Reuters AlertNet Lite - Greek border guard shoots, kills illegal migrant

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Greek border guard shoots, kills illegal migrant

08 Nov 2007 11:13:30 GMT
Source: Reuters

ATHENS, Nov 8 (Reuters) - A Greek border guard shot and killed a migrant trying to cross illegal into northwestern Greece on Thursday amid a government investigation into claims of police brutality and torture of illegal immigrants.

The victim, who had entered the country and tried to run away from officers who ordered him to stop, had crossed either from Macedonia or Albania with a group of 10 other people, police said.

Greece has been struggling to cope with a sharp rise in illegal immigrants attempting to cross into the country this year, on foot via its land borders and by boat across the Aegean sea from Turkey.

"Ordered by the border guards to stop for checks, nine people stopped but two ran away," police said in a statement. "A chase followed and one of them was arrested while the other was shot and seriously injured by a border guard."

The migrant, whose sex or nationality had not been released by police, died in hospital shortly after.

Police said they were investigating the incident while the guard had been arrested and his gun confiscated.

In the last five years almost 400,000 people attempted to enter Greece illegally, the government has said.

Human rights groups have accused Greece of tolerating inhumane conditions at its migrant detention centres and of police brutality during arrests and detention of migrants.

The government launched an investigation late last month into a report highlighting violations of migrants' basic human rights by Greek authorities and accusations of regular torture including mock executions. (Writing by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Stephen Weeks)

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Last updated:Thu Nov 8 11:13:37 2007