Clashes mar Greek protests
Thursday, 25th February 2010
Police in Athens yesterday fired tear gas and clashed with youths on the sidelines of a protest of several thousands in Athens against government austerity measures to tame a public debt crisis.
The clash began after a group of 50 young demonstrators were seen trying to approach a row of luxury hotels on central Syntagma Square.
As police fired tear gas to push them back, another 250 people according to authorities broke apart from the main body of demonstrators to throw stones and a few firebombs at police as the protest began to melt away in disarray.
Two photographers were injured in the process and one person was detained. A number of shops in the surrounding area had their windows smashed.
The demonstration that drew around 27,000 people, according to police estimates, was held alongside a general strike that shut down Greece as the embattled Socialist government holds court with European and IMF officials on reining in a runaway deficit and a mountain of debt that has undermined confidence in the euro.
Another 7,000 people joined a protest in the second city of Thessaloniki, police said.
Schools, government offices and courthouses were all closed while there was also major disruption to public transport, banks, hospitals and state-owned companies.
The main Greek archeaological sites and museums, including the Acropolis in Athens, shut their doors as well.
Many of those who stayed away from work joined the demonstrations against the Socialist government, which is trying to raise revenue through new taxes and to save money through public sector benefit cuts and hiring freezes. Some protesters carried signs calling on the authorities to "tax the rich" instead and noted that the strike was also targeting "speculators" after a run against Greek bonds that has sharply pushed up the country's borrowing costs.
Others marched with banners criticising the "plutocracy".
"Our people and their needs are above markets and profits," the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), which represents around a million members, said in its demonstration call.
The ADEDY civil servants union, whose 300,000 members are seen as the main target of the cost-cutting drive, were at the vanguard of the strike action which was also backed by the national journalists' union.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100225/world-news/clashes-mar-greek-protests
Thursday, 25th February 2010
Police in Athens yesterday fired tear gas and clashed with youths on the sidelines of a protest of several thousands in Athens against government austerity measures to tame a public debt crisis.
The clash began after a group of 50 young demonstrators were seen trying to approach a row of luxury hotels on central Syntagma Square.
As police fired tear gas to push them back, another 250 people according to authorities broke apart from the main body of demonstrators to throw stones and a few firebombs at police as the protest began to melt away in disarray.
Two photographers were injured in the process and one person was detained. A number of shops in the surrounding area had their windows smashed.
The demonstration that drew around 27,000 people, according to police estimates, was held alongside a general strike that shut down Greece as the embattled Socialist government holds court with European and IMF officials on reining in a runaway deficit and a mountain of debt that has undermined confidence in the euro.
Another 7,000 people joined a protest in the second city of Thessaloniki, police said.
Schools, government offices and courthouses were all closed while there was also major disruption to public transport, banks, hospitals and state-owned companies.
The main Greek archeaological sites and museums, including the Acropolis in Athens, shut their doors as well.
Many of those who stayed away from work joined the demonstrations against the Socialist government, which is trying to raise revenue through new taxes and to save money through public sector benefit cuts and hiring freezes. Some protesters carried signs calling on the authorities to "tax the rich" instead and noted that the strike was also targeting "speculators" after a run against Greek bonds that has sharply pushed up the country's borrowing costs.
Others marched with banners criticising the "plutocracy".
"Our people and their needs are above markets and profits," the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), which represents around a million members, said in its demonstration call.
The ADEDY civil servants union, whose 300,000 members are seen as the main target of the cost-cutting drive, were at the vanguard of the strike action which was also backed by the national journalists' union.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100225/world-news/clashes-mar-greek-protests
