OVER 5,000 Greek school and university students along with teachers and university lecturers demonstrated through the Athens city centre yesterday afternoon for the third consecutive day against the right-wing ‘murderers government’ as they shouted during the march to the Vouli (Greek parliament).
Mass demonstrations took place in Salonica and other Greek cities.
After the bulk of the Athens march had passed by the Vouli building, the armed special police units brutally attacked school students, making extensive use of stun bombs, tear-gas and baton charges.
About 4,000 students and teachers attended yesterday afternoon’s funeral of 15-year-old school boy Alexis Grigoropoulos in an Athens suburb.
The police once again made use of plastic bullets.
It has become known that the Greek police raided thousands of immigrants, who were waiting outside a government building early on Saturday morning – that is prior to the killing of the school boy in the night.
An unnamed Pakistani man was hit by the police and is now fighting for his life at the Nikaia hospital, Athens.
Throughout yesterday the Greek prime minister, Kostas Karamanlis, met with the President of the Greek Republic and with opposition parties’ leaders.
Following his meeting with Karamanlis, the leader of the social-democratic PASOK party said that ‘this government has lost the confidence of the people and cannot protect rights and properties’.
The general secretary of the KKE (Greek Communist Party), Aleka Paparigha, said that her party is building up the fight against the government’s policies and is ready for a general election ‘whenever it comes’.
She attacked the Coalition of the Left party as offering ‘an umbrella’ to so-called ‘anti-state’ youths who attacked banks, luxury hotels and shops, and government buildings.
The leader of the Coalition of the Left, Alekos Alavanos, said that the government bears full responsibility for the murder of the 15-year-old student.
Alavanos answered the KKE leader’s accusations by saying ‘this is exactly what the government propaganda says about us’.
Alavanos too refused to call for the overthrow of the government, saying that ‘we will go to a general election in an organised way.’
The school teachers’ trade unions and students’ organisations have called for mass participation in today’s 24-hour general strike and are organising a mass demonstration to the Vouli.
The KKE is also organising its own separate marches in Athens and other cities.
Yesterday afternoon the government spokesperson said that the Greek government never discussed plans for the imposition of ‘emergency measures’ and called on all political parties to show restraint.
