·At least 20 people were injured during violent clashes Sunday afternoon.
·So far 250 people have been detained during street clashes and police operations.
ATHENS, Dec. 6 -- At least 20 people, including 16 police officers and 4 civilians, were injured during violent clashes between Greek police and masked youth in central Athens on Sunday afternoon, one year after 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos was fatally shot by police.
Demonstrators clash with riot police in central Athens, capital of Greece, Dec. 6, 2009. More than 10,000 policemen have deployed in Athens this weekend, as Greek authorities and citizens fear a replay of last December's riots, exactly one year after the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old student.
The rector of Athens University Christos Kittas was injured when a group of anarchists broke into the university and invaded his office, said police. The rector then suffered a heart attack.
The Chief District Court Prosecutor Yiannis Sakelakos ordered an urgent investigation for attempted murder in this case, opening the way to lift the university asylum, if police consider that suspects involved in the attack are among the people who have occupied the building, as well as other universities in Athens and other cities.
A woman from the Revolutionary Workers Party was injured by a policeman riding a motorbike during clashes that broke out at Syntagma Square, close to the Greek Parliament building.
A few blocks further, at Propylea, the seat of the first university of Athens, hooded protesters threw stones and Molotov bombs against police officers, broke shop windows, torched cars and ATMs, and used burning rubbish bins as barricades, while policemen used tear gas.
More than 10,000 police officers have been deployed in Athens the last few days, as the new socialist government and citizens feared a replay of scenes of destruction and chaos that followed the teenager's death last December.
Greek protestors clash with riot police in Athens on Dec. 6, 2009, during a massive demonstration commemorating the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos one year ago.
Greece was shocked by its worst riots in three decades last year. Even though Sunday's incidents did not reach that extent, violence marred the anniversary of Grigoropulos's death.
So far almost 250 people -101 on Saturday and 146 on Sunday- have been detained during street clashes and police operations in downtown Athens.
Dozens of them will be prosecuted. Among the youths detained are the two children of the Deputy president of the Greek parliament Grigoris Niotis, who commented "I have full confidence in Greek justice, as I have confidence in my children."
His daughter, a lawyer, and his son, a postgraduate student, were detained in a hangout where police seized materials that are used for Molotov bombs and gas masks.
Clashes between anarchists and police occurred briefly on Sunday evening also at the Greek capital's Olympic Stadium, where the 2004 Olympic Games opening and closing ceremony took place, forcing a break at a soccer game of the national championship.
Greek protestors clash with riot police in Athens on Dec. 6, 2009, during a massive demonstration commemorating the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos one year ago.
(Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
0 comments:
Post a Comment