More riots planned in Greece after teen was shot by police
- 00:01:02
- ITN
More riots planned in Greece after teen was shot by police
Greek rioters who clashed with police in Athens and other cities at the weekend have vowed to keep on protesting. The riots, which have left dozens injured, began two days ago after police shot dead a 15-year-old boy. Thousands of youths have taken part in the violence across the country, burning scores of cars and shops in the worst protests to erupt in Greece in years. Pressure on the country's conservative government has shown no sign of easing. The Greek Communist Party has called a mass rally in Athens later and the socialist PASOK opposition, which is coming top in opinion polls at the moment, said Greeks must denounce the government. "We must answer the government's policies en masse and peacefully," the PASOK youth branch said in a statement. University professors, who had planned to join a nationwide workers' strike against pension reforms and economic policies on Wednesday, said they would now stage a three-day walkout. While blogs popular with students have urged them to stay away from school. Ignoring the government's appeals for calm, leftist demonstrators and anarchists staged running battles with police after the teenager's killing, which shocked the nation. The shooting touched a raw nerve among Greek youth, whose anger has been fanned by the growing gap between rich and poor in recent years. Violence at student rallies and fire bomb attacks by anarchist groups are common. Two police officers have been charged over the shooting - one with premeditated murder and the other with abetting him. A police statement said one officer fired three shots after their car was attacked by a group of 30 youths in Athens. A police official said the officer had described firing warning shots, but witnesses said he took aim at the boy, identified as Alexandros Grigoropoulos. Just hours after his death, protesters clashed with police in Athens and the violence spread across the country In Thessaloniki, more than 1,000 protesters clashed with police, set fire to a bank and smashed several shops. Rioters also clashed with police in the western city of Patras. About 200 protesters rioted outside police headquarters in Crete's second city of Chania. On Corfu, protesters smashed up four cars and two shops, and an 18-year-old woman was injured.
ITN | December 8, 2008
