96 people detained in Athens on the commemoration of Alexis Grigoropoulos's assassination, 42 of which have been arrested

#436 | #437 Occupiedlondon.org
Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Video of riot police storming the Syntagma metro station in Athens

Corporate news report of the day

another video with footage from the demo in Athens

Some photos from today’s demonstration in Athens. Detailed report to follow.

#435 | Demonstrations and actions in 17 Greek cities mark two-year
anniversary of the state assassination of Alexandros Grigoropoulos; police
announce unprecedented traffic ban in central Athens
Monday, December 6, 2010

22:30 (GMT+2) Tension around Polytechnic school and Exarcheia square
remains. A large group of people is gathering outside the Athens Police
Headquarters where today’s detainees are being held.

22:00 (GMT+2) Clashes still taking place in Exarcheia. Corporate media
report that more than 90 people have been detained in Athens today.

21:30 (GMT+2) Police brutally attack the commemorative gathering on the
spot where Alexis was assassinated. The police forced the gathered people
away from the shrine. One person has fainted. The gathered people are no
marching towards the Polytechnic School. Tear gas and stun grenade bombs
thrown by police

21:03 (GMT+2) The memory gathering in Messologiou Street in Athens has
just started. Hundreds are already there while more are on their way.

20:05 (GMT +2) People have been concentrating all evening at the spot
where Alexis Grigoropoulos was shot in 2008 in the Exarcheia district. At
the moment barricades and clashes with riot police in various streets of
Exarcheia, but as it seems in other parts of Athens’ centre are taking
place. According to reports on Athens IMC, a few minutes ago the police
threw tear gas and stun grenades to people concentrated in Messologiou st.
exactly where Alexis was shot two years ago. At 21:00 a commemoration
gathering will take place there.

Police have attacked demonstrations in other cities such as Giannena,
Agrinio and Volos, but demonstrators defended the protests, yet several
people (many high school students as it seems) have been detained or
arrested.

19:40 (GMT+2) There is tension in the centre of Athens, where police
attacks to protesters who remain in the streets while they are pushing
groups of protesters towards various directions. The police attacked
demonstrators in Syntagma Sq. while at the moment clashes take place in
front of the Polytechnic School.

18:00 (GMT+2) According to posts on Athens Indymedia there are several
thousands of people in the streets of Athens at the moment. Police
surrounded several demonstrator blocks and attacked to the demonstration a
number of times, notably a harsh attack against the block of the Athens
Law School students’ took place, now several demonstrators are in the
building of the Law School. There were some clashes in front of the
parliament and it seems that molotov cocktails were thrown to the police
lines in front of there.

16:20 (GMT+2) The demonstration in Athens have been effectively banned.
charging at the first people who gathered at the University’s Propylaia
police have now pushed a large demo block. Hundreds of people keep
gathering, effectively behind the police lines.

15:55 (GMT+2) Main demo has not even started, but clashes with the police
have. Riot police have surrounded the university of Athens where the
pre-demo gathering was taking place.

13:45 (GMT+2) The joint student/teacher demonstration in Athens just
ended. In the spirit of December, students pelted the police with oranges.
We are waiting for the main evening demonstration to start.

Earlier high school students’ demonstrations took place in various parts
of Athens and outside the capital, in the Athens’ suburb of Aigaleo it was
reported that a few hundred students marched to the local police
department where were they clashed with police.


Today, 6.12.2010, marks two years from the date of the assassination of
15-year old Alexis Grigoropoulos by special police forces in the Exarcheia
district of Athens.

This post will be carrying continuous updates from demonstrations and
actions organised in Athens and Thessaloniki and a summary of the events
nationwide. There are demonstrations called in at least 17 Greek cities.

On Sunday night, police presence in Exarcheia was very high (even higher
than usual) and at least four people were reported to have been detained
by police.

Called demonstrations:

- Athens: student demonstration at 11am, main demonstration at 4pm,
gathering at the point of Alexis’ assassination at 9pm.

- Thessaloniki: student demo at noon, main demo at 3pm.

On the eve of December 6th, the police announced an unprecedented 21-hour
traffic ban in central Athens: no vehicles whatsoever are permitted to
park or drive through the roads marked in the map below; these effectively
include the entire city centre: