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Greek police, protesters clash on shooting anniversary

Friday, 07 December 2018 6:14 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 07 December 2018 11:39 AM ]

Riot police stands next to a burning barricade during an anniversary rally marking the 2008 police shooting of 15-year-old student, Alexandros Grigoropoulos, in Athens, Greece, December 6, 2018. (Reuters)

Greek police clashed with protesters on Thursday following demonstrations to mark the 10th anniversary of the killing of a teenage boy by police, which triggered the country's worst riots in decades.

Hundreds marched peacefully through central Athens in a tribute to 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos who was shot dead in 2008.

After the evening march, police fired teargas to disperse protesters hurling petrol bombs at them in the bohemian Exarchia district, where the unarmed boy was killed.

Some of the protesters set garbage containers on fire and set cars alight.

Earlier, people laid flowers and lit candles during a memorial service on the spot where Grigoropoulos was killed.

Police had deployed more than 2,000 officers in Athens.

The Greek police use a water cannon in downtown to extinguish fire due to the explosion of petrol bombs during a demonstration in Athens on December 6, 2018 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of fatal shooting of a teenager which sparked major riots in Greece in 2008. (Photo by AFP)

Some in full riot gear formed protective cordons outside parliament and hotels in the city, while a helicopter hovered over the central Syntagma Square and neighboring districts through the day.

Around noon, hundreds of students marched towards parliament.

Clashes also broke out during demonstrations in the northern city of Thessaloniki, with police firing teargas and stun grenades at protesters hurling stones and petrol bombs at them.

On the night of December 6, 2008, hours after Grigoropoulos was shot, thousands took to the streets of Athens, torching cars and smashing window shops and looting.

The riots, which were also fuelled by anger over unemployment and economic hardship in a prelude to Greece's debt crisis, lasted for weeks.

(Source: Reuters)

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