Monday, December 7, 2009

GREEK DEPLOYED 6,000 POLICE FORCES TO CURTAIL VIOLENCE


ATHENS, Greece – More than 6,000 police had been deployed across greater Athens and are ready to curtail the anticipated violent during the demonstrations marking the first anniversary of the police shooting of a teenager. The Protest were held in the capital and several other Greek cities.
  • As predicted, the Protesters hurled rocks and burning garbage at police Sunday as violence erupted during a march to mark the first anniversary of the police shooting of a teenager, whose death sparked massive riots.
  • Police fired tear gas at scores of hooded youths in central Athens, as several thousand demonstrators marched to commemorate the death of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos.
  • The rioters smashed bank windows, overturned trash bins and hurled rocks and fire crackers at riot police. Authorities said 48 people were detained for public-order offenses. At least five protesters were injured in the clashes.
  • Police on motorcycles chased rioters amid scenes of chaos at Athens' main Syntagma Square, with youths punching and kicking officers pushed off their bikes.
  • At Athens University, masked protesters broke into the building and pulled down a Greek flag, replacing it with a black-and-red anarchist banner.
  • Violence also broke out in Thessaloniki, Greece's second-largest city, where youths threw petrol bombs at police, set fire to several cars and smashed 10 storefronts, including a Starbucks cafe. At least 20 people were detained in the northern city.
  • Concern was heightened by reports that far-left groups and anarchists from other European countries have traveled to Greece to join the marches.
Source: AP

No comments:

Post a Comment