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Cops Egg On Greek Rioters as Strike Fizzles

Meanwhile, few attend economic protest

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Dec 10, 2008 8:43 AM CST
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(Newser) – Athens police said yesterday that they were pursuing a de-escalation strategy, but the scene that unfolded outside Athens Polytechnic last night didn’t look like de-escalation. As black-clad rioters shouted slogans from behind the university’s fence, police on the other side threw rocks at them, yelling “Come on out, you cowards! Come out and get us!” Neither side seems interested in ending the violence, Der Spiegel reports.

“The police and the Black Bloc are bound to each other in a deep love-hate relationship,” says one local filmmaker. “They both find pleasure in the violence.” Meanwhile, a long-planned march today to protest the government’s economic policies drew only a few hundred people, an “almost embarrassingly small” turnout, reports a BBC correspondent. Police easily deflected the rocks and petrol bombs thrown, and responded with tear gas.

Greek police men protect themselves against Molotov cocktail thrown by protestors near the Parliament building in central Athens, Greece, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008.
Greek police men protect themselves against Molotov cocktail thrown by protestors near the Parliament building in central Athens, Greece, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008.   (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)
Greek youths march during a trade union rally in central Athens, Greece, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008.
Greek youths march during a trade union rally in central Athens, Greece, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008.   (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)
Greek rioters attack a building near the Parliament building in central Athens, Greece, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008.
Greek rioters attack a building near the Parliament building in central Athens, Greece, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008.   (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)
A Greek rioter throws a stone at police near the Parliament building in central Athens, Greece, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008.
A Greek rioter throws a stone at police near the Parliament building in central Athens, Greece, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008.   (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)
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Strike shuts down Greece, more violence feared
Reuters

Strike hits amid new riots, protests
AFP

Greece faces mounting political crisis
International Herald Tribune

 
police • Greece • Athens • riots • police brutality • anarchists

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