Violenceoften breaks out during demonstrations in Greece between riot policeand anarchists, who also attack banks, high-end shops, diplomaticvehicles and foreign car dealerships in late-night fire-bombings that rarely cause injuries.
The fatal police shooting of a teenager has set off Greece’s worst rioting in years, with hooded youths rampaging through Athens and the northern city of Thessaloniki over the weekend.
Gangssmashed stores, torched cars and erected burning barricades in thestreets of the Greek capital and the country’s second largest city in adramatic eruption of a long-tolerated self-styled anarchist movement.
Riotingbegan in several cities within hours of the death of a 15-year-old whowas shot Saturday night in Exarchia, a downtown Athens district ofbars, music clubs and restaurants that is seen as the anarchists’ homebase. Soon dozens of stores, banks and cars were ablaze. Police said 24policemen were injured, and one remained in hospital on Sunday morning.
The violence was the most severe since rioting in 1999 during avisit to Greece of then U.S. President Bill Clinton. The last time ateenager was killed in a police shooting — during a demonstration in1985 — it sparked weeks of frequent rioting.
The circumstances surrounding Saturday’s shooting were unclear, and Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos has promised a thorough investigation and the punishment of anyone found responsible.
“Itis inconceivable for there not to be punishment when a person losestheir life, particularly when it is a child,” he said. “The taking oflife is something that is not excusable in a democracy.”
Policesaid the two officers involved claimed they were attacked by a group ofyouths, and that three gunshots and a stun grenade were fired inresponse.
The two officers have beensuspended, arrested and charged, one with premeditated manslaughter andthe illegal use of a weapon, and the other as an accomplice. They areto appear before a court Wednesday. The Exarchia precinct police chiefhas been suspended.
A blurry video shotby a bystander from a nearby balcony that purportedly shows theincident has been shown on local television and posted on the Internet.Two sounds that could be gunshots can be heard, but the image is tooblurry and distant to show the sequence of events clearly.
Pavlopoulos and Deputy Interior Minister Panagiotis Chinofotis submitted their resignations after Saturday’s rioting, but they were not accepted by the prime minister.
The violence died down Sunday morning, only to begin again as afternoon demonstrations in AthensMolotov cocktail-throwing youths and riot police firing tear gas.
In Thessaloniki, protesters attacked City Hall, two police precincts, several shops and a bank, as well Greek television channel vehicles.
Dozensof stores in central Athens went up in flames or saw their storefrontssmashed. At least two buildings were destroyed by fire, as was a Ford car dealership.Streets were littered with jagged chunks of paving stones and rocksthrown at riot police, as well as shattered glass from storefronts andbanks.
“I understand the anger (for theteenager’s death) and the right to demonstrate it,” Pavlopoulos saidSunday night. “What is inconceivable is the raw violence thatundermines social peace and turns against the property of innocentpeople.”
As darkness fell, groups ofyouths, some masked and others wearing motorcycle helmets, used trashcans and overturned cars to erect burning barricades in the streetsaround the Athens Polytechnic. Clouds of tear gas hung in the air,sending passers-by rushing for cover. Other curious onlookers peepedout from street corners, using mobile phones to snap pictures.
Local media reported several people sought treatment for breathing problems, but no serious injuries were reported.
Greecehas seen frequent and sometimes violent demonstrations in recent monthsagainst the increasingly unpopular conservative government of Prime Minister Costas Karamanlisand his economic reforms. Karamanlis has also seen his popularityplummet due to a land scandal that has put the opposition Socialistsconsistently ahead in opinion polls.
Violenceoften breaks out during demonstrations in Greece between riot policeand anarchists, who also attack banks, high-end shops, diplomaticvehicles and foreign car dealerships in late-night fire-bombings that rarely cause injuries.
The self-styled anarchist movement partly has its roots in the resistance to the military dictatorshipthat ruled Greece from 1967-74. The youths often take refuge insideuniversity buildings or campuses, from which police are barred underGreek law.
The youths, who often march in demonstrations under the red andblack anarchist banner, espouse general anti-capitalist andantiestablishment principles, and have long-running animosity towardthe police as well as the media.
Full details of how much damage was caused in the two days of rioting were not immediately available.