Police and students clashed outside the Greek parliament yesterday despite an appeal for calm by the president ahead of the funeral for a 15-year-old boy whose killing by police set off nationwide riots.
The clashes sparked calls from the opposition for the government to resign and seek a “public verdict” on the crisis.
“The government has lost public confidence,” Greek socialist opposition leader George Papandreou told his Pasok party deputies in parliament.
PHOTO: AFP
“The only thing it can give this country is to depart ... to seek a public verdict so that the people can give a solution,” he said.
The troubles entered a fourth day as Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis appealed for national unity to end the violence and the family of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos prepared to hold his funeral.
Authorities closed off many Athens streets after a third night of rampaging violence by youths who looted banks and stores.
Police, who made 87 arrests, said some protesters staged attacks with swords and slingshots stolen from a weapons shop.
Twelve more police were injured in Monday's clashes and at least 10 people were hospitalized with respiratory problems from clouds of tear gas that blanketed central Athens.
The unrest yesterday flared outside the parliament where a molotov cocktail was thrown at riot police during a protest by students.
Earlier tear gas battles were staged at the Athens Polytechnic which, along with the nearby Athens Law School, has been occupied by students protesting at the killing.
Streets around the universities were closed. Both colleges are in the Exarchia district where Grigoropoulos was fatally shot by police on Saturday, setting off the worst unrest to hit Greece in decades.
Thousands of teachers and students took to the streets of the capital to demand justice.
Approximately 2,000 protesters, led by the OLME teachers' union, marched on the Greek parliament carrying a large banner reading “Assassins, the government is the culprit.”
Burnt out rubbish bins, glass and paving slabs torn off sidewalks littered the streets from the third night of troubles on Monday when emergency services said fires were put out at 49 office buildings, 47 shops, 14 banks, 20 cars and three ministries.
The northern city of Salonika also saw major unrest. At least 70 stores and seven banks were set ablaze, the ANA news agency said. Several thousand students staged a protest march there yesterday.
The funeral of Grigoropoulos was to be held at the southern Athens suburb of Palio Faliro at 1pm.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College