ATHENS: Greek police fired teargas at stone-throwing youths marching in Athens to mark the anniversary of the police killing of a 15-year-old, which had triggered the country’s worst riots in decades in 2008.
About 3,000 mostly hooded youths marched through central Athens, with a few hundred throwing stones, sticks, oranges and bottles at police. Some smashed bus stops and shop windows.
“Protesters threw three petrol bombs,” said a police official who declined to be named.
Riot police clashed with about 500 protesters in front of luxury hotels on Syntagma square near parliament, firing percussion bombs, a Reuters witness said.
Protesters also trew red paint at police and the Bank of Greece, the Reuters witness said.
Traffic was banned on main avenues and squares in anticipation of more protests while many shops had placed metal grills on their windows, fearing violence.
The 2008 police shooting of Alexis Grigoropoulos triggered Greece’s worst riots in decades and paralysed Athens for weeks. Two policemen were convicted for his murder this year.
At the spot where he was killed, people gathered to stand in silence. Many left flowers or candles by a marble plaque reading: “To the memory of young Alexis, he was only 15”.
