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Greece: Police is still provoking (18.00)!! VE - 09.12.2008 18:29
Athens, 18.00. Policeman pulled out his gun once more after 4 days of riots In the course of the riots today, for the 4th day in the whole country, ten minutes ago ajournalist of Skai radio mentioned that one policeman of special forces (Z), hunting a group of 15 years old young students in Amfitheas street, pulled his gun and fired about 10 times in the air. Directly after that, eyewitnesses confirmed that. The area of the shooting is in a densely populated area, which proves that police is out of control and they can kill! In Athens at this moment lots of people are gathering in the center in front of the National Technical University for solidarity. The night is going to be long! TOmorrow there is a massive strike from the syndicalist bodies, which denied the plea of the prime minister not to demonstrate for their rights in view of the riots. |
Read more about: europa | supplements | Meer nieuws uit Griekenland | Carla - 09.12.2008 20:12
Exarchia is a bohemian neighborhood in the center of athens.Most alternative youth hangs around there. It used to be a no - go area for police. Although things are more quiet now, compared to the 80s and 90s, the area is still not the most hospitable place for police. It is quite a common thing for police cars to be attacked by groups of people. Some even call the cops themselves in order to attack them. This has led the police to two different strategies for the area. They hang around in big groups of riot police, in order to protect certain places but also to provoke the youth, and they refuse to patrol the area in small groups, claiming that they are afraid of attacks against them. Recently the residents of exarchia have protested, asking for better police response to their calls, not against the youth (many are still sympathetic) but for petty crime which is pretty high in the area (more serious crimes are low in exarchia). Exarchia used to be the place where many groups had their office, though many have moved, also due to the situation there, as rioting has made other kinds of political action hard to organise. The policeman that killed the 15 year old kid was working for years in the area. He was a "special guard". These officers were hired to guard government buildings and other agencies, but due to lack of personell on the streets they also do street patrols. The circumstances under which he was hired are dubious. At around 1999, many cops were hired by the state, with no real training, in order to satisfy voters for the then- at-power social democrats,that were looking for a job. The officer and his colleague were patrolling the area on saturday night, when they were confronted with a bunch of kids (i dont know if you could call them anarchists, since they were not part of a group). The kids must have thrown stuff at the police car, though nothing serious happened. The cops parked the car a few hundred meters away and returned on foot ten minutes later. Then there was verbal dispute with the kids, and the cop drew out his gun and fired, most probably straight at the kid's heart. What followed is known. Today is tuesday 9th of december and the whole of greece is burning for three days. There have been riots in all big cities (something that hasnt happened before). Thousands of people came down to the streets and hundreds took part in the riots, especially in athens and thessaloniki. Tonight seems to be pretty much the same The greek people were initially very sympathetic to the demos. Everybody is frustrated with the police and the state in general. Recent economic scandals and the big international crisis have also played a part in the general unrest. There were people that threw pots and stuff at the police from their balconies. Also, many schools took part in demonstrations. Pupils marched and threw stones at the police. Even now, outside my window in a neighborhood away from the center i hear kids shouting stuff against the police (no police is in the area). The youth of this country is very angry. The demonstrations consist mainly of youth. There are, it could be said, two reasons for this: The youth is identified with the victim. We feel that one of our brothers has been assasinated. That is also the reason why you see all these pupils, more than students, on the streets. The fact will have a big impact on the new generation, that is for sure. The kids are shocked. The second reason is the massive scale of violence and rioting that took place during these three days. Many youth took part in the riots, not just anarchists or the usual suspects. Students, pupils, young immigrants. Most people in hoods are under 20 years old. This is new. Usually there were certain people or groups that took part in the riots. Not this time. Although the media speaks of the usual anarchist plot, this time it is far away from the truth. Although the demos were quite big, around 5000 people in athens, many more hesitated due to violence. The situation is really out of hand. Although there have been atempts to concentrate the attacks only against banks (which are totally trashed) and big stores, violence has gone pretty blind. Theaters, museums, libraries, traffic signs and small shops have been attacked. Especially the kids are trashing everything at sight. It is a moment of extraordinary freedom for them, and they really dont seem to be able to understand the difference between trashing a bank and burning a little kiosk or a bus stop. But then again not only the kids are guilty of that. There has also been a lot of looting. Kids took mobile phones and playstations from electronic stores, older people took clothes from big stores etc. It is feared that things will take a serious turn. Arm shops have been shacked, and yesterday at the thessaloniki demo, an unknown guy drew a knife on a young protestant. Also, policemen have been reported waving guns against the protesters. Of course, many people will go back home after all this is over, but nothing will be the same for them after what happened. It is expected that violence will escalate. Fear of the events giving birth even to a new chapter of armed violence are not tottaly unfounded. All this violence has made society feel desperate. On the one hand the police has totally ridiculed itself, and looks incapable of doing anything right. There has been a long history of murders by "wild" policemen. Mostly young kids and migrants. On the other hand though, the situation on the streets makes a lot of people feel insecure. Many lost their property and ask for something to be done. Although people blame the police, it wont be long till they ask for order to be reinstated. They really sympathise with the kid that died, but the demos cannot express the sympathy of the people, because of all this rioting The police has followed a strategy of non- intervention until today. There is many reasons for that. First, they are illegitimised by the most of society. Second, they wouldnt risk the injuries of other people. But it is also probable that they recieved these orders in order to let chaos happen and turn society against the demonstrators, a strategy that seems to work, though it cuts both ways, as government and police have been accused of doing nothing but watching things burn. Today, things have changed. After the destruction of the city centre of athens and other cities, the police has become more aggressive. Arrests are made, pupils and protesters harrassed and there is a growing fear that the police will turn violent, especially during tomorrow morning's demo. The demo is organised by the big trade unions of the country. It was planned to have workers demands, but now it will most certainly address the issue of bad police and government, demanding the latter to resign. The prime minister has asked the trade unions to postpone the demos, but they refused. Thus, a possible break of police violence could conveniently be blamed on the protesters and the trade unions. The wrath of the people does not only turn against the police. There is a general frustration for what seems to be a state that does not function properly. The corruption, the economic crisis, the dismantling of the public sector. Nothing seems to work. The so called modernisation plan for Greece seems to have failed. The people are also distressed with politicians and politics in general. Noone is to be trusted. Especially the young seem to be suffocating, from what can not be called as a merely economical problem. There seems to be a total lack of set of principles and ideas to inspire the young. The family, school, politics, society are disintegrating into mediocrity, corruption and conformity. Thus the youth, when no other political option seems to work, turns to blind violence. There is certainly a big gap in the political and social life of greece. Let's just pray that something more than mere nihilism takes its place... Dionisis Granas Thessaloniki 09.12.2008
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