Saturday––Jeff
Hello
to all from the rock & roll capital of northwest New Jersey. Yep, our farm
got a taste of what Californians and Athenians take in stride as somewhat
regular occurrences--earthquakes and aftershocks. Blessedly, ours were relatively small and no
one was injured (4.7 in the morning and 4.0 in the evening).
I
will not be posting about any of that, but I will be indirectly following up on
Caro’s blog yesterday about Scotland’s new hate speech law “supposed to shore
up offences that are aggravated by prejudice” but notably leaves out the
misogynistic abuse of women from its protections.
If
you recall, I’ve posted before about the May 2021 murder in Athens of a young
wife and mother, Caroline Crouch (age 20), by her
pilot/flight instructor husband, Babis Anagnostopoulos (age 32). The husband
had concocted an elaborate story centered upon home invaders, not he, as
responsible for his wife’s murder. The
murder rocked Greece to its core, and its solution earned deservedly great
praise for the police plus a flood of demands for ending Greece’s proliferating
domestic violence against women.
Now,
there’s been a new femicide in Athens committed by her former domestic
partner. It, too, has captivated the
nation and galvanized a call for meaningful protections for woman from domestic
violence.
This
time, though, there is no praise for the police. Only condemnation.
Kyriaki Griva On
Monday, a 28-year-old woman, Kyriaki Griva, presented herself at a police
station in north central Athens pleading for protection from her 39-year-old
ex-partner. She claimed he’d once been
the subject of a protective order, had a long history of stalking her, abusing
her (including rape), and now was waiting outside her home. She asked for a
patrol car to take her home, but because she refused to file a complaint, the
duty officer told her that she had to call the police emergency line
(100) to send a vehicle.
When
she called that line and explained why she wanted a police escort, the
emergency dispatch officer said to her, “ The police car is not a taxi .”
She
had spent eight minutes in the police station pleading for help denied her (in
violation of procedures). When she stepped out of the station, her ex-partner
was waiting for her. He attacked her
with a knife—caught on video––and she died as police stood around trying to decide
what had happened.
Her
killer did not flee and now is in a prison psychiatric ward awaiting trial,
claiming he has “no memory of the crime.”
Six
police officers, including the chief of the station, have been suspended, the
emergency dispatch officer is under investigation for potential criminal
charges, and the head of the Ministry of Citizen Protection, promises “the
truth will be completely revealed.”
Kyriaki
Griva was buried on Thursday.
May
her memory be a blessing for eternity, and a CALL TO ACTION for domestic
violence to be addressed in concrete legislative ways and meaningful diligence
on the part of police when asked to intervene.
––Jeff
Jeff’s
Upcoming Events
CrimeFest,
Bristol UK
Panel
THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2024 @ 17.00
“Overstepping
the Mark: Abuses of Privilege and Power” with
Ajay
Chowdhury, Alex North, Kate Ellis, Jeffrey Siger, Sam Holland (Moderator)
Panel FRIDAY,
10 MAY 10 @ 17:10
“What a
Thrill: Page-Turners and Cliff Hangers” with
Chris Curran, Antony Dunford, Charles Harris, Christine Poulson, Jeffrey Siger
(Moderator)
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