\\\'Injustice\\\' for Bangladeshi strawberry pickers

A Greek tribunal's decision to acquit local farmers responsible for shooting 28 Bangladeshi strawberry pickers has sparked outrage in the country. Politicians, unionists and anti-racist groups have condemned the verdict as a ‘black mark for justice’ in a case that brought the spotlight on the appalling conditions migrant workers face in Greece. Scores of migrants, many sobbing in disbelief, protested outside the court in the western port city of Patras after the magistrate delivered the shock ruling. The magistrate allowed two of the men, including the owner of the farm who had been accused of human trafficking, to walk free. Two others, accused of aggravated assault and for possessing illegal firearms, were handed prison sentences – one for 14 years and 7 months and another for 8 years and 7 months. Twenty-eight Bangladeshis were shot at in April last year when they demanded to be remunerated for 6 months of unpaid work at a farm in Manolada in the southern Peloponnese. Four of the strawberry pickers were badly injured in the attack. The Greek farmers had instructed top criminal lawyers to defend them in the court. More than 40 prosecution witnesses testified in the case that lasted for one year-and-three-month, according to bdnews24.com.