On the evening of Saturday Dec. 6th a police patrol in the area of Exarhia (an area known for its strong anarchist presence in the centre of Athens) was verbally confronted by a few people in the area. Immediately a police officer pulled out his gun and shot a 16-year old (some accounts say he was 15) in the chest in cold blood. The 16-year old was transported to Evaggelismos, a major hospital in Athens, where he was dead on arrival.
The centre of Athens was immediately swamped by police, while people gathered at Evaggelismos. The crowd there twice repelled police who attempted to enter the hospital. There have been numerous reports of confrontations between people and police riot units at Tsamadou, Polytechnio, Acropoli, Panteios and Ermou (different locations and schools in Athens). There are massive gatherings at Polytechneio while the Law School and ASOEE have been taken over by students.
Spontaneous demonstrations, marches and confrontations are being reported all over Greece, including Thessaloniki, Mytilini, Giannena, Komotini, Iraklio, Xanthi, Serres, Hania, Alexandroupoli, Sparta, and Volos .
Major marches have been scheduled for 13:00 Athens time
Sunday December 7th in Athens, Thessaloniki, Xania and Patra.
re-posted from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7770086.stm
(go to the link above for pictures and video)
Thousands of protesters have attacked banks and shops in Athens and the northern city of Thessaloniki, angered by the police's killing of a teenager.
Demonstrators threw firebombs, rocks and other objects at the buildings and at police, who responded with tear gas.
Earlier, Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos appealed for restraint.
The streets of the capital were already strewn with glass and rubble after a night of rioting sparked by Saturday's shooting, in the Exarchia district.
During the overnight violence, protesters hurled rocks and petrol bombs at the police and damaged dozens of buildings.
In a statement, the police said that Saturday's riots had left 24 police officers injured, one seriously, and 31 shops, nine banks and 25 cars damaged or burned.
Six people were arrested, one of them for carrying a weapon.
Alex Hadjisavvas, the owner of a shop on Patission Avenue, told the BBC that many nearby businesses had also been looted.
"The window was smashed, the shop front damaged and a large quantity of stock taken from inside has been used by the rioters as material to start street fires," he said.
The unrest, the worst in the country in several years, later spread to Thessaloniki and the southern island of Crete.
Police 'powerless'
The BBC's Malcolm Brabant says that after a lull in the fighting on Sunday morning, youths left the Polytechnic college and joined hundreds of others on a march towards the police headquarters on Alexandras avenue.
They passed close to where the teenager, who has been named as 15-year-old Andreas Grigoropoulos, was shot dead on Saturday. One banner they were carrying called the police "murderers".
One protester outside the National Museum told the BBC he had been greatly angered by the actions of the police.
"It's not the first time. They always kill people - immigrants, innocent people - and without any excuse," he said. "They murdered him in cold blood."
"I think [the violence] is justified. Peaceful demonstrations cannot get a solution to the problem... They can feel the pressure from the people and not do it again."
As many expected, the march soon turned violent, with protesters throwing firebombs at riot police after tear gas was fired in an effort to disperse them.
Several banks and shops were attacked, while a supermarket and at least one car dealership were set alight, police and witnesses said. Clashes also broke out near the parliament.
In Thessaloniki, a march by more than 1,000 people on two police stations also descended into violence when protesters threw firebombs at police and attacked nearby shops and banks.
They also damaged vehicles belonging to Greek TV channels.
There have meanwhile been unconfirmed reports that a policeman was injured and banks and cars set on fire during protests in the western city of Patras.
Public anger
Earlier, the country's interior minister called for restraint and expressed sadness over Andreas Grigoropoulos's death.
"It is everyone's right to demonstrate and to advocate for their rights," Mr Pavlopoulos said. "But I stress, not by destroying the property of others, not turning against people who are not to blame for anything."
Both he and Deputy Interior Minister Panagiotis Chinofotis have submitted their resignations, but they were not accepted by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.
Mr Karamanlis has publicly apologised to the father of the dead boy.
"I know nothing can relieve your pain, but I assure you... the state will act, as it ought to, so that yesterday's tragedy won't be repeated," he said.
The two police officers involved in the shooting of the teenager have been arrested, and an inquiry is under way.
In a statement, the police said their patrol car had been attacked by about 30 youths throwing stones. They were attacked again and responded, with one firing a stun grenade and the other shooting and fatally wounding the boy.
However, our correspondent says that nothing the politicians or authorities can say or do will reduce the anger that is building.
A similar shooting incident in 1985 led to a lengthy vendetta between the youth and police, with violence continuing for years.
Citizens in major towns and cities across the country are therefore bracing themselves for the worst, he adds.
Violence often breaks out during demonstrations in Greece, but people are rarely injured. Last week, a small group of people clashed with police at a protest against the government's education policy.
re-posted from CNN.com because of their mention of communication tactics
reported by Anthee Carassava
ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- Hundreds of young self-styled anarchists rioted in the streets Sunday and attacked police in several Greek cities in a fury over the shooting death of a teenager by a member of an elite police corps.
The shooting on Saturday night triggered demonstrations and violence across the country late Saturday, and showed no sign of abating Sunday.
"It at first seemed like it was calming down today, but then at 5 p.m. Athens time it kicked off again," said Joel Brown, a CNN senior press officer visiting Athens. "There are lots of burning bins and debris in the street and a huge amount of tear gas in the air, which we got choked with on the way back to our hotel."
Tourists holed up in downtown Athens hotels were told by hotel staff not to leave their rooms as police fanned out across the city.
The police officer who fired the fatal shot has been charged with "manslaughter with intent" and suspended from duty, police said, adding that a second police officer was arrested Saturday on criminal accessory charges.
Demonstrators barricaded city streets Sunday in Athens and Thessaloniki and hurled petrol bombs as they battled with police, who fought back with tear gas in the second day of rioting.
Rampaging youths smashed storefronts and burned businesses, leaving shattered glass and burnt debris scattered across both cities.
Residents of an apartment building in central Athens were evacuated on Sunday after angry demonstrators torched a car dealership on the basement floor.
A police statement about the boy's death said the incident started when six young protesters pelted a police patrol car with stones. The 16-year-old boy was shot as he tried to throw a fuel-filled bomb at the officers, police said.
Other youths converged on the site almost immediately.
These young people -- often referred to in Greece as " the known-unknowns" -- use texting and Web sites to organize and communicate.
Fighting between youths and police quickly erupted in other parts of Greece, including Thessaloniki, the country's second largest city. Hundreds of youths took to the streets of the sprawling port city, and finally barricaded themselves behind the gates of a state university, where police are barred from entering.
No deaths were reported, though police say several police officers have been injured.
Police say some protesters have been rounded up for questioning.
Government officials, fearing more violence, swiftly condemned the shooting.
re-posted from Anarchist Academics listserv
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Dear all,
There have been spontaneous call-outs for actions across Greek embassies and consulates across the world. We already have reports for actions that happened, or are about to happen in London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Zagreb and Hamburg. There is definitely much more being organised at this very moment.
It is absolutely crucial for people to do just this at this point - find your local embassy/consulate and respond to the death of the 15 year old in the manner you think most appropriate
http://www.embassiesabroad.com/embassies-of/Greece
From what I can gather (as I am not in Greece at the moment, IMC is flooded with visits and keeps crashing since everyone, mainstream media included, rely on it for their information) there were demonstrations all across the country today (in at least 15 cities it seems). The police and government try to downplay the incident and calm things down, promising that the two police officers will be punished &the two ministers directly responsible (of Interior of Public Order) have offered their resignations, which were, unsurprisingly, rejected.
The next big date, for both sides, is the 10th of December, when an already planned general strike is to take place.
More info soon.
Solidarity,
a member of anarchist.academics
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