site Enet reported that when other passengers objected that, according to unverified witness reports, the driver said, “Well, yes! I am a Golden Dawner! I am a Golden Dawner! Got a problem with that?”
Golden Dawn, which won 6.9% of the vote in last summer’s elections (up from 2.9% in 2009) and has 18 deputies in Parliament, has an openly anti-immigrant stance and been charged with sending members to hospitals in search of immigrant nurses as part of its program to purge Greece of immigrants as part of its “Greece for Greeks” platform.
One passenger filed a formal complaint with the Thessaloniki Urban Transport Organisation (OASTH) and the case was taken on by a group of 11 volunteer lawyers, who are members of the Assembly for a Nazi Free Thessaloniki.
According to the passenger’s written statement, the two immigrants who the driver barred from boarding the bus were “probably Africans.” The passenger also claims the driver immediately ordered them off the bus shouting “You two, off!” It remains unclear whether OASTH will look into the incident. It was not reported whether they had paid as it’s common for people to use buses in Greece without validating their tickets.
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