サポーター刺殺事件　警告無視とギリシャ当局に非難の声

【アテネＡＦＰ＝時事】ギリシャのアテネ郊外でサッカークラブのサポーター１人が刺殺された事件の数日前に、ギリシャ警察がクロアチアの「フーリガン」の車列が向かっているという警告を無視したとして、非難の声が上がっている。（写真はギリシャのアテネ郊外でサッカークラブのサポーター１人が刺殺された事件を受けて拘束され、顔を隠して警察本部を後にする容疑者ら）
　事件は、８日に予定されていた欧州チャンピオンズリーグ予選３回戦のＡＥＫアテネ（ギリシャ）対ディナモ・ザグレブ（クロアチア）戦の第１戦の前日に発生。ＡＥＫの本拠地ＯＰＡＰアリーナの近くで、両チームのサポーターが閃光弾や石、爆発物などを使って衝突する中、２９歳のギリシャ人男性が刺殺された。これを受けて試合は延期となった。
　９日には、１００人以上がギリシャ検察当局に出頭。検察によると容疑者のほとんどはクロアチア人で、過失致死や爆発物所持の容疑などで捜査されることになるという。
　この殺人事件に対する怒りは、ギリシャ警察がクロアチア側から警告を受けていた「ウルトラス（過激なサポーター集団）」を止めなかったという主張により激しくなっている。モンテネグロ当局も、事件の前日に２１台の車に分乗した１２０人のクロアチア人サポーターが、アルバニア経由でアテネに向かっているとギリシャ警察に警告していたという。
　ギリシャのヤニス・オイコノム市民保護相は、車列が抵抗されることなく国に入ったのは「許されないことで、容認できない」と述べ、スポーツにおける暴力行為に対抗する警察の部門長を含む７人の警察官の人事異動を要求している。また、検察当局がいずれかの警官を起訴すべきかどうか決定するための内部調査を命じている。
　国内メディアは怒りの反応を示しており、日刊紙カティメリニは、アテネを「恐怖の団体から守ることなく」放置した「ギリシャ警察の怠惰」を非難している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/08/10-17:28）

Greek police were accused Wednesday of having ignored warnings about a convoy of Croatian football hooligans heading for Athens days before a Greek supporter was killed in clashes between fans.
More than 100 people appeared before Greek prosecutors Wednesday in connection with a deadly mass brawl near Athens before Tuesday's Champions League qualifier between AEK Athens and Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb.
The match was called off after a 29-year-old Greek fan Michalis Katsouris died after being stabbed in clashes between rival fans near AEK's Nea Filadelfeia stadium in which stun grenades, stones and incendiary devices were thrown.
Prosecutors said the suspects, mostly Croatian, will be investigated for manslaughter, possession of explosives and membership of a criminal organisation.
Anger at the killing has been sharpened by claims that Greek police did not stop a large group of Croatian ultras after being warned by Zagreb that they were on their way.
The day before the killing, Montenegrin officials said, they also warned Greek police that 120 Croatian fans in 21 vehicles were heading for Athens through Albania.
Greece's citizen's protection minister Yannis Oikonomou said it was inadmissible and unacceptable that the convoy had been allowed to cross the country unchallenged, and demanded that seven officers including the head of the police division against violence in sport should be transferred to other positions.
He has also ordered an internal inquiry as prosecutors decide whether any of the officers should be charged.
Greek media reacted angrily to the revelations with the Kathimerini daily lashing the inertia of Greek police that left Athens without protection from the battalion of terror.
The financial daily Naftemporiki said hooliganism had triumphed over the state after the commando raid of Croat and Greek assassins.
- Greek fans also involved -
Police arrested 104 people, including 94 Croats, six Greeks, an Albanian, an Austrian, a Bosnian and a German after the clashes.
Five men were detained at the port of Igoumenitsa, more than 470 kilometres (290 miles) northwest of Athens, as they tried to flee to Italy.
Police said around 120 Dinamo Zagreb supporters were involved in the fighting in which eight supporters were also injured. Some Greek fans fought alongside them, they added.
Social media footage showed fans dressed in black clashing amid loud explosions around the stadium after a Dinamo training session inside. Some were also armed with wooden bats, police said.
Greece has a chronic problem with football violence.
After a similar outcry following the death of a 19-year-old murdered in a fight between fans of the rival Thessaloniki clubs Aris and PAOK, the government increased the maximum sentence for football violence from six months to five years last year.
Croatia's interior ministry said it had sent the Greek police all the interesting information on the supporters likely to go to Greece through Europol and Interpol.
European football's governing body UEFA condemned the appalling incidents in the strongest possible terms and postponed the match until August 19.
However, the return match in Zagreb will go ahead on August 15 as planned, although the fans of both clubs have been banned from traveling to the away legs.