Sun, Nov 08 2009

Bulgarian union leader sends open letter to Greek authorities over acid attack

Sat, Dec 27 2008 15:07 CET byClive Leviev-Sawyer 255 Views 1 Comment

The leader of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (CITUB), Zhelyazko Hristov, has sent an open letter to Greece's president and labour minister calling for action after a Bulgarian union leader in Greece was injured in an acid attack.

Kostadinka Kouneva, leader of a union of cleaners and domestic servants, was attacked on December 23 by two assailants who splashed sulphuric acid in her face. The attack was allegedly a response to her union activities.

Bulgarian news agency BTA reported on December 26 2008 that the previous day Kouneva had been brought out of a medically induced coma in which she had been kept for several days at the intensive care unit of Athens' Evangelismos Hospital.  On December 27, Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry said that she was still in a critical condition.

Hristov's letter, released to the media on December 27, called on Greek president Karolos Papoulias and labour minister Fanni Palli-Petralia to ensure that the country's institutions carried out an effective investigation to identify and punish those guilty of the attack on Kouneva.

The attack was not just against Kouneva but also against workers and their established rights to protest against unacceptable working conditions, Hristov said.

He called on the Greek government to take an "appropriate decision" in 2009 on the close to 80 000 Bulgarians working in the grey economy in Greece, by liberalising the labour market.

Comments

Anonymous kenny Sat, Feb 21 2009 09:04 CET
Inappropriate comment?

President Papoulias assured Hristov the Greeks would exhibit all the professionalism in catching the criminals as the Bulgarians would.

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Kouneva acid case ‘smear on our democracy’ – Greek newspaper

Whatever the cause of the delay may be in bringing the perpetrators of this vicious crime to justice, the failure to do so only further provokes the public’s sense that justice is not being done, Kathimerini says in an editorial.

Greek police arrest suspect in case of Bulgarian splashed with acid

A 48-year-old ehtnic Albanian, picked up for a traffic offence, could be one of the two men who splashed with acid union leader Kostadinka Kouneva in December 2008

Greek rally voices support for Bulgarian union official attacked with acid

A protest rally in Greece in support of Bulgarian Kostadinka Kouneva, the victim of an acid attack, turns violent with police using teargas

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