Clashes between armed riot police and unarmed students, batons landing on heads and back bones, teargas and garbage bins set on fire were the features of the tension scenery on Thursday night that took place in downtown Athens, near Omonia square. One Photo reporter was attacked by police and injured, Greek Police ordered internal investigation.
Riot police units chased students and attacked them with batons as “the students were attempting to enter and occupy the Polytechnic School,” Greek mainstream media report.
embedded by Embedded Video
YouTube Direkt
Some 3,000 students had started their protest march at 5:30 pm from the Athens University, walked outside the Greek Parliament and moved to Polytechnic School, where they were attacked by police. The students wanted to enter the Polytechnic School and organize events for the anniversary of the Students’ Revolt in 1973 against the military dictatorship.
However in a debt-ridden country with thousands of social problems and millions of households biting on hunger cloth, no government can allow students stage “events” that could end up in a revolt. Right?
Many deans and rectors in universities across they country closed the universities doors and put riot police to safeguard the public buildings of education.
A Nea Dimokratia MP even described the students who wanted to ‘occupy’ the universities as “budding terrorists”. Addressing the lawmakers of main opposition, left-wing SYRIZA who protested riot police attacks outside the Law School, earlier on Thursday, the ND MP said
“You are the occupiers, the lawlessness and terrorism, we are with the legality “
making clear that in the minds of government officials, “legality” means to send riot police with batons against unarmed students and silence any attempt of opposition brand-marking them as “terrorists” .
Protests are expected to continue in the next days, a demonstration started already outside the Athens University, where teachers join the students.
More pictures @dromografos, protothema, zougla, efsyn
PS KTG blog got a technical problem today, it looks as if no thumbnail photos ar possible for the time being.
