ATHENS, Dec 13 Demonstrations and riots take place in several regions Greece after a 16-year-old Gypsy teenager died in hospital in Thessaloniki, wounded by a policeman from a firearm a few days ago during a chase. The police throughout Greece declared a «red» alert level, according to the Proto Thema portal.
Teenager Kostas Fragoulis was hospitalized in the intensive care unit of the Hippocrates Hospital on the night of December 5 with a gunshot wound to the head, he was urgently operated on. Despite the efforts of the medical staff, he died.
A teenager did not pay 20 euros for gasoline at a gas station and left in a light truck. The police gave chase and opened fire. According to the policeman's lawyer, he opened fire when the driver tried to ram the police motorcycles three times.
«Clashes with gypsies occur in Aspropyrgos (near Athens), on the island of Rhodes, in Patras in the Peloponnese and Chalkis,» — informs the portal.
The commuter train in Aspropyrgos was blocked for two hours — the gypsies filled up the railway tracks with various objects and set them on fire.
Gypsies, youth and leftist organizations hold rallies and protest marches in Athens, Thessaloniki and other major cities. People in hoods covering their faces attacked a police unit in Thessaloniki, the portal writes.
«Since noon, police forces and water cannons have been moved to Western Attica, police departments throughout the country, especially those located near the gypsy camps, are on high alert in connection with possible attacks. The first incidents occurred in the afternoon in Chalkis, Mytilene, Patras and Rhodes Young gypsies set fire to the camp of Nea Zoi in Aspropyrgos, blocked the suburban railway lines, as a result of which the movement of trains was stopped for two hours for security reasons,» writes the portal.
In Chalkis, around 6 pm, about 80 people gathered on the regional road to Stira, lit fires and blocked the road, allowing only trucks and buses to pass. An hour later, the protesters were removed from the road and traffic was restored. A large police force is at the scene.
According to local media, about thirty Roma burned tires and garbage cans.
In Rhodes, dozens of Roma, mostly young people, blocked the road behind their camp in the Karaconero district of Rhodes city in the early evening . Dozens of people erected and set fire to the barricades. A large police force and two fire trucks from Rhodes arrived on the scene.
In Thessaloniki, police forces near the international exhibition center were attacked with Molotov cocktails. According to available information, dozens of masked people came out and threw about 15 bottles of Molotov at the police, after which the people fled. The police used chemicals to repel the attack. The New Year tree located on the territory of the exhibition center also suffered from Molotov cocktails, the portal reports.
A protest march is now taking place in Thessaloniki, organized by anarchists, students and extra-parliamentary left parties. They march with banners and shout anti-police slogans.
Riots took place in the evening in the center of Patras after a march against the murder of a 16-year-old teenager by police. Anarchists threw stones at the police headquarters of the Achaia region. In response, the police used chemicals and stun grenades. Previously, student associations held a march in the center of Patras under the slogan «against state violence and repression», which ended shortly after 19:30 (20.30 Moscow time) without any incident.
Greek public television ERT reports that small riots occurred in the center Athens during the procession.
Members of anarchist organizations threw stones at the police, who responded with stun grenades. Clashes also took place on the central Syntagma Square near the parliament.
In Athens, the Panepistimo (University) metro station, from where the procession began, was closed in the evening, and the movement of a number of bus routes was changed.