More reports from Greece

11th December 2008

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It is getting harder and harder to gather information. Today it was the General Strike day in Greece and there was a big gathering at Sintagma square, outside the parliament, where clashes with the police had taken place the previous days. Together with the labors were standing pupils, students, anarchists and others. Once again the highschool students stood infront of the riot police lines and voiced their dislike. The police tried to push them away and the students fought back by throwing rocks and other objects. More people stepped in and threw rocks and petrol bombs and the police started throwing tear gas. The clashes then spread out on nearby streets and finally the rioters were gathered in the NTUA (Polytechnic University) which have been occupied by the protesters since the day the revolt started. Until late at night, fights with the police were taking place. The police once again had on its side members of the neo-nazi/far right group Hrisi Augi (Golden Dawn) which were armed with sticks and knives and they were making attacks on the protesters and then were hiding behind the riot police lines.

Today the two cops that killed the 15 year old Alex appeared before a judge. The 11 page long testimony of the murder cop is offensive against the boy, saying among others that “the boy was a football hooligan and that they were at the Exarchia area to make attacks as he his alike do every week”. In no point he apologized and in the end he asked to be set free. His lawyer, Alexis Kougias (well known for defending rich scumbags and using his connections with politicians and the media for his benefit) is trying for days now to mislead the people by saying that the ballistic report showed that the shot was not direct and that the bullet ricocheted. The official report has been out yet. However there are fears that the ballistic reports will be forged to show that the shot was not direct, although there are tenths of eye witnesses saying that the cop took his gun out, aimed and shot the kid. The judge decided that the two cops will stay in jail, at least for now. Outside the courthouse there were people gathered and they threw some rocks and two petrol bombs.
Small part of the cop’s testimony:
http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/2008/12/11/the-murderer-on-alexandros-%E2%80%9Che-had-exhibited-deviant-behaviour%E2%80%9D/

In the past two days there are more and more photos published, showing undercover cops and right wing thugs, dressed as protesters with their faces covered together with the police or making arrests. There are also numerous reports of protesters-like men, showing up behind the police lines, joining the demonstrations and then breaking and smashing small shops and cars. Moreover, if you watch the videos of the events in the past days, you can see people with hoods and protester-look behind the police. It is clear that this is part of the government to turn the public opinion against the protesters. It is not the first time this has happened either.
Photos of undercover cops and right-wing thugs in action:
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=937920
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=939524
http://patras.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&from_admin=1&article_id=2835#2988
http://patras.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=2953

In other cities, students and more people were on the streets again, demonstrating, clashing with the police, occupying governmental buildings and more but the actions were less in number than previous days. The numbers of the arrested in every city is still unclear. There are some information but it’s still early to tell. For sure there are hundreds across the country. Some of the arrested were released (mostly the underaged) but some will be heavily charged.

International acts of solidarity:
The number of solidarity acts across the world are increasing. Here are some cities, possibly not all, on which actions, gatherings and demonstrations took place:
London, Bristol (UK), New York (US), Paris (France), Barcelona, Madrid, Toledo (Spain), Copenhagen (Denmark), Stockholm (Sweden), Sofia (Bulgaria), Rome, Florence (Italy), Berlin, Hamburg, Koln, Dresden, Hanover, Leipzig, Potsdam, Bremen, Jena, Dortmund,Frankfurt (Germany), Lefkosia (Cyprus), Istanbul (Turkey), Bern (Switzerland), Glasgow, Edinburgh (Scotland), Amsterdam, Hague, Nijmegen (Netherlands), Warsaw, Poznan (Poland), Brussels (Belgium), Mexico.

There are arrests in London, Copenhagen, Spain and maybe more. Solidarity with every arrestee!