Trial over Shooting against Immigrant Farm Workers Starts in Greece

The trial against the four Greek nationals who injured 30 immigrant workers a year ago started in the Greek town of Patras.

The case triggered a local campaign to boycott "blood strawberries" which is still ongoing, according to reports of the Bulgarian National Radio.

The three foremen and the owner of the strawberry fields face charges of attempted murder and incitement to violent dispute with the unarmed immigrant workers.

The incident happened in April 2013.

The farm supervisors opened fire on a group of over 200 immigrant workers, many of them from Bangladesh, who had staged a protest to demand a 6-month overdue pay. 30 farm workers were injured in the shooting.

In front of the courthouse in Patras, thousands of immigrants from all over Greece are protesting against the poor working conditions and failure to observe legal provisions in cases involving immigrants.

A year after the incident, Greeks keep boycotting strawberries produced by Nea Manolada and foreign partners have also refused to import "blood strawberries."

In end-May, the municipality of Andravida-Kyllini, which includes the town of Nea Manolada, elected a Syrian born doctor as Mayor.

The four defendants in the trial face penalties of 15-20 years of imprisonment and huge compensations to the injured workers.

A famous law office is defending the immigrant workers free of charge.

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