Murder of Gramoz Palushi

Last updated
Murder of Gramoz Palushi
Location Zakynthos, Greece
DateSeptember 4, 2004
Attack type
Murder
WeaponsKnife
DeathsGramoz Palushi
PerpetratorPanagiotis Kladis

The murder of Gramoz Palushi took place on September 4, 2004, at Tsilivi [1] village in Zakynthos, Greece, when the 20-year-old Albanian Gramoz Palushi, who was celebrating the victory of the Albania national football team against the Greece national football team, was killed by a drunk [1] Greek during a fight that broke out after the match. [2] [3]

Contents

The event was followed by widespread protests in various areas of Albania and Greece. The perpetrator of the murder, Panagiotis Kladis, initially sentenced to life imprisonment, had his sentence reduced to 22 years by the Greek courts in early 2010.

Incident

On September 4, 2004, after the victory of the Albania national football team against the Greece Gramoz Palushi, his brother, and another Albanian were attacked on the island of Zakynthos by Greek-American Panagiotis Kladis and another Greek fan. Gramoz Palushi was stabbed to death by Kladis, while the other two Albanians were injured. [2] [4] The Greek police arrested both individuals for the attack. In 2006, Panagiotis Kladis was initially sentenced to life imprisonment and in 2010 reduced to 22 years for committing murder, while his accomplice was sentenced to ten months in prison and three years of probation. [4]

Reactions

The first autumn session of the Albanian parliament began with the publication of a declaration of the deputies condemning Palushi's death. [5] In Thessaloniki hundreds of demonstrators took part in protests held by the Albanian Immigrant Forum and Greek anti-racist groups while two days later anti-racist groups occupied the office of Panagiotis Psomiadis, who was then prefect of Thessaloniki. [6] [7] In Athens more than 2000 immigrants and members of Greek anti-racist groups marched on the Greek parliament to protest against racism. [2] [8] [9] During the protest some anarchist groups hurled Molotov bombs at riot police that was following the protesters, while no arrest and injuries were reported. [2] Similar protests were held in Chania and Ioannina.

In Albania youth organization held rallies in Tirana marching to the Mother Teresa Square to condemn Palushi's murder, while hundreds of people attended his funeral. [7] The Albanian Youth Council asked Edi Rama, the mayor of the city to rename a street near the Qemal Stafa Stadium, where the match took place, after Gramoz Palushi. [2] Additionally the Albania national football team donated 10,000 US$ to Palushi's family and the Albanian Football Association requested from FIFA to give permission to Albania to wear black mourning ribbons during its next match with Georgia. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Democratic Party of Albania</span> Albanian political party

The Democratic Party of Albania is a conservative political party in Albania. It has been the largest opposition party in the country since 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-Racist Action</span> North American far-left political cells

Anti-Racist Action (ARA), also known as the Anti-Racist Action Network, is a decentralized network of militant far-left political cells in the United States and Canada. The ARA network originated in the late 1980s to engage in direct action and doxxing against rival political organizations on the hard right to dissuade them from further involvement in political activities. Anti-Racist Action described such groups as racist or fascist, or both. Most ARA members have been anarchists, but some have been Trotskyists and Maoists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grigoris Lambrakis</span> 20th-century Greek physician, left-wing politician, and anti-war activist

Grigoris Lambrakis was a Greek politician, physician, athlete, and lecturer. He participated in track and field sports and was a member of the faculty of the School of Medicine at the University of Athens. A member of the Greek resistance to Axis rule during World War II, he later became a prominent anti-war activist. His assassination by right-wing zealots that were covertly supported by the police and military provoked mass protests and led to a political crisis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Dawn (Greece)</span> Greek neo-Nazi political party

The Popular Association – Golden Dawn, usually shortened to Golden Dawn, is a far-right neo-Nazi ultranationalist criminal organization and former political party in Greece. Golden Dawn rose to prominence during Greece's financial crisis of 2009, becoming the third most popular party in the Greek parliament in the January 2015 election. Its support since plunged, and it failed to enter parliament in the 2019 election. The criminal trial against the leaders, frequently described as the largest trial of Nazis since the Nuremberg trials, lasted more than five years.

Racism in Russia mainly appears in the form of negative attitudes towards non-ethnic Russian citizens, immigrants or tourists and negative actions against them by some Russians. Traditionally, Russian racism includes antisemitism and Tatarophobia, as well as hostility towards the various peoples of the Caucasus, Central Asia, East Asia and Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jahmir Hyka</span> Albanian footballer

Jahmir Hyka is a retired Albanian professional footballer who last played as a left midfielder for KF Teuta Durrës.

Anarchism in Greece traces its roots to ancient Greece but was formed as a political movement during the 19th century. It was in the ancient era that the first libertarian thoughts appeared when philosophers based on rationality questioned the fundamentals of tradition. Modern anarchism in Greece emerged in the 19th century, heavily influenced by the contemporary European classical anarchism. Because of the Bolshevik success in the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the rise of the Communist Party, anarchism faded after the first decades of the 20th century. The collapse of the military junta put an end to the monopoly of the political power from the Right, whereas the dissolution of the Soviet Union diminished the allure of the Communist Party of Greece allowing anarchist groups to gain pace in Athens and other cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tepelenë</span> Municipality in Gjirokastër, Albania

Tepelenë is a city and a municipality in Gjirokastër County, in the south of Albania. The town is on the left bank of the Vjosa River, about three kilometres downstream from its union with the Drino.

Racism in association football is the abuse of players, officials, and fans because of their skin colour, nationality, or ethnicity. Some may also be targeted because of their association with an opposing team, although there have been instances of individuals being targeted by their own fans. The topic of racism in association football has been widely covered by the media and in academic studies. There have been a range of responses by various associations, such as FIFA and UEFA, as well as by teams, and individual players and managers to address the problem.

Konstantinos A. Plevris, sometimes called in English Constantine Plevris or Kostas Plevris, is a Greek politician, lawyer, nationalist, and author. The prolific writer has, over the course of decades, written a number of books and other texts relating to Greek history, Greek culture, sociology, and politics, with a clear nationalist, homophobic content. In his book The Jews: The Whole Truth, he described himself as a "Nazi, fascist, racist, anti-democrat, anti-Semite". He was the founder and leader of the Metaxist 4th of August Party and Front Line, with the former political party not only playing a significant role in influencing and shaping the future direction of the Greek extreme right but also being itself as a prominent political movement before the Greek junta in general. He has also co-operated with various European neo-fascist groups, and figures such as Pino Rauti, Pino Romualdi, Giorgio Almirante. He later briefly joined the right-wing party Popular Orthodox Rally and was its leading candidate in the 2004 elections. He is the father of Thanos Plevris, member of the Greek parliament formerly with the Popular Orthodox Rally party, now with New Democracy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aryan Guard</span> Neo-Nazi group based in Alberta, Canada

The Aryan Guard was a neo-Nazi terrorist organization based in Alberta, Canada, whose members are primarily located in the city of Calgary. It was founded in late 2006, and was reported to have disbanded in 2009 as a result of internal conflict including pipe bombing attacks. However, the group denied this late in 2009, and claimed it was still operating.

Racism has been a recurring part of the history of Europe.

In 1991, the Socialist Party of Albania, with specific social democratic ideology took control of the country through democratic elections. One year later the Democratic Party of Albania won the new elections. After 1990, Albania has been seeking a closer relationship with the West. What followed were deliberate programs of economic and democratic reform, but the implementation of capitalism led to the proliferation of pyramid schemes. Chaos in late 1996 to early 1997, as a result of the collapse of these pyramid schemes, alarmed the world and prompted the influx of international peacekeeping forces. In 1995, Albania was accepted into the Council of Europe and requested membership in NATO and is a potential candidate country for accession to the European Union. The workforce of Albania has continued to emigrate to Western countries, especially Greece and Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Violence against Indians in Australia controversy</span> Controversy in Australia

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the media of Australia, mostly in Melbourne, Sydney, and India publicised reports of crimes and robberies against Indians in Australia that were described as racially motivated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-Albanian sentiment</span> Racism towards Albanians as an ethnic group

Anti-Albanian sentiment or Albanophobia is discrimination and prejudice towards Albanians as an ethnic group, described primarily in countries with a large Albanian population as immigrants, seen throughout Europe.

Racism in Israel encompasses all forms and manifestations of racism experienced in Israel, irrespective of the colour or creed of the perpetrator and victim, or their citizenship, residency, or visitor status. More specifically in the Israeli context, racism in Israel refers to racism directed against Israeli Arabs by Israeli Jews, intra-Jewish racism between the various Jewish ethnic divisions, historic and current racism towards Mizrahi Jews although some believe the dynamics have reversed, and racism on the part of Israeli Arabs against Israeli Jews.

Antisemitism in Greece manifests itself in religious, political and media discourse. The 2009–2018 Greek government-debt crisis has facilitated the rise of far right groups in Greece, most notably the formerly obscure Golden Dawn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antifa (United States)</span> Anti-fascist political activist movement

Antifa is a left-wing anti-fascist and anti-racist political movement in the United States. It consists of a highly decentralized array of autonomous groups that use nonviolent direct action, incivility, and violence to achieve their aims. Antifa political activism includes non-violent methods like involving poster and flyer campaigns, mutual aid, speeches, protest marches, and community organizing. Some who identify as antifa also use tactics involving digital activism, doxing, harassment, physical violence, and property damage. Members of antifa aim to combat far-right extremists, including neo-Nazis and white supremacists.

The Bufi Government better known as the Government of Stability was an interim government formed after the resignation of the previous Nano government due to the aggravated situation in the country after the events of 2 April 1991 where 4 opposition supporters were killed in Shkodër during a anti-communist protest that led to the burning of the Shkodra Labor Party Committee. The Nano government resigned on 4 June 1991, and the next day the then-President Ramiz Alia, began negotiations to form a comprehensive government whose main objective would be to restore stability to the country, from which it took the name "Stability Government". Ylli Bufi was accepted also by the opposition to be appointed as Prime Minister, while one of the most prominent figures of the Democratic Party, such as Gramoz Pashko, was appointed Deputy Prime Minister.

References

  1. 1 2 «Συχνά έμπλεκε σε καβγάδες»
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Varouhakis, Miron (9 September 2004). "Anti-racism rally held after deadly soccer game". USA Today . Retrieved 28 December 2010.
  3. "Greek Committee of Helsinki". Archived from the original on 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2010-12-28.
  4. 1 2 ""Έσπασαν" τα ισόβια για τον Π. Κλάδη-Ξιφίτα". Zakynthos Day. January 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
  5. Albanian Parliament declaration
  6. "Anarchist block at antiracist demo in Athens". ALTER-E. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
  7. 1 2 Kantouris, Costas. "Anti-racism rally held after deadly Greece-Albania soccer clash". AP Worldstream. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
  8. Zirin, Dave (2007-06-01). Welcome to the Terrordome: the pain, politics, and promise of sports . Haymarket Books. p.  95. ISBN   978-1-931859-41-7 . Retrieved 28 December 2010.
  9. ATA news agency, Tirana Protest against violence against Albanian soccer fans held in Greek capital Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine , September 10, 2004
  10. "Albania buries and honors fan killed after weekend win over Greece". AP Worldstream. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2010.