http://tinyurl.com/PatinoFlor

The article is in Greek, however I’ll translate the events to English the best I can.

Daniel Patiño Flor arrived in Athens May 14 to photograph the city for 10 days. On May 22, Muslim immigrants were protesting the alleged event of a Greek policeman tearing pages of a Quor’an and throwing it on the ground. Greek police immediately appeared on the scene to begin a violent crackdown.

Flor was stopped, hit in the legs, handcuffed, had his camera inspected along with his passport and credentials, and was eventually released. Later, while observing the protest and arrests being made, he was jumped from behind, pushed into a van and taken to police detention with other detainees, including a 13-year-old boy.

At the station, Greek police took his camera and told him in English, “F#ck you, f#ck your mother” then drew a knife and said “I will cut off your b@lls & f#ck you in the @ss” in front of 50 other policemen on the elevator while everyone laughed and thanked him for the performance.

On a different floor, he was kicked in the ankles, stomach, chest, head and neck, which was repeated in between Flor’s requests to speak with a senior officer. Six hours passed and sometime after midnight, his camera was returned but the memory cards deleted. Friends in Athens helped him reach the Embassy of Ecuador & a lawyer, who told him that his photos were saved on a DVD and he would likely be accused of “wreaking disorder” the next day, which he was.

In court papers, police claimed Flor was one of 12 people who incited the riot, but it was never mentioned that Flor was a photojournalist from Ecuador studying in Barcelona for his post graduate degree. Once these details were made known by his lawyer, he was released and his 24 hours in detention had ended. However, trial is pending this week.