ATHENS, Dec 15: Activists in Greece demanded the interior minister’s resignation on Monday over the severe injury of a Pakistani man in an alleged police attack on asylum-seekers.

The 24-year-old Pakistani man has been in a coma since December 6.

Petros Constantinou, an organiser with the Socialist Workers Party, said the migrant suffered head injuries when he fell into a dry riverbed trying to avoid a police charge.

The allegations came as Greece faced its worst riots in decades, sparked by the fatal police shooting of a 15-year-old boy in Athens – also on Dec 6. Activists called for concerted protests over the two incidents.

Constantinou said the Pakistani was injured when police attacked 5,000 immigrants lining up overnight to submit asylum applications at a western Athens police office.

Police say they are investigating the incident. They say riot police repulsed asylum-seekers who tried to jump the line.

“It was a brutal and obscene attack,” Constantinou said. “We want (Interior Minister Procopis) Pavlopoulos to resign.”

In October, another Pakistani asylum-seeker died after falling into the same riverbed while allegedly trying to avoid

police.—AP