7 December 2009 / REUTERS, ATHENS
Thousands of demonstrators marched in Athens and other Greek cities on Sunday to mark the first anniversary of the police killing of a teenager, which unleashed the country’s worst riots in decades last year.
Sporadic scuffles between stone-throwing protesters and riot police broke out around the Athens march. Police in full riot gear fired tear gas to disperse small groups of hooded youths. About 3,000 mostly students, anarchists and leftists began a march to parliament on Sunday and more protests were expected on Monday. An evening memorial service was planned in the Exarchia district, where the 15-year-old was shot dead. Protesters in central Athens unfolded a banner reading “Remember, remember, the 6th of December.” Some dressed in black chanted “Policemen, Pigs, Murderers.” Greece’s new socialist government has deployed more than 6,000 policemen onto Athens streets to avert a repeat of last year’s unrest that hit the capital and major cities causing millions of euros of damages. “It’s been a year since police murdered the boy and the government which caused the murder has collapsed but nothing has changed in terms of police brutality,” said Panos Garganas, 63, a university employee.
