Violence flares at Greek marches

17 novembre 2009

ATHENS — Greek police fired tear gas and detained more than 200 people as clashes broke out with stone-throwing protesters at a march to honour a 1973 anti-junta student revolt in Athens on Tuesday.

Three police officers were injured as violence flared at the end of the demonstration.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators including students and adolescents marched through Athens city centre, chanting slogans against capitalism and NATO and in favour of migrants’ legalisation.

Around 6,500 officers were deployed across Athens for the annual march to the US embassy which is often marred by clashes between anarchists and riot police.

Tensions were particularly high this year as the event came nearly 12 months after the fatal shooting of teenager Alexis Grigoropoulos by a policeman, which sparked riots across Greece.

Protestors chanted: « Police traitors, murderers, torturers » and « Americans out » while some carried a placard reading « Remember December, the 6th December » in English — referring to the date of the Grigoropoulos shooting.

Uniformed soldiers and sailors from the Greek military trade union marched behind a banner which read: « No soldiers beyond our borders. Dissolve NATO ».

The march began late afternoon at the Athens Polytechnic, where at least 44 people were killed in the 1973 student uprising.

The annual demonstration often takes on an anti-American tone because of Washington’s support for the military regime that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974.

One youth was arrested at the start of Tuesday’s demonstration after police found a bottle of gasoline and a gas mask in his backpack.

The new socialist government that came to power last month has pledged a crackdown on heavy-handed policing that was a regular feature under the previous conservative administration.

The police presence around the march was reduced by around 1,500 officers to avoid provoking protesters, a police source said.

In addition to policing the march itself, the authorities boosted security around embassies, ministry buildings and the offices of foreign companies, which have in the past been the target of firebomb attacks.

Another demonstration in Greece’s second city Thessaloniki also produced clashes between youths and riot police, while rival student groups clashed at the city’s Aristotelio University before the march even began.

The student wing of conservative New Democracy party said 10 of its members were hospitalised with bruises after being attacked by leftists.

Treize policiers blessés dans des heurts à Athènes

Par Reuters, 17/11/2009

ATHENES – Treize policiers ont été blessés dans des affrontements avec des centaines de jeunes manifestants mardi à Athènes, annonce la police grecque. Plus de 200 manifestants ont été interpellés.

Les heurts ont éclaté à l’issue d’une manifestation pour le 36e anniversaire du soulèvement étudiant de 1973, durement réprimé par la junte militaire alors au pouvoir.

Quelque 12.000 personnes avaient auparavant défilé dans le calme en direction de l’ambassade des Etats-Unis pour marquer cet anniversaire.

Les émeutiers, entre 200 et 400 jeunes se réclamant de la mouvance anarchiste, ont lancé des pierres sur les forces de l’ordre, mis le feu à des poubelles et endommagé plusieurs voitures sur l’avenue Alexandras, dans le centre de la capitale.

« Pendant les affrontements, 13 policiers ont été blessés, l’un grièvement, et des centaines de jeunes ont été interpellés« , a déclaré un responsable de la police qui n’a pas fait état de blessés parmi les manifestants.

La répression qui avait suivi en 1973 le soulèvement de l’université polytechnique d’Athènes avait fait des dizaines de morts, le régime des colonels ayant envoyé les chars dans les rues.

Tear gas fired at Athens protest

17 novembre 2009

Police in Athens have fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of youths marching to commemorate those who died during a student uprising 36 years ago.

Anarchist demonstrators threw stones at riot police, who responded with the tear gas.

The violence came after the protesters marched through the capital beating drums and chanting slogans.

The annual march from the city’s Polytechnic to the American embassy frequently ends in trouble.

Scuffles broke out after the mostly peaceful march involving an estimated 15,000 demonstrators. A group of motorcycle police came under attack, and running street fights followed.

Two hundred protesters were detained for carrying petrol bombs or throwing stones at police.

Reuters news agency, quoting an unnamed police official, said 13 policemen were injured, one seriously.

Observers say this demonstration is a crucial test of the public order skills of Greece’s new Socialist government.

Tensions between left-wingers and the police have been heightened since riots last December, when a guard shot dead 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos and triggered three weeks of riots.

The date of 17 November is a solemn anniversary for modern democratic Greece.

Every Greek pupil is taught that the freedom they enjoy today would be impossible without the sacrifice of the Polytechnic students, who died when the dictatorship’s tanks crushed a rebellion in 1973.

Police Clash With Youths After Greek Protest Rally

http://www.theepochtimes.com

Reuters Nov 17, 2009

ATHENS—Greek police fired teargas to disperse hundreds of rioting youths after thousands marched through Athens on Tuesday to mark a November 1973 student revolt that was crushed by the military junta then ruling Greece.

The self-described anarchist youths attacked riot police with stones, set fire to garbage cans and destroyed cars on the central Athens Alexandras avenue after more than 12,000 protesters marched peacefully to the U.S. embassy.

« The police are firing teargas at about 200 to 400 people, » said a police official who requested anonymity. The protesters had damaged at least three cars, he said.

Protesters accuse the United States of supporting the junta.

The violence came after thousands of mostly students and workers through the streets of the capital beating drums and chanting slogans such as « Education, Security, Work », guarded by about 6,000 police officers, many in full riot gear.

The annual march marks the uprising at the Athens Polytechnic University. Dozens are believed to have been killed when tanks rolled through the school’s gates and in the surrounding streets.

The revolt heralded the end of the 1967-1974 dictatorship.

Shops closed down and traffic stalled, as the march, led by the polytechnic’s blood-stained flag, meandered through the city before heading to the U.S. embassy.

« We want money for schools not for armies, » the protesters chanted.

Self-proclaimed anarchists usually trail the march and clash with police.

This year, a group of anarchists dressed in black held a banner reading « Remember, Remember the 6th of December » to mark the police shooting of a teenager in Athens last year, which sparked the country’s worst riots in decades.

Police said they arrested one and detained another 12 youths for carrying petrol bombs and throwing stones at police officers in what they said were minor scuffles.

« We have taken all measures for any possible violence overnight, » said a police official who requested anonymity.

Greeks march on anniversary revolt

17 novembre 2009

Greek police have detained up to 200 suspected rioters following clashes with anarchists after thousands of people marched through Athens to mark the 36th anniversary of a pro-democracy student uprising.

Five youths were arrested on suspicion of attacking police after the mostly peaceful march to the US embassy, in which more than 15,000 took part among heavy security.

The annual rally is held to commemorate the bloody Athens Polytechnic uprising in 1973 and protest at American support for the 1967-74 military dictatorship.

The march was marred by minor scuffles between stone-throwing anarchist demonstrators and riot police, who responded with tear gas and stun grenades.

After the end of the rally, about 500 anarchists attacked a group of motorcycle police, smashing their bikes, and set fire to rubbish bins. Running street fights followed, in which rioters threw petrol bombs at police.

At least three demonstrators were injured.

Authorities say 6,000 police were deployed for the march. The heightened security comes as fears of violence are rising before December 6, the first anniversary of massive riots sparked by the police killing of a teenager.

Rival student groups clashed briefly on Tuesday during a similar march by some 10,000 people in the northern city of Thessaloniki, and anarchists threw stones and petrol bombs at police. No arrests or injuries were reported.

 

~ par Alain Bertho sur 18 novembre 2009.

Publié dans émeutes, riots