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Groups of people, who have nothing to do with universities, have made a "hiding place" in student dormitories in the Athens neighbourhood of Zografou and in other Greek cities. They take over rooms and recently, burglaries in the blocks have become common-place, reads the publication in Ethnos newspaper.

The culmination of the criminal activities of a similar group was in the dormitory of the Polytechnic University last Friday. Two students were awakened by a strange noise at the door. When they came out to see what was going on, two potential robbers fired at them. The bullet passed very close to the students. Police and prosecutors arrived at the place of shooting to find the perpetrators. The persons in charge of the dormitory showed three rooms in which they might be hiding but the authorities did not find anyone.

However, during the inspection, the following were accidently discovered: In the first room - 22 grams of cannabis, a crowbar and large iron hammer. In the second room – more than a kilogram of cannabis and a Polish citizen was living illegally in the third room. There, the police found 3.4 grams of cannabis, one large and one smaller hammer, three glass items used for taking drugs, a hookah, four mobile phones, a GPS navigator and a 9-mm cartridge.

The 37-year-old Pole was arrested and a court file for "complicity in attempted murder and attempted robbery," and illegal possession of weapons was filed against the two perpetrators.

According to students and employees in the same dormitory, the same persons returned later. To cover their tracks, they set fire to the room where one of them lived. The room burned completely and the fire moved next door. The intervention of the fire service foiled the spread of fire in the rest of the building.

Cases of theft, intimidation and other criminal activities have been reported in other dormitories in Athens and the countryside. According to student witnesses, the assailants in the case of fire were two foreigners. They had settled in two rooms in the new dormitories at the beginning of the academic year and are suspected of having committed other criminal acts in the past.

One employee, who wished to remain anonymous, said that one of the two foreigners had threatened him with a dog, which he kept in his room. During a dispute between them ten days previously, he had showed him the gun, which he wore under his jacket, to frighten him.

Students say that in recent years, many of their "neighbours" in the rooms have nothing to do with the university society and despite efforts, these people have not been removed from the dormitory. They accuse the dormitory management, saying that "they do not have the courage and will to do what they have to."

The new student dormitories in the university area of Politechnoupoli were built to accommodate foreign journalists during the Olympic Games in 2004. A year later, the buildings were handed over to students. They are composed of four residential complexes, a food and entertainment complex, a student canteen and an administrative building.

Some of the students define what is happening in the dormitories as an "out-of-university mafia". Although they have indicated the people who are living in the blocks without being students many times, there has been no response from the administration.  According to the students, the guards who are few in number are doing their job well, but they are not sufficient and have no right to control who enters into Politechnoupoli.

Evantis Papazahariou, an electrical engineering student, states that people, who have nothing to do with the university, have been living in at least 20 rooms for several years. Most of them are Greeks and apparently supporters of anarchism. The foreigners are far fewer. He blames the administration stating that it "refuses to assume its responsibility. It may be afraid and the people may have been threatened but it is impossible for the students themselves to solve such issues."

The Polytechnic University Rector Simos Simopoulos said regarding the case of shots, "this is a sad case that should be condemned." He added, "Dormitories have been administered by the National Foundation for Youth until today. The Polytechnic University does not know who lives in the buildings." On the expected shift of responsibility for the dormitories to the universities, the Rector said that he refuses to accept it under the existing conditions. "We require the drawing up of a comprehensive plan on how they will be running to ensure smooth and safe residence for students," he said.