The spark that set Greece on fire
Athens and several other Greek cities have been ablaze with riots sparked by the shooting of a 15-year-old boy by a policeman. Our team spoke to a student participating in the revolts, who described the atmosphere as protestors prepared for a new wave of riots yesterday.
It's not quite civil war, but it feels like it. The death of 15-year old Alexandros Grigoropoulos was shot by a police officer, sparked a wave of angry protests so intense that they deteriorated into riots that ravaged the capital and several other college towns, as thousands of students clashed with police forces. The officer accused of killing the boy has been charged with homicide and another police officer with being an accessory.
But the revolt also expresses deeper social unrest. The country has been hard hit by the economic crisis, and the right-wing government headed by Costa Karamanlis is accused of failing to respond to growing social needs.
"Food, education and freedom!"
Zoe Kazakis, 22, was barricaded in her economics faculty with thousands of other students when she spoke to the Observers. She described the way students prepared for the second wave of revolts launched yesterday evening.
All left-wing parties called for massive gatherings in memory of the killed teenager. Even teachers have joined us. There is going to be a nation-wide strike.
We have been protesting against the privatisation of universities for a long time, but recently our arguments are gaining sympathy from a wider audience. The crisis affects everybody, but the government is completely out of touch with reality. My mother, for example, she directs a medical laboratory, but relies on loans to make ends meet because the state hasn't funded her organisation lately. The government is not taking its citizens seriously. We hear of billions being pumped into the economy, but life here is even more expensive than in Paris.
These revolts express exasperation. Our advantages as students are dwindling. There used to be free meals in university cafeterias: not any more. Nowadays, we are forced to live with our parents until the age of 30. There are no job opportunities unless someone pulls some strings for you. If you earn 700 euros a month after graduate studies, you're one of the lucky ones. The fact that an innocent kid was killed by a policeman not trained to carry a gun was just the straw that broke the camel's back.
The 1973 revolt against the military regime also started in the Polytechnic University. We're asking for the same thing our predecessors were: "Food, education and freedom!"
Tonight there will be many of us protesting. If the government provokes us, we will strike back. Last night around midnight I saw men who appeared to be agitators hired by the government. We'll see tonight."
[Editor's note: The protests that took place on Monday night, shortly after Zoe's testimony, quickly erupted into violent riots. At least 50 people were wounded and hundreds of shop fronts were vandalised in the capital alone. 87 people have been arrested.]
Sunday night in the streets of Athens
These photos were sent to us by Kristaq Vila.
The text on the poster says "Dolo phonoi" : "Murderers".
Comments
Not democratic
Submitted by Gustavo (not verified) on Wed, 10/12/2008 - 22:05.Is vandalising and robbing the soultion? Frankly I believe not. Is not breaking things that you can actually change government. Voting is a more reliable and constructive expression of miscontent. People can protest against what happened but destroying everything proves that economic conditions are not really what matters most to those vandals.
Everywhere I turn it seems
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Thu, 18/12/2008 - 22:03.Everywhere I turn it seems like conservative gov'ts are vandalizing democracy. And they use the laws and bureaucracy to do it. So when people explode into the street and find they are not alone, may the societies the gov't protects take the damage because clearly a vote isn't relieving the symptoms nor the cause.
Current Crisis
Submitted by Somerville House (not verified) on Wed, 10/12/2008 - 19:10.Do we forget or neglect the fact that Greece was one of the birth places of Western Civilization? It seems that over the centuries this great country has been neglected and seems to be getting the short end of the stick in Europe. Low wages - high prices..... Eventually something needs to change and this may be the catalyst for this counrty to rebound after all these years.
Greek riots long overdue
Submitted by FirstDraftHistorian (not verified) on Wed, 10/12/2008 - 13:45.When corruption, nepotism and graft are carried out for all to see and go unpunished; when the Orthodox Church and politicians who connive to make millions at the tax payers’ expense go unpunished; when basic social services rot while the wealthy grow wealthier; when doctors work for 1200 euros a month and University graduates cannot find a job; when the police racket, beat and disregard basic human rights on a large scale without fear of sanction; when democracy remains a joke in a country where the 19th patriarchal system thrives in the villages and countryside; then you need to take radical measures to change things. Globalization, greed and arrogance are not the only factor. The EU has a lot to answer to here. I fully support the Greek student revolt.
greece.
Submitted by Unregistered userjoseph walker (not verified) on Tue, 09/12/2008 - 20:06.The birthplace of democracy ,well intellectually,what causes people to riot,frustration,inequalities ,the shooting of the boy,is just part probably to a bigger problem.probably when people dont have a voice for grievence.injustices,then this probably is the end result.ask the people who are rioting.they could probably answer better than anyone else.