I will never be silent .. Javid Aslam, a Pakistani, sleeps in neo-Nazi sleep in Greece

French newspaper Le Monde said that Pakistani Javid Aslam has documented thousands of attacks against immigrants in Greece since 2009, and his testimony may be valuable in the historic trial against the neo-Nazi “Golden Dawn” party.

In a report to its Athens correspondent Marina Ravenberg, the newspaper stated that this main witness, threatened with deportation, took out his notebook for the first time in 2009 to accurately record the attack by supporters of the “Golden Dawn” on two immigrants after they left their workplace in a western suburb of Athens.

Aslam – the head of the Pakistani community in Greece, says, “I did not imagine that so much hatred and violence would flow against immigrants. I did not think that murders would be committed,” especially since every day between 2010 and 2013, there were about 20 or 30 registrations. Stabbing, beating, or death threats against migrants.

Submitting a complaint is impossible

And in January 2013 – according to the report – two neo-Nazis – who are currently in the dock as part of the “Golden Dawn” public trial – were stabbed by 27-year-old Shehzad Luqman riding a bicycle in the early hours of the morning. Pakistani Aslam – who also heads the Union of Migrant Workers in Greece – meticulously recorded all the facts, and soon became an indispensable witness in the legal proceedings against this party that masterminded these violent attacks for years.

Aslam – 50 years old – explains, “Everyone knew what these extremists were doing, but no one dared to speak, because the“ Golden Dawn ”had allies everywhere in police stations and departments, and yet whenever an immigrant was attacked, he went He is handed over to the police station, but he is unable to file a complaint. For this reason, he says, “I started gathering evidence by writing down the details of these attacks every day for more than 4 years.”

Aslam began appearing in the media, especially foreign ones, and approached the Greek anti-racism movements, saying, “When I was interviewing on TV stations, I received threats like we will cut your throat until you stop talking.”

The “Golden Dawn” party attacked trade unionists and left-wing activists in the early 1990s, using small groups operating in the favelas of central Athens, scapegoating them.

The party gained popularity with the rise of the economic crisis that has affected the country since 2009, when its kitchens provided soup to the Greeks alone, and offered to help “retirees instead of foreigners”, until in June 2012 it obtained nearly 7% of the vote in the legislative elections. And he has 18 deputies in Parliament.

Unprecedented investigation

The correspondent indicated that the “Golden Dawn” party had immunity from sanctions before the killing of the 34-year-old anti-racism rapper Pavlos Vesas, on September 18, 2013, by his presumed member, and this assassination stirred the entire Greek society, To an unprecedented investigation.

After 5 years of procedures – according to the reporter – and 350 testimonies and the appearance of more than 70 accused persons before justice, the trial of the Neo-Nazi Party is drawing to a close, Aslam says, “On October 7, the day the verdict was issued, we hope that this dark chapter in Greek history Behind us and for justice to rule harshly on this party so as not to spread terror again in Greece. “

It is strange that the Attorney General demanded – last December – the acquittal of the leader of the “Golden Dawn” Nikolaos Michalolyakos and about 15 other party officials accused of belonging to and leading a criminal organization, in addition to the killing of Pavlos Vesas, as well as the attempt to kill Egyptian fishermen in 2012 and trade unionists. Communists in 2013.

As for the murder of Shehzad Luqman, he was already subjected to a trial in 2014, however, “the indictment issued by the prosecution – as Aslam says – was shocking, but I think that they will not be able to escape punishment, because the Greek society demands justice.”

Embassy war

The correspondent indicated that Aslam may not attend the conclusion of these trials, because he arrived in Greece to study the law in 1996, and he had a residence permit that the Greek authorities did not want to renew since 2019, and he submitted an asylum application that was rejected, and he is awaiting a final decision on it after Consider his appeal filed on 4 August.

Aslam – who worked as a volunteer legal advisor with the Pakistani embassy in Athens – says that he opposed the violent arrest by Greek intelligence, in cooperation with its British counterpart in 2016, of 28 Pakistanis in the aftermath of the 2005 London bombing, which led him to 18 days in prison and the withdrawal of his passport. Pakistani.

Even Pakistan issued – as the correspondent says – an international arrest warrant for Aslam, accusing him of smuggling, but the Greek justice acquitted him in 2006, even if he remained at war with the Pakistani embassy in Athens, which exposed many of its employees on corruption cases.

Aslam stresses that he will never be silent, and he is supported in Greece by all the left political class – from the Socialist Party to the anti-fascist movements that circulated a petition against his expulsion – and says, “I dared to speak against (Golden Dawn) to denounce injustice and crimes, and I will not be silent now. I am no longer afraid of anyone. “

Original Source