Case of Aristotelis Goumas

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The case of Aristotelis Goumas occurred on August 12, 2010 in Himara , Albania , when the 37-year-old shopkeeper Aristotelis Goumas was hit by three Albanian men from Vlora in a car on his motorcycle and suffered fatal injuries.

event

On the morning of August 12, 2010, three Albanian men from the city of Vlora spoke to Goumas in his shop in Himara, where many Greeks live. According to eyewitnesses, the men told him not to speak Greek to them. When Goumas refused, a dispute ensued. The men attacked Goumas. When Goumas left his shop hours later, customers also watched the three men hurry out of the shop. Friends of the shopkeeper became suspicious, followed Goumas and found him bleeding on a sidewalk just outside of town. His motorcycle showed signs of a traffic accident. According to police, the men rammed Gouma's motorcycle with their car, resulting in fatal injuries. They then ran Goumas twice over to be sure they killed him. The men then fled.

Reactions

The death and the lack of immediate police response sparked outrage in the Greek-majority region of Himara. Demonstrators blocked the highway between the cities of Vlora and Saranda with stones and city employees demonstratively briefly stopped work. According to a Greek voice, Goumas' murder was the culmination of a series of provocations by Albanian nationalists in the city of Himara. The local Greeks also demanded - on the grounds that various attacks on Greeks had been reported without the police showing any interest in them - the replacement of some police officers from the Himara police station.

First reports in the Albanian media spoke of a traffic accident caused by dangerous driving. The Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha , however, condemned the incident with unusual harsh words: The act was an act of extreme and blind fanaticism. He also urged the police to make every effort to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice. Goumas' death was also condemned by several Albanian parties.

The Greek mayor of Himara, Vasillaq Harilla Bollano, spoke of a "premeditated crime" because the suspects had provoked the victim for days. Vangjel Dule, chairman of the Human Rights Party , which defends the rights of Greeks in Albania, brought up restructuring of the Himara police force by proposing that more local residents of Himara should be included in the local police force.

The incident was also covered in the Greek media and the Greek government condemned the act. Greek Prime Minister Giorgos Papandreou sharply condemned the incident, saying that the growing nationalism of Albania's extremist groups, which is increasingly targeting the Greek minority, is a serious problem. He also warned of an increase in nationalist activity in Albania due to the act. Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Dimitris Delavekouras said the perpetrators acted out of ethnic prejudice and that such incidents led to increased ethnic tensions and the deterioration of Greek-Albanian relations. He called for "quick and clean" justice and underlined that respect for minorities was a criterion for EU membership. Several opposition Greek parties also strongly condemned the incident and asked the Greek government to take all measures to ensure an extensive investigation. The case was the subject of four parliamentary questions to the European Parliament .

The Albanian police treated the crime as a murder case from the start of the investigation and immediately began a manhunt in the area. Seven suspects, ages 19 to 22, were arrested. The main suspect, Ilir Mukaj from Vlora, remained at large. He turned himself in to the police on August 15th. A total of seven men were charged, three for the murder of Goumas and four for hiding the suspects.

A few days after the crime, two wagons on the way from Vlora to Saranda stopped in front of Goumas' house and shot into the air. Goumas' family, who were in the house at the time, called the police, who then questioned eyewitnesses and picked up cartridge cases.

A bust was revealed at a funeral service in Himara a year after his death.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from April 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tanea.gr
  2. ↑ a b http://news.in.gr/greece/article/?aid=1231055258
  3. ↑ a b Archived copy ( memento of the original from April 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tanea.gr
  4. ^ Leader concerned by Albanian nationalism. Washington Times, pp. 3-4 , accessed March 17, 2011 .
  5. ↑ Question for written answer to the Commission (E-6800/2010). Assassination attempt against a member of the Greek minority in Albania. Retrieved March 17, 2011 .
  6. ↑ Question for written answer to the Commission (E-6949/2010). Strong increase in nationalism in Albania. Retrieved March 17, 2011 .
  7. ↑ Question for written answer to the Commission (E-7416/2010). Escalation in Northern Epirus. Retrieved March 17, 2011 .
  8. ↑ Question to the Commission for Question Time (H-0438/2010). Business trips to the European Union. Retrieved March 17, 2011 .
  9. ↑ Anastasia Chaini: Bust Unveiled in Memory of Aris Goumas. In: Greek Reporter Europe. August 9, 2011, accessed August 11, 2011 .

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