Some 10,000 workers, students and youth marched through Athens city centre last Thursday evening against the Greek government’s violence in last Wednesday’s general strike demonstration.
Then, the riot police action resulted in over 20 people being hospitalised while two demonstrators are still being treated in intensive care units.
The front banner carried by trade unionists in Thursday’s demonstration read: ‘Down with the murderous government of the Accord and of terrorism’.
This expressed the hatred of the working class and youth against the ‘parliamentary junta’ of the social-democratic government of Prime Minister Yiorghos Papandreou and the austerity measures Accord imposed by the ‘troika’ of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Commission (EC) and the European Central Bank (ECB).
The most popular slogans on the march were ‘forward people to the front line – down with the murderous government’ and ‘uprising everywhere – to throw out the government and the IMF’.
The central building of the University of Athens is under students’ occupation.
When the march reached the Vouli (Greek parliament) once again the riot police carried out the same provocative move as in last Wednesday’s demonstration, and were showered with plastic water bottles and stones.
The riot police immediately attacked the demonstrators with teargas canisters and noise and lightning bombs.
The march was split in two but workers and youth stayed put and after five minutes they carried on shouting slogans against the riot police and the government.
The Greek police said that several persons arrested in last Wednesday’s march have been charged with criminal offences while four riot police, depicted in an amateur video kicking a demonstrator, have been sent home pending an investigation.
While the riot police were once again barbarously attacking a protest march, racist and fascist thugs were allowed to carry out a pogrom against migrant workers in an area close to the Athens city centre.
Over 20 migrant workers were taken to hospital as well as four racist thugs. The riot police intervened after the attack and arrested over 40 racists and seven migrant workers.
Last Wednesday, a Bangladeshi worker was stabbed to death by a racist gang according to eyewitnesses in the area where the pogrom took place.
The latest figures from the Greek Statistics Authority once again show a steep rise in unemployment, now over 20 per cent, and that includes only those registered.
The government’s austerity measures and policies of ‘merger’ in the public sector have resulted in over 17 college and university departments shut down, and an estimated 20 hospitals wards.
