2008 civil unrest in Greece

The 2008 civil unrest in Greece started on 6 December 2008, when Alexandros Grigoropoulos, a 15-year-old student, was fatally shot by Epaminondas Korkoneas, a policeman. The shooting occurred after an altercation between a police patrol and a small group of youths in the Exarcheia district of central Athens.

The death of Grigoropoulos resulted in large demonstrations, which escalated to widespread rioting, with hundreds of rioters damaging property and engaging riot police with Molotov cocktails, stones and other objects. Demonstrations and rioting soon spread to several other cities, including Thessaloniki, the country's second-largest city. Outside Greece, solidarity demonstrations, riots and, in some cases, clashes with local police also took place in a number of European cities including Istanbul, London, Paris, Rome, Dublin, Berlin, Frankfurt, Madrid, Barcelona, Amsterdam, The Hague, Copenhagen, Bordeaux, Seville as well as Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, and the western Cypriot city of Paphos. Newspaper Kathimerini called the rioting "the worst Greece has seen since the restoration of democracy in 1974".

While the unrest was triggered by the shooting incident, commentators described the reactions as expressing deeper causes as well, especially a widespread feeling of frustration in the younger generation about specific economic problems of the country (partly as a result of the global economic crisis), a rising unemployment rate among the young generation and a perception of general inefficiency and corruption in Greek state institutions.

The shooting incident

The fatal shooting that triggered the riots and protests took place in the evening of 6 December 2008, shortly after 9 p.m. in the Exarcheia district of central Athens.

According to press reports,two Special Guards (a special category of the Greek police personnel, originally meant for guard duties on public property)had been engaged in a minor verbal clash with a small group of teenagers in a main street of Exarcheia, outside a shop. On driving away in their police car, they were then confronted by another small group at a nearby street crossing. The two guards were ordered by the Greek police center of operations to disengage immediately and withdraw from the confrontation site. However, the two guards did not oblige and are therefore accused of not following explicit orders. Instead, the two special guards chose to station the police vehicle outside the PASOK headquarters, left their car and went to Tzavella Street on foot in order to confront the youngsters.

Following some exchange of verbal abuse that, according to several witnesses, was initiated by the guards, one of them, Epaminondas Korkoneas, fired his gun. The initial police's report on the incident claims that the special guard shot in response to a renewed attack by the youths that involved throwing stones and bottles. Eyewitnesses speaking to the Greek mass media, however, reported that the special guards were not attacked by the youths nor was their physical safety put in danger at any time. Instead, the special guards approached the group and verbally assaulted them in order to provoke them. The special guard said he fired three rounds, two warning shots in the air and a third aimed on the ground. Several eyewitnesses said they believed the policeman had targeted the youngsters directly. The victim, Alexandros - Andreas Grigoropoulos was a 15-year-old student, who lived in the affluent northern Athens suburb of Palaio Psychiko and attended a private school. Immediately following the shooting, he was transported to the nearby Evangelismos Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Investigation of the shooting

A criminal investigation was initiated against the police officer who fired the shot on a charge of murder ("intentional homicide" according to Greek law), while his partner was charged as an accomplice. Both were suspended from duty and were kept in detention. The defense counsel that was initially hired resigned shortly after accepting the case, citing personal reasons.

On December 10th, counsellor for the defendants Alexis Kougias, said that preliminary results of the ballistic tests apparently show that it was indeed a ricochet and that the two policemen will only appear before the Public Prosecutor after the forensic, toxicological, and ballistic examinations have been completed. The results of forensic tests indicate that the bullet that killed 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos, and sparked the rioting, appears to have entered the youth’s body directly. This casts doubt on claims by the 37-year-old policeman charged with the boy’s murder that the bullet had been fired as a warning and ricocheted. On the morning of 11 December, Dimitris Tsovolas, former MP and Economic Minister under previous government formed by PASOK agreed to serve as the counsellor for Grigoropoulos' family.

On the same day, counsel for the two police involved in the shooting released an explanatory statement that described the deceased as demonstrating "deviant behaviour". According to the memorandum, Grigoropoulos was a teenager from a wealthy family, he frequented the Exarcheia district, and he had allegedly taken part in riotous activities that took place following the end of a basketball game two hours before he was shot, and that, in general "the victim did not show the expected behaviour and personality of a 15-year old adolescent". Grigoropoulos' family, friends, schoolmates and high school teachers immediately condemned those statements and declared in public that the allegations in the defendants' memorandum are "completely inaccurate" and "insulting"; the private school Grigoropoulos attended also issued a public statement that denies all the allegations. Alexis Kougias's stance, as well as his comments in the explanatory memorandum have forced the Athens bar association to initiate disciplinary proceedings against him.

On December 15th, Alexis Kougias, counsel for the defendants, appealed that the two defendants be released from custody, on grounds that neither of them ever had any previous criminal convictions, that their names and addresses are known, that they have considerable ties with their community, and that the charges are based on the testimony of witnesses that defendants' object to. Specifically, the defendants' counsel took issue with the testimony of four eyewitnesses who had testified for the Public Prosecutor, and appeared to refute almost all the claims made by the defendants and their counsellor.

On 17 December, Dimitris Tsovolas, counsel for Grigoropoulos' family, publicly requested that defendants and defendants' counsel stop provoking the Greek people and the victim's family, by making degrading comments, unsubstantiated accusations, and smearing the memory of Alexis. The ballistics report was also released on 17 December and stated that the bullet that killed Grigoropoulos had in fact ricocheted. However, forensic reports conducted on 21 December concluded that the bullet was not fired in the air, but towards the group of teenagers, though there may have been no intention to kill the boy.

Aftermath

By Wednesday 31 December, 2008 The occupation of Greek universities in Athens and Thessaloniki had ended and the administrative officials had begun assessing the cost of damage done during the occupation.

On Thursday, 1 January, 2009 Arsonists attacked 10 banks and two car dealerships around Athens and Piraeus amidst the New Year celebrations. No injuries or arrests were reported by the police. The attacks caused minor damage. At least five arson attacks were also reported by police in Thessaloniki; earlier that day police also briefly clashed with protesters, and fired tear gas at rock throwing demonstrators.

In the early morning of Monday, 5 January, 2009 at least two masked gunmen attacked a riot police unit guarding the Greek Ministry of Culture in central Athens with over 20 rounds of bullets, hitting a 21-year-old officer in the chest and groin. The officer had apparently spotted the gunmen and warned his colleagues shortly before he was hit. An automatic Kalashnikov rifle and an MP5 submachine gun were used in the attack, also a fragmentation grenade was used as a diversion as the perpetrators escaped. The wounded policeman, identified as Diamandis Matzounis, was in a critical, but stable, condition in hospital after six hours of surgery. Authorities said they had cordoned off the region around the site of the attack to collect evidence for forensic examination. At least 72 people were detained during the initial search for suspects. Police said ballistics tests showed the MP5 matched one used in a 30 April 2007, attack on a police station in Athens suburb Nea Ionia. That attack caused no injuries but was claimed by the far-left Revolutionary Struggle group. Police also said ballistics tests showed that a second weapon used on Monday, a Kalashnikov rifle, was used in the more recent attack on police, on 23 December 2008. A group calling itself Popular Action claimed to be behind that attack. Though the latter claim was dismissed by the Greek police's counter-terrorist unit as a hoax.

On Friday, 9 January, 2009 a long-planned education protest march took place in Athens. The rally was organized to coincide with the anniversary of the 1991 murder of academic Nikos Temponeras by a right-wing unionist, participants said they protest against police repression, corrupt politicians, the education reform and a social system that offers little hope, it was one of two held in the capital but it was the only one that turned violent. The trouble began after the rally by several thousand schoolchildren, teachers and students had almost reached its end, near the entrance to University of Athens where it had started. When hooded youths broke away from the student march and threw stones and flares at riot police, who fired tear gas and flash grenades. The youths then turned on police, hurling rocks and flares. At one point a group of protesters tried to force their way into the rector’s office and to occupy the central offices of the University of Athens. The occupation of the University’s offices was obstructed by groups of students and academics. According to rector Christos Kittas, police officers did not ask for university immunity to be lifted so that they could gain access to the faculty. Clashes continued in the area which was closed to traffic and where hundreds of demonstrators remained for an hour. There were repeated police charges and several arrests were made. Some 60 persons were arrested with several demonstrators severely injured in clashes with police. Between those arrested were fourteen lawyers, who said that they had nothing to do with the protest, also several people sustained minor injuries and one was hospitalized. Afterwards the influential Union of Journalists for Athens Daily Newspapers (ESIEA) protested to the Ministry for the Interior and Public Order about "the brutal attacks and beatings" to which reporters and camera crews had been subjected by some riot police units. "There may have been excesses to be condemned, we are looking into the issue, but the police did their job," Minister for the Interior and Public Order Prokopis Pavlopoulos told Greek television. Later that evening, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the capital’s central police headquarters on Alexandras Avenue, leading to some tense scuffles with officers. But the crowd had dispersed by late night, according to police who did not report any additional problems.

Protests were carried on Thursday, the 15th of January, policemen labor unionists also took part in the demonstrations "to condemn the violent phenomena, from wherever they come, and to state categorically that social problems are not solved by repressive measures". Veteran Manolis Glezos who took part in the protest, attributed police violence to the obedience of police forces to the executive power and not the judiciary.

On Friday, 16 January some of the lawyers arrested on Friday's demonstration in Athens, filed suits against police officers accusing them for breach of duty, attempted bodily harm and unnecessarily exposing of people to tear gas.

On Wednesday, 17 January a demonstration was held in Larissa, where more than three thousand people protested against the anti-terrorism act and requested the withdrawal of the charges and the release of four jailed students ,who were arrested during the demonstrations of December 2008. Larissa was the only city where the act was applied last month when twenty five teenagers were arrested. At the same time protestants of a separate rally also in Larissa destroyed bank cameras and wrote slogans on walls, churches and supermarkets.

Greek police battle with rioters

From BBC

Hundreds of anarchist protesters in Greece have fought running battles with police through the centre of the capital, Athens.

The demonstrators were demanding the release of people arrested during rioting last month after a policeman shot dead a youth aged 15.

Rioters smashed shop windows and threw stones and petrol bombs, police say.

Officers responded with baton charges, tear gas and pepper spray and eventually dispersed the crowd.

Compared to the riots that swept Greece last month, Saturday's violence was on a relatively small scale but it showed that anger against the state and the police are still simmering, the BBC's Malcolm Brabant reports from Athens.

The street fighters and anarchists are trying hard to keep alive what they regard as December's insurrection and demonstrations covering a wide range of grievances are taking place on a daily basis, our correspondent says.

But the nature of the clashes may soon change, he adds.

The futility of firing tear gas at rioters who wear gas masks has dawned on the authorities and it is reported that Greece is taking delivery of water cannon, which should be ready for action within a fortnight, our correspondent reports.

Canada: Anarchists Sabotage Bank -22/01/09

On the 19th of January we sabotaged a Scotiabank location in Canada. We inserted glue and pins into two of the locks and poured glue over the keypads of the ATM machines and glued the cardslots after inserting homemade blank plastic cards. Scotiabank is a sponsor of the Security & Prosperity Partnership(SPP) which will be ratified in the year 2010 along with two other Capitalist Spectaclesthe G8 meetings & Olympic games taking place the same year.

The present/future they seek for us is one of complete social control through the use of "intelligent surveillance systems", "biometric technoligies", and hyper militarized borders. The city streets/buses/subways/work places are always under the watchful eye of the state/cops/bosses. This prison society we live in is not so different than the warehouses of cheap labour millions of people have been forced into across North Americas prison systems.

We would like to take this opportunity to express our most heartfelt solidarity with all those fighting
this poisonous system and to make a proposal that we use the lead up year to these events as an opportunity
to inspire a renewal and intensity of actions that we saw throughout Canada the last two years. It's not that
we think excuses for action are necessary considering the state of things but a coordinated year of creative & diverse actions could be a powerful expression of our collective anger and desires for a brighter future. We hope this call reaches you in good spirits and look forward to your responses.

Never let the fuckers rest!

-Anonymous