A new, shocking wave of violence is sweeping the country’s university institutions, overshadowing academic normality just twenty-four hours before the polls open for student elections .
After the wild episodes that unfolded in Thessaloniki, a scene of absolute chaos and terror was transferred this afternoon to the premises of the University of Western Attica (PADA) in Egaleo, with an armed group of unknown persons sowing panic and leaving behind three injured people .
The clock was ticking at around 4:30 p.m. (Greece time) when a group of seven to ten people stormed the university in Western Attica. The perpetrators, having carefully concealed their identities by wearing helmets and gloves , were carrying knives and sledgehammers . According to testimonies and complaints, the specific strike group had allegedly gathered earlier in the Baroutadiko grove, right behind the university, before launching their assault on the school’s corridors.
The bystanders were not spared from the blind fury of the attackers, with the scene resembling a battlefield. One student was severely hit in the head , while two other young men were later found to have taken refuge in a nearby cafeteria, across from the institution, suffering minor injuries and stating in a state of shock that they had been attacked by the group.
An EKAB ambulance immediately rushed to the scene and picked up the two students, transporting them to Thriasio Hospital for medical care.
The state of alarm mobilized strong police forces of the Immediate Action and the OPKE , which intervened quickly, rounded up the rioters and proceeded to eight arrests , leading the suspects to the Sub-Directorate for Combating Racist and Extremist Violence (YAREB) for further examination.
This bloody incident in Athens confirms the explosive climate of the days, as it is the second link in a chain of unprecedented tension that began with the extremely violent incidents at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) . On the premises of the AUTH, the fierce conflict between groups and warring student factions turned the campus into a war zone. The wild clashes, in which there was extensive use of batons, batons, helmets and fire extinguishers that were emptied into the corridors, creating a suffocating atmosphere, had as a dramatic toll the serious injury of students. A total of seven people were transported to the hospital covered in blood by EKAB ambulances, bearing crushing injuries to the head and body from the merciless blows.
The image of the destroyed university buildings, both in Thessaloniki and Athens, and the stretchers of the injured, cause deep sadness and horror. The academic community is watching with obvious anguish this uncontrolled escalation of violence, which completely mars the student election process, transforming higher education institutions from places of knowledge and the free circulation of ideas, into dangerous arenas.
