Some 6,000 police officers on the ground, helicopters and drones in the air, will be deployed in Athens at the anniversary of the Polytechnic School Students’ Uprising on November 17.
The operational police plan includes, among other, the guarding of universities, government buildings and embassies. At the same time, there will be an increased police presence in the wider area of Exarchia, while random checks will be carried out as a precaution in various places.
Police helicopters and drones will continuously monitor Athens, while the roofs of buildings, used in previous years to attack police, will under surveillance.
Water cannons for crowd control will be stationed in downtown Athens, ready to intervene if necessary.
Moreover, there is a special operational plan to identify points where “ammunition” (such as petrol bombs, stones and other objects) might be hidden, media report citing police sources.
Commemoration events of the Polytechnic Students’ Uprising on 17. November 1973 started today Monday. Their traditional peak on the anniversary day is a big march from the University next to the National Museum to the US Embassy in Ambelokipoi.
The march often ends up in clashes between riot police and radical protesters.
Note, that there will be traffic regulations in downtown Athens on Nov 17.
