Fresh clashes have broken out between police and protesters across Greece for a third day, after the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old by police on Saturday.
Hundreds of students battled police in Thessaloniki, while protests also turned violent in Trikala, the port of Piraeus, and on the island of Corfu.
Police used tear gas against rioters in Athens, where youths threw petrol bombs and set fire to buildings and vehicles.
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has gone on television to appeal for calm.
He said "extreme elements" were taking advantage of the situation to engage in vandalism and pledged to compensate businesses damaged.
Television pictures showed small fires burning in the centre of Athens and hundreds of people wandering through the streets, some attacking banks, businesses and vehicles.
A large Christmas tree in central Syntagma Square was set on fire and windows were smashed on hotels, government buildings and departments stores.
There were reports of looting in some parts of the country.
Politically motivated
The riots began on Saturday after Alexandros Grigoropoulos was shot dead by police in the Exarchia area of Athens.
Dozens of protesters and police have now been injured during pitched battles on the streets, involving petrol bombs and tear gas.
 Hundreds of students clashed with riot police in the second city of Thessaloniki |
On Monday, hundreds of students clashed with riot police in Thessaloniki, Greece's second biggest city.
Students at the city's Aristotle university spent Sunday night holed up on campus stockpiling missiles and petrol bombs before taking to the streets, says the BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Athens.
He says they then retreated safe in the knowledge that they could not be followed as Greece's constitution strictly prevents the security forces from entering the grounds of schools, universities and polytechnics.
There was also trouble in the central city Trikala, in Greece's agricultural heartland, and a police station was attacked in Piraeus, the maritime gateway linking Athens with the Greek islands.
 |
A police officer was injured in a firebomb attack in Thessaloniki, and in Corfu there were violent scenes as protesters attacked a police station.
Meanwhile in Germany, a dozen demonstrators occupied the Greek consulate in Berlin, replacing the Greek flag with a banner proclaiming Greece a "murderer state". There were also protests at the Greek embassy in London.
Five demonstrations were planned in major cities at dusk, including a rally by the Communist Party of Greece and the opposition Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok), in Athens. Pasok's youth wing has called for the protests to be peaceful.
Our correspondent says opposition parties are capitalising on the national sense of outrage.
Even though an individual policeman precipitated the worst violence seen in Greece in decades, the government is getting the blame, he says.
The government is extremely vulnerable, reeling from a series of scandals and only has a majority of one in parliament, he adds.
'Deeply saddened'
In a nationally televised address on Monday, Prime Minister Karamanlis called for calm, unity, restraint and a sense of solidarity with the dead boy's family.
"Unfortunately, extreme elements have exploited this sad event for their own purposes," he said.
Mr Karamanlis condemned the attacks on property by rioters as unjustified and said he had asked the economy minister to ensure that those who had suffered losses would be compensated.
Our correspondent says Mr Karamanlis's unspoken message to Greeks at large is that if you do not stop rioting you will pay for it through your taxes in the end.
A post-mortem is being carried out on the body of Alexandros Grigoropoulos to determine the trajectory of the bullet that killed him.
Two police officers have been arrested in connection with the incident. The officer who fired contends it was a ricochet from a warning shot, but witnesses told Greek TV it was a direct hit.
The boy's family has hired an independent pathologist to ensure there is no cover-up.
On Sunday, the prime minister wrote to the boy's parents: "In these difficult moments please accept my condolences for the unfair loss of your son. Like all Greeks I am deeply saddened."
However, nothing the politicians or authorities can say or do is likely to reduce the anger that is building, our correspondent says.
A similar shooting incident in 1985 led to a lengthy vendetta between the youths and police, with violence continuing for years.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar