UPDATED: Tributes for Maltese-Australian after Mykonos attack
Tributes have been pouring in on Internet sites for Doujon Zammit, a 20-year-old Australian of Maltese and Italian descent declared brain dead after being bashed into a coma on the Greek island of Mykonos.
Mr Zammit, who was accompanied by his cousin Cameron Tabone, also 20, is reported to have been beaten by up to four bouncers from a club on the Greek island. The attack heightened alarm in Greece over rising crime at its tourist resorts, which provide nearly a fifth of the country's economy.
One Greek man has been charged with grievous bodily harm and possession of an illegal weapon after allegedly beating Zammit with a metal baton, according to police officials.
Zammit and Tabone, from Sydney, fled the club on quad bikes after being threatened by the bouncers following accusations (which they denied) of stealing a wallet or a handbag. However, it seems that two bouncers caught up with them and, after they refused to show identification, one of the bouncers produced an extendable baton with which he beat Mr Zammit on the head. The other bouncer is claimed to have punched Mr Tabone. It was then that another two bouncers allegedly joined in.
While Cameron Tabone suffered a broken nose and wrist, Doujon Zammit is understood to have suffered extensive bleeding on the brain. Hospital staff in Athens waited for family members to arrive while Mr Zammit was kept on life support machines. A third, unnamed Australian, who was with them escaped unscathed, Australian media said.
"The doctors have said he is brain dead," the victim's father, Oliver Zammit, told reporters outside an Athens hospital. "Maybe tomorrow we will have to turn off the life support and just take him home."
Some tributes praised Doujon Zammit as the "vibrant school captain of Cecil Hill High School" and a young leader who enjoyed the respect of his peers.
"He exemplified what it means to be a true gentleman, standing by what he believes while giving it his all. This tragedy is such a waste and couldn't happen to a more promising young gentleman."
An acquaintance told timesofmalta.com that Mr Zammit was "the most amazing guy who got along with anyone and everybody".
A facebook group page titled "Only the good die young" features over 1,000 members with recollections and condolences by friends of Mr Zammit.
Greek Tourism Minister Aris Spiliotopoulos convened an emergency meeting today with representatives of other ministries to devise a response to the spate of violence plaguing the sector .
Greece's opposition Socialist party said the government had not given police in Mykonos the resources to tackle the problem. "Why isn't the government doing anything to reinforce public order and citizens' safety?" it asked in a statement.
The attack followed the arrest last week of a 20-year-old British woman on the island of Crete, charged with strangling to death her newborn baby in a hotel room.
A few days later, a 17-year-old Briton died outside a bar in Zakynthos. A local coroner's report blamed heavy drinking.
18 Comments
Post comment
Please sign in or create your Account to post comments.
Aida Kankachian
Aug 3rd 2008, 00:48
The Greek guy who killed Australian innocent Zammit, should be charged with first degree murder, and justice must be served.
Timothy Farrugia
Aug 2nd 2008, 17:24
if we boycott every country because a holiday maker was killed there we would have nowhere to go on holiday!!!
BJ Thorburn
Aug 2nd 2008, 12:52
Rest in peace Doujon, it is unfortunate for these bouncers that they probably do not know that Australians stick together around the globe, regardless of race or wether we know one another. There time will come and that is a certaintity....
Anna Zammit
Aug 2nd 2008, 12:22
i totaly agree whit who ever said to boycott Greece in fact that's what we just did, we cancelled our holiday there.
philip pace
Aug 2nd 2008, 12:08
A Greek Tragedy by all means.
I am not trying to be funny here but I am very shocked and perplexed by the silly Socialist comment "Why isn't the government doing anything to reinforce public order and citizens' safety?"
That cannot be as it is a massive legal violent order as with that one gives the police an open way on how they size up the occassion.
If one reinforces public order then how can the citizens feel safe?
Unfortuntaly that is a contradiction as one cannot help the other. Free baton bashing and free shooting to enforce public order and the innocent bystanders suffer the consequences.
Who was the silly Socialist git?
Greek Democracy, my foot!
Ray Gatt
Aug 2nd 2008, 10:56
D. Mangion, I do not agree at all with you to boycott Greece. You'll find good and not so good people everywhere around the globe. By your same way of thinking, tourists and foreign students should boycott Malta for what the mob did during the transport so called strike. All over the world you'll find thugs who jump at the chance of showing their muscle against the feeble. I have just one word for these thugs - COWARDS. I just hope that the authorities in Greece make these bouncers pay heavily for their doings. Last but not least, commiserations to the Zammit family and may Doujon rest in peace. What a waste of life.
Aliki Xanthogiorgi
Aug 2nd 2008, 07:21
As a Greek I feel very bad, for this young person!!! All Greek are mourning his loss. His father is an example to all of us. I dont know if I could be so logical and loving, in a situation like this. I apologize for these people. I hope the Greek government, locks them up for ever.
But, we also have to face reality. Bad, and stupid people, you can find all over the world!!
Crazy things are happening every where.
I'm sorry to every one, that something like that happend in my country.
Aliki
A.Gauci Cunningham
Aug 1st 2008, 20:17
Condololences to his family..............
...........but do not be shocked dear citizens of Malta for this is what happens in Paceville every now and then....maybe not death....but yes a good beating and for what reason only God knows (although sometimes its because you're black or maybe they don't like your face......)
................but as long as we've closed Paceville down at four a.m. in the morning then we can sleep tightly pretending to have solved our huge, social and interracial problems!!!
Hypocrites!!!!
A Camilleri
Aug 1st 2008, 11:11
@ B Borg.
Replace the word Greece with the word Malta in your comment and read the outcome. Amazing!
B Borg
Jul 31st 2008, 23:14
While I love Athens and Thessaloniki because I think that they´re really beautiful, I do not like the way many many Athenians try to fleece you out of every euro in your pocket or on your credit card, not to mention how overpriced certain entertainment outlets are.
Two years ago, I experienced an incident very similar to the one described here, in Athens. I was very lucky to get away unharmed. I didn´t bother to report the incident simply because I have no faith whatsoever in the Greek police and Greek institutions and it was the last night of my stay in Greece. I have not been back since and don´t think I will bother to visit again. A shame really!
Denis Catania
Jul 31st 2008, 21:12
If Justice is not served in this case. Maltese, Italians and Australians should boycott Greece. But I rather see justice. In the meantime let's pray for Doujon's and his family.
I just wouldn't know what to do,if that happened to my son.
joseph micallef
Jul 31st 2008, 18:05
....and the mother, on holiday in greece, strangles her child - who knows maybe because she wanted to go out partying and the baby stopped her from doing so? Why be surprised about the violence around us if we are in a state that a mother can kill her child so easily - and this is not abortion where the mother is passive - she had to actually press something to the baby's neck or nostrils to strangle it! Imagine!
D.MANGION
Jul 31st 2008, 17:02
The least we all can do, is to boycott Greece.
Even though our size and numbers seem irrelevant, statistics will show that we Maltese can be a united lot when it comes to seeking respect.
victor vella
Jul 31st 2008, 16:54
I have a very simple answer to these so called boucers. Have them outlawed punto e basta.
Matthew Azzopardi
Jul 31st 2008, 15:50
probably
Mike Carabott
Jul 31st 2008, 15:44
@Matthew Azzopardi - pretty similar to Malta then...
Matthew Azzopardi
Jul 31st 2008, 15:28
Apparently in Mykonos, the brain size of bouncers is measured with the most sophisticated and technological advanced systems know to man. If it bigger than a peanut size than one is deemed not fit for the job
Alex Ellul
Jul 31st 2008, 13:55
Are bouncers (supposedly security men employed at night clubs and other entertainment spots) bound by some type of state license and EU regulations? Does the EU regulate such jobs. Does their employment CV include only the size of their shoes and the distance between the shoulder blades? Is the size of their brain measured?