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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.
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| Lees meer over: europa | | aanvullingen | | 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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