New Artaki: Racketeers destroyed a bar for refusing to pay

In New Artaki on Euboea two racketeers broke into the bar staged a pogrom and threatened the owner of the establishment. According to Greek media, the attack is associated with an attempt at extortion and a demand to pay for “roof”.

The incident occurred at a nightclub in the area New Artakinot far from Chalkida. The CCTV camera recorded how two men were throwing chairs and stools, breaking bottles and actually trashing the room.

According to Greek media, the attack did not look like an ordinary quarrel or domestic conflict. We are talking about a demonstrative act of intimidation, the purpose of which, according to investigators, was to force the bar owner to pay money for “protection”.

The pogrom was caught on video

Security camera footage was shown in a television report. The video shows the alleged racketeers behaving aggressively, throwing furniture, breaking bottles and threatening the businessman. The scene does not look like an outburst of drunken rage, but rather a typical attempt to put pressure on a business owner.

This is classic racketeering logic: first a threat is created, then a way to get rid of it is proposed. Sometimes criminals don’t even try to disguise themselves, apparently because they are sure that fear works faster than the law. Comfortable confidence until the police arrive.

Detention and charges

The police intervened quickly and detained two suspects. According to Greek media reports, the men resisted during the arrest. A sharp object was also found in one of them.

A case has been formed against the detainees under articles of threats, damage to other people’s property and violation of weapons legislation. The investigation is ongoing, and the materials are already in the hands of the competent authorities.

If the version of extortion is confirmed, the case cannot be reduced to an ordinary pogrom in a bar. We will talk about an attempt to criminally control small businesses – the same “roof”which seems to have been sent into the past long ago, but like a cockroach after repair, it periodically crawls out into the light again.

Editorial comment

History in New Artaki shows that small business racketeering in Greece remains not a museum exhibit from the nineties, but a very living practice. A bar, cafe or restaurant often becomes an easy target: an entrepreneur works in public, depends on his reputation, is afraid of a second attack and does not always believe that the state will protect him quickly and effectively.

That is why such matters cannot be described with soft words like “Hooligans started riots”. If behind the attack there is a demand to pay for “roof”we are no longer talking about hooliganism, but about criminal pressure on business.

The main question now is not only for the detainees, but also for the system: how many such cases are not captured on video, do not reach the police and remain in the shadows because people are simply afraid to speak up. One pogrom in a bar is a crime. Systemic silence around racketeering is already a problem for the state.

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