Marches against repression in Greece

Libcom.org Dec. 8, 2009

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.