A Congolese woman assaulted earlier this month by a Greek Cypriot man while holding her infant in her arms grabbed the perpetrator by the shirt when he entered the Larnaca court room on Wednesday.
It was his first day of trial and the 29-year-old woman yelled at him “because I am black, and you are white?”.
Officers immediately intervened and led the woman outside the court room where a handful of activists holding anti-racism banners had gathered in solidarity.
The 43-year-old man is standing trial for offences related to racist and violent behaviour, assault and causing actual bodily harm.
The defendant was arrested after he was filmed by an eyewitness hitting and kicking a 29-year-old asylum seeker who was on the ground holding her infant in her arms on July 13. He was also seen assaulting her brother.
In the widely condemned video, another man, who is also thought to be Greek Cypriot but younger than the suspect, is seen trying to stop him.
