Greek Unrest Spreads: Solidarity Protests Across Europe Turn Violent
Demonstrators in Rome. Photo courtesy of SpiegelOnline InternationalSPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL:
As Greece entered its sixth day of unrest sparked by the police shooting of a 15-year-old boy, violence spread to other parts of Europe on Thursday. Solidarity protests in cities including Rome, Madrid and Copenhagen turned into skirmishes between demonstrators and police.The unrest that has gripped Greece for days has started to spill over into other European capitals, with arrests made in Rome, Copenhagen and Madrid on Wednesday night after solidarity demonstrations descended into violence.
The situation in Greece itself had calmed somewhat by mid-morning Thursday following pre-dawn violence which saw students clash with police. Youth threw stones and fire bombs at police in the early hours of the morning in the sixth day of protests since the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos ingited anger over police brutality. The events have also stoked
public anger with the government -- resentment that was already widespread following a series of financial scandals and unpopular reforms.
Much of the worst violence has been perpetrated by young anarchists, the so-called Black Bloc. But there is growing anger among the wider public about the inability of the government to control the situation and restore calm. On Wednesday a general strike across Greece halted flights and closed banks, schools and some hospital services.
Meanwhile, flourishes of violence spread to other parts of Europe. In Istanbul about a dozen Turkish left-wing protestors daubed red paint over the front of the Greek consulate, while the country's embassies in Rome and Moscow were attacked by fire bombers and stone throwers. In the Italian university town of Bologna, five police officers were reported injured after clashing with demonstrators outside the Greek consulate.
>>> smd -- with wire reports | December 11, 2008
GLOBEANDMAIL:
Ugly Tactics of the Rioters Now Coming Under AttackWatching television and video coverage of the riots that have swept through Greece this week, it is hard not to notice something curious: The police, for the most part, do not seem to be fighting back.
Except when stoned or pelted with Molotov cocktails themselves, they often left the rioters alone to smash store windows and set fire to buildings.
That apparent restraint springs from a November night in 1973 when the forces of a six-year-old dictatorship battered their way onto the campus of the Athens Polytechnic. No one knows the exact toll, but something like 40 people were killed, and the anger over their deaths helped bring down the military government.
Ever since, student protesters have enjoyed a special status in Greece. Lionized for bringing down the regime of the colonels, they take to the streets with a frequency and a ferocity that is unusual even in Europe.
>>> Marcus Gee | December 10, 2008
TIMESONLINE:
Greek Violence Spreads across EuropeSuspected anarchist protests which have dogged Greece for the last week spread outside the country today, with mobs causing violent scenes in Italy, Spain, Russia, Denmark and Turkey.
Greek diplomatic missions were vandalised in the attacks, while police, local authority and media representatives were also targeted in what appeared a co-ordinated escalation.
The upsurge took place as protests continued in Greece following the killing last Saturday of Alexandros Grigoropoulos.
Today, mobs pelted 20 police stations with rocks and bottles, overturned cars and blocked streets in central Athens. Police responded with tear gas as sporadic violence persisted amid Greece’s worst rioting in decades.
Four people were detained and at least one man was hospitalised with injuries, authorities said. In a gesture which appeared designed to ease the violence, MPs held a minute of silence for Mr Grigoropoulos.
Yet what were originally relatively localised protests over the killing have since been hijacked by mobs of self-styled anarchists who authorities say are looking for trouble, and today they spread out of Greece for the first time.
In Denmark, a total of 32 people were arrested in Copenhagen after protests turned violent while, in Madrid and Barcelona, several police officers were injured and 11 people were arrested following clashes.
The violence also spread to Turkey, where a dozen protesters were reported to have painted the Turkish-flag red on the Greek consulate. In Moscow and Rome, meanwhile, petrol bombs were reported to have been aimed at Greek Embassies.
Meanwhile, a crew of television journalists from Russia were attacked by 50 youths as they filmed clashes in Exarchia, Greece, a known hotbed of student radicalism. One correspondent from the NTV television station was injured.
>>> David Byers | December 11, 2008
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