Greece 16/12

The situation seems to be cooling down. I could say that already the last three days show that less people participate in the demonstrations and we do not see/read/or hear anymore for simultaneous attacks in more than fifty police stations all over Greece by schoolchildren, which was the reality on Monday 8/12, two days after the murder of the 15 year old. Now it seems that the demos and the protests are coming from more conscious minds. Parliamental Greek left tries to use the riots politically for the next elections, the non parliamental left also wishes that the last days' riots will lead to a more organised political movement against the cruelties of capitalism. Anarchists and anti authoritarians continue their fight against the system, having some new heroes in their memories. The first days there were slogans, there was rage and violence but there were not any demands. Now that the situation is calmer there are demands. The first is that these policemen shall get punished in the same way that any other criminal murderer would; no discounts and no more excuses in their justice. The second is that the police will have to change; no more guns to possible murderers. The third is for the arrested of these last days, most of them either immigrants or underage or both, or greek adults, to be set free; almost all of them were arrested without reason and even the ones that did something illegal it was in a state of political turmoil and they cannot be accused as common criminals. The fourth (that is more a demand of the parliamental and non parliamental left, but not only) is for the government to resign. The fifth (that is more a far left one) is for the riot police to get disbanded, as they historically and illegally abuse and violate and injure protesters, while the latter never do anything so serious against the personal safety and health of anybody. There are also some voices who demand for the poisonous and carcinogenic chemicals that are used from the police as weapons of crowd control to stop being used as they are illegal in war time, but legal in peace time. Although nothing spectacular happened today in Greece, there is this feeling on the air that nothing is over yet. Tomorrow there is a big antiracist rally in Athens and on Thursday there are plenty of rallies all over Greece, included some called by school and university students and their teachers, while there is an effort for the day to get declared a national strike day


Today we could say that the main public event in Athens was the protest that has been arranged by the Assembly of Residents of Exarhia (the area where the kid was murdered) early in the evening (18:00). Approximately a thousand people protested near the police station of the area, demanding the disarment of the police and for the riot police to stop being (everyday for the last ten years) present in their area. The protesters remained there for a couple of hours waiting for the riot police to leave, but finally they stopped their protest. Another highlight of the day was the occupation for a minute of the afternoon news program of the state TV channel NET (the video of which you can see at the end of the post).
Two hundred persons protested at Sintagma square in front of the new christmas tree of the Municipality of Athens (the previous was burnt last week and was replaced today).
An attack was reported against the central offices of the riot police in Zografou with petrol bombs
There were planned demos and protests at the courts of Evelpidon, at Koridallos, at Agios Dimitrios and Sepolia. There was also a protest by unemployed people outside the Ministry of Employment.

In the rest of Greece

In the city of Patra a quite massive protest walked through the city, some banks were smashed
In Hania (Crete) school children protested in big numbers without any attacks from the police.
In Thessaloniki today it was the final day of the trial of six policemen accused for the violent irrational attack against the Cypriot student Avgoustinos Dimitriou. The decision was once again an insult to the greek justice, with the police men getting very light punishment with the right to lodge an appeal, which means that at the end they will set free. Protesters who were in front of the courts were outraged of the result and attacked the police there, and then they demonstrated in the city.
In Crete there were protests in Iraklio for the arrested of the previous days and in Rethimno by school students
There was also a protest in Arta by school pupils.



This is the video from the today's occupation for a minute of the state controlled public funded channel NET.
The prime minister Kostas Karamanlis can be heard saying in the Greek parliament, with the members of parliament of his own party cheering and clapping (151 of 300): "Our position is crystall clear. We will not allow the distortion of reality, we will not make Greece a hostage of a sad story, we will not participate in low quality political games that aim to the criminalisation of the political life of the country". Then there is the voice of the reporter of the channel who is making a briefing of what the prime minister said and the image from the parliament fades out and we see the protesters in the studio who hold three banners. The big one says: "Stop Watching. Everybody, get out in the streets." The upper left says: "Set free the arrested now". The upper right says: "Freedom to us all."

Freedom to us all...