The latest high-profile incident in Athens’ Exarchia district, considered the Greek capital’s “hub” for anti-state activists and groupings, came on Thursday evening, when eight coast guard officers and a prosecutor were accosted and attacked by up to 50 individuals, including armed gunmen.
The law enforcement detail was reportedly searching a residence on a drug trafficking warrant when attacked. One officer was cut in the leg, the others were threatened with weapons, including assault rifles, and a few had their service handguns taken by the perpetrators.
One of two women taken into custody at the residence also managed to escape during the incident.
A later announcement by the coast guard’s command praised the “coolness and self-restraint” of its officers in not using their service revolvers during the incident, “thus avoiding a greater clash with unforeseen results”.
Reactions by opposition parties were scathing in the aftermath, with the incident also attracting increased media attention.
