Greek MP assaults two women live on TV, claims he was provoked
Still from CNN via YouTube
Catherine Scott
WVoN co-editor
Greek MP Ilias Kasidiaris remains unrepentant following his attack on two female politicians during a televised debate last Thursday.
Kasidiaris, a member of the ‘neo-Nazi’ Golden Dawn party, threw water at left-wing MP Rena Dourou, then repeatedly struck Communist MP Liana Kanelli in the face and head.
Video footage of the incident shows Kanelli attempting to shield her head in self-defence as Kasidiaris, a weightlifter and former member of the Greek military, continues to hit her.
Kasidiaris released a defiant statement on Facebook, claiming:
“The events that took place on Thursday morning on Antenna TV were staged with the sole aim of provoking an extreme reaction on my part”.
Perhaps even more amazingly, Kasidirias implies he is owed legal redress for this ‘provocation’, saying: “I will go to the prosecutor in person to sue those behind the illegal actions that have taken place in the last two days”.
In a separate statement to Star TV, Kasidiaris claimed Liana Kanelli struck the first blow, and that ‘the police ought to arrest her’.
Thousands of Greeks took to the streets in protest at Kasidiaris’ actions, with rallies organised in Athens by left-wing and anti-racism groups.
The government and other political parties have also condemned the attack, with government spokesman Dimitris Tsiodras labelling the violence “an attack against every democratic citizen.”
An arrest warrant for Kasidiaris has been issued, but he remains in hiding.
He is also awaiting a hearing about a 2007 mugging case – it was allegedly Rena Dourou’s question about this matter which sparked Kasidiaris’ outrage on Thursday.
Update, 13 June 2012
Kasidiaris has now emerged from hiding to sue both his victims for defamation, as well as the TV station Antenna for illegal detention, the BBC reports.
Kasidiaris managed to avoid arrest for the attack as, under Greek law, an arrest warrant expires at midnight the day after an incident. However, he may still face assault charges.
I am wondering whether sexism and racism are just symptoms of a male culture that teaches boys and men to have psychopathic attitudes towards certain groups of people – ie they are not like me/they are inferior to me – and therefore if they challenge me they are upsetting a natural world order that I have been brought up to believe is the ‘right’ world order. Looking at this footage the violence of his reaction is out of all proportion to the women’s behaviour towards him … but clearly sparked off a psychopathic reaction within him that looks pretty out of control.