[Onthebarricades] GREECE: Insurrection, Dec 15-Jan 24

[global resistance roundup]

See also: Occupied London blog
http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/

* "Why Greece is wracked with riots"
* Riot cop shot by insurgents
* Insurrection is response of the invisible
* Unrest linked to financial crisis?
* Massive damage to Athens businesses
* Greek police caught violating human rights

* US: Protesters "wreak havoc" in San Francisco
* GERMANY: Clashes at Greek solidarity protests
* UK: Police repression denounced

19 December: Suspicious shooting
20-21 December: Protesters target French Institute; hundreds in new protests
16-17 Dec - Banner hung at Acropolis, protesters storm TV broadcast
15 Dec - Protests continue, Athens at standstill

* BBC "Greek voices" roundup

1 January - New year brings new clashes
9-11 January - Youths battle police in fresh protests
16 Jan - Students protest as police grumble
23 January - protest over injured trade unionist, clashes with police
25 Jan - protesters demand release of comrades, clash with police; 
farmers revive blockades







http://205.188.238.109/time/world/article/0,8599,1864982,00.html

Why Greece Is Wracked By Riots
By Emmanouil Karatarakis / Athens Monday, Dec. 08, 2008

A protester throws a stone at policemen during riots in Athens.
Yiorgos Karahalis / Reuters
For Athens police, the Exarchia neighborhood is enemy territory. A 
perennial sanctuary for the capital's marginalized far-left youth, the 
central district has been the scene of sporadic anti-government violence 
for years.
But clashes rarely grow as big as those that have wracked Greece for the 
past two days. They began when police shot dead a 15-year-old boy in 
Exarchia on the night of Saturday Dec. 6. That killing sparked riots 
that spread to at least a dozen towns and cities across the country and 
have so far left 67 people injured, including 37 police officers. 
Protesters have destroyed at least 17 banks and set fire to dozens of 
shops and cars. It is the worst political violence in Greece in 17 
years. (See pictures of the riots in Greece.)
New clashes erupted Monday in several midsized cities, on the island of 
Corfu, and in Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city, where youth 
overturned trashcans, set them on fire, and threw rocks at a police 
station. Further protests are planned though this week. Organizers hope 
they will remain non-violent, but police are preparing for more clashes.
The first signs of unrest came just hours after the killing of 
Andreas-Alexandros Grigoropoulos. Police say Grigoropoulos was among a 
gang of youths who attacked them while on patrol, though the exact 
circumstances of the incident remain unclear. The 37-year-old officer 
who shot Grigoropoulos says he fired warning shots to disperse a crowd, 
though witnesses charge that he pointed his gun at the young boy and 
discharged it once. Prosecutors have charged the officer with 
manslaughter, and his 31-year-old partner with abetting him. The 
coroner's report was inconclusive, though a ballistics test may 
determine whether the bullet was fired at Grigoropoulos directly or 
whether it ricocheted off something first.
In a letter to Giorgopoulos' family, Greek Prime Minister Costas 
Karamanlis expressed his condolences and assured them that such a 
tragedy "won't be repeated". Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos had 
earlier submitted his resignation, but Karamanlis has refused to accept 
it, as the fragile center-right government tries to avoid collapse under 
the weight of the riots. (See pictures of Greece ravaged by forest fires.)
The most aggressive rioters are believed to be anarchists, who trace 
their roots back to the resistance movement which took on Greece's 
military Junta between 1967 and 1974. Though democracy was restored to 
Greece in 1974, that earlier generation has continued to hold a 
fascination amongst the far-left fringe. Exarchia is close to the 
Polytechnic School of Athens, whose gates were crushed by the military 
to break up a student uprising in Nov. 1973. That incident inspired the 
Marxist terrorist outfit November 17, which killed 23 people in targeted 
assassinations before being dismantled in 2002.
The riots come as Greece's center-right government is struggling to cope 
with a plague of scandals and an economic slowdown that threaten its 
slim one-seat majority in Parliament. "For the past five years, Greek 
citizens have realized that they live in an insecure environment, both 
socially and financially," said center-left opposition leader George 
Papandreou. "We must address responsibly the deeper causes of these 
phenomena." (See pictures of the recent riots in Belgrade.)
Greece has experienced steady economic growth over the past seven years, 
but is now bracing for the fallout from the worldwide financial crisis. 
Many are angry that the government is giving $35 billion in aid to Greek 
banks at a time when one out of five citizens lives below the poverty line.
Political consultant Panagiotis Papachatzis says that this week's riots 
will further weaken Prime Minister Karamanlis. "Citizens feel there is a 
lack of decisive action by the government against all forms of violence 
— both police-induced and anarchist," says Papachatzis. "The social 
discontent of the past few days has placed itself [ahead] of the 
financial crisis."






http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7013609610

Athens Riot Police Officer On Life Support After Gunmen Attack His Unit
January 5, 2009 9:29 a.m. EST

Linda Young - AHN Editor
Athens, Greece (AHN) - A Greek riot police officer is on life support 
after being seriously injured on Monday in an attack by gunmen on his 
unit of 20 officers who were on board a bus.
Diamandis Matzounis, 21, the wounded officer, reportedly saw the two 
gunmen and warned his colleagues moments before they opened fire with a 
volley of 20 rounds and he was shot in the chest and leg.
The attack was the latest in the backlash from the deadly shooting of a 
15-year-old boy by a police officer in Athens last month that has 
sparked violent protests, despite the fact that the officer accused of 
shooting Alexis Grigoropolous has been charged with murder.
Matzounis was part of a unit guarding the culture ministry in Athens 
when the pre-dawn attack took place. Bullet casings in the attack match 
those from the Dec. 23 attack on police at Athens University, Greece's 
police chief says.
A group calling itself Popular Action claimed to be behind the Dec. 23 
attack, but no one has yet claimed responsibility for Monday's attack.
This incident came a day before the one month anniversary of the death 
of Grigoropolous.

Read more: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7013609610#ixzz0LRuWr49l







http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/09/greece-riots

What we can learn from the Greek riots
It's time to understand the insurrection as the response of those who 
feel invisible to the political system
o Costas Douzinas
o guardian.co.uk, Friday 9 January 2009 08.00 GMT
o Article history
A large demonstration in Athens planned for today and the re-occupation 
of universities and schools will mark the second phase of the recent 
Greek protests, which started on 6 December after the police killing of 
15-year old Alexis Grigoropoulos. Occupations and demonstrations broke 
out all over the country. Daily marches to police stations, parliament 
and ministries were accompanied by sit-ins, theatre invasions, the 
raising of a banner on the Acropolis and the burning of the Christmas 
tree in Syntagma Square. In an unprecedented move, large numbers of 
secondary school pupils took to the streets to join a protest supported 
by half the population. Solidarity demonstrations throughout Europe 
raised fears of the movement spreading.
Few events in recent Greek history have created such a plethora of 
anxious but inadequate interpretations. Many, often contradictory, 
causes have been put forward: economic (unemployment and neo-liberal 
economic measures), political (persistent corruption and failure of 
education), cultural or ideological. But the most prominent reaction of 
commentators has been incomprehension mixed with incredulity.
No political organisation directed the insurrection, no single ideology 
motivated it, no overwhelming demand was put forward. The persistent 
question, "What do the kids want?" often led to the conclusion that the 
events were not political because they could not be integrated into 
existing analytical frameworks. What seemed to unite the protesters was 
a refusal: "No more, enough is enough." A stubborn negativity 
characterised the insurrection. Is this a new type of politics after the 
decay of democracy?
 From the urban riots of early modernity to May 1968, the "street" has 
changed political systems, laws and institutions. In this sense, the 
December insurrection was a recognisable form of "street" resistance. 
But this was no ordinary protest. Imagine Westminster and Whitehall 
under siege every day for two weeks.
A condensation of causes, strategies, tactics and actions turned 
December into the Greek May. As events developed, the insurrection drew 
in ever larger numbers in a snowballing effect that kept unsettling 
every attempt at explanation or pacification. The listing of possible 
causes could not help understand the effects. In the same way that the 
coming of the insurrection could not have been predicted, its happening 
could not be controlled and its long-terms effects are unknown.
Contemporary politics aims at marginal (re)distributions of benefits, 
rewards and positions without challenging the established order. In this 
sense, politics resembles the marketplace or a town hall debate where 
rational consensus about public goods can be reached. Conflict has been 
pronounced finished, passé, impossible. The convergence of political 
parties in the centre ground exemplifies this "conflict-free" approach. 
But conflict does not disappear. Neo-liberal capitalism increases 
inequality and fuels conflict. When social conflict cannot be expressed 
politically, it becomes criminality and xenophobia, terrorism and 
intolerance. Or a reactive violence, the emotional response of those 
invisible to the political system.
In the Greek case, antagonism resulted from the tension between the 
structured social body with its political representatives and groups, 
causes and interests radically excluded from the political order. Huge 
numbers of people cannot formulate their demands in the language of 
politics. The protesters do not say, "I want this or that" but simply, 
"Here we are, we stand against". Not we claim this or that right, but we 
claim the "right to have rights". They seem to be saying that, "We, the 
nobodies, the schoolkids, the suffering students, the unemployed, the 
generation that must survive on a salary of 600 euros, are everything."
The insurrection can be recognised as an event of radical change only 
retrospectively, if the rules of political recognition and participation 
are re-arranged. This depends on those who, after the end of the 
insurrection, will uphold the possibility of changing the rules of what 
counts as political. This is the challenge the Athens rising poses to 
Europe.








http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1865999,00.html

The Athens Riots: Fallout from the Financial Crisis?
By Jeff Israely Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008

Rioters torched a bank as they fought riot police in central Athens
Aris Messinis / AFP / Getty

One important target stands out in the riots and street clashes 
engulfing Greece as the damage totals are tallied. In addition to the 
scores of cars burned and shops ransacked by radical youths, the damage 
in Athens extends to banks. Since the violence ignited Saturday night, 
when a policeman fatally shot an Athens teenager, rioters have damaged 
at least 38 banks in the capital, with more than 150 targeted across all 
of Greece, as the rioting has spread to such cities as Thessaloniki, 
Larissa and Patras. (See pictures of the unrest in Athens.)
Of course, attacking the arteries of capitalism has long been a favorite 
symbolic act of hooded anarchists and hard-left protesters, including 
the dozens of ATMs smashed and banks set ablaze during the 
antiglobalization uprisings in Seattle in 1999 and Genoa in 2001. But 
Athens 2008 comes as the very words damaged banks have taken on a whole 
new connotation. Indeed, in the weeks before the violence began, many 
Greeks had expressed outrage at the government's $35 billion in aid to 
the nation's lenders at a time when one out of five citizens lives below 
the poverty line. And so, nearly a week after they began, the Greek 
riots offer the first tangible sign since the West's financial meltdown 
of the potential social unrest percolating just below the surface. (See 
the top 10 underreported stories of 2008.)
Already, demonstrations of solidarity for the Greek protesters have 
arisen across European capitals. "We are mobilizing. Solidarity 
manifestation with Greek insurgents," declared the alternative-media 
website Indymedia, announcing a Friday rally at Greece's embassy in 
London. Eleven protesters were arrested Wednesday during clashes in 
Madrid and Barcelona, while Danish police took 32 people into custody 
during violent protests in Copenhagen. The Greek consulate in New York 
City was also attacked.
Anarchist groups have always had a stronger presence in Greece, even as 
the government struggles to pursue its First World ambitions while 
battling the ghosts of a military dictatorship that ruled from 1967 to 
1974. But the current clashes are also linked to a broader movement 
across the West that came to the fore during a week of demonstrations 
and violence at the World Trade Organization summit nearly a decade ago. 
Utilizing both peaceful and violent tactics, the "Seattle Movement," as 
it came to be known, was a grass-roots effort to fight the ill effects 
of capital-driven globalization. Two years later, in 2001, the movement 
came to a head at the G-8 summit in Genoa, which was marked by three 
days of violence and the fatal shooting by Italian police of a 
23-year-old protester. Only the attacks on Sept. 11, seven weeks after 
the chaos in Genoa, diverted the debate from global capitalism to global 
terrorism. Now, the so-called No Global protesters, feeling vindicated 
perhaps by the financial crisis and the coming wave of unemployment, may 
hope that this week's attention paid to Athens will rejuvenate their cause.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5563043.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=797093
January 22, 2009
Greek police were powerless in face of riot
John Carr Analysis
Recommend?
With the news that Pericles Panagopoulos, the kidnapped Greek shipowner, 
had been ransomed and freed on Tuesday, thanks to the efforts of his 
wife and with no apparent police help, the nation shook its head over 
another lamentable performance.
It got worse. That night George Papandreou, the head of the opposition 
Socialists, dropped in unannounced on an Athens police station. All the 
lights were out, he said, and the duty officer was incoherently drunk. 
The Greeks view their police as lazy, corrupt and brutal to minorities 
and immigrants. Last month's rioting in Athens began when a policeman 
shot a teenager - yet there was nothing like the same rage when 
extremists shot and critically wounded a 21-year-old policeman this month.
No politician will boost their powers for fear of being branded a 
fascist. Thirty-five years after the rule of the Colonels - when they 
could arrest and torture anyone at will - they are now unarmed, poorly 
paid, badly trained, timid civil servants in uniform.






http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7798056.stm
Thursday, 25 December 2008

Riots push Greece to the edge

The riots are estimated to have cost businesses in the capital more than 
$1bn

By Malcolm Brabant
BBC News, Athens

Pulsating punk rock was stoking up the black-clad army of students 
outside the University of Athens, as, yet again, they prepared to march 
on parliament.
The Stranglers were singing: "Whatever happened to all the heroes? All 
the Shakespearoes? They watched their Rome burn."
The setting was appropriate: the Propylea, as the university's main 
building is known, resembles a temple from Greece's own glorious 
classical era.
All along Panepistimiou, or University Boulevard, security men in 
upscale jewellers, boutiques and the Attica department store, hastily 
lowered the electronic shutters.
The guards at the Bank of Greece retreated behind supposedly impregnable 
bronze doors, and steeled themselves for yet another assault on the 
symbols of wealth, prosperity and unbridled capitalism.
Since a policeman shot dead 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos on 6 
December, daily riots are estimated to have cost the entrepreneurs in 
the capital more than $1bn.
Economic crisis
In among the hooded tops and Arab scarves was a man with owlish glasses 
and an immaculate mane of silvery, white hair.

The economic crisis is huge and Greece is showing, I think, the future 
for what will happen in other countries

Panos Garganas
Panos Garganas is a career protester who has taken part in every annual 
17 November march on the US embassy.
That march commemorates the day in 1973 when tanks of the US-backed 
military dictatorship smashed through the gates of the Polytechnic 
university and crushed a student uprising.
Whether it is a demonstration to support asylum seekers or to complain 
about the intrusion of privacy threatened by CCTV before the 2004 
Olympic Games, Mr Garganas will be there.
He is a member of the hard left Socialist Workers' Party and is the 
total antithesis of the stereotypical rabid Trotskyite: unfailingly 
polite, articulate, and persuasively reasonable in his arguments.
I asked him to apply some historical context to the most serious civil 
disturbances in Greece since the fall of the colonels' military 
dictatorship 34 years' ago.
"I think we should see today's developments in terms of 1989," he 
replied. "Back then, it was the Eastern bloc that collapsed under the 
pressure of economic crisis, and popular movements in the streets. Now 
we are seeing the same in the West."

The unrest is fuelled by anger at high unemployment and unpopular reforms
"The economic crisis is huge and Greece is showing, I think, the future 
for what will happen in other countries. We could say that 2009, 20 
years on, will see the collapse of Western capitalism."
I asked him if he was not simply looking at the recent unrest through 
the rose-tinted glasses of an old left-wing romantic.
"Well, yes, of course. I am all of those things you just said," he 
replied. "But this democracy is failing people and the present revolt is 
much deeper, it will last much longer, it will affect society much more 
profoundly."
"It does mean misery... in terms of people losing their jobs, their 
homes and their pensions. There's going to be a lot of suffering. But at 
the same time people are reacting, not in a resigned way, but with anger 
and with action and that's always hopeful."
The unrest across Greece is no longer an outpouring of youthful anger 
over the "martyrdom" of a schoolboy in the Athens district of Exarchia.
As Mr Garganas explained, for many protesters it is now a vigorous 
attempt both to topple the conservative government of Prime Minister 
Costas Karamanlis, and to create waves across Europe.
European fears
Further confirmation came from the mouth of Petros Constantinou, a 
bearded firebrand wearing wire-rimmed spectacles that might have fitted 
Leon Trotsky.

Many of the left-wing protesters want to see the government stand down
I asked him to justify the burning and looting of shops belonging to 
people not remotely connected to the death of Alexis Grigoropoulos.
"When we have revolutions, we don't drink tea in our saloons, we have 
fights in the streets," Mr Constantinou shouted.
So should Greece's European Union partners dismiss this talk of 
revolution as being little more than extremist rhetoric, or is there 
something more substantial to fear?
The riots have clearly unsettled France's President, Nicolas Sarkozy. He 
has postponed plans to reform the curriculum of secondary school pupils 
in case they ignite copycat protests.
"In the name of symbols, they can overthrow the country. They are 
regicidal," Mr Sarkozy told the French parliament. "Just look what's 
going on in Greece."
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund 
(IMF), is also deeply concerned and has advised governments to spend 
more money in an effort to ease the global economic crisis.
In a BBC interview, Mr Strauss-Kahn spoke of 2009 as "really being a bad 
year".
"I'm especially concerned by the fact that our forecast, already very 
dark... will be even darker if not enough fiscal stimulus is 
implemented," he said.

An improptu public memorial has been set up at the site of the boy's death
"The question of having social unrest has been highlighted by 
journalists and I can understand that, but its only part of the 
problem," he added. "The problem is that the whole society is going to 
suffer."
At present, the demonstrations across Greece are mainly attracting 
students, high-school pupils, veteran leftist campaigners and members of 
the so called 700-euro generation - disenchanted graduates who are 
unable to break through the ceiling of this nation's minimum wage.
The working and middle classes are staying away, perhaps because of the 
petrol bombs and tear gas.
There is neither a co-coordinated plan of action, nor a charismatic 
revolutionary leader.
But Greek trades unions and university students are now trying to 
mobilise sympathisers who are watching the troubles on television rather 
than participating.
Sleeping giant stirring
Pay attention to the old-fashioned, Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of 
Greece (KKE). Remember them?

If you are coming to Athens in 2009, pack a gas mask with your bikini, 
just in case

Despite the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet bloc, the Greek 
hammer and sickle has never conceded the demise of its ideology and has 
maintained a consistent level of support across the country of about 6 
or 7%.
Since 1989, the KKE has appeared something of an anachronism, but the 
sleeping giant is stirring.
The communists have been among the more responsible politicians over the 
past fortnight, condemning the violence and exerting tight discipline 
over their protest rallies.
Intelligently, they are doing their utmost not to alienate the masses, 
whereas Syriza, the coalition of the left, supported by younger voters 
in the last general election, has been accused of stoking the flames.
Foreign income
Pay attention also to Greece's key sources of foreign income next year. 
If they fail, then Mr Constantinou's revolution could attract more foot 
soldiers.
Tourism and shipping each contribute around 20% towards Greece's 
national earnings.

The Straits of Salamis are filling up with empty, unused cargo vessels
The sight of smoke obscuring the Acropolis is likely to deter American 
tourists doing a grand Mediterranean tour.
The collapse of sterling against the euro means that British tourists, 
who help sustain Crete, Corfu, Halkidiki and other package holiday 
destinations, may choose to get their annual sun fix in Croatia or Turkey.
The desperation of Greek hoteliers will be used by British travel 
companies as an excuse to drive even harder bargains.
This year, during a break in Corfu, the owner of a quaint clifftop 
apartment complex told me that his colleagues were struggling to break 
even, as they were only getting five euros per bed, per night.
The crash earlier in 2008 of British travel firm XL has left scores of 
Greek hoteliers close to bankruptcy.
Some had been waiting a year for XL to pay their 2007 invoices. The 
demise of XL will mean that some island entrepreneurs will lose two 
years' income.
If you fly into Athens International Airport, take a look out of the 
window as you cross the Straits of Salamis between the port of Piraeus 
and the island of Salamina.

You could get $235,000 a day for transporting iron ore - now you can 
barely get $3,000

George Gratsos, President of the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping
This is the location of one of what was arguably the most important sea 
battle of all time.
In 480 BC, the Athenian navy destroyed the armada of King Xerxes of 
Persia and thus ensured that Western civilisation evolved under Greek, 
rather than Asian, influence.
Today the straits are filling up with dozens of cargo vessels, rocking 
at anchor and going nowhere. Their owners can no longer afford to run them.
According to George Gratsos, president of the Hellenic Chamber of 
Shipping, in May of this year, when cargo rates were at their peak, you 
could get $235,000 a day for transporting iron ore.
"Now you can barely get $3,000," he told me.
That amounts to less than a vessel's daily running costs.
Greek ship owners, who are amongst this country's richest and most 
powerful people, can afford to sit on their enormous financial cushions 
and ride out the economic crisis.
But what about the 100,000 Greeks who depend on the shipping industry 
for their livelihoods?
Most middle class Greeks have been working 16-hour days to provide the 
bare necessities of life.

Businesses in Athens are braced for further riots and more damage
Many are now facing ruin through no fault of their own.
So how can Europeans stop Greece's social uprising escalating?
Well, for a start, they could help by taking a holiday in Greece.
Whatever the dire threats of the would-be revolutionaries, the riots are 
not going to reach the thousands of idyllic beaches and inspiring 
archaeological sites.
But if you are coming to Athens in 2009, pack a gas mask with your 
bikini, just in case.






http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7971577.stm
Monday, 30 March 2009 10:18 UK

Greek police 'violating rights'

Diplomats in Athens believe some criticism of police tactics is justified
Amnesty International has accused Greek police of serious rights 
violations and called on the government to set up an inquiry into 
"systemic problems".
The rights group said the response to December's riots in Athens was the 
culmination of an "entrenched pattern of serious human rights violations".
The anti-government protests erupted after police shot dead a teenaged boy.
In the following weeks police faced almost daily demonstrations and 
riots, and have come under armed attack.
The Greek government has not responded to the Amnesty report, but 
diplomats said the police have shown considerable restraint in the 
circumstances.
In January, a policeman was shot and seriously wounded in central Athens 
in an attack claimed by the left-wing militant group, Revolutionary 
Struggle.
It was one of several such armed attacks.
'Excessive force'
In a report published on Monday, Amnesty said that since the end of the 
anti-government demonstrations in January it had received mounting 
allegations of human rights violations by police.

The people of Greece have the right to proper policing in accordance 
with the government's national and international obligations

Nicola Duckworth
Amnesty International

Greece: Alleged abuses in the policing of demonstrations

The group said it had brought a number of cases to the attention of 
Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos, in which police officers were 
said to have arbitrarily arrested, ill-treated and detained peaceful 
demonstrators and prevented detainees, including minors, from promptly 
contacting their lawyers.
During one incident on 9 January, several lawyers were reportedly 
arrested and mistreated after a violent demonstration on Asklipiou 
Street in Athens, Amnesty said.
Video footage showed police refusing to answer any questions and later 
dragging an elderly woman along the pavement, it added.
"Time and again police officers in Greece have been accused of using 
excessive force against demonstrators or denying them their rights when 
in detention," said Nicola Duckworth, director of Amnesty's Europe and 
Central Asia programme.
"The police response to the recent unrest is the culmination of an 
entrenched pattern of serious human rights violations by law enforcement 
officials."
Ms Duckworth said such incidents "should be used as a catalyst by the 
government to launch a wide-ranging commission of inquiry that would 
investigate not only recent events but also systemic issues, including 
training of police on the use of firearms and of force".

Greek police have protested against the repeated attacks of recent months
"The people of Greece have the right to proper policing in accordance 
with the government's national and international obligations," she added.
Union officials representing the police say morale in the force is at an 
all-time low, because of poor pay, insufficient training, and most 
important of all, the pledge by left-wing militants to kill an officer 
in retaliation for the shooting of teenager Alexis Grigoropoulos in 
December.
The BBC's Malcolm Brabant says foreign diplomats based in Athens believe 
that some criticism of police tactics is justified, but say few other 
European police forces would be as tolerant as the Greeks when facing 
such violence.






http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/21/BAV714SA8V.DTL

Protesters wreak havoc at S.F. mall
Elizabeth Fernandez, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, December 21, 2008

(12-20) 22:32 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- A band of demonstrators, many wearing 
black masks, stormed a bustling San Francisco mall Saturday evening, 
upending garbage cans and foliage and damaging crystal merchandise at 
one kiosk.
An estimated 50 to 75 people were involved in the disruption at 
Westfield San Francisco Centre, police said.
"It felt like random, vague anarchy," said Sam Cantrell, who sells 
sunglasses at a kiosk near the escalators on the street level where the 
protesters gathered.
"Everyone's yelling," he said. "Some people started running up the 
escalator the wrong way. People were grabbing their babies and running 
away in fear."
The disruption began around 6:30 p.m. as holiday shoppers crowded the 
mall on the last Saturday before Christmas.
Some protesters threw food, police said. Others tried to toss a large 
planter onto the food court below.
According to mall management, the protesters were part of a "Solidarity 
with Greek Uprising" demonstration, which began in the Mission District 
earlier in the afternoon. An international day of action was called on 
Saturday to protest the death of a young man in Greece in early December.
"Although people have the right to their opinions, disruptive and 
destructive behavior on our property is not tolerated," said mall 
management in a statement.
By 7:45 p.m., the area was cleaned up.
"They made a mess," said Monica Yuen, owner of San Francisco Glass 
Works, a kiosk selling delicate imported crystal earrings, bracelets and 
other jewelry. She was trying to assess the damage to her wares.
"I had a lot of jewelry on the top shelves that got smashed," she said. 
"They threw a big sign at it. I think some of it was stolen. I was 
crying and shaking."
A police source said five or six protesters were arrested for 
misdemeanor vandalism.






http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,3892653,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-top-1022-rdf

Southern Europe | 21.12.2008
German Police Arrest 10 at Greece Solidarity Protest

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Athens has been rocked 
by rioting and clashes between police and demonstrators
Renewed rioting took place in the Greek capital Athens overnight while 
German police arrested 10 people during scuffles with demonstrators 
staging a rally in Hamburg in support of protests in Greece.

Around 150 masked youths attacked banks, state buildings and a police 
training facility car park in the Athens district where a teenager was 
shot dead by a policeman two weeks ago sparking nationwide unrest.
According to Greek state television NET, there were no reported injuries.
The violence began shortly after a memorial commemoration at the site 
where 16-year-old Alexandros Girgoropoulos was killed by a policeman two 
weeks ago.
More than 100 people have been injured and about 400 have been detained 
during two weeks of protests in Greece triggered by the police shooting 
death of the teenager. Hundreds of shops and banks have been firebombed, 
vandalized and looted.
The policemen accused of killing the youth have been detained and 
charged with manslaughter.
Clashes in Hamburg
Meanwhile a rally held in Hamburg to show solidarity with the Greek 
protestors turned violent as police clashed with some 800 demonstrators 
in the German port city.
Police broke up the protest after bottles and fireworks were thrown at 
officers as the demonstrators attempted to march from the University of 
Hamburg to the city's main railway station.
Afterwards, some of the protesters gathered outside the Greek 
consulate-general for an evening vigil. Police, backed by water cannons, 
were out in force near the building.
Police said some of the Hamburg demonstrators wore face masks and threw 
bottles and burning missiles at the police, two of whom needed hospital 
treatment.





http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/247214,protest-against-greek-police-action-held-in-german-city.html

Protest against Greek police action held in German city
Posted : Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:24:21 GMT
Author : DPA

Hamburg - Some 800 people in the north German port city of Hamburg 
demonstrated Saturday in support of students in Greece involved in 
recent clashes with police. Hamburg police broke up the protest after 
bottles and fireworks were thrown at officers as the demonstrators 
attempted to march from the University of Hamburg to the city's main 
railway station.
Afterwards, some of the protesters gathered outside the Greek 
consulate-general for an evening vigil. Police, backed by water cannons, 
were out in force near the building.
More than 100 people have been injured and about 400 have been detained 
during two weeks of protests in Greece triggered by the police shooting 
death of a teenager. Hundreds of shops and banks have been firebombed, 
vandalized and looted.
The policemen accused of killing the youth have been detained and 
charged with manslaughter.





http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/12/415435.html

journolists prevented from reporting at greek embassy protests in london
brummie | 15.12.2008 13:32 | Social Struggles | Birmingham
http://www.nuj.org.uk/innerPagenuj.html?docid=1029

http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/news/Photographer_obstructed_Met_police_statement_news_273911.html 


http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=830996

again disgusting

http://www.nuj.org.uk/innerPagenuj.html?docid=1029

Police to investigate Greek embassy incident
The NUJ has welcomed a commitment by the Metropolitan police to 
investigate an incident on Monday in which journalists were obstructed 
in their work.
Journalists have complained about their treatment whilst covering a 
demonstration outside the Greek embassy on Monday.
Press Gazette has now reported that the police are set to investigate 
the conduct of one officer who was caught on camera obstructing 
journalists in their work.

If you can’t see this video, click here
According to the Press Gazette website the Metropolitan Police has 
committed to investigate the conduct of the officer featured in the 
above video clip.
Responding to news of the investigation, NUJ Legal Officer Roy Mincoff 
said: “We welcome the police’s rapid response to this incident and hope 
it indicates a change in attitude by the police in dealing with 
complaints from the media.
“Police officers must understand that they have a responsibility to the 
press and cannot obstruct journalists in their lawful work. A signal 
from the top is needed to show that the this type of behaviour will not 
be tolerated.
"We wait with interest to see the result of the inquiry and offer our 
full cooperation on the investigation.”






http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/news/Photographer_obstructed_Met_police_statement_news_273911.html

Photographer 'obstructed': Met police statement
Friday 12th December 2008
Chris Cheesman
Police are investigating the behaviour of an officer who was caught on 
video in what appears to be the obstruction of a press photographer 
doing their job.

The incident occurred as photographers were documenting protests outside 
the Greek Embassy in London on 8 December.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) slammed police for adopting a 
'heavy-handed' approach.

Journalists complained they were 'physically removed from any area from 
which they could document events'.

NUJ Legal Officer Roy Mincoff said: 'The police must remember that they 
have responsibilities towards the media. Even where a protest is itself 
illegal, the media have a right to report on events and the police 
should not be taking action with the intention of obstructing 
journalists in their work.'

He added: 'There are clear guidelines which discuss how the police 
should work with the media and officers policing demonstrations need to 
be made aware of their responsibilities… Such basic infringements of our 
members' rights must stop.'

In a statement, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police told us: 'The 
officer featured in this clip will be investigated regarding his conduct 
with a member of the media.'

The police spokesman acknowledged that officers are expected to adhere 
to the 'clear guidelines' that are there to 'protect the rights of the 
media'.

He added: 'The Metropolitan Police Service seeks to protect the 
interests and right of the media to do their job through educating all 
our staff within the service.

'Before every operation all our staff are briefed as to the role of the 
media and wherever operationally possible to facilitate them.

'This was a spontaneous demonstration that at points included outbreaks 
of disorder, which required an emergency response from police.'
http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=830996

Heavy-handed policing against photographers caught on video
The National Union of Journalists has criticised the Metropolitan Police 
for heavy-handed policing against two photojournalists in London this 
week. The incident was caught on video.
On Monday 08 December, two photojournalists were covering protests 
outside the Greek embassy in London when a police officer deliberately 
obstructed them in their work. The photojournalists, Jason Parkinson and 
Marc Vallée have complained of being physically removed from any area 
from which they could document events.

'The police must remember that they have responsibilities towards the 
media,' said NUJ Legal Officer Roy Mincoff. 'Even where a protest is 
itself illegal, the media have a right to report on events and the 
police should not be taking action with the intention of obstructing 
journalists in their work.

'There are clear guidelines which discuss how the police should work 
with the media and officers policing demonstrations need to be made 
aware of their responsibilities. The police know very well our concerns 
around cases like this and it’s simply unacceptable for our members to 
continue to have problems when covering protests. Such basic 
infringements of our members’ rights must stop.'






http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/12/19/greece.protests/index.html

December 19, 2008 -- Updated 1349 GMT (2149 HKT)

Greek protests after shooting of second teen
• Story Highlights
• 17-year-old shot by unknown assailant in Athens suburb of Peristeri
• Police said no officers were patrolling the region at the time of the 
incident
• First protests flared on Dec. 6 after police killing of 15-year-old boy
• Simmering anger exists about government's handling of economy, 
education, jobs

ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- Thousands of youths demonstrated in central 
Athens Friday as anger flared in the Greek capital following the 
shooting of another teenager.

High school students protest in front of their school in the western 
Athens suburb of Peristeri.
A group of youths targeted the French Institute, a language and cultural 
institute, and police scrambled to the scene to contain the incident.
The situation began heating up during a protest rally Thursday that 
followed the bizarre shooting of a high school student in an Athens 
suburb earlier this week.
The 17-year-old was hit in the hand by an unknown assailant as he was 
talking to a group of schoolmates in the western suburb of Peristeri. 
Initial police reports showed the student -- the son of a leading trade 
unionist -- was hit with a .38-caliber handgun.
Police said no officers were patrolling the region at the time of the 
incident.
The mysterious shooting has enflamed widespread student anger over the 
fatal police shooting of a 15-year-old boy December 6, which sparked 
Greece's worst riots in decades. Watch more about the flare-up of protests »
Students rallied Friday in response to the shooting of the 17-year-old. 
One of the rallies was planned for central Athens; the other in the 
suburb where the student was shot.
Later in the day, scores of artists are scheduled to gather in central 
Athens to stage a protest concert in response to the initial shooting of 
15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos.
Daily protests since the December 6 shooting, including riots, have 
thrown Greece into turmoil and have become a simmering anger about the 
conservative government's handling of the economy, education, and jobs.
A string of labor unions called on workers to march on Parliament Friday 
to protest the voting of the 2009 state budget, which calls for 
additional belt-tightening measures in response to the global financial 
crisis.
Student unions were also gathering to across the country to determine 
their course of action for the next few weeks.
At least 800 high schools and 200 universities remain shut as thousands 
of youths have seized the grounds and campuses in protest.

The unrest is threatening the government's hold on power, with some 
opposition groups calling for fresh elections. Stores and international 
businesses have been attacked, and at least 280 people have been 
detained by police. Of that total, 176 were arrested, 130 of them for 
looting.
Of the two officers involved in the death of the 15-year-old, one is 
charged with premeditated manslaughter and the other with acting as an 
accomplice.






http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=161767

Rioting youths attacked the French Institute in Athens with firebombs 
Friday, while Greek union members and university professors geared up 
for new anti-government rallies outside Parliament. Some windows of the 
French Institute, a cultural and language learning center, were smashed 
but the interior was not seriously damaged in the attack by about 20 
youths, police said. A nearby bank ATM was also damaged. No injuries 
were reported. “Spark in Athens. Fire in Paris. Insurrection is coming,” 
read one slogan spray-painted onto the building’s walls in French. 
Another, written in Greek, read “France, Greece, uprising everywhere.” 
Athens has seen near daily hit-and-run attacks by youths throwing 
firebombs in the past two weeks, after the fatal police shooting of a 
15-year-old sparked the worst riots Greece has seen in decades. The rage 
unleashed by the Dec. 6 shooting has lifted the lid on years of 
dissatisfaction over social inequality, poor employment prospects for 
young people, and increasing anger with the conservative government’s 
economic policies. Greece’s two largest umbrella trade union 
organizations were to rally later in the day to protest the government’s 
2009 budget, and professors also planned to rally outside Parliament to 
lobby on education issues.
Students also planned a mass concert Friday in central Athens in support 
of the “uprising of youth” and against “state repression.”
The rallies and concert come a day after a demonstration against police 
brutality by about 7,000 students and teachers turned violent, sending 
Christmas shoppers and panicked families fleeing to safety. Around 200 
youths wearing masks hurled petrol bombs and chunks of marble hammered 
from surrounding buildings in central Athens at riot police, who 
responded with stun grenades and repeated volleys of acrid tear gas.

20 December 2008, Saturday
AP STOCKHOLM, ATHENS






http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/violent-protests-resume-in-athens_100133628.html

Violent protests resume in Athens
December 21st, 2008 - 8:51 pm ICT by IANS -
Athens, Dec 21 (RIA Novosti) Hundreds of youths staged fresh protests 
here amid Greece’s worst riots in decades sparked by the recent killing 
of a 15-year-old boy by the police, media reports said Sunday. Students 
threw stones and firebombs at the police in the Athens district of 
Exarchia where Alexandros Grigoropoulos was shot dead Dec 6, and also 
erected roadblocks around the nearby Polytechnic University. The police 
responded with teargas shells, TV channels reported.
The riots earlier spread to other Greek cities, leaving a trail of 
destruction as youths went on the rampage looting shops and setting fire 
to hundreds of cars, banks and businesses.
A recent opinion poll published by the Ethnos newspaper said 83 percent 
of Greeks were unhappy with the methods used by the government to deal 
with the violence.
Two police officers have been detained over the teenager’s killing. One 
of the officers, who said he fired the warning shots in self-defence, 
was charged with murder and illegal use of weapon.







http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/12/20/20081220greeceprotests-ON.html

More rioting in Greece over teen killing
Dec. 20, 2008 03:25 PM
Associated Press
ATHENS, Greece - Hundreds of rioters fought battles with riot police in 
central Athens on Saturday, two weeks after the fatal police shooting of 
a teenager set off the worst civic unrest in Greece in several decades.
Saturday's violence followed a memorial gathering at 9 p.m. local (1900 
GMT) at the site where 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos died Dec. 6, 
in the central Athens neighborhood of Exarchia.
The rioters, using the nearby Polytechnic - as the National Technical 
University of Athens is known - as a base, launched attacks against riot 
police, throwing rocks and petrol bombs and erecting roadblocks around 
the university. The battles follow an established pattern of rioters 
attacking and then retreating in the face of heavy use of tear gas by 
the police.
Security forces are prevented by law from entering the grounds of the 
Polytechnic. An exemption is allowed if the university administration 
gives the go-ahead but so far no permission has been given.
Grigoropoulos' fatal shooting touched a nerve among Greek youth, who 
took to the streets to protest what they see as random police violence. 
The arraignment of the two police officers involved in the shooting has 
not appeased the young, who are demanding that police be disarmed.
The protests have been fanned by perceptions of rampant corruption among 
politicians and poor employment prospects as the economy takes a turn 
for the worse after 15 years of growth.
While most of the protests have been peaceful, a violent fringe of 
self-styled anarchists has clashed with police and destroyed property. 
An increasing number of disaffected young seems to tolerate the 
anarchists, and occasionally join them.
Saturday's clashes, which included a firebomb attack against the offices 
of a credit data company in Athens, an attack against a city-sponsored 
Christmas tree in central Athens and the occupation of a movie theater 
in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, have dashed the hopes of the 
government and police that protest fatigue would set in as the Christmas 
season nears.
Earlier Saturday evening, a group of masked men broke into the building 
housing the offices of Tiresias SA, a company that keeps records of 
delinquent debtors and cardholders, and firebombed the company's 
offices. The fire was extinguished but the company's offices were 
destroyed, witnesses said.
At around 4 p.m. Saturday, about 150 youth attacked the Christmas tree 
at Syntagma Square in central Athens, tossing garbage and hanging trash 
bags from its branches before clashing with riot police. The square was 
cleared by 6 p.m. At least three news photographers were injured by 
police wielding batons. The tree survived the attack. The original 
Christmas tree had been burned to the ground on Dec. 8, during the worst 
night of rioting in central Athens.
In Thessaloniki, a group of self-styled anarchists occupied a movie 
theater in the city's main square and threw cakes and candy at Mayor 
Vassilis Papageorgopoulos and one of his deputies. The mayor was 
attending an open-air Christmas event near the theater, distributing the 
sweets to children with sickle-cell anemia when the rioters seized the 
stand and threw its contents at the city officials. Later in the 
evening, a group emerged from the theater to attack a Nativity scene, 
throwing away the Christ figure.
The Christmas tree protest had been advertised as part of a day of 
events in Greece and around the world to commemorate Grigoropoulos' 
shooting.
Police said about 1,000 people turned out for a demonstration in 
Hamburg, Germany. Bottles were thrown at police during and after the 
protest, and four officers were lightly injured; nine people were detained.
A further demonstration by about 250 people near the Greek consulate 
passed without incidents, a police statement said.






http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_2444573,00.html

Greek protesters hurl firebombs
21/12/2008 14:36 - (SA)
Athens - Clashes between youths and police continued into the night on 
Sunday around Athens Polytechnic in the district where a teenager was 
killed by a policeman two weeks ago sparking nationwide unrest.
Hundreds of people gathered late on Saturday in the Exarchia district at 
the site of the December 6 shooting of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos 
for a protest organised by youths occupying Athens Polytechnic.
Protesters hurled firebombs at police who responded with tear gas. A 
group threw stones and Molotov cocktails at police and set fire to 
garbage bins, acts often seen in Exarchia since the boy's killing.
Police also clashed with protesters after a separate demonstration 
against racism that was attended by around 200 people in Syntagma Square.
"Migrants are killed, schoolchildren are killed," said banners carried 
by the protesters who marched to the Greek parliament.
Molotov cocktails
Protesters threw garbage at police who ringed a Christmas tree on the 
main square. The tree was brought in last week after the original was 
torched at the height of unrest following the schoolboy's death.
Later, a group threw a petrol bomb at a building housing a banking 
services company, although there was only minor damage and the fire was 
quickly brought under control.
In Nea Philadelfia, a western suburb of Athens, demonstrators threw 
Molotov cocktails at the police academy and torched six police vehicles 
parked nearby, without causing any casualties, police said.
Another group of youths set fire to garbage cans in the northern suburb 
of Aghia Paraskevi.
Athens and other Greek cities have seen daily protests over 
Grigoropoulos's death that have often become violent.
In the northern city of Thessaloniki, youths occupied a hall being used 
for a film festival while others pelted the city mayor with pastries, 
police said.
Protesters demanding justice
Masked youths on Friday attacked the French cultural institute in Athens 
after about 1 000 students and communist activists staged a march to 
condemn a second shooting on Wednesday in which the son of a teacher's 
union official was slightly wounded.
Protesters demanding justice over Grigoropoulos's death continue to 
occupy hundreds of schools and many universities across Greece.
The Athens Polytechnic, site of a 1973 student uprising that hastened 
the fall of military dictatorship in Greece, is among the occupied 
campuses.
Meanwhile, German police on Saturday arrested 10 people and suffered 
four injuries in fighting with demonstrators staging a rally in Hamburg 
in support of the Greek protests, officials said.
About 1 300 police were mobilised to monitor the approximately 1 000 
demonstrators who marched to the Greek consulate in the northern port city.
- AFP





http://english.sina.com/world/2008/1221/206286.html

Protesters, police clash in Athens
2008-12-21 18:27:13 GMT2008-12-22 02:27:13 (Beijing Time) xinhuanet
ATHENS, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- An anti-racism rally in central Athens's 
Syntagma Square on Sunday led to a violent confrontation between the 
protesters and riot police, the latest of a series of clashes triggered 
by the death of 15-year-old boy Alexis Grigoropoulos, who was killed by 
police on Dec. 6.
A group of people tried to deposit bags of rubbish at the foot of a new 
Christmas Tree, erected in the square by the Athens municipality to 
replace an old tree which was torched during the riots following the 
boy's death. Police used tear gas to disperse the protesters.
According to Athens News Agency, six police vehicles were torched by 
unidentified hood-wearing assailants wielding petrol bombs in the west 
Athens district of Nea Philadelphia early Sunday morning. The vehicles 
were parked outside the building of the police accounting department, 
which also suffered damage in the attack.
On Sunday rioting and violent clashes continued in the area around the 
Athens Polytechnic, National Technical University of Athens, with 
protesters again lobbing petrol bombs at police.
Greek police experts on Sunday carried out an on-site forensic 
investigation at the spot where Alexis Grigoropoulos was shot dead, 
trying to gather more evidence related to the case.
The investigation lasted about two to three hours and was conducted in 
the presence of the 9th examining magistrate who is in charge of the case.
Athens News Agency said that the additional specialized investigation, 
which seeks to find evidence to complement the findings of the ballistic 
report in light of eyewitness accounts claiming that the officer was 
aiming directly at the group of youths, was requested by lawyers 
representing the family.






http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2008/12/22/2003431734

Greek protesters hurl firebombs at police in Athens

AFP, ATHENS
Monday, Dec 22, 2008, Page 6
Clashes between youths and police continued early yesterday morning 
around Athens Polytechnic in the district where a teenager was killed by 
a policeman two weeks ago, sparking nationwide unrest.
Hundreds of people gathered late on Saturday in the Exarchia district at 
the site of the Dec. 6 shooting of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos for 
a protest organized by youths occupying Athens Polytechnic.

Protesters hurled firebombs at police who responded with tear gas. A 
group threw stones and Molotov cocktails and set fire to garbage bins, 
acts often seen in Exarchia since the boy’s killing.

Police also clashed with protesters after a separate demonstration 
against racism that was attended by around 200 people in Syntagma Square.

“Migrants are killed, schoolchildren are killed,” said banners carried 
by the protesters, who marched to the Greek parliament.

NEW TREE

Protesters threw garbage at police who ringed a Christmas tree on the 
main square. The tree was brought in last week after the original was 
torched at the height of unrest.

Later, a group threw a petrol bomb at a building housing a banking 
services company, although there was only minor damage and the fire was 
quickly brought under control.

In Nea Philadelfia, a western suburb of Athens, demonstrators threw 
Molotov cocktails at the police academy and torched six police vehicles 
without causing any casualties, police said.

Athens and other Greek cities have seen daily protests over 
Grigoropoulos’ death that have often become violent.

RALLY IN GERMANY

Meanwhile, German police on Saturday arrested 10 people and suffered 
four injuries in fighting with demonstrators staging a rally in Hamburg 
in support of the Greek protests, officials said.

About 1,300 police were mobilized to monitor the approximately 1,000 
demonstrators who marched to the Greek consulate in the northern port city.

Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has shrugged off calls to resign. 
Last week he announced financial measures to support the business and 
tourism sectors, hardest-hit by the unrest.






http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE4BJ1PN20081220?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Hundreds of Greek protesters clash with police
Sat Dec 20, 2008 11:48pm GMT

1 of 11Full Size
By Daniel Flynn and Angeliki Koutantou
ATHENS (Reuters) - Hundreds of Greek youths fought running battles with 
police in Athens late Saturday as anti-government protests entered a 
third week since police shot dead a teen-ager.
Students threw stones and petrol bombs at riot police outside university 
buildings late into the night after a vigil to mark the December 6 
killing of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos turned violent.
Police blocked surrounding roads and fired teargas at the youths, who 
sheltered in the university campus which police are banned from 
entering. A group of anxious mothers waited outside to escort their 
children from the building.
"There are more than 600 students and they're running in and out of the 
university, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails," said a police 
official, who asked not to be named. No injuries were reported.
Across the country, hundreds of schools and several university campuses 
remain occupied by students. In the northern city of Thessaloniki, 
demonstrators briefly occupied a radio station and a cinema.
The protests, the worst Greece has known in decades, have fed on anger 
at youth unemployment, government reforms and the global economic crisis.
For most of Saturday, Athens was calm and the streets were busy with 
Christmas shoppers.
As darkness fell, a group of anarchists rampaged through the upmarket 
district of Kolonaki, torching two cars and throwing petrol bombs into 
the office of a company supplying credit data to banks and the finance 
ministry, police said.
A police official had earlier said the offices belonged to the finance 
ministry.
Earlier, a march in support of immigrants' rights ended in scuffles with 
police when demonstrators pelted them with eggs and rubbish outside 
parliament.
Some protesters tried to set fire to the municipal Christmas tree in the 
central Syntagma square outside parliament, a replacement for a tree 
burnt down in earlier demonstrations. Riot police with shields formed a 
circle round the tree while protesters danced round them holding hands.
Union leaders and students have announced more rallies for the new year.
The protests have caused hundreds of millions of euros in damage, 
rocking a conservative government that has a one-seat majority and 
trails the opposition in polls. Some analysts say continued street 
protests could force early elections.
(Additional reporting by Renee Maltezou; editing by Tim Pearce)







http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/21/2452048.htm
Athens protesters throw petrol bombs, burn cars
Posted Sun Dec 21, 2008 8:00am AEDT
Greek demonstrators threw petrol bombs at finance ministry offices and 
torched two cars in central Athens overnight as anti-government protests 
entered a third week since police shot dead a teenager.
Dozens of demonstrators pelted police with eggs and rubbish outside 
Parliament and tried to set fire to the municipal Christmas tree in the 
central Syntagma square.
Riot police fired teargas to disperse the protest.
A small group who broke away from the crowd threw petrol bombs at nearby 
finance ministry offices, causing minor damage but no injuries, police 
officials said.
In the upmarket Kolonaki district, youths set fire to two vehicles, 
causing serious damage.
The violence was on a smaller scale than the days of rioting that 
erupted in several cities in the wake of the December 6 shooting of 
15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos by a patrolman in Athens' volatile 
Exarchia neighbourhood.
Greece's worst unrest in decades fed on anger at youth unemployment, 
government reforms and the global economic crisis.
For most of Saturday, Athens was calm and the streets were busy with 
Christmas shoppers.
Unions and students have announced more rallies for the new year.
The protests have caused hundreds of millions of euros in damage, 
rocking the conservative government that has a one-seat majority and 
trails the opposition in polls.
Some analysts say months of street protests could force early elections.
- Reuters






http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/dec2008/gree-d20.shtml
Greece: Student protests target Karamanlis government
By Robert Stevens
20 December 2008
Protests by students and young people continue following the police 
killing of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos on December 6 in the 
Exarchia district of Athens.
On Thursday, further details were revealed about the killing of 
Grigoropoulos as a result of ballistics tests. The Kathimerini newspaper 
cited an unnamed source who said the results appeared to "contradict the 
claims made by the policeman charged with the boy's death."
The newspaper reported that the police officer had originally said that 
he fired his gun, holding it above his head, as a warning shot. The 
sources quoted by Kathimerini said that "the results ... indicate that 
the officer had fired with his arm at a right angle to his body in the 
direction of the child, not straight above his head in a warning shot, 
as he has claimed."
Thursday was the 13th day of continuous protests, with a demonstration 
estimated at 10,000 taking place in Athens. The march began on the 
grounds of Athens University and once more ended at the Greek 
Parliament. It was attacked by large numbers of paramilitary police who 
had formed a cordon around the parliament building. The police used tear 
gas canisters and stun grenades against the demonstrators, who responded 
by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails.
The slogans of the demonstrations have become increasingly hostile to 
the New Democracy government of Costas Karamanlis. Among the banners 
held by the students was one declaring, "Topple the government of blood, 
poverty, privatisations." Another read, "Mourning is not enough, the 
struggle goes on."
Demonstrations were also held in Greece's second city of Thessaloniki 
and in the town of Lamia and on the island of Crete. In Patras, the 
third largest urban centre with a population of more than 220,000, the 
local trade union headquarters was occupied by protesters demonstrating 
against the pro-government policies of the unions and calling for an 
indefinite general strike. The previous day the headquarters of the 
General Confederation of Workers of Greece (GSEE) in Athens had been 
occupied.
Opposing the demands, GSEE leader Yiannis Panagopoulos declared, "The 
GSEE does not govern this country."
Many high schools and universities remain closed due to ongoing 
occupations by thousands of students and youth. According to a report by 
CNN on Friday, at least 800 high schools and 200 universities remain 
shut nationwide. According to the BBC, 70 people have been injured by 
the police and about 400 arrested since the protests began.
The protests coincide with a number of industrial struggles. On 
Thursday, air traffic controllers staged a three-hour strike that 
resulted in the cancellation of all but emergency flights at Athens 
International Airport. The controllers, members of the civil service 
trade union ADEDY, are protesting government policies and demanding a 
pay rise.
Public transport workers also struck transport services. Doctors, 
teachers and hospital staff also took industrial action. Hospitals were 
forced to operate with a skeleton staff as employees held a 24-hour 
strike. Delegations of striking workers marched in support of the 
students to the demonstration at the parliament building.
Anger amongst workers and youth has been exacerbated by the shooting and 
wounding of Giorgos Paplomatas, a 16-year-old boy, in the Peristeri 
district of Athens on Wednesday evening. He was standing on a street 
corner talking to friends when he was shot in the hand by an as yet 
unidentified assailant. Witnesses heard two gunshots being fired.
Giorgos Paplomatas is the son of Constantinos Paplomatas, a prominent 
official in the Greek Teachers' Federation, which is affiliated to the 
Greek Communist Party (KKE). Giorgios is a member of the youth wing of 
the KKE. Paplomatas's father described the shooting as "a murder attempt 
... by sinister forces," according to the Kathimerini newspaper.
A police statement following the shooting claimed that there were no 
officers in the area at the time the shots were fired. According to 
reports, the bullet apparently came from a 38-caliber handgun.
On Thursday evening the KKE held a demonstration in Peristeri to protest 
the shooting. A demonstration was also held on Friday and was reportedly 
attended by 1,500 people. One of the demonstrators, university student 
Dimitris Andriotis, told the Associated Press, "This is an answer to 
state repression. We will not stop coming out into the streets until our 
demands are met."
On Friday, the two largest trade union federations held a rally in 
central Athens to protest the government's 2009 budget. A rally of 
professors was held outside parliament. Later in the evening, a concert 
against state repression was staged.
Following the occupation of the state-owned NET TV channel on Wednesday, 
other media stations were temporarily occupied on Thursday in several 
cities. According to one report, "The municipal radio of Tripoli, Nea 
Tileorasi TV in Chania, Politeia FM in Sparta and Star FM and Imagine 
897 FM in Thessaloniki were occupied." On Friday, Kydon TV in Chania was 
also occupied.
Students have called for further demonstrations today throughout Europe 
and around the world to protest against state violence and murders.
A number of analysts have concluded that it may not be possible for the 
government to remain in office much longer. But they foresee a crisis of 
rule continuing to unfold due to the attacks on the social conditions of 
workers, youth and students that are driven by the scale of the economic 
crisis. Theodoros Livanios, the head of research at polling firm 
Opinion, said this week, "With the world economic crisis, whoever is in 
power will face unpopular choices to keep Greece stable."
Diego Iscaro, an analyst at IHS Global Insight, stated that the attacks 
on education and the pension rights of workers, and the privatisation of 
state services had to be imposed at all costs if the Greek economy were 
to remain stable. "Even before the riots, reform was proving difficult, 
but now it is going to be very, very difficult," he said. "To achieve 
sustainable growth in the medium term, these reforms must happen. In the 
next five years, growth will be slower than what we've seen for a decade."
Under conditions of mounting social and economic crisis, the role being 
played by the trade union bureaucracy and the Communist Party in 
attempting to prevent the radicalisation of youth and students from 
spreading to the working class is critical for the Greek bourgeoisie.
On Friday, Avriani, the daily pro-business right-wing newspaper, 
published a front page which featured a photo of the Greek Communist 
Party leader, Aleka Papariga, alongside a headline reading, "Either 
citizens or the KKE should take it upon themselves to restore public 
order and protection of the democratic system if the police are not able 
to do so." Under her photograph, the newspaper commented, "Aleka 
Papariga's party is the only organised political force that has dared to 
publicly condemn the ‘hoodies' and expose their dirty role." The article 
went on to declare ominously that "the country is going through the 
second week of descent into chaos and the crumbling of institutions 
designed to maintain public order. Society's tolerance, including the 
citizens who advocated in favour of strategic restraint, has run out."





http://www.euronews.net/2008/12/20/immigrants-add-their-voices-to-greek-protests/
Immigrants add their voices to Greek protests 20/12/08 19:47 CET
The following article has been retrieved from the archive and no longer 
contains the original video.
A ring of police now have to protect Athens’s grand Christmas tree, 
after the first spruce was reduced to ashes in the ongoing student 
protests, which only now, two weeks on, show signs of calming.
Young people are still furious with their police, throwing rubbish at 
the officers guarding the tree. They will vote this weekend on whether 
or not to continue their protests. Seven hundred schools and several 
universities remain occupied.
“Every revolution which brings social changes brings catastrophes, too. 
But they had dreams and ideals,” said one woman shopper.
“Whatever happens, it was not necessary for all this destruction to 
happen. Why do the owners of the property have to pay the price?” was 
another opinion expressed on Saturday.
Immigrants are also taking to the streets this weekend, along with 
anti-racist groups, to protest at the EU’s asylum and immigration pact. 
They will meet at Athens university, which has been busy removing 
graffiti after the recent protests.






http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008541733_greece20.html?syndication=rss
Saturday, December 20, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Comments (0) E-mail article Print view
Protesters firebomb French center in Athens
Masked youths attacked the French Institute in Athens with firebombs 
Friday, one of the sporadic acts of violence that still hit the capital 
almost daily since the police killing of a teenager nearly two weeks ago 
sparked the worst riots Greece has seen in decades.
By ELENA BECATOROS
The Associated Press
LEFTERIS PITARAKIS / AP
A protester places an anarchist flag in the outstretched marble hand of 
a statue outside Athens University.
ATHENS, Greece — Masked youths attacked the French Institute in Athens 
with firebombs Friday, one of the sporadic acts of violence that still 
hit the capital almost daily since the police killing of a teenager 
nearly two weeks ago sparked the worst riots Greece has seen in decades.
The rage unleashed by the Dec. 6 shooting has lifted the lid on years of 
dissatisfaction over social inequality, poor employment prospects for 
young people and increasing anger with the conservative government's 
economic policies.
The two policemen involved in the shooting death of 15-year-old 
Alexandros Grigoropoulos have been jailed pending trial. One has been 
charged with murder and the other as an accomplice.
Late Friday a group of about 50 protesters interrupted the official 
premiere of the Greek National Theater, holding up banners urging people 
to join in demonstrations.
The youths threw pamphlets before running off.
In western Athens, masked youths damaged three cash machines and two 
bank fronts with stones and sticks.
Friday's attack against the French Institute, a cultural and educational 
center, was carried out by about 20 masked men who smashed windows and 
burned a guard's booth, but the building's interior was not seriously 
damaged, police said. A nearby bank ATM was also damaged, but nobody was 
injured.
"Spark in Athens. Fire in Paris. Insurrection is coming," read one 
slogan spray-painted onto the building's walls in French. Another, 
written in Greek, read "France, Greece, uprising everywhere."
French Ambassador Christophe Farnaud, who visited the institute, said 
French cultural institutions in Greece would be closed temporarily "as a 
precaution."
In western Athens, some 1,500 people held a peaceful protest against a 
separate shooting in which police say an unknown gunman shot a 
16-year-old boy in the wrist late Wednesday.
The protest march contrasted with the violence that broke out during a 
student demonstration by about 7,000 people in the center of Athens on 
Thursday.
About 200 masked youths hurled firebombs and chunks of marble at riot 
police, who responded with stun grenades and acrid tear gas.
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=United+Kingdom+%26+Europe&month=December2008&file=World_News2008122092711.xml
Protests pile pressure on Athens
Web posted at: 12/20/2008 9:27:11
Source ::: AFP
Athens: Athens police braced for more protests yesterday after nearly 
two weeks of clashes, as the government faced growing pressure over its 
handling of the crisis sparked by the police killing of a teenager. The 
offices of a French cultural institute in the city was targeted by 
masked youths even before the day’s scheduled demonstrations involving 
trade unions as well as student groups.
Students planned a protest in a city suburb where another teenager, the 
son of a union leader, was wounded in a mysterious shooting incident on 
Wednesday night, and were to stage a concert at Athens University. The 
main trade unions meanwhile organised separate rallies outside 
parliament against what they called an “anti-workers” budget up for vote 
tomorrow.
After Thursday’s violence in Athens, which left city centre residents 
choking in tear gas, the main opposition Pasok socialist party again 
called for early elections, arguing that the government had lost control 
of the situation.About 100 leading figures including academics, 
magistrates and economists launched a petition calling on the government 
and the political world as a whole to get a grip on the situation to 
re-establish confidence.
The press too expressed the growing concern in the country, with both 
the Socialist daily To Vima and the liberal Kathimerini critical of the 
government’s inability to end the crisis.
Even the right-wing daily Eleftheros Typos wrote: “The majority of 
conservative deputies are calling for immediate changes, the time for a 
reshuffle has come.” Athens police said they had arrested eight 
youths—none of them school or university students —after several hours 
of street battles with dozens of militants in the city centre Thursday.
They had broken off from an orderly left-wing demonstration of about 
5,000 to confront police officers. During the course of Thursday’s 
clashes three cars, a Greek flag and tables and chairs from 
neighbourhood cafes were burned. Police said that two of those they 
arrested were minors. A group of about 20 youths broke into the Institut 
Francais around midday yesterday, breaking the windows and throwing a 
petrol bomb which briefly started a fire, police and diplomatic sources 
said. Nobody was hurt in the attack, which lasted five minutes, said a 
French diplomat, the youths having restrained the building’s guardian 
without hurting him. The Institut Francais is in the centre of the 
capital, near the site of the current unrest.
Students had organised a midday demonstration at Peristeri, in the 
western suburbs of the capital. This was where the 16-year-old son of a 
leading official in the Greek Teachers Federation —which backs 
demonstrations across Greece—was wounded by a small-calibre bullet 
Wednesday night. Hit in the hand, he had to be operated on after 
spending a night in hospital.
Police insisted Thursday that none of their officers were in the area at 
the time of the shooting, but the government has promised a inquiry. The 
incident has already been denounced by the teachers’ unions. In several 
universities and 700 schools across the country, school and university 
students continued their occupations, said student representatives.
The education ministry put the figure at about a hundred. Protests have 
rocked cities across Greece since the fatal shooting of 15-year-old 
Alexis Grigoropoulos after he was stopped by two policemen, one of whom 
has been charged with homicide, on the night of December 6.






http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=United+Kingdom+%26+Europe&month=December2008&file=World_News2008121914724.xml

Flights grounded as Greek police battle protesters
Web posted at: 12/19/2008 1:47:24
Source ::: REUTERS
ATHENS: Greek marchers hurled firebombs and stones at police outside 
parliament yesterday while unions grounded flights and shut down public 
offices in a 13th day of anti-government protests since police shot dead 
a teenager. Youths waving red flags scuffled with riot police, who 
formed a cordon around parliament, and tried to burn down a Christmas 
tree in the square outside. Police fired teargas to disperse the crowd.
“Topple the government of blood, poverty, privatisations,” read one 
banner among the 7,000 marchers, who denounced education and pension 
reforms and the conservative government’s failure to shelter Greeks from 
the global economic crisis. Retailers pulled down their shutters and 
Christmas shoppers fled from the streets. Rallies by unions, students 
and teachers also took place in the northern city of Thessaloniki, the 
central town of Lamia and on the island of Crete.
“We are not finished just because it’s Christmas. We will continue and 
intensify our struggle over the next year,” said Stathis Anestis, 
spokesman for the GSEE private sector union federation which took part 
in the rallies. A 3-hour work stoppage by public workers halted all but 
emergency flights between 1000 and 1300 GMT. Urban transport services 
were frozen while doctors and teachers walked off the job, reviving 
memories of last week’s 24-hour national strike.
Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, under fire for his hands off 
reaction to the riots, announced measures to boost flagging tourism, one 
of the main reasons for a slowing economy.
Greece’s worst disturbances in decades, triggered by the December 6 
slaying of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos, have fed off anger at 
youth unemployment and the economic slowdown.






http://www.nowpublic.com/world/greek-protesters-occupy-national-theatre-athens
Greek protesters occupy National Theatre, Athens
Share:
by Teacher Dude | December 20, 2008 at 12:50 am

Just minutes after the curtains went up, demonstrators seized the stage 
of the National Theatre, Athens yesterday evening and read out a 
prepared statement demanding the immediate release of all those arrested 
in the recent events following the killing of Greek teenager, Alexis 
Grigoropulos by police two weeks ago. The protesters also called upon 
the audience to join them in the streets shouting", Turn off your cell 
phones, turn on your conscience."
The performance of Roberto Succo by Bernard -Marie Koltes was cancelled 
in a gesture of solidarity by actors and theatre staff with the young 
protesters.
In addition a massive protest concert was held yesterday outside the 
Athens university campus where thousands watched 64 groups and singers 
perform until early hours of Saturday morning.






http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/12/19/greece.protests/index.html?eref=edition_europe
December 19, 2008 -- Updated 1349 GMT (2149 HKT)
Greek protests after shooting of second teen
• Story Highlights
• 17-year-old shot by unknown assailant in Athens suburb of Peristeri
• Police said no officers were patrolling the region at the time of the 
incident
• First protests flared on Dec. 6 after police killing of 15-year-old boy
• Simmering anger exists about government's handling of economy, 
education, jobs

ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- Thousands of youths demonstrated in central 
Athens Friday as anger flared in the Greek capital following the 
shooting of another teenager.

High school students protest in front of their school in the western 
Athens suburb of Peristeri.
A group of youths targeted the French Institute, a language and cultural 
institute, and police scrambled to the scene to contain the incident.
The situation began heating up during a protest rally Thursday that 
followed the bizarre shooting of a high school student in an Athens 
suburb earlier this week.
The 17-year-old was hit in the hand by an unknown assailant as he was 
talking to a group of schoolmates in the western suburb of Peristeri. 
Initial police reports showed the student -- the son of a leading trade 
unionist -- was hit with a .38-caliber handgun.
Police said no officers were patrolling the region at the time of the 
incident.
The mysterious shooting has enflamed widespread student anger over the 
fatal police shooting of a 15-year-old boy December 6, which sparked 
Greece's worst riots in decades. Watch more about the flare-up of protests »
Students rallied Friday in response to the shooting of the 17-year-old. 
One of the rallies was planned for central Athens; the other in the 
suburb where the student was shot.
Later in the day, scores of artists are scheduled to gather in central 
Athens to stage a protest concert in response to the initial shooting of 
15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos.
Daily protests since the December 6 shooting, including riots, have 
thrown Greece into turmoil and have become a simmering anger about the 
conservative government's handling of the economy, education, and jobs.
A string of labor unions called on workers to march on Parliament Friday 
to protest the voting of the 2009 state budget, which calls for 
additional belt-tightening measures in response to the global financial 
crisis.
Student unions were also gathering to across the country to determine 
their course of action for the next few weeks.
At least 800 high schools and 200 universities remain shut as thousands 
of youths have seized the grounds and campuses in protest.
The unrest is threatening the government's hold on power, with some 
opposition groups calling for fresh elections. Stores and international 
businesses have been attacked, and at least 280 people have been 
detained by police. Of that total, 176 were arrested, 130 of them for 
looting.
Of the two officers involved in the death of the 15-year-old, one is 
charged with premeditated manslaughter and the other with acting as an 
accomplice.





http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=67863
Published On: 2008-12-20
International
Protests pile pressure on Greek govt
Afp, Athens

A riot police officer throws a tear gas canister to protesters during a 
demonstration in Athens on Thursday. The Greek capital was suffocating 
under a barrage of tear gas as 5,000 protesters swamped riot police 
outside parliament, 12 days after the police killing of a teenager 
sparked riots. Photo: AFP
Athens police braced for more protests Friday after nearly two weeks of 
clashes, as the government faced growing pressure over its handling of 
the crisis sparked by the police killing of a teenager.

The offices of a French cultural institute in the city were targeted by 
masked youths even before the day's scheduled demonstrations involving 
trade unions as well as student groups.

Students planned a protest in a city suburb where another teenager, the 
son of a union leader, was wounded in a mysterious shooting incident on 
Wednesday night, and were to stage a concert at Athens University.

The main trade unions meanwhile organised separate rallies outside 
parliament against what they called an "anti-workers" budget up for vote 
on Sunday.

After Thursday's violence in Athens, which left city centre residents 
choking in tear gas, the main opposition Pasok socialist party again 
called for early elections, arguing that the government had lost control 
of the situation.

About 100 leading figures including academics, magistrates and 
economists launched a petition calling on the government and the 
political world as a whole to get a grip on the situation to 
re-establish confidence.

The press too expressed the growing concern in the country, with both 
the Socialist daily To Vima and the liberal Kathimerini critical of the 
government's inability to end the crisis.

Even the right-wing daily Eleftheros Typos wrote: "The majority of 
conservative deputies are calling for immediate changes, the time for a 
reshuffle has come."

Protests have rocked cities across Greece since the fatal shooting of 
15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos after he was stopped by two policemen, 
one of whom has been charged with homicide, on the night of December 6.






http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/More_protests_likely_in_Greece_today/articleshow/3862759.cms
More protests likely in Greece today
19 Dec 2008, 1615 hrs IST, AP

ATHENS, Greece: Greek police braced for more protests in Athens on 
Friday, a day after clashes between rock-throwing youths and riot police

firing teargas sent Christmas shoppers fleeing to safety.

The country's two largest umbrella trade union organizations planned an 
afternoon rally outside Parliament to protest the government's 2009 
budget, which lawmakers began debating late on Wednesday. University 
professors also planned a rally outside Parliament.

Separately, students planned a mass concert in central Athens in support 
of the ``uprising of youth'' and against ``state repression,'' according 
to an announcement issued by the student groups organizing the event.

For two weeks Greece has faced its worst civil unrest in decades, 
sparked by the fatal police shooting of a teenager on Dec. 6. The rage 
unleashed by the shooting has lifted the lid on years of dissatisfaction 
over social inequality, poor employment prospects for school leavers and 
graduates, and increasing anger with the conservative government and its 
economic policies.

The rally and the concert come a day after a demonstration by about 
7,000 high school and university students and teachers against police 
brutality turned violent. Around 200 youths wearing masks hurled petrol 
bombs and chunks of marble hammered from surrounding buildings at riot 
police, who responded with repeated volleys of acrid tear gas and stun 
grenades.

Mothers snatched children from a carousel in the main square. Waiters 
stumbled from cafes, choking on the tear gas fired by police as the 
rioters tried to burn the capital's Christmas tree, replaced just days 
after another tree was torched.

Athens police said eight people were arrested during Thursday's rioting, 
including two minors.

After two weeks of unrelenting rioting set off by the killing of 
15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos, a slogan spray-painted outside the 
Bank of Greece summed up the mood as Greeks prepared for Christmas: 
``Merry crisis and a happy new fear.''

The two policemen involved in the teenager's shooting have been jailed 
pending trial. One has been charged with murder and the other as an 
accomplice.

The circumstances of the shooting are still disputed. The two policemen 
said one of them fired warning shots after they came under attack by a 
group of youths.

The police ballistics report on the bullet that killed Grigoropoulos 
indicates that the bullet had hit something else before hitting the boy 
in the chest. The policemen's defense lawyer, Alexis Cougias, has said 
the teenager was killed by a ricochet.





http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=081219161157.67tux6tn&show_article=1
Protests pile pressure on Greek government

Dec 19 11:12 AM US/Eastern Comments (0)

High school students protest in front of their school in the...

Masked youths smashed up a French cultural institute in the Greek 
capital Friday, as students and trade unionists staged new protests 
nearly two weeks into a crisis sparked by the police killing of a teenager.
About 20 youths broke into the Institut Francais around midday Friday 
and overpowered the caretaker while they broke windows and threw a 
petrol bomb, police and diplomatic sources said.
But nobody was hurt in the attack, which lasted five minutes.
"Clearly, it was an organised attack," French ambassador Christophe 
Farnaud told journalists as he inspected the damage. But it was too 
early to speculate on who might be behind it, he added.
The Institut Francais is in the centre of the capital, near the site of 
the current unrest.
It was just the latest incident in nearly two weeks of violence across 
Greece triggered by the fatal shooting of a teenager by an Athens police 
officer on December 6.
Elsewhere in the capital however there was no sign of trouble at 
separate demonstrations organised Friday by students and trade unionists.
A few hundred union activists gathered peacefully outside parliament in 
Athens against what they called an "anti-workers" budget up for vote on 
Sunday. Large numbers of riot police and other officers kept watch on 
the demonstration.
A few hundred metres (yards) away more than 500 school and university 
students attended a concert in front of Athens University headquarters.
Earlier Friday, about 1,000 students and communist activists marched in 
a city suburb where another teenager, the son of a union leader, was 
wounded in a mysterious shooting incident on Wednesday night.
After rioting in Athens Thursday which left city centre residents 
choking in tear gas, the main opposition Pasok socialist party again 
called for early elections, arguing that the government had lost control 
of the situation.
About 100 leading figures including academics, magistrates and 
economists launched a petition calling on the government and the 
political world as a whole to get a grip on the situation to 
re-establish confidence.
The press too expressed the growing concern in the country, with both 
the Socialist daily To Vima and the liberal Kathimerini critical of the 
government's inability to end the crisis.
Even the right-wing daily Eleftheros Typos wrote: "The majority of 
conservative deputies are calling for immediate changes, the time for a 
reshuffle has come."
Athens police said they had arrested eight youths -- none of them school 
or university students -- after several hours of street battles with 
dozens of militants in the city centre Thursday.
They had broken off from an orderly left-wing demonstration of about 
5,000 to confront police officers. During the course of Thursday's 
clashes three cars, a Greek flag and tables and chairs from 
neighbourhood cafes were burned.
Police said that two of those they arrested were minors.
Student representatives said that school and universities have continued 
their occupations of several universities and 700 schools across the 
country. The education ministry put the figure at about a hundred 
establishments.
Protests have rocked cities across Greece since the fatal shooting of 
15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos on the night of December 6.
One of the two policemen arrested in the case faces homicide charges.






http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,3889190,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-top-1022-rdf
Crime | 19.12.2008
More Violence in Athens as Protesters Attack French Institute

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Protests in Athens have 
been both peaceful and violent
Athens braced Friday for further protest demonstrations as violence 
continued in the city with a fire bomb attack against a French language 
institute.

Eyewitnesses said around 20 masked protesters hurled Molotov cocktails 
at the institute in central Athens and then escaped down a narrow street.
The incident continued nearly two weeks of severe unrest which was 
triggered by the shooting death of a 15-year-old youth by police on 
Saturday, Dec. 6.
The attack on the language institute preceded scheduled demonstrations 
involving student groups and separate rallies by trade unions protesting 
against an "anti-workers" budget up for vote on Sunday.
The Greek government is facing increasing pressure over its handling of 
the unrest, with the main opposition Pasok socialist party calling once 
again for early elections. Pasok said the government under Prime 
Minister Costas Karamanlis has lost control of the situation.
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: 
Student groups are protesting the police shooting of a 15-year-old boy
Greek media have also taken a critical stance against the government's 
handling of the unrest, with right-wing paper Eleftheros Typos writing: 
"The majority of conservative deputies are calling for immediate 
changes, the time for a reshuffle has come."
Demonstrations throughout Greece
Hundreds of demonstrators clashed Thursday, Dec. 18, with police in 
front of the Greek parliament in central Athens. Protesters hurled paint 
and riot police retaliating with tear gas.
The clashes came as 7,000 people marched in further anti-government 
protests in Athens and thousands more across Greece to protest the 
conservative government.
Rallies by unions, students and teachers also took place in the northern 
port city of Thessaloniki and on the southern island of Crete.
Hundreds of students continued to clash with police in side-streets 
throughout downtown Athens and around Athens University buildings, 
burning at least three cars, including a security van and trash containers.
Strikes galore
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: 
Greece is experiencing widespread workers' strikes
The demonstrations accompanied strikes called by various unions.
All flights in and out of Athens International Airport were halted for 
several hours by a strike by air traffic controllers demanding a pay 
hike and greater job protection.
Airport employees were joined by civil service trade unions and students 
who held rallies in the city. Urban transport was also halted, while 
doctors and teachers walked off the job.






http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24822254-12335,00.html
Greek police warn of more protest riots in Athens
• Font Size: Decrease Increase
• Print Page: Print
December 19, 2008
Article from: Agence France-Presse
GREEK police are warning people to stay away from central Athens as 
thousands of students staged new protests over the police killing of a 
teenager.
Tensions were raised after the 16-year son of a Greek teacher's union 
official was wounded in a rifle attack on Wednesday night in an Athens 
suburb.

After almost two weeks of unrest and protests over the fatal police 
shooting of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos, police quickly denied any 
involvement in the new incident.

The youth was hit in the hand by a rifle bullet as he talked with other 
students in the street near his school in Peristeri, according to police.

The youth spent the night in hospital and underwent an operation 
yesterday, police said. The Greek government promised a detailed inquiry 
into the shooting.

The victim was the son of a leading official in the Greek Teachers 
Federation which backed the latest demonstrations in Athens.

About 3000 students and teachers gathered in Athens and with other 
rallies held in other cities, authorities took widespread precautions to 
avoid a repeat of the riots and looting of the past two weeks.

Police cleared streets around the centre of the capital and told 
residents not to venture out during the demonstrations. Hundreds of 
police were on duty.






http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1867643,00.html
Athens Protests Refuse to Subside
By Jeff Israely and Emmanouil Karatarakis / Athens Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008
The two young men with hoods pulled to their eyebrows and scarves around 
their mouths stood behind Syntagma Square, the main square of Athens not 
far from the Greek parliament. The violence had just been ratcheted up 
in the continuing protests that have rocked Greece since the fatal 
police shooting of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, 15, on Dec. 6. No one is 
certain yet why the riots continue to flare up. And, on Thursday, the 
two youths approached by TIME were not providing any clues either. Asked 
to explain why they were waging their violent campaign against the 
police the pair answered with a brusque "No." A third youth in black 
didn't even acknowledge the question. The three then dashed to 
Panepistimiou Avenue where their peers were camped out, hiding from 
police, waiting to make their next move.
The three had just emerged from a dramatic assault that had ended what 
seemed to be a period of relative quiet in the demonstrations. On 
Thursday, shortly before 3 p.m., a group of teenagers emerged from among 
a crowd of peaceful demonstrators led by teachers and hospital workers 
to put on scarves and pulled hoods over their heads. Ten minutes later, 
they penerated a group of students that had veered off from the 
7,000-person march, and, using that group as cover, rushed police 
officers blocking off the street next to parliament. As the students 
pounded large wooden flagpoles against the shields of the riot police, 
the anarchist youth started throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at the 
cops, who responded with tear gas. At least one police officer was 
treated inside the halls of parliament, as the heart of government was 
turned into an impromptu medivac center. (See pictures of the Greek riots.)
Nearly two weeks after they began, the protests across Greece have not 
stopped. Noisy demonstrations continue almost daily in front of 
Parliament, youths stormed a local TV station in Athens, and protesters 
Wednesday unfurled banners over the walls of the Acropolis calling for 
"Resistance" across all of Europe. Black-hooded anarchists still storm 
banks and smash storefronts. For a couple of days, the intensity of the 
protests seemed to ebb but on Thursday, civil disobedience degenerated 
back into all-out civil disorder. With the "pop-pop" of launched tear 
gas canisters, Christmas shoppers and cafe customers who had finally 
returnd downtown were sent running for cover, while parents and 
grandparents yanked their kids off a winter carousel in Syntagma Square.
Though many of the demonstrators on Thursday said they oppose violent 
tactics, they continue to focus on what they call unwarranted police 
response to their protests. Lila, a 24-year-old speech therapist, says 
she would never hurl rocks at police, but says the authorities should 
not be occupying the streets. "Each individual is able to protect 
themselves," she said. She said the protests are not "just for the boy," 
but express the anger at the financial crisis and political corruption, 
and "will not end until the government falls." Lazaros Apekis, president 
of the Hellenic Federation of University Teachers, said the youth 
demonstrations are "a genuine social revolt." He said the target is "a 
political system that has sold out the public in favor of private 
interests."
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, whose center-right majority has a slim 
Parliamentary majority, has ignored calls for early elections. Political 
observers say a budget vote slated for the coming days could undo his 
coalition, though paradoxically the violence may help him hold onto 
power as allies do not want a government collapse during the unrest.
Ultimately, ordinary Greeks will make their political judgment based on 
both the outbreak of anarchist violence and the actions of the 
government. Thus far, apart from the still unclear circumstances of the 
Dec. 6 fatal shooting, the police have mostly taken defensive tactics. 
But the protests, which harken back to the anti-globalization mix of 
violence and civil disobedience of Seattle in 1999 and Genoa in 2001, 
don't appear to be ending any time soon. Protesters say the use of 
online social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace have helped 
organize street demonstrations, as well as the more high-profile stunts, 
like the hanging of the two giant pink banners from the Acropolis 
calling on other Europeans to take part in the protests. So far, outside 
of Greece, other anti-globalization demonstrations in sympathy with the 
Athens protests have remained rather limited.






http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/city-protest-turns-violent-as-greek-unrest-continues-14113949.html?r=RSS
City protest turns violent as Greek unrest continues
Friday, 19 December 2008
Riot police launch tear gas grenades as riots erupt in the streets of 
central Athens yesterdayFrightened Christmas shoppers ran for cover as 
riot police clashed with rock-throwing demonstrators in central Athens 
yesterday.
The protesters broke away from a peaceful rally and hurled rocks and 
firebombs at police and buildings near parliament, overturned a car and 
set fire to rubbish bins.
Police responded with tear gas forcing families to abandon a carousel in 
the city's main Syntagma Square after happily going on rides all morning.
Firefighters and police also rushed to stop protesters from burning down 
the city's main Christmas tree, which was replaced earlier this week 
after the first was torched in riots.
The clashes were the latest outbreak of violence after the police shot 
dead 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos 12 days ago. Protests over the 
death and the increasing economic hardship in Greece have led to the 
worst rioting in decades.
Hundreds of businesses have been smashed, burned or looted and gangs of 
youths fought running battles with riot police firing tear gas every 
night for a week.
The riots have been fed by dissatisfaction with Greece's increasingly 
unpopular conservative government. Protests groups have issued a range 
of demands, from disarming police to greater income support for 
low-earning families.
Before the violence broke out, 7,000 students and other protesters 
marched in a rally, chanting “We are the law, we'll stay on the streets.”
Earlier 1,000 demonstrators joined a Communist Party-backed peaceful 
march through Athens. Some 300 people were also marching in heavy rain 
in Greece's second largest city of Thessaloniki in the north.
Major unions staged strikes to protest over the shooting and the 
conservative government's economic policies.
As part of the strikes, air traffic controllers walked off the job for 
three hours, forcing state Olympic Airlines to cancel 28 flights and 
reschedule another 14. State hospitals were operating with skeleton 
staff due to a 24-hour strike.
The government appealed for calm after another teenager was shot in the 
hand late last night. It was unclear who shot him.
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/politics/riot-police-clash-with-protesters-in-athens-again_100132733.html
Riot police clash with protesters in Athens again
December 19th, 2008 - 12:55 pm ICT by IANS -
Athens, Dec 19 (DPA) Hundreds of demonstrators have clashed with the 
police in front of the Greek parliament in central Athens, with 
protesters hurling paint and riot police retaliating with teargas.The 
clashes Thursday came as 7,000 people marched in further anti-government 
protests in Athens and thousands more across Greece to protest against 
the conservative government’s reforms and the recent police shooting of 
a teenager.
Rallies by unions, students and teachers also took place in the northern 
port city of Thessaloniki and on the southern island of Crete.
The latest outbreak of violence between demonstrators and the police 
caused hundreds of frightened Christmas shoppers to run for cover and 
parents to grab screaming children from a Christmas carousel in the main 
square.
Retailers, many having recently repaired damage to shops after 13 days 
of riots, could be seen quickly pulling down their shutters and 
customers hurrying out.
Firefighters and riot police stopped a group of protesters from burning 
down Athens’ main Christmas tree, which was replaced this week after the 
first was torched in last week’s riots.
Hundreds of students continued to clash with police on side-streets 
throughout downtown Athens and around Athens university buildings, 
burning at least three cars, including a security van and rubbish 
containers.
The demonstrations accompanied strikes called by various unions.
All flights in and out of Athens’ International Airport were halted for 
several hours by a strike by air traffic controllers demanding a pay 
rise and greater job protection.
Airport employees were joined by civil service trade unions and students 
who held rallies in Athens. Urban transport was halted while doctors and 
teachers walked off the job.
The strike follows days of riots throughout Greece sparked by the 
shooting of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos by police Dec 6. The 
policemen accused of the shooting have been detained and charged with 
manslaughter.
Over 100 people were injured and about 400 were detained during the 
protests while hundreds of shops and banks have been fire-bombed, 
vandalised and looted.
Athens mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis appealed for protesters to suspend 
demonstrations over the Christmas period in order to allow retailers to 
make up some of their losses which are estimated to exceed 500 million 
euros.
Adding to tensions, reports said another teenager was injured in a 
shooting Thursday.
The details of the shooting were not immediately clear but the boy was 
being treated in an Athens hospital and was out of danger.
Police spokesperson Panagiotis Stathis said officers were not involved 
but would investigate to see who was responsible.
Students have called for solidarity rallies across Europe.
On Wednesday, protesters hung two giant banners from the ancient 
Acropolis with the words “resistance” in five languages.
Across the country students boycotted classes at hundreds of secondary 
schools and universities, saying they were under occupation.
Greek spokesperson Evangelos Andonaros said the recent rioting has 
ruined Greece’s image overseas.
The unrest has shaken the conservative government, which has a one-seat 
majority and trails in opinion polls. Conservative Prime Minister Costas 
Karamanlis has rejected calls to step down, despite growing public pressure.
The country’s worst riots in decades are likely to affect a number of 
economic, education and pension reforms introduced by the government as 
trade unions step up their challenge to stop them.
Earlier this week Karamanlis acknowledged some of the problems that had 
fuelled the anger of young people.
In a speech to parliamentary colleagues Tuesday, he said: 
“Long-unresolved problems, such as corruption in everyday life and a 
sense of social injustice disappoint young people.”






http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/12/15/international/i070030S33.DTL
Shoppers flee as police, youths clash in Athens
By ELENA BECATOROS and DEREK GATOPOULOS, Associated Press Writers
Thursday, December 18, 2008

(12-18) 13:31 PST ATHENS, Greece (AP) --
Masked youths set up burning barricades and threw fire bombs and chunks 
of marble at riot police Thursday, after a protest march erupted into 
new fighting that sent Christmas shoppers and panicked parents fleeing 
to safety.
Mothers snatched children from a carousel in the main square. Waiters 
stumbled from cafes choking on tear gas fired by police at rioters 
trying to burn the capital's Christmas tree, replaced just days ago 
after another tree was torched.
After two weeks of unrelenting rioting set off by the fatal police 
shooting of a teenager, a slogan spray-painted outside the Bank of 
Greece summed up the mood as Greeks prepared for Christmas: "Merry 
crisis and a happy new fear."
But protesters' call for European-wide demonstrations of support — urged 
in banners defiantly unfurled from the ancient Acropolis on Wednesday — 
met with no apparent response.
Thursday's clashes broke out in front of Parliament at Syntagma Square 
during a demonstration against police brutality. The Dec. 6 death of 
15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos unleashed rage that has fed off 
widespread dissatisfaction with economic hardship, social inequality and 
the unpopular conservative government's policies.
About 200 youths wearing masks put up burning barricades in the streets 
of the Kolonaki district, throwing gasoline bombs and hammering chunks 
of marble and concrete off buildings to hurl. Police answered with 
volleys of tear gas and stun grenades.
As the fighting escalated, frightened parents hurried their children 
away from the carousel in Syntagma Square. Riot police formed a line at 
the replacement Christmas tree and fired tear gas to drive off youths 
trying to set it ablaze.
Businessmen and shoppers ran for cover on Voukourestiou Street, while 
motorscooter and motorcycle drivers on a nearby road screeched to a 
halt, blinded by the tear gas.
Athenians, some angry but many stoically resigned to the fighting, 
picked their way past burning barricades and rocks scattered on the 
streets, carrying home groceries and Christmas presents. Many residents 
and shop owners in the city center now carry surgical or gas masks for 
protection against tear gas.
Police said they made at least three arrests as violence persisted past 
sundown then tailed off. They did not immediately have any information 
on injuries.
Since the rioting began, hundreds of businesses have been smashed, 
burned or looted in cities across Greece.
Shop owners say they are having trouble making ends meet because of 
daily demonstrations and road closures and because many customers are 
afraid to venture into the city center.
"Who am I supposed to complain to?" thundered Spyros Papaspyrou, owner 
of a shoe shop where windows were smashed last week. "Who's going to pay 
all these bills? I'm taking in euro200 ($290) a day. Do they want me to 
stand outside my shop with a shotgun? I can't understand why they can't 
arrest 80 people in the center of Athens."
His anger was aimed both at the rioters for the destruction they have 
wrought and at the government and police for failing to prevent the damage.
"Honestly, I don't know (who to blame)," he said. "Christmas has been 
lost in the center of Athens."
Earlier Thursday, some 7,000 students, teachers and other protesters 
marched through the city chanting: "We are the law! We'll stay on the 
streets!"
One man threw out fliers with the anarchist symbol — a capital A in a 
circle — and the slogan: "The road to normality is closed ... due to the 
uprising."
The clashes have left many Athenians fearful and jumpy. Many people 
appeared to blame the riot police for bringing trouble to their 
neighborhood.
"Murderers! Cops are murderers!" screamed one middle-aged woman in 
Kolonaki minutes before riot police fired tear gas at youths who had 
dragged furniture out of a cafe and set it on fire as a barricade.
An elderly balloon seller in Syntagma Square, who would only give his 
name as Yiannis, said he hadn't sold any of his heart-shaped balloons 
because of the violence.
"I can't believe what's happening," he said. "When the protesters come 
by, I sometimes get really scared. I don't know why the police aren't 
doing anything."
Major labor unions staged work stoppages Thursday to protest the 
teenager's shooting and the government's economic policies. Air traffic 
controllers walked off the job for three hours, forcing Olympic Airlines 
to cancel 28 flights and reschedule 14 others. State hospitals operated 
with skeleton staff in a 24-hour strike.
___
Associated Press writers Nicholas Paphitis in Athens and Costas 
Kantouris in Thessaloniki contributed to this report.






http://www.euronews.net/2008/12/18/more-strikes-more-protests-in-greece/
Greece
More strikes, more protests in Greece 18/12/08 07:52 CET
Social order continues to unravel in Greece as anger at the shooting of 
a teenage boy by police earlier this month has sparked wider outrage 
over the government’s economic reforms. Trade unions have taken to the 
streets as the government plans more austerity measures in the face of 
the global downturn. Meanwhile, protestors hung banners from the 
Acropolis and called for demonstrations across Europe. “Resistance” read 
one in Greek, English, German and Spanish.
The civil unrest has triggered sympathy protests in other countries, and 
European leaders fear the disruption may spread further as the financial 
crisis bites and unemployment rises. A group calling themselves 
“Students Against the System” clashed with police outside the capital’s 
courthouse as they waited for the ballistics report into the killing of 
Alexandros Grigoropoulos. The officer accused of firing the fatal shot 
has been charged with murder and jailed pending trial; his partner has 
been charged as an accomplice.






http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/New_protests_in_Greece_over_teenagers_shooting_/rssarticleshow/3858873.cms
New protests in Greece over teenager's shooting
18 Dec 2008, 2326 hrs IST, AP

ATHENS: Thousands of protesters demonstrated in Greece's main cities on 
Thursday against the police killing of a teenager, while a major labour

Riot police start firing tear gas at protesters trying to break their 
line during riots at a demonstration in Athens, Greece. (AP Photo)
More Pictures

union staged work stoppages to protest the shooting and the conservative 
government's economic policies.

In central Athens, fearful shop owners shuttered their store fronts as 
more than 7,000 students and other protesters marched peacefully, 
chanting slogans. Some demonstrators painted white crime-scene-style 
body outlines on the streets.

Riot police kept a low-key presence, and a Christmas carousel on central 
Syntagma Square was full of children even as the marchers drew close. 
Earlier, some 1,000 demonstrators joined a Communist Party-backed 
peaceful march through town.

The death of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos on December 6 shocked 
Greece and led to days of the worst rioting the country has seen in 
decades. Hundreds of businesses were smashed, burned or looted and gangs 
of youths fought running battles with riot police firing tear gas every 
night for a week.

The riots were fed by dissatisfaction with the increasingly unpopular 
conservative government and widespread anger over social inequality and 
economic hardship.

"The government has no solution for this problem and we will keep 
demonstrating until our demands are heard," said Petros Constantinou, 
one of the protest organisers.

"We want to see a signal that (the government) is changing course."

Protests groups have issued various demands, from the disarming of 
police to greater income support for low-earning families.






http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/18/greece-athens-protests
Athens shoppers take cover as protesters throw firebombs at police
Violence flares in Greece on 13th day of anti-government demonstrations 
since police shot dead a teenager
• Mark Tran and agencies
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 18 December 2008 15.20 GMT

Protesters throw stones at riot police in central Athens Photograph: 
Thanassis Stavrakis/AP
Greek protesters threw firebombs and stones at police in central Athens 
today, sending Christmas shoppers scurrying for cover on the 13th day of 
anti-government demonstrations since police shot dead a teenager.
The rioters broke away from a peaceful rally and clashed with police 
near parliament. The police responded with tear gas in the latest 
outbreak of violence over the killing of 15-year-old Alexandros 
Grigoropoulos. His death unleashed pent-up frustration at the 
conservative government's economic policies and allegations of 
corruption at the highest levels.
"Down with the government of blood, poverty and privatisations," read 
one of the banners carried by some 7,000 marchers. Rallies by unions, 
students and teachers also took place in the northern city of Salonika 
and on the island of Crete.
"We are not finished just because it's Christmas. We will continue and 
intensify our struggle in the next year," Stathis Anestis, a spokesman 
for the GSEE private sector union federation, told Reuters.
As unrest broke out again on the streets, a three-hour stoppage by 
public workers at the airport in Athens halted all but emergency 
flights. Urban transport services were frozen while doctors and teachers 
walked off the job, reviving memories of last week's 24-hour national 
strike.
Compounding the tensions, police said a 16-year-old had been shot in the 
hand by an unidentified gunman in Athens late last night.
"Not only policemen carry guns," a police spokesman, Panagiotis Stathis, 
said, strongly denying any officers were involved. "There were no 
policemen there because there was no reason. We are now conducting an 
investigation to see who was responsible."
With more protests planned for tomorrow, an opinion poll published today 
by the leftwing Avgi newspaper, conducted after the start of the riots, 
showed the opposition Pan-Hellenic Socialist party, Pasok, holding a 
6.5% lead over the ruling New Democracy party.
The policeman who shot Grigoropoulos has been charged with murder and 
jailed pending trial, while his partner was charged as an accomplice. He 
said he fired a warning shot in self-defence against a group of youths 
but the family's lawyer said he aimed to kill without significant 
provocation.






http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2008-12/2008-12-18-voa46.cfm?CFID=164562074&CFTOKEN=80909033&jsessionid=8830f93025655ecbb9ae7a795f3f624c2a3d
Greek Protesters, Police Clash for 13th Day
By VOA News
18 December 2008
Greek riot police have formed a cordon around parliament, in a face-off 
with thousands of people protesting the death of a teenager from police 
gunfire.

About 7,000 protesters marched Thursday through central Athens, marking 
the 13th day of protests triggered by the shooting of a 15-year-old boy.

Flames engulf a policeman from a petrol bomb thrown by rioters outside 
parliament in Athens, 18 Dec 2008
Hundreds later broke off from the rally and began hurling rocks and 
firebombs at police, who quickly retaliated with tear gas to disperse 
the crowd.

Other demonstrators set fire to trash cans, cars and attempted to burn 
down the city's Christmas tree.

About 300 protesters also marched through the northern city of Salonika.

Earlier in the day, labor unions and teachers staged work stoppages to 
express their growing dissatisfaction with the social and economic 
reforms of the government of Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.

Police said a 16-year-old was shot in the hand late Wednesday, but said 
they were not in the area at the time of the incident and do not know 
who fired the bullet.

Retailers have reported more than a billion dollars in damage and lost 
sales in the violence.

Authorities said rioting triggered by the shooting death is the worst in 
the country in decades.

Greek media have described the protesters as self-styled anarchists and 
youth belonging to far-left militant groups.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.






http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/19/2450716.htm
Protesters battle Greek police
Posted Fri Dec 19, 2008 7:09am AEDT
Greek marchers hurled firebombs and stones at police outside Parliament 
in Athens overnight while unions grounded flights and shut down public 
offices in a 13th day of anti-government protests since police shot dead 
a teenager.
Youths waving red flags scuffled with riot police, who formed a cordon 
around Parliament, and tried to burn down a Christmas tree in the square 
outside.
Police fired teargas to disperse the crowd.
"Topple the Government of blood, poverty, privatisations," read one 
banner among the 7,000 marchers, who denounced education and pension 
reforms and the conservative Government's failure to shelter Greeks from 
the global economic crisis.
Retailers pulled down their shutters and Christmas shoppers fled from 
the streets.
Rallies by unions, students and teachers also took place in the northern 
city of Thessaloniki, the central town of Lamia and on the island of Crete.
"We are not finished just because it's Christmas. We will continue and 
intensify our struggle over the next year," Stathis Anestis, spokesman 
for the GSEE private sector union federation, which took part in the 
rallies, said.
A three-hour work stoppage by public workers halted all but emergency 
flights.
Urban transport services were frozen while doctors and teachers walked 
off the job, reviving memories of last week's 24-hour national strike.
Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, under fire for his hands off 
reaction to the riots, announced measures to boost flagging tourism, one 
of the main reasons for a slowing economy.
"We are determined to do everything possible so that all we have 
achieved through sacrifices is not wasted," he said, announcing tax 
breaks and incentives for the tourism sector.
- Reuters






http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/12/18/greece.protests/index.html?eref=edition_europe
December 18, 2008 -- Updated 1918 GMT (0318 HKT)

Fiery protests near Greek parliament
• Story Highlights
• Thousands of protesters throw petrol bombs near country's parliament 
building
• Riot police prevent protesters from getting close to parliament
• Street protests sparked by December 6 police killing of 15-year-old boy
• Police have alleged that the boy was about to throw a fuel-filled 
device at them

ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- Thousands of protesters crowded the streets near 
the country's parliament building Thursday, hurling petrol bombs as rows 
of police kept them at bay.

A protester wearing a gas mask throws a small rock at riot police 
outside the Greek Parliament.

Thursday's demonstrations were another surge in the ongoing street 
protests that were sparked by the December 6 police killing of Alexis 
Grigoropolous, a 15-year-old boy in Athens.
Daily protests, including riots, have thrown the country into turmoil 
and have become an outlet for simmering anger about the conservative 
government's handling of the economy, education and jobs.
Thursday's protesters were prevented from getting close to the 
parliament building by a massive line of police who cordoned off the 
building and shut down adjacent streets.
Some of the protesters threw paint bombs at the rows of police.
Protesters also marched in front of Athens University's historical 
downtown building, located off the university's main campus. There, 
police used tear gas to control the crowds.
On Tuesday, dozens of protesters stormed into state television station 
ERT and interrupted regular programming, taking control of the master 
control room and unfurling a black banner that read, "Do not watch 
television. Everyone out on the streets."
Several went into the office of ERT's president to complain about the 
network's coverage of the demonstrations.
The escapade occurred despite beefed up security at the network in 
anticipation of such a move.

The unrest is threatening the government's hold on power, with some 
opposition groups calling for fresh elections. Stores and international 
businesses have been attacked, and at least 280 people have been 
detained by police. Of that total, 176 were arrested, 130 of them for 
looting.
Of the two officers involved in the teen's shooting, one is charged with 
premeditated manslaughter and the other with acting as an accomplice.
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/newsbriefs/setimes/newsbriefs/2008/12/18/nb-07
More student protests, strikes planned in Greece
18/12/2008
ATHENS, Greece – Clashes broke out again Thursday (December 18th) in 
Athens as students demanded justice for the killing of 15-year-old 
Alexandros Grigoropoulos, whom a police officer shot dead on December 
6th. Around 10,000 demonstrators converged on parliament. Protesters 
threw fire bombs at riot police, who responded with tear gas.
About 600 schools and universities across the country remain occupied 
since the December 6th incident. On Wednesday, youths occupying the 
Athens Polytechnic set fire to a newspaper kiosk, police said. In the 
northwestern city of Ioannina, about 50 youths took over town hall for 
several hours.
Greek trade unions joined massive student protests by calling strikes 
and demonstrations Thursday and Friday to protest the government's 
economic policy and the provisions of the 2009 state budget. All flights 
from Athens were halted for hours Thursday as air traffic controllers 
went on strike.(Kathimerini, AFP, BBC, Euronews - 18/12/08; ANA-MPA, 
SKAI - 17/12/08)






http://www.tiscali.co.uk/news/newswire.php/news/reuters/2008/12/18/world/protesters-battle-greek-police.html&template=/world/feeds/story-template-reuters.html
Protesters battle Greek police

18/12/2008 23:32

By Dina Kyriakidou and Renee Maltezou
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek marchers hurled firebombs and stones at police 
outside parliament on Thursday while unions grounded flights and shut 
down public offices in a 13th day of anti-government protests since 
police shot dead a teenager.
Youths waving red flags scuffled with riot police, who formed a cordon 
around parliament, and tried to burn down a Christmas tree in the square 
outside. Police fired teargas to disperse the crowd.
"Topple the government of blood, poverty, privatisations," read one 
banner among the 7,000 marchers, who denounced education and pension 
reforms and the conservative government's failure to shelter Greeks from 
the global economic crisis.
Retailers pulled down their shutters and Christmas shoppers fled from 
the streets. Rallies.....continued below
by unions, students and teachers also took place in the northern city of 
Thessaloniki, the central town of Lamia and on the island of Crete.
"We are not finished just because it's Christmas. We will continue and 
intensify our struggle over the next year," said Stathis Anestis, 
spokesman for the GSEE private sector union federation which took part 
in the rallies.
A 3-hour work stoppage by public workers halted all but emergency 
flights between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. British time. Urban transport 
services were frozen while doctors and teachers walked off the job, 
reviving memories of last week's 24-hour national strike.
Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, under fire for his hands off 
reaction to the riots, announced measures to boost flagging tourism, one 
of the main reasons for a slowing economy.
"We are determined to do everything possible so that all we have 
achieved through sacrifices is not wasted," he said, announcing tax 
breaks and incentives for the tourism sector.
MORE CLASHES
Greece's worst disturbances in decades, triggered by the December 6 
slaying of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos, have fed off anger at 
youth unemployment and the economic slowdown.
They caused hundreds of millions of euros in damage in Athens and have 
shaken a government with a fragile one-seat majority in parliament. The 
demonstrations also sparked smaller sympathy protests from Moscow to Madrid.
On Thursday, hundreds of students clashed with police outside Athens 
university buildings, burning three cars and rubbish containers, while 
one group set fire to a security van.
The policeman who shot dead Grigoropoulos has been charged with murder 
and jailed pending trial, while his partner was charged as an 
accomplice. The officer said he fired a warning shot in self-defence 
against a group of youths.
A ballistic report said on Thursday the bullet ricocheted before killing 
the teenager but further investigation was needed to decide whether the 
policeman aimed or fired in the air.
"The prosecutor ordered a more detailed investigation to determine the 
course of the bullet," said a court official who requested anonymity.
The protests have driven Greek bond spreads -- a measure of perceived 
risk -- to record levels above German benchmark bonds. Ministers say the 
unrest has tarnished Greece's image overseas, which had been boosted by 
the successful 2004 Athens Olympics.






http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24822254-12335,00.html
Greek police warn of more protest riots in Athens
• Font Size: Decrease Increase
• Print Page: Print
December 19, 2008
Article from: Agence France-Presse
GREEK police are warning people to stay away from central Athens as 
thousands of students staged new protests over the police killing of a 
teenager.
Tensions were raised after the 16-year son of a Greek teacher's union 
official was wounded in a rifle attack on Wednesday night in an Athens 
suburb.

After almost two weeks of unrest and protests over the fatal police 
shooting of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos, police quickly denied any 
involvement in the new incident.

The youth was hit in the hand by a rifle bullet as he talked with other 
students in the street near his school in Peristeri, according to police.

The youth spent the night in hospital and underwent an operation 
yesterday, police said. The Greek government promised a detailed inquiry 
into the shooting.

The victim was the son of a leading official in the Greek Teachers 
Federation which backed the latest demonstrations in Athens.

About 3000 students and teachers gathered in Athens and with other 
rallies held in other cities, authorities took widespread precautions to 
avoid a repeat of the riots and looting of the past two weeks.

Police cleared streets around the centre of the capital and told 
residents not to venture out during the demonstrations. Hundreds of 
police were on duty.






http://iafrica.com/news/worldnews/1393300.htm
New protests rock Greece
Greek police warned people to stay away from central Athens on Thursday 
as thousands of students staged new protests over the police killing of 
a teenager.
Tensions were raised after the 16-year son of a Greek teacher's union 
official was wounded in a rifle attack on Wednesday night in an Athens 
suburb.
After almost two weeks of unrest and protests over the fatal police 
shooting of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos, police quickly denied any 
involvement in the new incident.
The youth was hit in the hand by a rifle bullet as he talked with other 
students in the street near his school in Peristeri, according to police.
The youth spent the night in hospital and underwent an operation on 
Thursday, police said. The Greek government promised a detailed inquiry 
into the shooting.
The victim was the son of a leading official in the Greek Teachers 
Federation which backed the latest demonstrations in Athens.
About 3000 students and teachers gathered in Athens and with other 
rallies held in other cities, authorities took widespread precautions to 
avoid a repeat of the riots and looting of the past two weeks.
Police cleared streets around the centre of the capital and told 
residents not to venture out during the demonstrations. Hundreds of 
police were on duty.
One rally, called by the Greek Communist Party (KKK) started in Omonia 
square and went to the Greek parliament without incident.
The main rally by students and teachers was in front of Athens 
University and was also to head to parliament, the scene of many of the 
protests over the death of Grigoropoulos.
Banners at the rally read "Mourning Is Not Enough, The Struggle Goes on".
Planned strikes and protests organised by a public employees' union over 
the Greek budget and anti-racism demonstrations were expected to add to 
the turmoil.
Rallies were also held in the second city of Thessaloniki and planned in 
Patras in the south and Preveza in the west.
Protest organisers called for demonstrations across Europe in 
solidarity. About 50 activists hung banners along the Acropolis monument 
on Wednesday.
One banner called for demonstrations across Europe and a second 
proclaimed "Resistance" in several languages.
Students claim some 600 schools and universities are occupied throughout 
the country. The education ministry says the figure is closer to 100.
A ballistics report on the death of Grigoropoulos was handed over to an 
investigating judge on Thursday, a court source said.
The judge has summoned lawyers for the police officer charged over the 
killing and the victim's family to inform them of the report's 
conclusions, the source said.
Preliminary conclusions by medical examiners and experts working for the 
victim's family indicated that a bullet ricocheted and hit the teenager.
Damage to the bullet showed that it had touched a hard surface before 
hitting Grigoropoulos in the chest, judicial sources and the police 
officer's lawyer said.
The officer, Epaminondas Korkoneas (37), says he was trying to defend 
himself from youths and killed the boy by accident when he fired three 
shots.
His partner, Vassilios Saraliotis (31), was charged with being an 
accomplice.
AFP






http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7789215.stm
Thursday, 18 December 2008
New clashes break out in Greece
Violence broke out after thousands of people gathered in Athens
Renewed clashes have broken out between protesters and police in Greece, 
in continuing unrest over the killing of a teenaged boy by police.
Demonstrators charged at riot police outside parliament, throwing fire 
bombs. Police responded with volleys of tear gas.
Twelve days after the police shooting, anger has combined with 
discontent in other parts of Greek society.
Protesters want the government to change social and economic policies.
Air traffic controllers are the latest public sector workers to go on 
strike.
An estimated 10,000 people joined a demonstration in Athens on Thursday 
that congregated outside a university and marched towards parliament, in 
anger at the shooting of a 15-year-old boy by a policeman on 6 December.
Banners castigated the government, which protesters accuse of failing 
the Greek people.
"Down with the government of blood, poverty and privatisations," one 
banner read, Reuters news agency reported.
The new violence erupted in the central square, site of the Greek 
parliament, as protesters threw petrol bombs at the building and 
attempted to burn down Athens' main Christmas tree.
The tree has already been replaced once after being torched during 
previous protests.
Some 70 people have been injured and about 400 have been detained during 
the protests. Hundreds of shops and banks have been vandalised and looted.
The policeman accused of shooting Alexandros Grigoropoulos, aged 15, has 
been charged with murder.
Solidarity rallies

Some people were caught up in the protests as they shopped
Meanwhile all flights to and from Athens airport were halted for several 
hours on Thursday as air traffic controllers protested against 
government policies and demanded a pay rise.
It is part of an industrial action organised by the civil service trade 
union, ADEDY.
On Wednesday, protesters hung huge banners on the Acropolis, the ancient 
site that dominates Athens, calling for "resistance".
Conservative Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has rejected calls to step 
down, despite growing public pressure.
But earlier this week he acknowledged some of the problems that had 
fuelled the anger of young people.
In a speech to parliamentary colleagues on Tuesday, he said 
"long-unresolved problems, such as the lack of meritocracy, corruption 
in everyday life and a sense of social injustice disappoint young people".






http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/18/2450695.htm
Athens on new protest alert
Posted Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:03pm AEDT
Greek police have warned people to stay away from central Athens as 
students prepare new protests over the police killing of a teenager.
Tensions were raised after the 16-year-old son of a Greek teacher's 
union official was hit in an air rifle attack on Wednesday night (local 
time) in an Athens suburb.
The youth was only lightly injured in the hand but after almost two 
weeks of unrest and protests after the fatal police shooting of 
15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos, police quickly denied any involvement 
in the new incident.
The youth was hit in the hand as he talked with other students in the 
street in Peristeri, according to police.
Greek students planned new marches in Athens and several other cities 
and authorities took widespread precautions to avoid a repeat of some of 
the riots and looting of the past two weeks.
Police cleared streets around the centre of the capital and told 
residents not to venture out during the demonstrations.
Two youth protests have been called. One was to start in front of Athens 
University and the other in Omonia Square.
Both were to advance toward the Greek parliament, which has been the 
scene of many of the protests over the death of Grigoropoulos.
Two Greek trade unions, including a teachers union, said they support 
the student protests.
Planned strikes and protests organised by a public employees' union over 
the Greek budget and anti-racism demonstrations were expected to add to 
the turmoil.
Rallies were also planned in the second city of Thessaloniki, Patras in 
the south and Preveza in the west.
Protest organisers called for demonstrations across Europe in 
solidarity. About 50 activists hung banners along the Acropolis monument 
on Wednesday.
One banner called for demonstrations across Europe and a second 
proclaimed "Resistance" in several languages.
Students claim some 600 schools and universities are occupied throughout 
the country. The education ministry says the figure is closer to 100.
- AFP






http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=99928
Acropolis Banner Urges Europe - Wide Protests
World | December 18, 2008, Thursday

Two banners reading "Resistance" in four languages and "Thursday 18/12 
demonstration in all Europe" hanging from the Parthenon on Acropolis 
hill in Athens. Photo by BGNES
Greek protesters have hung huge banners on the Acropolis in Athens, 
calling for Europe-wide rallies, after more than a week of violent 
clashes between demonstrators and police.

"Resistance" was written in four languages on one banner hung at the 
ancient site, which reopened to the public on Tuesday when Greek culture 
ministry staff ended a strike over pay that had lasted for 10 days.

Meanwhile youth protests sparked by the fatal police shooting of a 
teenager continue in Greece with hundreds of shops and banks vandalised 
and some 70 people injured in the wave of riots.

As the protests have become more political Conservative Prime Minister 
Costas Karamanlis rejected calls to step down.

The shooting of the boy was the catalyst for the violence, but it comes 
along with plummeting popularity of the government, accused of failing 
to cope with harsh social problems.






http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2008/12/18/signs_of_protest_hung_at_greek_acropolis/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+World+news
Signs of protest hung at Greek Acropolis
Youths call for European support
Demonstrators held banners in front of the Parthenon yesterday in 
Athens, with the word ''Resistance'' in four languages. The other sign 
called for demonstrations today, when students plan marches to protest a 
15-year-old's death in a police shooting. (Yiorgos Karahalis/ Reuters)
By Elena Becatoros
Associated Press / December 18, 2008

ATHENS - Protesters hung giant banners off the Acropolis yesterday 
calling for mass demonstrations across Europe, heaping embarrassment on 
a government reeling from Greece's worst riots in decades sparked by the 
police shooting of a teenager.
Two pink banners were unfurled over the walls of the ancient citadel 
that towers above central Athens and could be seen from miles away. One 
bore the word "Resistance" in large black letters in Greek, English, 
Spanish, and German.
The other called for demonstrations throughout the continent today, when 
students plan major marches in Athens and Greece's second-largest city, 
Thessaloniki, to protest the death of 15-year-old Alexandros 
Grigoropoulos, killed in a police shooting on Dec. 6.
The government was furious at the use of Greece's most famous monument.
"There can be no justification for this action," spokesman Evangelos 
Antonaros said. "This hurts the image of our country abroad. . . . It is 
unacceptable."
Although sparked by the youth's death, the riots were fed by 
dissatisfaction with the increasingly unpopular conservative government 
and widespread anger over social inequality and economic hardship.
The violence spread quickly across the country with masked and hooded 
youths fighting with riot police night after night. The violence left 
hundreds of shops and bank branches smashed, burned, and looted, and 
dozens of cars torched. Retailers say the damage will cost them $2 
billion in lost income.
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has rejected opposition calls for early 
elections, saying the country needs a steady hand to deal with the 
international financial crisis.
There has been concern that the unrest could spill over Greece's 
borders, with shows of support in several European countries, including 
Spain, France, and Germany. German police say a solidarity protest is 
planned for today in Berlin and is expected to be attended by about 500 
people.
After more than a week of violence, Greece's mainly young protesters 
have begun changing tactics to attention-grabbing stunts.
The banners were displayed the day after a group of youths forced their 
way into Greece's state television studios, disrupting a news broadcast 
of a speech by Karamanlis.
The youths appeared live on national television behind black banners 
that read: "Stop watching, get out onto the streets" and "Free everyone 
who has been arrested." In Thessaloniki, protesters broke into three 
local radio stations, agreeing to leave only after a protest message was 
read on the air.
More than 300 people have been arrested since the riots started, and the 
main courthouse in Athens has been the scene of tense confrontations 
between riot police and angry students demanding the release of those 
detained during the unrest.






http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28274512/
Christmas shoppers flee amid clashes in Athens
Anti-government rioters try to burn down Greek capital's main holiday tree

Simela Pantzartzi / EPA
Riot police try to protect the Christmas tree in Athens' Syntagma Square 
during clashes with protesters on Thursday.
Slideshow

Violence flares in Greece
Almost two weeks after police killed a teen in Athens, unrest is still 
plaguing Greece.

updated 12:25 p.m. ET Dec. 18, 2008
ATHENS, Greece - Riot police clashed with rock-throwing demonstrators in 
central Athens on Thursday, sending Christmas shoppers and people in 
cafes running for cover. Frightened parents scooped up their children 
from a Christmas carousel in the city's main square and fled.
The protesters broke away from a peaceful rally and hurled rocks and 
firebombs at police and buildings near parliament, overturned a car and 
set fire to trash bins. They also splashed police with red paint.

Police responded with tear gas.
Firefighters and police also stopped an effort Thursday to burn down the 
city's main Christmas tree, which was replaced this week after being 
torched in riots.
Latest outbreak of violence
Thursday's clashes were the latest outbreak of violence over the fatal 
police shooting of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos on Dec. 6. The 
riots have also been fueled by dissatisfaction with Greece's 
increasingly unpopular conservative government.
More than 200 youths took part in running battles with police Thursday 
in Athens. They also set fire to a private security van and set up a 
burning barricade after smashing a cafe storefront, and dragging out and 
setting fire to its furniture. Downtown streets were littered with 
smashed paving stones and marble blocks.
Before the violence broke out, some 7,000 students and other protesters 
marched in a rally, chanting "We are the law, we'll stay on the 
streets." As they passed, fearful business owners shuttered their shops. 
Some demonstrators painted white crime-scene-style body outlines on the 
streets.
Earlier in the day, some 1,000 demonstrators joined a peaceful Communist 
Party-backed march through the city. Some 300 people also marched in 
Greece's second largest city of Thessaloniki.
Labor protests
While sporadic rallies have been held in Europe in support of the Greek 
protesters, none were reported Thursday.
Major labor unions staged work stoppages Thursday to protest the 
teenager's shooting and the conservative government's economic policies.
Air traffic controllers walked off the job for three hours, forcing 
state Olympic Airlines to cancel 28 flights and reschedule another 14. 
State hospitals were operating with skeleton staff in a 24-hour strike.
The government appealed for calm after another teenager was shot in the 
hand late Wednesday near his school. It was unclear who shot him.
Police spokesman Panayiotis Stathis said no officers were in the area at 
the time of the attack, and Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos 
promised a thorough investigation. The boy underwent surgery Thursday.
The policeman who shot Grigoropoulos has been charged with murder and 
jailed pending trial, while his partner was charged as an accomplice. He 
said he fired a warning shot in self-defense against a group of youths 
but the family's lawyer said he aimed to kill without significant 
provocation.
http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/58385.html
Greek protesters unveil banner on Acropolis
Source: Telegraph (UK) (12-17-08)
Greece's most famous ancient monument, the Acropolis, became the latest 
stage for the country's deep political crisis on Wednesday when 
protesters draped it with banners calling for anti-government 
demonstrations across Europe.
On the twelfth day of unrest since a police officer's fatal shooting of 
a schoolboy triggered riots and arson, protesters unfurled two large 
pink banners from the stone walls of the ancient hilltop citadel, which 
looms over Athens.
"Thursday 18/12 demonstrations in all Europe," one banner read in Greek, 
English, Italian and German, while the other simply bore the word: 
"Resistance".






http://story.torontotelegraph.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/2411cd3571b4f088/id/443449/cs/1/
Greek protesters urge Europe to demonstrate
Toronto Telegraph
Wednesday 17th December, 2008
Greek protesters have hung two giant banners from the Acropolis in 
Athens, with slogans calling for demonstrations across Europe.

One multilingual banner bore the word 'resistance' in several European 
languages.

The other called for demonstrations across the continent.

Many protests have already taken place in Athens and the northern city 
of Salonika to protest the December 6th police shooting of an Athens 
teenager.

Authorities say rioting triggered by the death is the worst in the 
country in decades.

Retailers have reported more than a billion dollars in damage as gangs 
of protesters looted and burned hundreds of business premises over the 
last twelve days of violence.





http://www.ana-mpa.gr/anaweb/user/showplain?maindoc=7142257&maindocimg=7141968&service=142

Political reactions to youth protest on Acropolis
The government and main opposition PASOK on Wednesday both criticised 
the latest forms of protest adopted by young people. They were 
particularly critical of a group that hung two huge banners from the 
side of the Athens Acropolis, one with the word 'Resistance' in four 
languages and a second urging participation in European-wide 
demonstrations on Thursday.
According to government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros this move was 
"completely unjustifiable" and unacceptable, "in the sense that it 
besmirches the country's image abroad".
Regarding the protestors that broke into the ERT state television 
studios on Tuesday during a live news broadcast, Antonaros said the 
incident was being investigated. He also questioned the failure of the 
opposition parties, especially PASOK, to condemn "actions like these 
that are dangerous for the smooth operation of democratic institutions."
He stressed that there was no question of ERT President Christos 
Panagopoulos resigning over the incident.
The government was concerned by a spate of high school sit-ins but the 
problem was not as big as it was being presented, he added in response 
to other questions.
He stressed that those organising the sit-ins were a minority and did 
not have the right to exclude others from learning.
The protest on the Acropolis was also criticised by the main opposition, 
which described it as excessive.
"I do not consider that the country is in a time of revolution, nor are 
we living under some regime that requires that we give the image of a 
country - an image that has surely gone all around the world - in 
overall resistance," said PASOK shadow minister for education Anna 
Diamantopoulou.
PASOK spokesman George Papaconstantinou, on his part, said Prime 
Minister Costas Karamanlis had fully backed the political leadership of 
all the ministries responsible for the youth demonstrations and rioting 
of the past 10 days, including the education minister and the deputy 
interior minister who had "continued partying at a nightclub after 
hearing of the events in Exarchia".
He also linked the outbreak of violence with issues related to 
education, saying that one of PASOK's first steps as a government would 
be to increase funding for education.
Regarding the Acropolis protest, Papaconstantinou said that "he 
condemned the fact that our country was embarrassed worldwide at this 
time and the government is responsible".
He also criticised the arrests of teenagers indicted for felonies under 
terrorism "when I don't see the arrests of those truly responsible".
On Tuesday's incident at ERT and the protest on the Acropolis, however, 
the spokesman noted that "there are better ways for someone to make 
their opinions known".
In a sarcastic comment on the verdict handed down by a Thessaloniki 
court on officers found guilty of beating up a Cypriot student at a 
march, Papaconstantinou said that "it is impressive that in this country 
the cost of a beating is five euros a day".






http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/3795821/Greek-protesters-invade-TV-studio-and-demand-to-be-put-on-air.html

Greek protesters invade TV studio and demand to be put on air
Protesters attacked the headquarters of Greece's riot police in Athens 
and interrupted a national television news bulletin on Tuesday as 
violence resumed after a two-day lull.

By Nick Squires
Last Updated: 7:04PM GMT 16 Dec 2008

This TV grab shows the point of transition between two TV feeds showing 
Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis addressing the parliament, and a 
banner reading "Stop watching and get out onto the streets", displayed 
by Greek youths who interrupted the broa Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES
A group of around 100 hooded and masked protesters threw petrol bombs 
and rocks at the police station in the centre of the capital, damaging 
seven cars and a police bus, in a revival of the unrest which was 
triggered by the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old schoolboy by a police 
officer 11 days ago.
Violence also flared in the country's second city, Thessaloniki, where 
riot police fired tear gas to disperse an estimated 300 youths who threw 
stones and fruit outside the city's main court complex.
The disturbance followed a court's decision to hand down suspended 
sentences ranging from three years to 15 months to eight police officers 
who were found guilty of abusing a student during similar demonstrations 
two years ago.
Protesters occupied a studio at the state broadcaster, NET, interrupting 
a news bulletin by holding up banners calling for mass participation in 
the protests which have convulsed Greece since the shooting of 
Alexandros Grigoropoulos, 15, in Athens on Dec 6.
Footage of a speech by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis was suddenly 
replaced by students who held up banners which read: "Stop watching, get 
out onto the streets," and "Free everyone who has been arrested."
The TV station claimed the students had infiltrated the station earlier 
in the day by pretending to be visitors and then threatened staff, 
demanding to be put on air.
The schoolboy's death triggered some of Greece's worst rioting since the 
end of military rule in 1974, with protesters hurling petrol bombs and 
rocks at police and torching cars, shops, banks and offices in more than 
a dozen Greek cities.
Dozens of people have been injured in the rioting and more than 300 
people arrested. The policeman accused of killing the teenager has been 
charged with murder and is being held pending trial.
In his address to parliament, Mr Karamanlis pledged to improve Greece's 
economic situation and the plight of the estimated 20 per cent of Greeks 
who live in poverty.
But he said his conservative government's options were limited by the 
fact that Greece will spend 12 billion euros, about 5 per cent of GDP, 
just to service its massive national debt.
"Our top priority is to support those hurt the most ... (but) this debt 
is a huge burden that reduces the government's flexibility at a critical 
time," he said.
He acknowledged that young Greeks were frustrated and angry with high 
unemployment, low wages and a poor education system.
"Long unresolved problems disappoint young people: the lack of 
meritocracy, corruption in everyday life, a sense of social injustice. 
The fight against them is hard and constant and we are committed to it."
Political analysts said the prime minister was likely to sacrifice some 
ministers to inject new blood into his conservative government.
"Today the prime minister accepted partial political responsibility," 
said Theodoros Livanios, director of research at a polling firm, 
Opinion. "Karamanlis will soon announce a reshuffle of his government."
The cost to Greece from the rioting has been huge. The National 
Confederation of Commerce estimates 565 shops were damaged in Athens 
alone, with damage costing 200 million euros.






http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2008/12/17/greek_protesters_take_over_tv_radio_studios/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+World+news
Greek protesters take over TV, radio studios
December 17, 2008
ATHENS - Greek protesters pushed their way into television and radio 
studios yesterday, forcing broadcasters to put out anti-government 
messages in a change of tactics after days of violent street protests.
A group of about 10 youths got into the studio of NET state television 
and turned off a broadcast of a speech by Prime Minister Costas 
Karamanlis, station officials said. The protesters forced studio cameras 
to instead show them holding up banners that read: "Stop watching, get 
out onto the streets," and "Free everyone who has been arrested." No one 
was hurt, and no arrests were reported.
NET chairman Christos Panagopoulos said the protesters appeared to know 
how to operate cameras and studio controls.
In Thessaloniki, protesters made their way into three local radio 
stations, agreeing to leave only when a protest message was read out on 
the air.
Violence also broke out again after a two-day lull as masked youths 
attacked riot police headquarters in Athens.
ASSOCIATED PRESS






http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/12/16/greece.protests/index.html?eref=rss_world
December 16, 2008 -- Updated 0327 GMT (1127 HKT)

Greek protesters storm television station
• Story Highlights
• Some 40 protesters snuck into the television station, witnesses say
• They were upset with the network's coverage of the recent police 
killing of a youth
• Police have alleged that the boy was about to throw a fuel-filled 
device at them
• The killing has sparked daily protests, which have thrown the country 
into turmoil

ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- Dozens of protesters in the Greek capital 
stormed the headquarters of state television station ERT on Tuesday, 
interrupting broadcasting and unfurling a black banner that read, "Do 
not watch television. Everyone out on the streets."

A youth holds a sign reading, "We won't forget," in front of police 
headquarters in Athens on Monday.

Witnesses, including ERT chairman Christos Panagopoulos, said 40 
protesters snuck into the building outside the capital city of Athens, 
entering in small groups and acting as guests so they would not raise 
suspicions.
The move was a change in tactics by demonstrators protesting the police 
killing on December 6 of Alexis Grigoropolous, a 15-year-old boy in Athens.
Police have alleged that the teenager was about to throw a fuel-filled 
device at them, as a gang of youths pelted a patrol vehicle. Of the two 
officers involved in the shooting, one is charged with premeditated 
manslaughter and the other with acting as an accomplice.
The killing sparked daily protests, including riots, which have thrown 
the country into turmoil and have become an outlet for simmering anger 
about the conservative government's handling of the economy, education 
and jobs.
The unrest is threatening the government's hold on power, with some 
opposition groups calling for fresh elections. Stores and international 
businesses have been attacked, and at least 280 people have been 
detained by police. Of those, 176 were arrested -- 130 of them for looting.
At the state television station on Tuesday, some of the demonstrators 
went to the office of the president to complain about the network's 
coverage of the protests, while others wrested control of a broadcast 
from technicians in the master control room.
Another group of protesters entered the studio where an anchor was in 
the midst of an afternoon broadcast and unfurled the banner.
The station had stepped up security in anticipation of such a move, 
Panagopoulos said.
A posting on ERT's Web site said Panagopoulos "denounced" the actions of 
the protesters, saying they had not identified themselves.

"Mr. Panagopoulos stressed that they were not students but unknown 
people, who do not respect freedom and democracy," the posting said.
The peaceful stunt appeared to have been carried out by artists and 
other professionals, not just students, who have been conducting most of 
the demonstrations, a witness said.






http://www.nowpublic.com/world/greek-protesters-occupy-tv-station-athens
Greek Protesters Occupy TV Station in Athens
Share:
by Teacher Dude | December 17, 2008 at 02:27 am

Protesters occupy Greek TV station Last night a group of 20 students 
occupied the state run NET TV channel in Athens in protest against the 
killing of 15 year old Alexandros Grigoropoulos by a police officer 
eleven days ago. Holding up a banner which said, "Stop Watching. 
Everyone on the Streets" they interrupted the stations broadcast of 
prime minister, Kostas Karamanlis's speech in parliament (see video here).
This is another is series of demonstrations which have swept Greece in 
the wake of the killing and have put the present administration on the 
defensive. Hundreds of schools and campuses throughout Greece remain 
under occupation and protest marches have taken place daily in many 
cities. Although the violent scenes witnessed last week have died down 
young people's feeling of anger at the police and the present econmic 
situation hasn't diminished.
On its site NET channel said that;

"Disrupting any concept of democratic dialogue, a group of young people 
stormed state television ERT studio at noon while the new bulleting was 
aired. They managed to interrupt the regular program, putting at risk 
body integrity of employees, to air their slogans. State Television ERT 
chairman, Hristos Panagopoulos denounced the action of the particular 
group, noting that they had not identified themselves even in the text 
they tried to distribute in the corridors. Mr. Panagopoulos stressed 
that they were not students but unknown people, who do not respect 
freedom and democracy. They were not an organized group but sneaked into 
the state television premises, adding that they blocked both himself and 
journalists responsible for the news bulletin. "

It should be noted that the state run media has long been accused by 
opposition parties of pro government bias in its coverage of domestic 
politics. The opposition PASOK party rerpresentative, Tilimaxhos Hitiris 
accused NET of being a "propaganda mechanism".

Monday's high school student demonstration outside the central police 
headquarters in Athens which was violently broken by when the police 
used batons and tear gas to drive demonstrators back. Whilst scenes of 
police attacking teenagers were shown on many private TV stations the 
state run channels showed earlier scenes of students presenting officers 
with flowers.
http://www.ana-mpa.gr/anaweb/user/showplain?maindoc=7138892&service=142
Protestors interrupt live state TV news broadcast
The regular programme of the state television network NET was briefly 
interrupted at 15:10 on Tuesday when a group of unknown young people 
broke into the studio while the afternoon news programme was being 
broadcast, bearing a banner reading "Stop watching, get out onto the 
street".
The president of the state broadcasting organisation ERT Christos 
Panagopoulos apologised for the interruption and condemned it on behalf 
of ERT and the workforce as "an pre-planned act that went beyond all 
social tolerance and all aspects of protest".
He said he took full responsibility for what had occurred, with all that 
this might entail, adding that it had been an "organised invasion" by a 
group that did not represent anyone.
"There was no sit-in but an incursion by a small group of unknown 
people, that started entering the buildings of ERT from the morning as 
visitors," Panagopoulos explained, noting that those involved were not 
high school students but people in their mid-20s "without a face or 
identity" that claimed to be people of the arts and letters.
He also accused the group of deliberately creating a diversion so that 
they could carry out their 'coup', turning up at his office and asking 
to express their objections to the way that the recent incidents had 
been covered by private television channels.
While talking to those in his office, Panagopoulos said, he was then 
informed that another group had broken into the studio and forced the 
directors and cameramen to depart, cut off the sound and turning the 
cameras onto themselves.
"They were people that knew how to use the control room, the machinery, 
the cameras. It was planned," Panagopoulos repeated.
He revealed that ERT had been alerted to the fact that a protest was 
being planned and had stepped up security at its Agia Paraskevi and 
Katehaki sites.
"The guarding continued until 14:00 in the afternoon. What happened was, 
however, organised from the morning," he stressed.
Government, parties comment
Referring to the incident at ERT, government spokesman Evangelos 
Antonaros strongly condemned what he called "an attempt by some 
extremist elements to damage the smooth and independent operation of a 
mass media organisation, and what's more, one with a public character".
The actions indicated the contempt in which such elements held the rules 
by which Greece's democracy functioned, he added.
"For this reason, every such action on the part of those that plan it, 
carry it out or even simply support it, is a conscious attempt to 
abolish democracy," Antonaros said.
According to main opposition PASOK's spokesman for media issues 
Tilemachos Hytiris, the incidents at ERT were "inevitable" given that 
the government had "converted the state television into a mechanism for 
propaganda and wasting public money".
The Communist Party of Greece (KKE), on the same issue, said that the 
particular move "could not be ruled out" as one of many possible forms 
of action.
"Our own objection lies with the anonymity of the action, and the fact 
that the messages and the slogans should have been related to the 
problems in education and others that concern the youth of the working 
class, the children of the working class family".






http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2008/12/20081216141230186786.html
Greek youths make TV protest

A burnt police vehicle targeted in an arson attack on Tuesday [AFP]

About 20 young protesters have briefly occupied a studio at Greek state 
television's offices as part of protests against the death of a 
15-year-old boy who was shot by police on December 6.
The NET channel briefly aired images of the protesters holding up a 
banner in the studio reading, "Stop watching television and get out on 
the streets," before cutting away to advertisements for three minutes.
The interrupted programme then picked up again with the presenter making 
no reference to the incident.
"They came peacefully. There was no force used and they asked to protest 
on the air about the 15-year-old's killing," a police official, who 
asked not to be identified, said.
Christos Panagopoulos, NET's chairman, said the protesters had violently 
forced
their way into the studio. "This goes beyond any limit,'' he said.
The protest interrupted coverage of a speech by Costas Karamanlis, the 
country's prime minister, to parliament.
During his address, Karamanlis said: "Long unresolved problems 
disappoint young people, the lack of meritocracy, corruption in everyday 
life, a sense of social injustice.
"The fight against them is hard and constant and we are committed to it."
Violence continues
Violence over the shooting of Alexandros Grigoropoulos continued on 
Tuesday when about 100 youths attacked a police station in Athens, 
setting fire to a police bus and four cars belonging to officers.
Students blocked streets in the capital and dozens of teenagers gathered 
outside Athens' main court complex and a maximum security prison where 
some threw stones at police.
Protesters have called for riot officers to be pulled off the streets, 
for police to be disarmed and for the government to revise its economic, 
social and education policies.
Since the shooting, shops have been looted and cars smashed during 
protests in many cities around the country.
Greece's national confederation of commerce estimates 565 shops have 
been damaged in Athens alone, at a cost of $275m.






http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/12/415623.html

Eyewitness reports police violence against Athens protesters
The following account was submitted by a Greek student to the WSWS | 
16.12.2008 22:50 | World
On Friday, December 12, a protest of 10,000 people filled the centre of 
Athens. People from every social background took part—students and high 
school students alongside their professors and their parents, but also 
many immigrants, unemployed citizens and even public service workers. 
They all took to the streets to express their opposition to the government.

Starting from the University of Athens, the protest proceeded from 
Stadiou Street to Syntagma Square and finished up in front of the 
parliament building where some minor clashes took place with the police. 
High school students staged a sit-down protest in front of the riot 
control police (MAT). When the bulk of the protesters arrived, the crowd 
made two attempts to enter the parliament building.

After a while the police provoked the crowd by picking out and arresting 
certain individuals. The crowd of demonstrators held their ground. 
Having had no success, the police sprayed the crowd with tear gas and, 
wearing gas masks, attacked the protesters. Fortunately, those caught by 
the police were able to escape with the help of other students and some 
older men who yelled at the police officers (who were also quite young) 
that they "should be ashamed of themselves."

As the police intensified their attacks, the demonstrators withdrew to 
the grounds of the university. En route to the Polytechnio (National 
Technical University), one of the two universities whose students had 
organized the protest, police continued to provoke the protesters and 
grabbed people out of the crowd.

The Polytechnio is located in the Exarchia neighborhood, where the young 
student Alexis Grigoropoulos was killed over a week ago. It was the 
first university to be occupied by students on the very night of the 
murder.

Following the demonstration Friday, between 500 and 700 people gathered 
in the Polytechnio auditorium—students, unemployed, immigrants and 
public service workers—to discuss how to proceed. Those gathered 
stressed the necessity of maintaining the unity of the movement and not 
allowing it to be subordinated to parties that only sought to exploit 
the rallies and protests for their own electoral purposes.

The meeting then discussed how to support the high school students who 
are at the forefront of the demonstrations. Measures were discussed that 
would improve the exchange of information, ensure that the students 
remained organized and united and prevent them from getting arrested.

Public sector workers in attendance declared that certain municipalities 
have entirely closed down and that the workers involved were actively 
supporting the demonstrations. The meeting also discussed the dangers 
arising from a deliberate campaign by the media to isolate and break the 
opposition movement. This would no doubt be supported by and play into 
the hands of the government.

The students are calling on the workers' movement for support and 
demanding that those in its leadership who have close contact with and 
actually work for the government be sacked.

The demands raised included: punishment for those responsible for the 
death of Alexis Grigoropoulos, the resignation of the government, 
abolition of the "terror laws" and the police special forces, a ban on 
carrying weapons by the police, and the release of the 200 students 
arrested since the outbreak of the demonstrations.

The students have also advanced social demands, among them a call for 
the abolition of all private educational institutions, colleges and 
universities and free and unrestricted access to higher education. They 
are also insisting on the maintenance of the right to asylum in 
university buildings and property, first established in the course of 
the mass movement against the Greek military junta in 1973. The protests 
have also raised the need for decent, secure jobs and a reduced workweek.

On Saturday, December 13, a protest took place in the afternoon in front 
of the parliament building. Students from the high school attended by 
Grigoropoulos paid their respects to the slain youth.

Later on some university students protested in front of the assembled 
police lines, taking off their shirts and kneeling with their hands 
behind their backs as if they were prisoners.

Although the rally was peaceful, the government had brought in soldiers 
to protect the parliament and special officers armed with tear gas 
bottles ready to spray protesters. Despite the tense atmosphere, one 
student told the police, "We are not fighting you, we know you are 
humans just like us, we are fighting against your uniform and the laws 
which you obey."

Later the protest proceeded to Athens' Gazi neighborhood, and then 
Peireos Street, where police special forces were lying in wait. Two 
squads suddenly appeared behind the protesters and others came in from 
the side to close down the protest and arrest as many as they could.

On their route to Omonia Square, a small number of protesters attacked 
some banks and sought to dismantle closed circuit television systems 
used by the police to supervise the demonstrations. Contrary to media 
reports of widespread destruction, however, these were the two main 
targets of the protesters.

Those taking part in the daily protests are outraged at the stance taken 
by the Greek media, which concentrates entirely on scuffles between 
police and protesters in such a way as to depict an extremist image of 
the people protesting. The reports on the protests mention student 
protesters, but make no mention of the professors, teaching staff and 
parents taking part. Instead the newspapers concentrate on the damage to 
shops and the reimbursements that the government has promised to 
business owners.
The following account was submitted by a Greek student to the WSWS
Homepage: http://www.wsws.org





http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/12/415620.html

Greek Police crack down as government and opposition seek to isolate 
protests
Stefan Steinberg | 16.12.2008 22:35 | World
Sections of the Greek media and leading politicians have sought to brand 
as "extremists" and "terrorists" the tens of thousands of Greek 
students, school pupils and ordinary workers, including immigrants and 
the employed, who have repeatedly taken part in mass demonstrations in 
the Greek capital Athens and other major cities.

Initially, demonstrators demanded the prosecution of those police 
officers responsible for the shooting death of a 15-year-old youth. 
Increasingly, however, the demonstrations have taken the form of 
protests against the Greek government and the entire political 
establishment. One of the most common demands of the protesters is the 
call for the resignation of the conservative Greek government led by 
Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis (New Democrats, ND).

Together with the concerted campaign to demonise the protesters, leading 
newspapers have called for determined police action to repress the mass 
movement. Last weekend, there were clear indications of a change in 
police tactics, which in turn points to a decision in leading government 
circles to isolate, intimidate and suppress the protest movement.

On Sunday, police charged a peaceful candlelit vigil in Syntagma Square, 
outside the parliament building and the city's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The crowd of demonstrators, numbering about 600, confronted several 
busloads of riot police who began to deploy at the front and back of the 
demonstration and on side streets.

One eyewitness told the BBC, "After the majority of the protesters had 
passed one of these side streets, a group of riot police charged and 
forced about 15 young men and women into a dark shop front on the corner 
of the street.

Protesters flee from tear gas"As the protesters put their hands on their 
heads to signify that they were not intending to fight, the police began 
beating individuals with their batons, issuing threats of extreme 
violence. The women were handcuffed together and the men strip-searched."

The witness, a British businessman who speaks Greek, reported that riot 
police then turned on innocent bystanders: "A riot policeman ran up 
behind one of the men kicking him in the back making obscene comments 
about his size. As the man turned, the policeman began beating the young 
man with his baton, striking him on the head and the side of his face."

The witness said that he overheard the police saying to their detainees, 
"We have you now. You are out of your universities now.... We are going 
to kill you."

The BBC report is backed up by an eyewitness report sent to the World 
Socialist Web Site by a Greek student.

The stepping up of police aggression comes at a time when the political 
establishment in Greece is closing ranks against the mass protests. The 
leader of the main opposition party PASOK, Georgiou Papandreou, recently 
called for new elections. But his party collaborates closely with the 
government in parliament, and the current Greek president is a former 
founding member of the organisation.

PASOK dominated Greek politics since the end of the military 
dictatorship in 1974. From 1981 to 1989, and between 1993 and 2004, it 
formed the government and exerted a powerful influence over the 
country's trade unions. In the 1980s, PASOK defended a nationalist 
economic and political policy, accompanied by anti-American and 
anti-European rhetoric, while at the same time implementing a number of 
social reforms.

In the 1990s, however, in line with other European social democratic 
parties, it increasingly adopted a neo-liberal economic model and pushed 
through drastic welfare cuts at the dictate of the European Union.

PASOK lost support because of its neo-liberal policies and in 2000 was 
only able to secure a narrow victory against ND in national elections.

Georgiou Papandreou took over as head of the party, shortly before the 
2004 elections, but was unable to win support for its populist-led 
election campaign and promises of social reform. Both the father and 
grandfather of Georgiou had already filled the post of prime minister 
and ran the party like a family business.

It was the heritage of nearly two decades of corruption, nepotism and 
betrayal by PASOK that enabled the conservative ND to take power. With 
PASOK discredited, other organisations, such as the Greek Communist 
Party (KKE), have sought to fill the vacuum.

The KKE is the oldest party in Greece and had a history of hard-line 
support for the Stalinist bureaucracy in Moscow until the end of the 
1980s, when the collapse of the Soviet Union precipitated a series of 
splits. Politically, what remains of the hard-line pro-Stalin KKE 
functions today more than ever as a political auxiliary to PASOK.

The KKE refused to participate in the mass demonstrations that began 
just a week ago, condemning the protests as the work of extremists and 
provocateurs. In an interview given to ANA-MPA, just two days ago, KKE 
leader Aleka Papariga savagely attacked the core of demonstrators, 
accusing them of acting on behalf of the state.

"The Molotov cocktails [fire-bombs] and looting of the hooded 
individuals, whose steering centre is linked with the state secret 
services and centres abroad, have absolutely no relationship with the 
mass rage of the pupils, the students, the people in general."

Papariga then went on to harshly criticise the Coalition of the Radical 
Left (SYRIZA), implying that the coalition was acting either 
deliberately or unconsciously for the Greek state. (SYRIZA is an amalgam 
of radical and so-called socialist groups, including the Synaspismos 
organisation that was formed in 2004. It is affiliated to the European 
Left and maintains close relations with organisations such as the German 
Left Party.)

The KKE has won the praise of the government for its hostile stance 
towards the demonstrations. The Employment Minister congratulated the 
KKE for its "responsible" attitude.

The propaganda of the government and opposition has been largely 
rejected by the population. Recent polls make clear that most people 
think the riots are a social uprising, rather than just a reaction to 
the police shooting.

According to the BBC, 60 percent of those questioned by the Kathimerini 
newspaper rejected the assertion that the disturbances have been merely 
a series of coordinated attacks by a small hard core of anarchists. 
Another poll, in the left-wing Ethnos newspaper, determined that 83 
percent of Greeks were unhappy with the government's response to the 
violence. Kathimerini put the disapproval rating at 68 percent.

"As the protesters put their hands on their heads to signify that they 
were not intending to fight, the police began beating individuals with 
their batons, issuing threats of extreme violence. The women were 
handcuffed together and the men strip-searched."

The witness, a British businessman who speaks Greek, reported that riot 
police then turned on innocent bystanders: "A riot policeman ran up 
behind one of the men kicking him in the back making obscene comments 
about his size. As the man turned, the policeman began beating the young 
man with his baton, striking him on the head and the side of his face."

The witness said that he overheard the police saying to their detainees, 
"We have you now. You are out of your universities now.... We are going 
to kill you."

The BBC report is backed up by an eyewitness report sent to the World 
Socialist Web Site by a Greek student.

The stepping up of police aggression comes at a time when the political 
establishment in Greece is closing ranks against the mass protests. The 
leader of the main opposition party PASOK, Georgiou Papandreou, recently 
called for new elections. But his party collaborates closely with the 
government in parliament, and the current Greek president is a former 
founding member of the organisation.

PASOK dominated Greek politics since the end of the military 
dictatorship in 1974. From 1981 to 1989, and between 1993 and 2004, it 
formed the government and exerted a powerful influence over the 
country's trade unions. In the 1980s, PASOK defended a nationalist 
economic and political policy, accompanied by anti-American and 
anti-European rhetoric, while at the same time implementing a number of 
social reforms.

In the 1990s, however, in line with other European social democratic 
parties, it increasingly adopted a neo-liberal economic model and pushed 
through drastic welfare cuts at the dictate of the European Union.

PASOK lost support because of its neo-liberal policies and in 2000 was 
only able to secure a narrow victory against ND in national elections.

Georgiou Papandreou took over as head of the party, shortly before the 
2004 elections, but was unable to win support for its populist-led 
election campaign and promises of social reform. Both the father and 
grandfather of Georgiou had already filled the post of prime minister 
and ran the party like a family business.

It was the heritage of nearly two decades of corruption, nepotism and 
betrayal by PASOK that enabled the conservative ND to take power. With 
PASOK discredited, other organisations, such as the Greek Communist 
Party (KKE), have sought to fill the vacuum.

The KKE is the oldest party in Greece and had a history of hard-line 
support for the Stalinist bureaucracy in Moscow until the end of the 
1980s, when the collapse of the Soviet Union precipitated a series of 
splits. Politically, what remains of the hard-line pro-Stalin KKE 
functions today more than ever as a political auxiliary to PASOK.

The KKE refused to participate in the mass demonstrations that began 
just a week ago, condemning the protests as the work of extremists and 
provocateurs. In an interview given to ANA-MPA, just two days ago, KKE 
leader Aleka Papariga savagely attacked the core of demonstrators, 
accusing them of acting on behalf of the state.

"The Molotov cocktails [fire-bombs] and looting of the hooded 
individuals, whose steering centre is linked with the state secret 
services and centres abroad, have absolutely no relationship with the 
mass rage of the pupils, the students, the people in general."

Papariga then went on to harshly criticise the Coalition of the Radical 
Left (SYRIZA), implying that the coalition was acting either 
deliberately or unconsciously for the Greek state. (SYRIZA is an amalgam 
of radical and so-called socialist groups, including the Synaspismos 
organisation that was formed in 2004. It is affiliated to the European 
Left and maintains close relations with organisations such as the German 
Left Party.)

The KKE has won the praise of the government for its hostile stance 
towards the demonstrations. The Employment Minister congratulated the 
KKE for its "responsible" attitude.

The propaganda of the government and opposition has been largely 
rejected by the population. Recent polls make clear that most people 
think the riots are a social uprising, rather than just a reaction to 
the police shooting.

According to the BBC, 60 percent of those questioned by the Kathimerini 
newspaper rejected the assertion that the disturbances have been merely 
a series of coordinated attacks by a small hard core of anarchists. 
Another poll, in the left-wing Ethnos newspaper, determined that 83 
percent of Greeks were unhappy with the government's response to the 
violence. Kathimerini put the disapproval rating at 68 percent.
Stefan Steinberg
Homepage: http://www.wsws.org






http://www.nowpublic.com/world/continued-protests-puts-greek-government-defensive

Continued Protests Puts Greek Government on the Defensive
Share:
by Teacher Dude | December 16, 2008 at 10:06 am

While the scene of rioting that marked the previous week in Athens and 
other Greek cities have not been repeated this week, protests over the 
killing of 15 year old Alexandros Grigoropoulos have continued unabated.

In place of anarchist wielding petrol bombs in Exarchia the country has 
seen a wave of demonstrations by high school and university students who 
have also occupied hundreds of schools and campuses.

In addition town halls, radio stations and government offices have 
witnessed sit-in by young Greeks angry over what a future which seems to 
offer little in the way of hope or prospects.

The death of the teenager 10 days ago seems to have triggered a wider 
social revolt by under 25's enraged by not just police brutality but 
also a political system which is seemingly mired in corruption and 
scandal. One in which members of the political elite pass on power to 
their family members. Case in point the present prime minister, Kostas 
Karamanlis, nephew of former PM, Constantinos Karamanlis who is simply a 
more obvious example of what of a wider phenomenon as the country's 
political life is riddled with a thick web of family connections which 
means that often the grandchildren of the ruling families cross swords 
in parliament decades after their grandparents have passed away.

Similarly, the the job market and economy in general is ruled by a 
system of patron - client relations which often sees the best paying 
jobs go to insiders rather than those most qualified.
The growing discrepancy between young people's aspirations and a youth 
unemployment rate of 25%, the highest in Europe has driven many to 
despair of their future.

The current crisis has not been helped by the seemingly endless wave of 
corruption and influence scandals that have hit the New Democracy 
administration which was narrowly re-elected in 2007. Despite numerous 
serious cases of financial impropriety, people feel that those involved 
have yet to be punished.

A feeling reinforced by the findings of a parliamentary report on the 
latest Vatopedi monastery land swap scandal which found that no senior 
government official involved had broken the law.
The Vatopedi case,which revolves around a series of dubious land deals 
between the state and the Greek orthodox church has scandalised public 
opinion and caused the government's standing in opinion polls to drop 
dramatically.

The feeling that those in positions of authority are above the law also 
includes the police who have been involved in a long list of cases in 
which deaths and excessive use of violence went unpunished or was hushed 
up.

Young activists clashed with police today outside the central courts in 
the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki when the police officers 
involved in a Rodney King style beating of Cypriot student, Augoustinos 
Dimitrios in 2007 walked free after being given suspended sentences. The 
event which was captured live on shocked audiences with its savagery.

In the wake of the verdict many fear that the case of the teen who was 
shot by a 37 year old police officer will be swept under the carpet once 
protests die down.






http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/12/16/worldupdates/2008-12-16T192403Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-370585-1&sec=Worldupdates

Tuesday December 16, 2008
Greek protesters occupy state TV, interrupt news
ATHENS (Reuters) - About 20 student protesters occupied Greece's state 
television channel on Tuesday, interrupting a news broadcast in a 
demonstration against the police killing of a teenager.
"They came peacefully. There was no force used and they asked to protest 
on the air about the 15-year-old's killing," said a police official, who 
asked not to be identitied.
The channel showed images of the protesters for several moments before 
quickly cutting to advertisements and footage of the prime minister 
talking to his legislators in parliament earlier on Tuesday, the 
eleventh day of demonstrations following the shooting.







http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=99884

Greek Protesters Clash with Police for 10th Day
World | December 16, 2008, Tuesday

Violent protests in Greece entered a 10th day with more rallies planned 
this week. Photo by BGNES
Violent protests in Greece entered a 10th day with youths attacking 
Athens's main police station with petrol bombs.

Police used tear gas to disperse protesters, who started the riots over 
the deadly police shooting of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos.

The shooting of the boy was the catalyst for the violence, but it comes 
along with plummeting popularity of the centre-right government, accused 
of failing to cope with harsh social problems.

The unrest in Greece has already caused millions of dollars in damage, 
as dozens of banks, shops, and offices were destroyed by anarchist 
protesters.







http://www.denverpost.com/ci_11233434?source=rss
Greek protesters plan march
Denver Post Wire Report
Posted: 12/15/2008 12:30:00 AM MST

ATHENS, Greece — Athens was calm Sunday after eight days of the worst 
riots Greece has seen in decades, sparked by the police killing of a 
teenager. But Greek youths who have protested daily since the boy's 
death have vowed to remain on the streets until their concerns are 
addressed. Protesters are angry not just at police but at a government 
already on the defensive over a series of financial scandals and over 
economic issues. Protesters say they will march today to the police 
headquarters in Athens. Schoolchildren are planning demonstrations 
throughout the city.







http://www.seattlepi.com/national/392351_greek16.html

Last updated December 15, 2008 8:51 p.m. PT
Greek protesters find refuge in university stronghold
Police barred from campus grounds
By ELENA BECATOROS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATHENS, Greece -- Inside the gates of Athens' main university, bonfires 
rage and masked gangs stockpile petrol bombs, broken paving stones and 
marble hacked from the neoclassical buildings. It's their arsenal for 
more possible clashes with weary police.
But a week into Greece's worst civil unrest in decades -- sparked by the 
police shooting of a teenage boy and then fed by anger at the country's 
economic unraveling -- the rioters' best weapon is arguably the law.
They have used, some say abused, a decades-old code that bars police 
from university campuses. The grounds of the Athens Polytechnic have 
become a combination of sanctuary and makeshift armory for the bands of 
young men and women who have left parts of the capital ransacked and 
smoldering.
The self-proclaimed anarchists and revolutionaries based at the 
Polytechnic have become outnumbered on the streets by more typical 
demonstrators -- such as labor unions and opposition parties -- who have 
called for Greece's increasingly unpopular conservative government to 
resign.
Yet it's the rage and destruction of the masked youths that have become 
the symbols of the showdown.
Nearly every night in the past week, the streets around the Polytechnic 
become an urban battleground. Riot police emerge through clouds of tear 
gas and the smoke of flaming barricades.
Black-clad youths -- their faces covered by masks, scarves and motorbike 
helmets -- hurl petrol bombs over the hulks of torched cars. Late 
Saturday night, one pushed a shopping cart full of rocks and chunks of 
marble to replenish the stocks. Another stumbled into the campus wearing 
a Spiderman mask.
"Stones! We need more stones!" someone bellowed in the dark. One young 
man began smashing pieces of concrete from one of the university's 
buildings.
"Don't waste the Molotovs, damn it! Use them wisely!" another shouted, 
his voice hoarse from the tear gas fired by riot police night after night.
The demands are mostly cries against the government and the economic 
hardships faced by many Greeks as the economy stalls after years of 
moderate growth.
The police know that weapons and rocks are stockpiled in the Polytechnic 
grounds. But they dare not enter.
The image of a tank crashing the Polytechnic's gates on Nov. 17, 1973, 
to quell a student uprising against the military dictatorship is known 
to every Greek. Nov. 17 is a holiday to mark the deaths of the 
protesters and the beginning of the end for the 1967-74 junta.
Greeks have a deep well of tolerance for those who rebel against 
authority, and generally accept the low-level violence that can break 
out during demonstrations, such as smashing store windows or torching 
cars. But the destructive fury unleashed by the fatal police shooting of 
15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos on Dec. 6 has shocked many.
Greece's Retailers Association estimated $135 million in damage to 
stores, and predicted $2 billion in lost revenue during the holiday 
shopping period.








http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/World-News/2-25664-Protests-and-riots-carry-on-in-Greece.html

Protests and riots carry on in Greece
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 08:39 GMT
In Greece police used tear gas in order to disperse the crowds of 
protestors who were throwing stones and Molotov cocktails on security 
forces at the middle of the Greek capital in the second week of 
anti-government riots. The protests erupted after a policeman killed a 
kid in December 6. To that, young men clashed with riot police in front 
of a main court in Athens and near a police center in the middle of the 
capital. Moreover, it was reported that many stores north of the country 
were stolen.







http://www.chinapost.com.tw/international/europe/2008/12/16/187818/Greek-police.htm

December 16, 2008 9:54 am TWN, By Renee Maltezou and Daniel Flynn, Reuters
Greek police teargas youths in second week of protests
ATHENS -- Greek police fired teargas at small groups of protesters who 
threw stones and firebombs in central Athens on Monday in a second-week 
of anti-government demonstrations since a policeman shot dead a teenager.
Youths outside Athens’ main court and central police station clashed 
with riot police, while acts of vandalism against shops were reported in 
two northern cities in protests against the Dec. 6 killing of 
15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos. His death has triggered Greece’s 
worst riots in decades.
The unrest, which has caused more than 200 million euros (US$270 
million) worth of damage, has fed on anger over political scandals, high 
youth unemployment and low wages, and the impact of a global recession 
on Greece.
In bond markets, the spread between Greek debt and German benchmark 
bonds — a measure of perceived investment risk — reached its widest 
point in nearly a decade on Monday, at more than 2 percent. Analysts 
said the political crisis had compounded concerns due to the global 
economic downturn.
IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn warned there was a risk of 
social unrest spreading unless the global financial sector shared wealth 
more evenly. Copy-cat demonstrations have taken place in many European 
countries.
The scale of the Greek protests has tailed off sharply in recent days 
and Athens was peaceful on Sunday. But students and unions have called 
for more rallies on Thursday and Friday against education and pension 
reforms, privatizations and tax rises as the budget goes to parliament.
The conservative government only has a one-seat majority and trails in 
polls.
Central Athens braced for further violence later on Monday, when an 
anarchist group plans to march on parliament.
Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis’s ruling New Democracy party has 
denounced the riots as the work of a small group of hardcore anarchists, 
but at their peak early last week thousands of youths ran riot through 
10 cities, wrecking hundreds of cars, banks and businesses, spooking 
investors.
An opinion poll published on Sunday by Kathimerini newspaper put 
disapproval of the government at 68 percent, with 60 percent of those 
polled saying the riots were a social uprising rather than an outburst 
by an isolated fringe of violent protesters.







http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=161357

Greek protesters rally outside Athens police HQ

Youths protested outside of Athens’ main police headquarters on Monday, 
pelting riot police with flour to protest the shooting death of a teenager.

Riot police responded with small amounts of tear gas. Some 2,000 youths 
at the rally blocked one of the capital’s main avenues, chanted slogans 
and occasionally threw oranges and plastic water bottles at riot police 
guarding the building. Police did not respond until a group threw flour 
at them, then fired some tear gas that briefly scattered the 
demonstrators. Earlier, about 50 youths shouted slogans outside the 
capital’s main court complex, where five people arrested during last 
week’s riots were to appear before an examining magistrate. Riot police 
guarded the complex and no disturbances were reported. Police said no 
violence was reported in Athens overnight after an uneventful day 
Sunday. Greece has seen its worst riots in decades after 15-year-old 
Alexandros Grigoropoulos died Dec. 6 in a police shooting. The riots 
quickly spread from Athens to more than a dozen cities. For a week, 
youths smashed and burned stores and cars, and hurled petrol bombs and 
rocks at riot police.

16 December 2008, Tuesday

AP ATHENS






http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/16/2447261.htm

Greek police teargas Athens protesters
Posted Tue Dec 16, 2008 9:00am AEDT
Greek police have fired teargas at small groups of protesters who threw 
stones and firebombs in central Athens in a second week of 
anti-government demonstrations since a policeman shot dead a teenager.
Youths outside Athens' main court and central police station clashed 
with riot police, while acts of vandalism against shops were reported in 
two northern cities in protests against the December 6 killing of 
15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos.
His death has triggered Greece's worst riots in decades which have 
caused more than 200 million euros ($410 million) worth of damage as 
protesters tap into resentment over political scandals and a slowing 
economy hit by the global recession.
The scale of the Greek protests has tailed off sharply in recent days 
and Athens was peaceful on Sunday, but students and police exchanged 
firebombs and teargas on Monday (local time).
More rallies have been called for Thursday and Friday against education 
and pension reforms, privatisations and tax rises as the budget goes to 
parliament.
The tourist industry worries that more unrest will put off foreign 
visitors and badly hit the sector which accounts for nearly one-fifth of 
gross domestic product.
-Reuters







http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28236393/

Greek police fire teargas in 2nd week of protests
Worst demonstrations in decades sparked by killing of teenager

Violence flares in Greece
Almost two weeks after police killed a teen in Athens, unrest is still 
plaguing Greece.
more photos
updated 10:57 a.m. ET Dec. 15, 2008
ATHENS, Greece - Youths protested outside of Athens’ main police 
headquarters on Monday, in the second week of violent protests over the 
shooting death of a teenager.
The young protesters pelted riot police with flour and other objects, 
while police responded with tear gas.
Some 2,000 youths at the rally blocked one of the capital’s main 
avenues, chanted slogans and set fire to trash bins before dispersing. 
Two demonstrators were arrested, police said.
________________________________________
Greece has seen its worst riots in decades after 15-year-old Alexandros 
Grigoropoulos died Dec. 6 in a police shooting.
The riots quickly spread from Athens to more than a dozen cities. For a 
week, youths smashed and burned stores and cars, and hurled petrol bombs 
and rocks at riot police, who responded with stun grenades and large 
amounts of tear gas.
On Friday, the head of Greece’s Retailers Association said riots in 
Greek cities had caused an estimated 100 million euros ($135 million) in 
damage to stores, and was likely to cost businesses 1.5 billion euros 
($2 billion) in lost revenue.
Dozens of people were injured in the rioting, while hundreds of stores 
were damaged or looted and more than 200 people were arrested. The 
policeman accused of killing the teenager has been charged with murder 
and is being held pending trial.
On Monday, students also staged peaceful blockades of several busy roads 
in the capital, marched through the city center, and protested outside 
Athens’ main court complex, where four people arrested during last 
week’s riots were ordered to remain in custody.
The protests are shifting from expressing anger at police to showing 
general anger at the country’s increasingly unpopular conservative 
government and the economic hardships faced by many Greeks.
Socialist opposition leader George Papandreou renewed calls Monday for 
early elections.
“The government cannot deal with this crisis,” he said. “It cannot 
protect people — their rights or property — and it cannot identify with 
the anxiety felt by the younger generation.”
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, whose party has only a single seat 
majority in parliament, has repeatedly rejected calls to resign and call 
early elections, saying the country needed a steady hand in times of crisis.
Sunday was the first trouble-free day since Grigoropoulos’ killing, but 
some groups, mostly left-wing students, have vowed to keep up the 
protests until the government addresses their concerns.
Protesters have called for riot police to be pulled off the streets, for 
police to be disarmed and for growing social inequality to be resolved.






http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7783375.stm
15 December 2008

Athens hit by new protest rallies
Protesters outside Athens' police headquarters
Hundreds of people are staging fresh protest rallies in Athens, after 
days of rioting sparked by the killing of a teenager by police in Greece.
They gathered near the capital's police headquarters and the main court, 
where some of the protesters arrested last week were to appear before 
magistrates.
The policeman accused of shooting Alexandros Grigoropoulos, aged 15, has 
been charged with murder.
The shooting has also generated widespread anti-government sentiment,
Sixty per cent of those questioned by Greece's Kathimerini newspaper 
rejected the assertion that the disturbances have been merely a series 
of co-ordinated attacks by a small hard core of anarchists.

It [the government] is wasting away, collapsing and dissolving into a 
dead-end

George Papandreou
opposition Pasok party
Another poll, in the Ethnos newspaper, suggested that 83% of Greeks were 
unhappy with the government's response to the violence. Kathimerini put 
the disapproval rating at 68%.
The BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Athens says the results appear to confirm 
what many commentators have been saying - that conservative Prime 
Minister Kostas Karamanlis has pulled off the unique feat of alienating 
all sections of Greek society.
Mr Karamanlis - who is on Monday attending the funeral of former Cypriot 
President Tassos Papadopoulos - has rejected calls to step down.
He said the country needed a "steady hand" to deal with the economic 
downturn, "not scenarios about elections and successions".
Economy fears
The new street protests are being held amid a heavy police presence.

At least 70 people have been injured in the protests sparked by the shooting
Demonstrators are chanting anti-government slogans, but no major 
incidents have been reported so far.
Further protests are planned later on Monday outside parliament.
They come after calm was briefly restored in the capital on Sunday.
In all, some 70 people are said to have been injured in violent protests 
across Greece during the unrest sparked by the shooting on 6 December.
On Sunday, the leader of the opposition Panhellenic Socialist Movement 
(Pasok) demanded elections and said the government "ignores the calls of 
society, is incapable of steadily driving the country towards change, 
and is afraid of the people."
"It is wasting away, collapsing and dissolving into a dead-end... Its 
political time is finished," George Papandreou told a party meeting.
A top union official meanwhile warned that with around a quarter of the 
young age group involved in the disturbances being unemployed, the 
unrest could grow in the coming months as more people lose their jobs.
"A massive wave of redundancies will kick in come the New Year when, 
according to our estimates, 100,000 jobs will be lost, which represents 
an additional 5% on the unemployment rate," said Stathis Anestis of the 
General Confederation of Greek Workers.








http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,24805789-401,00.html?from=public_rss
Greek protests to continue
 From correspondents in Athens
Agence France-Presse
December 15, 2008 09:59pm

ATHENS police were out in force today ahead of a rash of protests and 
court appearances relating to the police shooting of a teenager police, 
and as Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis flew to Cyprus.
And the release of a parliamentary inquiry into a land scandal, which 
has also generated widespread anti-government sentiment, threatened to 
increase the pressure on Karamanlis' embattled right-wing government.
Police were guarding the capital's courts, where six of the 86 people 
arrested throughout the unrest overnight were appearing before magistrates.
Around 100 youths were camped outside with a banner showing solidarity 
with "state hostages''.
Just one firebomb attack was reported overnight in the student district 
of Exarchia, where 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos died from a police 
bullet nine days ago.
Rallies were announced drawing university and school students to the 
Athens police headquarters from midday and again after dark.
But protesters admitted that maintaining momentum was becoming difficult.
More than 100 schools were still occupied over the weekend, and pupils 
began blocking traffic around the education and defence ministries today.






http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2008-12/2008-12-15-voa28.cfm?CFID=163293036&CFTOKEN=89982761&jsessionid=003065312795863410e01f76499a725c1256
Athens Police, Protesters Clash for 10th Day
By VOA News
15 December 2008

Riot police run past burning trash bin during student protests in 
Athens, 15 Dec 2008
Riot police in Athens have used tear gas outside the city's main police 
station as protests over the police killing of a teenager entered a 10th 
day.

The police briefly fired small amounts of tear gas after protesters 
threw fire bombs at the officers. Separately, small groups of youths 
threw eggs at police guarding the city's court. Students were expected 
to stage a march on parliament later Monday.

Witnesses said the intensity of the protests has tailed off sharply in 
recent days, with Sunday largely calm across the capital.

Protesters took to the streets immediately after the December 6 death of 
the teenager, who was struck by police gunfire. The demonstrations 
quickly became violent and spread to other Greek cities.

Both Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and opposition leader George 
Papandreou have repeatedly called for calm.

In an interview with VOA Sunday, Papandreou said Greek youths feel a 
deepening sense of social inequality and injustice that is driving them 
to riot. He said the government should take steps to eliminate 
high-level corruption and address social problems creating a widening 
rift between rich and poor.






http://en.rian.ru/world/20081215/118869902.html
Greek protests bring Athens to standstill
18:41 | 15/ 12/ 2008

ATHENS, December 15 (RIA Novosti) - Riots sparked by the recent killing 
of a teenager by police continued in the Greek capital for a second week 
on Monday as students brought the center to a standstill, a RIA Novosti 
correspondent said.
Over 300 students gathered outside the police headquarters in an 
initially peaceful protest which turned violent when police used tear 
gas against demonstrators who threw eggs and stones. Around 100 people 
also demonstrated near the country's education ministry as students 
targeted the capital's main streets shutting down the city.
On the island of Lesbos and Ioannina, in western Greece, students took 
over local radio stations demanding they be allowed to make live 
broadcasts. A local newspaper in Ioannina was also attacked.
Riots have swept through Greek cities since the December 6 killing of 
Alexandros Grigoropoulos, 15, leaving a trail of destruction as youths 
went on the rampage looting shops and setting fire to hundreds of cars, 
banks and businesses.
An opinion poll published by the Ethnos newspaper on Sunday said 83 % of 
Greeks were unhappy with the methods used by the government to deal with 
the violence.
Two police officers have been detained over the teenager's killing. One 
of them, Epaminondas Korkoneas, who claims he fired warning shots in 
self-defense which ricocheted, was charged with murder and the illegal 
use of his weapon. The second officer, Vassilios Saraliotis, was charged 
with aiding and betting Korkoneas






http://en.rian.ru/world/20081215/118865676.html
Greek students start sit-in protest in Athens
15:41 | 15/ 12/ 2008

ATHENS, December 15 (RIA Novosti) - Several hundred students launched 
sit-in protests in the Greek capital on Monday as the country entered a 
second week of civil disorder following the killing of a 15-year-old 
teenager by police.
Riots have swept through more than 10 Greek cities since the December 6 
killing of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, leaving a trail of destruction as 
youths looted shops and set fire to hundreds of cars, banks and businesses.
Demonstrators gathered outside the capital's police headquarters, prison 
and a university in a silent protest blocking streets. Around 100 people 
also held rallies near the country's education ministry.
Although protesters set fire to three banks and several shops in Athens 
on Saturday, police said Sunday was calm. Meanwhile, the public unrest 
spread last week to other European cities, as hundreds of protesters 
were detained in Spain, France and Denmark in similar incidents.
An opinion poll published by the Ethnos newspaper on Sunday said 83 % of 
Greeks were unhappy with the government's measures to stop the violence.
Two police officers have been detained over the killing. One of them, 
Epaminondas Korkoneas, who claims he fired warning shots in self-defense 
which ricocheted, was charged with murder and the illegal use of his 
weapon. The second officer, Vassilios Saraliotis, was charged with 
aiding and betting Korkoneas.






http://www.breitbart.com/image.php?id=iafp081215154430.z1k0g0sup3&show_article=1
Protestors massed in front of the police headquarters in Athens

Students demonstrate in front of the police headquarters of Athens. Riot 
squads have ringed Athens police headquarters as Greek protesters 
targeted state institutions, while the right-wing government faced new 
headaches with the re-emergence of a landswap scandal.






http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2008/12/16/2003431270

Athens police guard courts for protesters’ appearances

AFP AND AP, ATHENS
Tuesday, Dec 16, 2008, Page 6

People kneel in front of riot police during a peaceful protest on 
Saturday outside the Greek parliament in Athens over the fatal police 
shooting of a teen on Dec. 6.
PHOTO: EPA
Athens police were out in force yesterday ahead of a rash of protests 
and court appearances relating to the police shooting of a teenager, and 
as Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis flew to Cyprus.
The release of a parliamentary inquiry into a land scandal, which has 
generated widespread anti-government sentiment, also threatened to 
increase the pressure on Karamanlis’ government.

Police were guarding the capital’s courts, where six of the 86 people 
arrested throughout the unrest overnight on Saturday were appearing 
before magistrates.

Around 100 youths were camped outside with a banner showing solidarity 
with “state hostages.”

Violent protests triggered by the schoolboy’s death quickly spread from 
Athens to more than a dozen other cities last week. At least 70 people 
have been injured, hundreds of stores have been damaged and looted, and 
more than 200 people have been arrested.

The policeman accused of shooting Alexandros Grigoropoulos has been 
charged with murder.

Police said no violence was reported in Athens overnight, after an 
uneventful day on Sunday. However, left-wing student groups have vowed 
to keep up the protests until their concerns are addressed. A rally has 
been scheduled for parliament square on Thursday.

A poll on Sunday suggested most Greeks see the protests as a “popular 
uprising,” not driven by “minority activists.” Seventy-six percent of 
those questioned were “dissatisfied” with the police response. Just 20 
percent approved of the prime minister’s handling of the unrest.

Karamanlis was going ahead with the visit to Cyprus for the funeral of 
former Cypriot president Tassos Papadopoulos, who died of cancer on Friday.






http://www.breitbart.com/image.php?id=iafp081215111722.5ztmqq6cp0&show_article=1

Protestors aim laser lights at a police officer in Athens

Protesters point a laser light at a riot policeman outside the 
Polytecnic in central Athens. Athens police are out in force ahead of a 
rash of protests and court appearances relating to the police shooting 
of a teenager police, and as Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis 
flies to Cyprus.







http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/12/15/worldupdates/2008-12-15T194009Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-370420-1&sec=Worldupdates

December 15, 2008

Greek police teargas youths in 2nd week of protests
By Renee Maltezou and Daniel Flynn
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek police fired teargas at small groups of 
protesters who threw stones and firebombs in central Athens on Monday in 
a second-week of anti-government demonstrations since a policeman shot 
dead a teenager.

Demonstrators protest in front of the Greek consulate in Istanbul 
December 15, 2008. (REUTERS/Osman Orsal)
Youths outside Athens' main court and central police station clashed 
with riot police, while acts of vandalism against shops were reported in 
two northern cities in protests against the Dec. 6 killing of 
15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos. His death has triggered Greece's 
worst riots in decades.
The unrest, which has caused more than 200 million euros ($270 million) 
worth of damage, has fed on anger over political scandals, high youth 
unemployment and low wages, and the impact of a global recession on Greece.
In bond markets, the spread between Greek debt and German benchmark 
bonds -- a measure of perceived investment risk -- reached its widest 
point in nearly a decade on Monday, at more than 2 percent. Analysts 
said the political crisis had compounded concerns due to the global 
economic downturn.
IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn warned there was a risk of 
social unrest spreading unless the global financial sector shared wealth 
more evenly. Copy-cat demonstrations have taken place in many European 
countries.
The scale of the Greek protests has tailed off sharply in recent days 
and Athens was peaceful on Sunday. But students and unions have called 
for more rallies on Thursday and Friday against education and pension 
reforms, privatisations and tax rises as the budget goes to parliament.
The conservative government only has a one-seat majority and trails in 
polls.
"It was expected this would continue for a second week," said Kiki 
Toudoulidou, 37, a teacher. "If the government was handling the 
situation in the right way, we wouldn't have reached this point."
Central Athens braced for further violence later on Monday, when an 
anarchist group plans to march on parliament.
GOVERNMENT RESPONSE
Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis's ruling New Democracy party has 
denounced the riots as the work of a small group of hardcore anarchists, 
but at their peak early last week thousands of youths ran riot through 
10 cities, wrecking hundreds of cars, banks and businesses, spooking 
investors.
"Even if you don't believe that Greece could end up exiting the euro, 
you will not want to take on risk," said Peter Mueller, interest rate 
strategist at Comerzbank in Frankfurt.
Chris Pryce, sovereign analyst for Greece at Fitch Ratings, played down 
the political risk to the government. He told Reuters Television he had 
no plans to alter Greece's A rating.
"It will stay stable I would have thought: single A -- the lowest in the 
euro zone -- for some time to come," he said.
Karamanlis, whose hands-off response to the riots has been criticised by 
Greek media, travelled to Cyprus on Monday for the funeral of former 
president Tassos Papadopoulos.
An opinion poll published on Sunday by Kathimerini newspaper put 
disapproval of the government at 68 percent, with 60 percent of those 
polled saying the riots were a social uprising rather than an outburst 
by an isolated fringe of violent protesters.
The National Confederation of Commerce estimates 565 shops were damaged 
in Athens, ruining the Christmas shopping period.
"There is no business. People are disappointed and angry," said Dimitra, 
61, a shop owner who declined to give her second name. "The protests 
will continue. They only needed an excuse."
The policeman charged with killing Grigoropoulos has been jailed along 
with a colleague pending trial. More than 400 protesters have been 
detained during the unrest, although most of have subsequently been 
released without charge.
(Additional reporting by George Matlock in London)






http://www.metro.co.uk/news/world/article.html?%91Blinding%92_laser_pens_used_as_protests_set_to_continue&in_article_id=444064&in_page_id=64
‘Blinding’ laser pens used as protests set to continue
Sunday, December 14, 2008

Under attack: Protesters use laser pointers to target police in Athens 
on Saturday
Protestors used laser pointers to try to blind police as unrest 
continued in Greece over the fatal police shooting of a teenager.
There was an uneasy calm in the capital Athens on Sunday following an 
eighth straight day of rioting.
However, youths angered by the death of 15-year-old Alexandros 
Grigoropoulos and government reforms have vowed to remain on the streets 
until their concerns are addressed.
'Speaking as an anarchist, we want to create those social conditions 
that will generate more uprisings and to get more people out in the 
streets to demand their rights,' said 32-year-old protester Paris 
Kyriakides.
The laser pointers were used on Saturday night as youths clashed with 
police in Athens just hours after peaceful candlelit vigils were held 
for Alexandros. A police station, stores and banks were damaged.
However, tourists were beginning to make a return to the capital on Sunday.
Prime minister Costas Karamanlis's conservative government has the 
support of just 20 per cent of the population, according to a poll on 
Sunday.






http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/12/15/20081215greece-riots1215.html

Riots end, protests may go on in Greece
by Nicholas Paphitis - Dec. 15, 2008 12:00 AM
Associated Press
ATHENS, Greece - The city was calm Sunday after eight days of the worst 
riots Greece has seen in decades, sparked by the police killing of a 
teenager.
Traffic returned to normal in the center of town, and open-topped 
double-decker buses carried tourists around the city's main sights. The 
cafes in the Thissio area under the Acropolis were busy, and couples 
took their children for Sunday walks.
But Greek youths who have protested daily since the boy's death have 
vowed to remain on the streets until their concerns are addressed. 
Protesters are angry not just at police but at a government already on 
the defensive over economic issues and a series of financial scandals.
"We are not in this for the short term," said Petros Constantinou, an 
organizer with the Socialist Workers Party. "We want the protests to 
continue after Christmas and New Year until this government of murderers 
goes."
Analyst Theodore Couloumbis said the disturbances will "peter out" over 
the next few days.
"We are going to have periodic flare-ups," said Couloumbis, a professor 
emeritus of international relations at the University of Athens.
A newspaper poll published Sunday indicated the governing conservatives' 
popularity at 20.6 percent, 5.6 percent below the opposition Socialists. 
However, 55 percent of respondents said neither party seemed competent 
to handle the situation. The Focus poll of 1,000 people for Real News 
gave a 3.1 percentage point margin of error.
Violence has racked Greece since the death of 15-year-old Alexandros 
Grigoropoulos Dec. 6. It spread from Athens to more than a dozen other 
cities. At least 70 people have been injured and more than 200 people 
arrested.






http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7775075.stm
Wednesday, 10 December 2008

Greek voices: Protests and chaos
After days of rioting across Greece triggered by the shooting of a 
15-year-old boy by police, people taking part in and affected by the 
protests describe how they have been forced to re-evaluate the 
relationship between state and society.
ALEX HADJISAVVAS, SHOP OWNER, ATHENS

The capital Athens has been the scene of violent riots
I haven't been taking part in the protests. I'm against it. All protests 
in Greece lead to violence. I have been the victim this time.
My shop sells ladies fashion and on the first night of the riots my 
window was smashed in and they destroyed the shop front. They must have 
taken around 150-200 coats, jackets, pullovers.
I've been told they carried them out onto the streets and started fires. 
I've spoken to witnesses who said they used the mannequins in my window 
to break other shop windows.
I've been threatened by some of the anarchists. There is a university 
opposite my shop and that is where they have asylum. They are always in 
there, the police can't go in there. They come out from time to time and 
cause trouble.
I wouldn't want to see the government step down. I don't think that is 
the cause of the violence.

I've been threatened by some of the anarchists

The shooting of the boy has nothing to do with the violence. It was the 
icing on the cake for all the protesters. Most of the people who are not 
in favour of the government are looking for a cause to rise up about.
The shooting was the final straw. It's like a chain reaction. The people 
causing the trouble are not involved in politics. They are vandals and 
rioters.
Law and order in this country is not good at the best of times. It's a 
grim situation.
DIMITRIOS PARASKEVAS, MUSICIAN, THESSALONIKI


I have taken part in the peaceful protests. The reason is that we don't 
feel that the state works for the people.
I'm not talking about a particular government. This is about the Greek 
state and society. We want things to work properly. This country takes 
everything too far.
A boy getting shot just like that when he was definitely not causing a 
threat to the police officer. This shows how the Greek state works.
The state does not take into account the citizen. It has been shown that 
there is no civil society in Greece. We don't feel like the state 
belongs to us. We feel like it is sometimes an enemy.
I would like a complete re-evaluation of the relationship between the 
state and the citizen. Police officers, everyone who works for the state 
should know that they work for citizens.
SPIROS DELIMPASIS, COMPUTER ENGINEER, 32, LARISSA


I am totally opposed to the rioting and protests. But I am totally for 
the peaceful protests. The problem is that the rioters find cover 
between peaceful protesters and then start to smash public and private 
property. As a result many people are afraid to show up and peacefully 
express their anger for the murder of the young student.
For over 20 years the police here have not done what they are supposed 
to do. When all they need to do is draw a weapon, they sometimes shoot 
people. That is unacceptable.
With this murder the negative feelings about the government have got to 
many people. For months, there has been just one scandal following another.
But I don't feel that during this situation the government should 
resign. Maybe later. We should get over this and restore the peace and 
then the government should declare elections.
I never had faith in this government or the previous one. The majority 
of politicians are inadequate.
VASSILIKI POLYCHRONOPOULOU, TRAVEL JOURNALIST, ATHENS
I was caught up in the chaos as was everyone who lives in the centre. I 
took part in the peaceful march on the first day but it lasted for only 
an hour. The riots got really bad and people left.

I would like this government to resign. I think it is the least they can do

The police played a major role, firing tear gas at everybody. It was the 
worst I have ever seen in my life. It is not the first time they have 
attacked peaceful citizens.
I believe that the murder of this boy was a horrible incident. But it 
was just a spark for a general social discomfort to say the least. 
People are very disappointed. They don't believe that this government or 
any of the other parties are able to change things.
Sometimes you just need a leader to tell you something, to give you 
reason to be hopeful. This is not the case in Greece. Everyone is very 
disappointed and angry.
I would like this government to resign. I think it is the least they can 
do if they have any decency left inside them.







http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7820695.stm
Friday, 9 January 2009
Greek protests provoke backlash
By Malcolm Brabant
BBC News, Athens

Some Greeks are fed up with the property damage caused by rioters
The diminutive middle-aged woman protester did not conform to the 
"central casting" image of the average Greek demonstrator.
Wearing sensible shoes and a brown raincoat, Myrto Dracopoulou was 
dwarfed by burly police officers as she stood outside Athens' Red Cross 
hospital.
But four weeks' repressed anger, from witnessing the worst civil unrest 
in Greece since the fall of the colonels' dictatorship 35 years ago, 
suddenly spilled over into a stream of outraged consciousness.
The trigger that compelled Mrs Dracopoulou to abandon the sitting room 
of her home in a quiet northern Athenian suburb for the freezing street, 
was the attempted murder of 21-year-old Diamantis Matzounis, a policemen 
shot in a machine-gun attack allegedly linked to a left-wing militant 
group called Revolutionary Struggle.

When I see these things, I feel nostalgic for the dictatorship

Myrto Dracopoulou
She had come to the Red Cross hospital to show solidarity with the 
police force, which has faced constant protest since a policeman shot 
dead 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos on 6 December.
"We are the silent majority," she said. "We don't want this rebellion."
She said the Greek state seemed incapable of controlling "these 
anarchists, these anti-authority people, these terrorists, who have been 
doing whatever they want, unpunished, for years and years and years".
"I am sick and tired of being afraid to go into the centre of my city, 
Athens, because of some demonstration," she added.
She said the disrespect for authority was instilled in schools, where 
"young people are being brainwashed by these extremist leftist parties", 
and said even her sister's kindergarten pupils had taken to calling 
policemen "pigs".
'Ground zero'
For a reaction to those comments, I turned to George Kypraios, a 
resident of Exarchia, the Bohemian district of Athens where both 
Grigoropoulos and Matzounis were shot.

Sympathetic Greeks have built a shrine to Alexis Grigoropoulos
His apartment overlooks what he calls "ground zero", or to give its 
proper name, the Athens Polytechnic, a haven for anarchists and students 
who have been fomenting Greece's social uprising.
"She is talking nonsense," said Mr Kypraios.
"What you would expect from a supporter of LAOS," he said, referring to 
Greece's small ultra-right-wing nationalist party, which has 10 deputies 
in the 300-seat parliament.
He said Exarchia had been outraged by "the futility and absurdity" of 
the teenager's death, but that the protests, which have often ended up 
in running battles between rioters and police, had gone too far.
"The small number of troublemakers who have besmirched Greece's 
reputation globally must not be allowed to hide behind their hoods," he 
said.
"The police have the resources and the legal framework to deal with the 
situation. If there were orders to avoid arrests during the original 
disturbances, time to rescind those.
"I am tired of a tiny minority destroying the international image of our 
city and country, which we so carefully and painstakingly re-built since 
the restoration of democracy in 1974. Enough!"
Nostalgia
This week, the police unions blamed the government for the climate that 
enabled someone to shoot Diamantis Matzounis. They said the order to act 
defensively as the riots began had enabled the security situation to 
spiral out of control.

Police have borne the brunt of anger at the teenager's shooting
On Thursday, after overseeing the first meeting of his reshuffled 
cabinet, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis promised to crack down on the 
"phenomenon of catastrophic violence".
His new public order minister pledged a zero-tolerance policy towards 
crime.
Will this satisfy Myrto Dracopoulou?
"This government is very weak. I have talked to many people of my 
generation and they look back on the dictatorship with some nostalgia 
because we had a quiet life," she says.
"It's not the answer, I know. It is not right to say that, but when I 
see these things, I feel nostalgic for the dictatorship. I was not 
afraid to walk in the streets. I am afraid of the thugs now."







http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7774304.stm
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
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Printable version


'The anarchists are misunderstood'

Anna Giabanidis says law and order has broken down in Athens
Dozens of people have been injured and hundreds of properties torched in 
days of rioting across Greece over the police shooting of a 15-year-old 
boy.
Trainee lawyer Anna Giabanidis has met the anarchists responsible for 
some of the violence and explains their perspective on events.
The views are the personal views of the contributor and do not intend to 
represent any one group in Greece. Anna Giabanidis has been along to 
protests but has not taken part in any violence.
________________________________________
What I have to say may be easily misunderstood - I'm not with the 
anarchists. But I sympathise with what is happening right now.

The feeling here is if you have money and status you can pretty much do 
what you want

I think these people have been very much misunderstood. Everything has 
escalated since the death of Alexis, as we know him over here.
It all dates back to about 1984/5. I don't know the full details as I 
wasn't born then but there's a deep-seated and long-standing concern 
about the way things have been handled by the police and the 
authorities, and the death of the teenager has made things worse.
The feeling here is if you have money and status you can pretty much do 
what you want.
We have a saying here: "If you've got money, you're innocent."
There's a feeling that it's the rich versus the rest, and there's unity 
between those who aren't rich.
You just have to look at the reaction over the last few days to see how 
people have come together.
There are three groups involved. There are the communists, who believe 
in peaceful protest and are not damaging property. They are the ones who 
try to stop the others destroying buildings or burning banks.
The anarchists are the ones you may have seen on television wearing 
masks. They are burning the banks and state property. They do have 
support from some communists.

There's been a total breakdown in law and order.

The third group are the younger people who like to think that they are 
anarchists but they don't know what they stand for.
They are the ones who have been looting - they are neither anarchists 
nor communists.
They are calling themselves anarchists but making things 20 times worse.
I sympathise with them. I went inside the university and spoke with some 
of them.
They feel the only way to make themselves heard is to do these things.
People have lost faith in the authorities or anyone in government - they 
are so angry.
They have started smoking and drinking on the metro - all rules are out. 
There's been a total breakdown in law and order.
I put an empty plastic bottle into a bin and somebody laughed and asked: 
"Why are you doing that?"
Even ordinary people are questioning authority and I can't see it 
getting back on track for a long time.
We'll need an election to get things back on track, we need a government 
response.
I fear it could escalate, I think someone's going to die, because what I 
see first hand is not safe at all.
I'm making Greece my home - I've lived half and half between the UK and 
Greece but I want to live here permanently.
I love the people, the life and the culture - it matches my personality.
If anything, what is happening here now has strengthened my desire to 
make Greece my home.






http://www.nowpublic.com/world/greece-sees-new-year-clashes-and-arson-attacks-0
Greece sees in New Year with clashes and arson attacks.
Share:
by Teacher Dude | January 1, 2009 at 07:46 am

After a brief interlude over the Christmas holidays the clashes sparked 
off by the death of a 15 year old teenager at the hands of the police on 
6th December continued shortly after midnight.

In Athens six banks, several car dealerships and several parked cars 
were set ablaze. In Greece's second city, Thessaloniki, hundreds of 
protesters attacked bank ATMs, the town hall and closed roads.

In addition the Greek prime minister's and the Greek police's web site 
once again were the target of hackers according to Indymedia Athens. A 
group calling itself Hackers Against Oppresion said that it was 
organising" International Electronic Civil Disobedience in Solidarity 
with Greek Anarchists"






http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/newsbriefs/setimes/newsbriefs/2009/01/11/nb-07
Protesting youths battle police in Athens
11/01/2009
ATHENS, Greece -- Several thousand students, teachers and civil servants 
demonstrated in downtown Athens on Friday (January 9th) to protest the 
government's economic policy and planned education reforms, media 
reported. A group of participants started throwing stones and bottles at 
riot police. Police officers fired tear gas and made at least six 
arrests. The rally was the first since Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis 
reshuffled his cabinet earlier on Wednesday. (Kathimerini, Ta nea - 
10/01/09, ANA-MPA, In.news, SKAI, Reuters, AP - 09/01/09)






http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=26291

Greek protesters occupy state TV, interrupt news

ATHENS (Reuters) - About 20 student protesters occupied Greece's state 
television channel on Tuesday, interrupting a news broadcast in a 
demonstration against the police killing of a teenager.

"They came peacefully. There was no force used and they asked to protest 
on the air about the 15-year-old's killing," said a police official, who 
asked not to be identitied.

The channel showed images of the protesters for several moments before 
quickly cutting to advertisements and footage of the prime minister 
talking to his legislators in parliament earlier on Tuesday, the 
eleventh day of demonstrations following the shooting.

Greek youths break into state TV center, take over

By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Protesters forced their way into Greece's state 
NET television news studio Tuesday and interrupted a news broadcast 
featuring the prime minister so they could urge viewers to join mass 
anti-government demonstrations.

For more than a minute, about 10 youths blocked a broadcast showing a 
speech by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis. Instead, they displayed 
banners reading: "Stop watching, get out onto the streets," and "Free 
everyone who has been arrested." No one was hurt, and no arrests were 
reported.

NET chairman Christos Panagopoulos claimed the protesters violently 
forced their way into the studio. "This goes beyond any limit," he said.

It was the latest twist in 11 days of riots and protests after a 
policeman shot and killed a 15-year-old boy on Dec. 6. The violent 
protests have evolved from being just aimed at Greek police to being 
highly critical of Karamanlis' conservative government.

Karamanlis has rejected mounting demands to resign and call new elections.

Earlier Tuesday, masked youths attacked riot police headquarters in 
Athens and protesters clashed with police in the northern city of 
Thessaloniki.

Police said 30 youths threw petrol bombs and stones at the riot police 
building, causing extensive damage to seven cars and a police bus parked 
outside.

Students blocked streets in Athens and dozens of teenagers gathered 
outside the capital's main court complex and a maximum security prison — 
where some threw stones at police.

Protesters have called for riot officers to be pulled off the streets, 
for police to be disarmed and for the government to revise its economic, 
social and education policies.

The protests have brought higher education in Greece to a standstill. 
Lessons have stopped at more than 100 secondary schools that are under 
occupation by students, according to the Education Ministry. Scores of 
university buildings across Greece are also occupied.

After the shooting death of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos, 
furious youths smashed and burnt hundreds of shops in Athens' main 
shopping area, and attacked riot police who responded with massive tear gas.

Dozens of people have been injured in the rioting, while more than 300 
people have been arrested. The policeman accused of killing the teenager 
has been charged with murder and is being held pending trial.

In the northern port of Thessaloniki, riot police fired tear gas Tuesday 
to disperse 300 youths throwing fruit and stones outside the city's main 
court complex. The disturbance followed a court decision that found 
eight police officers guilty of abusing a student following riots two 
years ago.

The policemen received suspended sentences ranging from three years and 
three months for grievous bodily harm to 15 months for being an 
accessory to the abuse.

In a symbolic gesture meant to revive riot-shocked Athens, city 
authorities will light a large Christmas tree Tuesday on central 
Syntagma Square — which has been at the center of many of the protests. 
The tree replaces one burnt during last week's riots.

Overnight, arsonists attacked three Athens banks with petrol bombs, 
causing extensive damage. There were no injuries or arrests. Every year, 
small anarchist groups carry out dozens of firebombings in Greece 
against government property, banks and diplomatic vehicles.






http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=United+Kingdom+%26+Europe&month=January2009&file=World_News2009011015454.xml
Greek police fire teargas at protesters
Web posted at: 1/10/2009 1:54:54
Source ::: REUTERS
ATHENS: Greek police fired teargas at hundreds of stone-throwing youths 
after an anti-government march in Athens yesterday, sparking fears of a 
return to the street violence which rocked the country last month. 
Several thousand students, teachers and public sector workers marched to 
parliament in protest at the conservative government’s policies, just 
over a month after the police shooting of a teenager unleashed the worst 
riots in decades fed by anger at youth unemployment and political scandals.
“Schools not bombs. Funds for education” read one banner, while marchers 
chanted: “These are the government’s last days.” Many shouted slogans 
against the Israeli invasion of Gaza.
Hundreds of anarchists waving black flags and wearing gas masks broke 
away from the march outside the university and threw stones and bottles 
at police, who responded with teargas.
Riot police with shields shut down roads and detained dozens of 
demonstrators in central Athens, where business groups estimate last 
month’s riots caused ¤1bn in damage and lost business. “Thousands of 
protesters walked peacefully to parliament until anarchists threw 
bottles and stones at police,” said a police official who declined to be 
named. “Police are chasing them around the city centre and have begun to 
make arrests.” The protest came two days after Prime Minister Costas 
Karamanlis announced a cabinet reshuffle aimed at shoring up the 
popularity of his government, which has fallen well behind the Socialist 
opposition party in opinion polls.
Newly-appointed Education Minister Aris Spiliotopoulos pledged on 
Thursday to listen to all sides before implementing controversial 
education reforms, which would allow the introduction of private 
universities in Greece.
“It doesn’t mean anything if the minister changes especially if the 
government’s policy remains the same,” said 33-year-old Nausika Tsima, a 
student, outside parliament. Local media reported that a policeman shot 
with a Kalashnikov assault rifle by an unidentified gunman on Monday was 
in a serious condition in hospital yesterday.
Authorities have said the weapons used in the attack in the central 
Athens Exarchia district was the same used by the left-wing 
Revolutionary Struggle guerrilla group.






http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/01/10/2462893.htm
Greek reporters slam 'police brutality' at Athens protest
Posted Sat Jan 10, 2009 9:39am AEDT
Greek journalists have attacked police conduct at a demonstration in 
central Athens with the interior minister conceding that there might 
have been excesses.
Fourteen lawyers were among those detained after an estimated 3,000 
people, chiefly teachers and students, took part in a demonstration, at 
times violent, against the Government on Friday (local time).
The march was organised on the anniversary of the 1991 murder of Nikos 
Temponeras, a teacher who was bludgeoned to death by a right-wing unionist.
Initial skirmishes broke out near the university between dozens of young 
people wearing hoods and anti-riot police who fired gas to disperse them.
Bins were set on fire and sticks and stones thrown at the security forces.
Clashes continued in the area, which was closed to traffic and where 
hundreds of demonstrators remained for an hour.
There were repeated police charges and several arrests were made. Later 
police headquarters were sealed off.
The detained lawyers were released after the intervention of their 
professional association.
The influential Athens journalists' union (ESHEA) protested to the 
interior ministry about "the brutal attacks and beatings" to which 
reporters and camera crews had been subjected.
"There may have been excesses to be condemned, we are looking into the 
issue, but the police did their job," Interior Minister Procopis 
Pavolopoulos told Greek television.
Calm had returned by the evening.
Greece has been rocked by major unrest since the police shooting of a 
teenager, 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos.
The boy's death on December 6 unleashed a wave of anger that degenerated 
into the worst riots Greece has seen in decades with hundreds of stores 
in several cities vandalised and dozens looted in the days following his 
death.
Police were frequently targeted during the height of the unrest with 
precinct stations in Athens and other cities attacked with stones and 
squad cars torched.
-AFP






http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE5083Q420090109
Greek police fire teargas at stone throwing youths
Fri Jan 9, 2009 2:38pm GMT

By Renee Maltezou
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek police fired teargas at hundreds of 
stone-throwing youths after an anti-government march in Athens Friday, 
sparking fears of a return to the street violence which rocked the 
country last month.
Several thousand students, teachers and public sector workers marched to 
parliament in protest at the conservative government's policies, just 
over a month after the police shooting of a teen-ager unleashed the 
worst riots in decades fed by anger at youth unemployment and political 
scandals.
"Schools not bombs. Funds for education" read one banner, while marchers 
chanted: "These are the government's last days." Many shouted slogans 
against the Israeli invasion of Gaza.
Hundreds of anarchists waving black flags and wearing gas masks broke 
away from the march outside the university and threw stones and bottles 
at police, who responded with teargas.
Riot police with shields shut down roads and detained dozens of 
demonstrators in central Athens, where business groups estimate last 
month's riots caused 1 billion euros in damage and lost business.
"Thousands of protesters walked peacefully to parliament until 
anarchists threw bottles and stones at police," said a police official 
who declined to be named. "Police are chasing them around the city 
centre and have begun to make arrests."
The protest came two days after Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis 
announced a cabinet reshuffle aimed at shoring up the popularity of his 
government, which has fallen well behind the Socialist opposition party 
in opinion polls.
Newly-appointed Education Minister Aris Spiliotopoulos pledged Thursday 
to listen to all sides before implementing controversial education 
reforms, which would allow the introduction of private universities in 
Greece.
"It doesn't mean anything if the minister changes especially if the 
government's policy remains the same," said 33-year-old Nausika Tsima, a 
student, outside parliament.
Local media reported that a policeman shot with a Kalashnikov assault 
rifle by an unidentified gunman Monday was in a serious condition in 
hospital Friday.
Authorities have said the weapons used in the attack in the central 
Athens Exarchia district was the same used by the left-wing 
Revolutionary Struggle guerrilla group.
(Editing by Daniel Flynn)






http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_0_09/01/2009_103630
Students resume protests and revive fears
As leftist students prepare to resume anti-government protests with a 
rally today, university academics expressed fears that faculties might 
once again be taken over by anarchists.
Sources told Kathimerini that university rectors fear a new outbreak of 
violence after the protest, which is set to begin at noon outside Athens 
University. There are similar fears among rectors in Thessaloniki, where 
a student rally is to begin at the same time.
One of the issues unsettling academics is the discord among the 
students. Left-leaning student unions are divided into two camps: those 
from the union affiliated with the Communist Party (KKE) who want 
protests but no faculty sit-ins and those affiliated with the Coalition 
of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) and the extra-parliamentary left who want 
sit-ins to resume. Rectors fear that if today’s protest turns violent, 
self-styled anarchists will occupy faculties as they did last month in 
the protests that followed the police killing of a teenager in Exarchia. 
Academics have pledged to remain inside some of the more “sensitive” 
buildings in a bid to avert sit-ins.
Students have planned meetings next week to decide their course of 
action but this will probably be discussed this evening after the protests.







http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/newsbriefs/setimes/newsbriefs/2009/01/16/nb-04
Police, students stage separate protests in Athens
16/01/2009
ATHENS, Greece -- About 500 policemen took to the streets of Athens on 
Thursday (January 15th) to protest a series of violent attacks on 
colleagues across the country over the past several weeks. Supporting 
the demonstration were lawmakers from the ruling party (New Democracy), 
the main opposition party (PASOK) and the Radical Left Coalition. Weeks 
of sporadic violence have followed the December 6th killing of a 
15-year-old by a police officer.
Separately Thursday, more than 2,000 high school and university students 
protested in downtown Athens against police violence and the 
government's planned education reforms, including spending cuts. 
Protesters gathered outside the University of Athens before marching to 
the parliament building. (ANA-MPA, Naftemporiki, In.news, AFP, AP, 
Makfax - 15/01/09)







http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/01/23/2473178.htm

Athens demonstration degenerates into violence
Posted Fri Jan 23, 2009 2:23pm AEDT
Violence has erupted in the Greek capital, Athens, after a march in 
support of a trade unionist who was critically injured in an acid attack 
last month.
The march itself passed off peacefully, but the violence started as 
demonstrators dispersed.
After the lead protesters moved away from the labour ministry, a hard 
core launched a frontal assault on riot police guarding the building.
One man carrying a crash helmet ran up to the police lines and crashed a 
rock down at point-blank range.
The police responded with tear gas, pepper spray and stun grenades.
The demonstration split in two and some anarchists headed into the 
entertainment district of Gazi and smashed up banks and restaurants.
- BBC





http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/newsbriefs/setimes/newsbriefs/2009/01/25/nb-04

Greek farmers expand protests
25/01/2009
ATHENS, Greece -- More than 9,000 Greek farmers on Saturday (January 
24th) expanded their protests against the government's farming policy, 
using tractors to blockade two major border crossings with Macedonia. It 
was the sixth consecutive day of protests demanding an increase in 
government subsidies and pensions. Farmers were already blocking the 
borders with Bulgaria and Turkey, as well as several major roads across 
the country, including the Athens-Thessaloniki national highway. At one 
point, Greek farmers reportedly attempted to force their way across the 
border into Bulgaria and were held back by Bulgarian border police. On 
Friday, the Bulgarian government formally protested to the Greek Embassy 
in Sofia, saying the blockade breaches the EU principles of free travel 
and trade.
In other news, protesters clashed with police forces during a march in 
Athens on Saturday to demand the release of people arrested during last 
month's riots. About 150 anarchists broke away from the rally and 
started throwing fire bombs at police. The anarchists set on fire a 
newspaper kiosk and a bus station and caused minor damages to four 
banks. Police responded by firing teargas. Protests also took place in 
the southwestern town of Patras. (ANA-MPA, Ethnos, In.news, DPA, AFP, 
MIA, AP, Reuters, Sofia Echo, BNR - 24/01/09)





http://bulgarian.ibox.bg/news/id_2047814049

Chaos in Athens after a protest in support of the attacked Bulgarian
Updated on: 23.01.2009, 14:28
Published on: 23.01.2009, 14:23

©
Author: Stefan Nikolov
Font size: a a a
The Greek police have used yesterday tear-gas in the center of Athens to 
disperse a group of protesters during the protest procession in support 
of the Bulgarian Kostadinka Kuneva, BTA reported.
The clashes have started between far leftist groups and the police near 
the Greek Ministry of Labor in Athens.
The procession was organized by "The initiative of local worker 
organizations for solidarity with Kostadina Kuneva and in support of the 
elimination of the black market of labor in the state and private sector".
We remind you that the Bulgarian was attacked with acid on December 23 
and since then is in treatment with heavy burns in the intensive 
department of a hospital in Athens.






http://www.nowpublic.com/world/athens-sees-still-more-violent-clashes

Athens sees still more violent clashes
Share:
by Teacher Dude | January 25, 2009 at 02:21 am
210 views | 45 Recommendations | 4 comments
Photos

Yesterday protest marches were held in Athens in solidarity with those 
arrested by police during the series of clashes which spread across 
Greece in December following the shooting by police of a 15 year old 
teenager in the capital's Exarchia district.
Protests turned violent as some demonstrators clashed with riot police 
near the Propylia area of downtown Athens. However, eyewitness accounts 
published in Greek language blogs say that the police used excessive 
force, throwing stun grenades into the crowds and indiscriminately 
beating marchers. Attacks were also reported upon riot police in 
Thessaloniki, Greece's second city last night in which Molotov cocktails 
were thrown at police vans.
Despite hopes that last year's violent confrontations have died down, 
the marches demonstrate that popular anger has yet to be extinguished. 
On Thursday (see here for video) about 1000 people marched in protest 
against the attack on Labour activist, Konstandina Kouneva, the victim 
of an acid attack in December. The 44 year - old Bulgarian trade 
unionist is still in intensive care after having acid thrown in her face 
and being forced to drink the liquid.
Lawyers representing her say the attack was prompted by her work in 
exposing an alleged scam by cleaning companies with contracts with the 
state run organisations which meant that the mainly foreign born work 
force received slave wages.
The duration of the confrontations has seen the rapid development of a 
mini "arms race" on Greek streets with the appearance of more and more 
protesters wearing gas masks in order to counter-act the authorities 
extensive use of tear gas. According to the BBC the government has 
responded by ordering water cannons which will be ready for action 
within the next two weeks.
The ruling New Democracy party also faces protests by farmers who have 
used tractors to block road junctions across the country in 
demonstration over low prices and lack of government support for the 
nation's agricultural sector. Attempts to placate farmers with a 500 
million euro aid package have still not seen an end to the roadblocks.






http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE50N1IR20090124?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
Anarchists clash with Greek police in Athens march
Sat Jan 24, 2009 9:14am EST

ATHENS (Reuters) - Anarchists threw fire bombs and clashed with Greek 
police in Athens on Saturday during a march to parliament by more than 
1,000 demonstrators protesting over the police killing of a teenager 
last month.
"About 150 anarchists who broke away from the rally threw rocks at the 
police who responded with teargas," said a police official, who declined 
to be named. "Later, they threw fire bombs at the offices of the defense 
minister."
The anarchists set on fire a newspaper kiosk and a bus station and 
caused minor damages to four banks in the center of the Greek capital. 
Police chased small groups of youths around the city center and detained 
at least two people.
Protests also took place in the southwestern Greek port of Patras, where 
three newspapers' buildings, a journalists union and three banks 
suffered slight damage.
Greece witnessed the worst riots in decades in December, triggered by 
the fatal police shooting of a 15-year-old boy and fueled by anger at 
economic hardships and government scandals.
On Thursday, a protest march against an acid attack on an immigrant 
cleaner, who was a union activist, caused vandalism by groups of 
anarchists, who clashed with police.
(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou and Renee Maltezou; Editing by Richard 
Balmforth)






http://tvnz.co.nz/content/2451255
Anarchists clash with Greek police
Published: 9:09PM Friday January 23, 2009
Source: Reuters

ReutersTwo workers paint a coffee shop next to anarchist graffiti in 
central Athens
Small groups of anarchists clashed with Greek police in Athens late on 
Thursday, after 200 people marched to the Labour Ministry to protest an 
acid attack on an immigrant working as a cleaning lady, police said.
"About 30 anarchists threw stones and other objects at police, who 
replied with teargas," said a police official, who declined to be named.
The anarchists also set fire to five garbage containers but no major 
damage was reported.
Greece witnessed the worst riots in decades in December, triggered by 
the fatal police shooting of a teenager and fuelled by anger at economic 
hardships and government scandals.
Since then, the streets of the capital have since remained largely peaceful.







http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_2458470,00.html

Anarchists riot in Athens
2009-01-24 16:30
Athens - Hundreds of self-styled anarchists are battling police in 
central Athens following a march to demand the release of people 
arrested during last month's riots.
The clashes occurred shortly after 14:30 (12:30 GMT) outside the main 
University of Athens building. The rioters used stones and sticks and 
the police charged with batons and used pepper spray.
About 300 rioters have continued their march through a central Athens 
street, smashing shop windows while police follow at a distance.
The anarchists gathered early Saturday afternoon to demand the release 
of what they term "political prisoners".
They were at the forefront of violent riots in Athens and other Greek 
cities for 15 days following the December 6 shooting of a teenager by a 
police officer.
- SAPA