Athens: Exarcheia self-organised park under police attack
@@ - 04.09.2009 23:20
Friday, September 4, 2009
#81 | Athens: Exarcheia self-organised park under police attack, again; 5 arrested and detained.
Friday, September 4, 2009
In the early hours of Friday 4.9 the self-organised park in Exarcheia once again came under attack by the police. Earlier, police jeeps tried to cross through Messologiou Street: the very same street where Alexis Grigoropoulos was assassinated in December. People present tried to resist the shameless police provocation; only moments later a full-scale police operation saw riot units surrounding the area, tear-gassing the people present and throwing them a percussion grenade. During the conflict a cop pulled out his gun, threatening to shoot.
From those arrested, one (charged with a “misdemeanor”, that is, graffiti) will be at court on Monday and other four will appear on Tuesday. The four are charged with felonies: molotov cocktails and stone-throwing, except according to eye-witnesses, not a single molotov was thrown in the area last night! They are all held in detention until then and it is possible they might be ordered in pre-trial detention – in Greece this can last up to 18 months.
In an hour or so, an assembly will begin at the park, spontaneously called after last night’s events. More info will follow. A more detailed account of the events is up on Athens IMC.
#82 | Eye-witness report from last night’s police assault on Exarcheia
Friday, September 4, 2009
Translated from Athens IMC
…soon after 01.30 a.m. two jeeps of the OPKE force (the so-called crime protection units, similar to the special guards who shot Alexis –trans.) drove down Navarinou Road, a one way street, the wrong way (that’s the road by the self-organised park –trans.) speeding, shouting and swearing at passers-by. We were all taken by surprise without quite realising what was going on, people started mobilising and chasing the OKPE jeeps, which drove through the nearby Kolleti street with some crazy speed, with the danger of running over passers-by. At the same time at the corner of Solonos and Trikoupi Streets (around one block away from the park –trans.) another OKPE unit had forced two young persons to lie down on the pavement, swearing and threatening them. Some people ran in that direction to assist the two, the OKPE police were taken by surprise and one of the two pulled out his gun and aimed at the crowd, immediately another one threw a stun grenade and the crowd dispersed. The OKPE policemen managed to retreat and yet they returned swearing and holding their genitals. The incident with the gun was very serious and witnessed by at least two comrades.
The assembly called for after the police assault is currently underway at the self-organised park.
 http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1074214
 Website: http:// http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/
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