Marches against the hideous police repression unleashed in the days commemorating the assassination of A. Grigoropoulos took place in Greece after two days of clashes.
Marches against state terror unleashed in the last few days against the movement took place in Athens and Salonica on Tuesday 8/12 amidst government lies and bragging of its ability to detain more than 800 citizens out of which 13 have been charged during the marches in memory of Alexandros Grigoropoulos.
In Athens the protest march called at Propylea at 19:00 found the university asylum grounds once again blocked by long triple chains of riot cops in utter breach of the 16th article of the constitution. Faced with intensifying challenge by the gathered protesters police officers in charged claimed this was done under the demands of the rectorial authorities, leading the crowd to chant "cops, Tv and rectors all the scum work together". Despite the overwhelming police forces and the tiredness of two days of continuous confrontation, the 2,000 strong march took to the streets of Athens in high spirits towards the Parliament and then to Omonoia chanting anti-police slogans all the way. There were no clashes during the march. At the same time the administration headquarters of the Technical Schools of Athens (TEI) have been occupied by protesters against police brutality and the breach of the asylum. Student organisations have called a new protest march against police brutality and breach of the asylum for Friday.
Earlier the same day pupils marches took place in many Athens' neighborhood against state terror. In Chaidari pupils clashes with police forces which were piled with oranges and other projectiles; 3 pupils were detained during the clashes. Tension also built up during a pupil protest march in Kamatero with pupils throwing projectiles to cops and during a pupil march towards the central prisons of the country in Koridalos with children lighting fires around the penal premises. Finally pupils of the Grava complex once again marched to the Agias Lavras police station that had come under attack in the previous days.
In Salonica, the protest march took to the streets of the city a 18:00 fueled by the recent breaches of the university asylum by delta-team thugs. A similar protest march took place in Rethymnon, Crete where the police was supported in its work of intimidation by local fascists.
On the legal front all 22 comrades of Resalto have been released with extortionate monetary guarantees (amounting to around 40,000 euros in total). The trial will be held in March.
The recent days of unrest have led to a head-on confrontation of left wing parties with the government. In a hideous gesture of propaganda, the attacker of Ms Koutsoumbou - the elderly woman who was hit by a delta-team motobiker who then proceeded to beat her up causing brain injuries and internal bleeding - visited her at hospital claiming that it was all an accident. EEK, the Workers' Revolutionary Party whose member is Ms Koutsoumbou held a press conference today denouncing the visit as hypocritical and stressing that not only the policeman targeted and then hit the veteran anti-junta struggler, but after dismounting and beating her on the head with a glob, he also attacked a doctor who tried to give first aid to the woman. The police even refused to call an ambulance to her assistance claiming its a trick so that the protesters can burn it. EEK claims this amounts to an assassination attempt by the policeman. The government insists it was all an accident, infuriating other parts of the left which have come out openly against the government they were flirting with only a month ago. The Radical Left Coalition has accused the Minister of Public Order of being a right wing-fascist hybrid. The typically delirious Mr Chrisochoidis has retorted attacking both the local council of Keratsini for its support of Resalto and the occupiers of the local city hall, and the radical left as covering "nazis" and "vandals". The notoriously FBI decorated minister claimed he will abolish use of tear gas and replace it with Operation Motorman type water cannon-barricade breaking street tanks which were abolished by the first Socialist government in 1981.
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Update: On the morning of
Update: On the morning of 9/12 pupils attacked the police department of Alexandria in Amathia with molotov cocktails. Meanwhile street cleaners and garbage collectors have renewed their strike for another 48h. Athens is currently plunged in piles of rotting garbage half blocking the streets.
On the legal front 3 of the people arrested in Salonica have been imprisoned pending their trial. Legal processes of the other people arrested during the last days unrest continue in various greek cities. In Mytelene, Lesbos island, 4 radio stations were occupied by protesters who broadcasted communiques demanding the immediate release of all the arrested. Manolis Glezos the Resistance veteran known for lowering the Nazi flag from the Acropolis during the Occupation has denounced the detentions as state terror against the people and the movement, while the Lawyers Association of Keratsini has joined in denouncing the Resalto arrests are political repression. In an audacious incident characteristic of the ethics of the greek state, a boy was released in Salonica after the police admitted to the interrogator that it had "planted him" with a bag filled with molotov cocktails. The officers have not been suspended or charged.
On the other hand, in an move of collaborationism unheard of since the junta, the rectorial authorities of the Athens Law School have announced measures ousting and disallowing entrance on non-students in its premises. In Chania an investigation has started on the collaboration of the police with fascist groups during the latest unrest after the publication of photos of the police commander of the operations openly coordinating the thugs. Fascists have attacked immigrants in Chania twice since the end of the troubles.
The latest developments come in a climate of extreme economic tension as greece's Fitch borrowing status was downgraded yesterday amidst international estimations that the country cannot pay off its debts. The downgrading has led to a collapse of the stock market to a 10 year low. The PM has announced that the country is for the first time in a "crisis of national sovereignty since 1974" adding most dramatically that "the motherland is in intensive care". The government fears that structural reforms demanded for the upgrading of the country's borrowing status would lead to a social upheaval that will make the December Uprising look like a Saturday night riot.
Quote: Saturday night riot.
:)
i hope that no one gets hurt.
i hope that no one gets hurt.
that is amazing. Alexandria
that is amazing. Alexandria is just about the sleepiest town I've ever seen.
how long will this last?
how long will this last?
To the final struggle we
To the final struggle we hope...More realistically, around 17 universities were once again occupied yesterday in response to the challenge towards the asylum. Most Significantly the students of the Athens Law School have responded to their rector's collaborationism by occupying their university. Pupil and Student marches will take to the streets of many greek cities today. Meanwhile the tension is spreading: electricity workers occupied a major power factory yesterday demanding better hour schedules - a demand that was granted by the National Electrical Company which is afraid of a domino of protests. Earlier yesterday locals of the Afnithia region attacked the national highway toll booths of their area smashing the bars in demand of an abolition of road tolls. Updates on todays marches will be posted in the afternoon.
The electricity workers
The electricity workers occupation sounds impressive (well, the whole thing is totally fucking amazing, but you know what I mean), are there any English-language links on that?
Update: More protest marches
Update: More protest marches against police repression and breach of the university asylum took place on Thursday in Athenns, Salonica and dozens more cities and towns. In Athens 2,000 communist party allied students and pupils marched to the parliament before another march of another 2,000 left, anarchist and non aligned protesters marched chanting slogans like "the rectors are breaching the asylum, the junta was not over in 1973" in reference to the collaborationism of the Law School rector who has gone as far as proposing a special police force for the universities.
Farce, I am sorry but there are no english news about the mobilisation of electricity workers. It was organised by the union Spartakos at the steam power unit of Ptolemaida, one of the of biggest in the country. The union is further demanding the immediate employment of more workers and the replacement of lignite units with greener productive units. Workers have given a deadline for December 16, a day before the general strike, for their demands to be met. Otherwise they threaten to pull the plug and plunge the country in darkness.
There are no news about the
There are no news about the electricity workers mobilization? Also in other languages. Thank you for your great work taxikipali.
Solidarietà from Italy