Brothers jailed for attacking subway stationmaster in Greece

Two brothers, aged 17 and 15, who attacked an Athens subway stationmaster because he told them to wear masks on a subway train, will appear before a magistrate Tuesday for depositions.

The two were jailed Saturday, charged with premeditated aggravated assault, a felony, as well as disobedience, for refusing to provide police with fingerprints.

The felony charge would normally carry a jail term of up to 10 years, but, since they are minors, the two brothers face incarceration in a youth facility until they turn 18.

A 26-year-old police motorcycle patrol officer is facing charges of dereliction of duty and harbouring a criminal for providing advice on evading capture to the teens' mother. He has been placed on administrative leave.

The two, after pummeling and kicking the stationmaster unconscious on a subway platform Wednesday, took another train, disembarked at the next station and phoned their mother, who picked them up in her car, police said Sunday. She had already contacted the police officer.

There were plenty of videos, including from security cameras, that tracked the movements of the two brothers after the attack. But it was an anonymous tip that led police to monitor their cellphones, as well as their mother’s, and arrest them Friday night.

The two brothers had cursed and spat at the stationmaster on a train after he told both to wear masks and told one to lift his feet off a seat. They followed him as he exited the train at a central station and attacked him on the platform.

Wearing masks in transport vehicles is obligatory in Greece because of the coronavirus pandemic.