Spiros Richard Hagabimana is canvassing working-class neighborhoods on the outskirts of Athens in an electoral campaign that could result in him becoming the first Black lawmaker in Greece.
Hagabimana has made a remarkable journey considering that just eight years ago, when he was a high-ranking member of the National Police, he was imprisoned in his home Burundi for refusing to use lethal force against anti-government protestors.
It would also be a remarkable victory in a nation where immigrants do not frequently hold elected office and where the extreme-right Golden Dawn party, which has a vehemently anti-immigrant agenda, was the third-most popular political force less than ten years ago.
“I have an opinion about racism,” Hagabimana, 54, said.
“Racism cannot be fought with words alone. Racism is fought with everyday actions. When the other person is afraid of the unknown, you must give them an opportunity to come into contact with what they are afraid of.”
Burundi was in the midst of a military takeover when he received his diploma in 1996, forcing him to apply for asylum in Greece. He enrolled in law school and joined the New Democracy youth group.
The 12-year civil war in Burundi came to an end in 2005, the same year Hagabimana was granted Greek citizenship, and he made the decision to go back and assist with UN peacekeeping duties.
Ten years later, nationwide protests against a third presidential term erupted. Hagabimana, a National Police officer at the time, was imprisoned and physically assaulted for defying instructions to disperse protesters.
Recalling a night in prison, he said: “I knew if they hit me on the head I would have been finished.”
While in jail, a lawyer friend in Athens launched an international campaign for his release. He returned to Athens in 2016, with the help of Greek authorities.
Hagabimana’s agenda is business-focused, but he also hopes to inspire migrants that “they can be equal members of society… and that everything I achieved, they can do more”.
“It is more important to me that I am a Greek citizen by choice.”