Violence erupts on Greek riot anniversary

December 07, 2009|Associated Press

ATHENS - Masked youths hurled firebombs and chunks of marble at law enforcement during a march in Athens yesterday to mark the first anniversary of the police shooting of a teenager whose death sparked massive riots.

Police fired volleys of tear gas to disperse the youths in running street battles in the center of the capital as several thousand demonstrators commemorated the death of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, 15. The teenager’s death sent youths rampaging through cities for two weeks last December.

Yesterday, the rioters smashed bank windows, overturned trash bins, and set them afire as they hurled rocks and firecrackers at riot police.

Authorities said 177 people were detained for public order offenses in Athens and another 103 in the northern city of Thessaloniki, where a similar demonstration turned violent.

Police also clashed with protesters in the southern city of Patras and the northwestern city of Ioannina.

At least five protesters and 16 police were injured in the violence, police said.

Police on motorcycles chased rioters amid scenes of chaos at Syntagma Square in Athens, with youths punching and kicking officers pushed off their bikes. .

At Athens University, masked protesters broke into the building and pulled down a Greek flag, replacing it with a black-and-red anarchist banner.