A Greek ticket inspector slapped 22-year-old Smaro Kokkosi, an unemployed commuter, because she had no valid metro ticket. The incident occured at the Omonia metro station in downtown Athens. Both the man and the woman went to the nearest police station, however the woman was unable to lodge a complaint because she could not afford the 100-euro legal fee. The sociology graduate had just submitted her CV to a shoe store near the Metro station.
She told MEGA TV that she had been pushed and then slapped because she was unable to pay the fine for traveling without a ticket.
STASY, the company that is responsible for ticket inspections released a statement arguing that “all the procedures stipulated by law were followed.” It noted that the woman was led to the police office at Omonia station where the fine was imposed.
Her personal tale appeared at the student mystudentpass.gr website.
One of the controllers stopped me and asked for my ticket… I told him I was unemployed but it was like seeking compassion from a wall… I spoke politely but he shouted at me: “You can’t go anywhere, you have to give us your data.” I refused to comply. I refused because I feared the 36-euro fine. If I had so much money I would have bought a monthly card.
I told him I knew my rights, that I was not obliged to wait for the police he had called and that I have claustrophobia.
In an ironic and rude style he said “Claustrophobia? You suffer from nothing” and started pushing me as I was walking towards the exit though I kept saying “Let me go!”.
I got on the escalators, and he came in front of me, kept on pushing on me, and said: “You will not get away with this, you idiot!” and he slapped me hard in the face. His colleague intervened, and told him to calm down and go away. If it wasn’t for him, I can’t imagine what would have happened.
I felt the pain in my left jaw for more than an hour.
Before I reached the exit, a policeman came and we all went to an office inside the station. I told the policeman that the controller had slapped me and the latter said “Let’s see the bruise. There is nothing there!”.
The policeman recorded the incident, and the controller told him that I would constantly use the metro without a ticket, that they issue fines and I slip through, but that this time I couldn’t get away.
These charges are unfounded and unproven.
The policeman told me that he could not file a lawsuit against the controller as he was not present at the incident, but I could pay a lawsuit fee of 100 euro.
In short that means that I either get justice by filing a lawsuit against this man and paying 100 euro that I obviously do not have or I pay the fine for the crime I committed, while the physical and psychological violence I suffered goes unpunished and unrecorded.
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