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Teens battle police in Athens
Hundreds of teenagers fought police in front of Parliament on Tuesday as mourners gathered to pay respects to a 15-year-old boy whose shooting by officers set off three days of rioting across Greece.
- AP
- Published: 23:38 December 9, 2008
Athens: Hundreds of teenagers fought police in front of Parliament on Tuesday as mourners gathered to pay respects to a 15-year-old boy whose shooting by officers set off three days of rioting across Greece.
Socialist leader George Papandreou called for early elections, saying the conservative government could no longer defend the public from rioters.
The government has a single-seat majority in the 300-member Parliament and opposition parties blame hands-off policing for encouraging the worst rioting the country has seen in decades.
"The government cannot handle this crisis and has lost the trust of the Greek people," Papandreou said.
"The best thing it can do is resign and let the people find a solution... we will protect the public."
The funeral of Alexandros Grigoropoulos was being held in a seaside suburb of Athens, far from the demonstrations. More than 3,000 mourners, many teens, gathered to pay their last respects and lay wreaths.
The circumstances surrounding Grigoropoulos's shooting are unclear, but the two officers involved have been arrested; one has been charged with murder and the other as an accomplice. A coroner's report shows the boy was shot in the chest.
Schools and universities across Greece were closed and hundreds of teachers, university lecturers and students rallied in central Athens. Teenagers pelted police with rocks and scuffled with officers in front of parliament.
In the western part of the city, officials said groups of high-school students attacked four police stations but riot police did not respond and no injuries were reported.
Commentators say the growing hostility by young Greeks toward authority is fed by public discontent over low wages, frequent public corruption scandals and a strong historic distrust of government rooted in past political upheavals. "It's very simple - we want the government to fall. This boy's death was the last straw for us," Petros Constantinou, an organiser with the Socialist Workers Party, said as he left a protest in central Athens.
"This government wants the poor to pay for all the country's problems - never the rich - and they keep those who protest in line with police oppression."
Saturday's fatal shooting drove angry students to join with violent anarchist groups who have a long-standing animosity with police. The worst violence occurred late Monday.
Mourning: Shrine
Athenians flocked to the street corner where a teen was killed by police to leave notes, flowers and candles, many still shocked at the shooting that sparked Greece's worst riots in decades.
Since a policeman shot Alexandros Grigoropoulos on Saturday, hundreds have filed past the spot in Exarchia neighbourhood to pay their respects and leave offerings. A fire bomb stood next to the pile of flowers by the makeshift shrine at the corner of Tzavela and Mesolongiou streets in central Athens.
- Reuters
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