Egyptian hospitalised after Greece beating

A young Egyptian man was hospitalised in a serious condition and required a kidney operation after a racism-related beating on the Greek island of Crete, the state-run Athens News Agency said on Tuesday. The 25-year-old victim was beaten early on Monday in the town of Hania by two men wielding a crowbar and a club, the agency said. ANA said the attack followed another assault on two homeless Algerians in Hania on Saturday. Attacks on immigrants have escalated in recent weeks after the rise of a neo-Nazi party in general elections and amid growing tension caused by a rise in crime and job losses in a deepening recession. The Golden Dawn party, formerly on the fringe of Greek politics, grabbed 6.97 per cent of the vote in a first election on May 6 and held their ground with 6.92 per cent in a follow-up election on June 17. The party has pledged to “scour the country clean” of hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants which it describes a “wound” for Greece. Six far-right militants were arrested earlier in June after four Egyptians were attacked in their home as they slept. One of the fishermen was hospitalised in a critical condition. And a 31-year-old man from Pakistan was also hospitalised this month after being beaten by a group of motorcyclists during a demonstration. Two Golden Dawn members were questioned over that attack but were released for lack of evidence.