Police attack protesters in Greece

The police intervened with extreme brutality against protesters. In advance of the protest, the minister for civil protection, Michalis Chrysohoidis, announced, “We will not abandon Athens to the vandals.” Police were instructed to observe the demonstrations and, in the event of violence, show “zero tolerance.”

Just in Athens, at least 10,000 police were mobilized for Sunday's protest in the city center. Fighting broke out between police and demonstrators during the march and the windows of a number of banks and shops in Athens were shattered. Over 200 demonstrators were arrested. The death of the 15-year-old on December 6, 2008 led to weeks of mass demonstrations and riots. The police killing, however, was only the immediate trigger for the protests. The broader background was the deterioration of conditions for students and lack of decent-paying jobs for hundreds of thousands of workers and young people, exacerbated by the rule of a political elite characterized by corruption and nepotism.

As a result of the protests a year ago, the conservative New Democracy (ND) government called for new elections on October 4, although the prospects for Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis to win reelection were dim. The early election was tantamount to a decision to transfer governmental responsibility and the task of dealing with the country’s rebellious youth to the Social Democratic Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), which is backed by the trade unions.

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