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Athens antifascist clash, police station burned
On Saturday and Sunday Feb2-3, 2008, the far-right Golden Dawn (chryssi agvi) group fought with antifa anarchists in Athens. This conflict devolved into a major fight with the police force, and ended with incendiary devices thrown at the city police station.
Here is coverage in greek, at their indymedia website. Following is a report from Kathemerini.
Here is coverage in greek, at their indymedia website. Following is a report from Kathemerini.
Video of police running around city square after protesters after right-vs-left clash
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=824259
Photos
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=824978
Staging of larger crowd and barricades http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=822649
conflict
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=822847
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=825514
The center of Athens erupted into violence on Saturday when more than 500 extreme leftists and self-styled anarchists clashed with far-right demonstrators, resulting in three people being injured but no arrests.
The clashes began on Saturday morning when two groups of extreme leftists met on Stadiou Street in the city center and ran into members of the far-right Chryssi Avgi (Golden Dawn) group that had gathered in Kolokotroni Square to mark the 12th anniversary of the Imia islets dispute with Turkey.
It is estimated that there were at least 400 leftists and about 100 right-wingers involved in the clash. The two groups hurled rocks, pieces of wood and any other objects they could get hold of.
Some 200 riot police were called in to try and defuse the situation. Officers used tear gas to disperse the rioters, who had erected burning barricades along Stadiou Street. The leftist demonstrators also clashed with riot police on Panepistimiou Street a little later.
The clashes led to two people suffering head injuries that required hospital treatment. Another person was stabbed in the stomach and needed a minor operation. None of the injuries were life threatening. Four policemen were also slightly injured after being struck by rocks.
The police issued a statement yesterday saying that 100 people, 66 men and 34 women, had been detained and questioned following the riots but all of them were released.
According to a police statement, six banks, one store and four CCTV cameras were damaged during the clashes. http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100006_04/02/2008_92961
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=824259
Photos
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=824978
Staging of larger crowd and barricades http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=822649
conflict
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=822847
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=825514
The center of Athens erupted into violence on Saturday when more than 500 extreme leftists and self-styled anarchists clashed with far-right demonstrators, resulting in three people being injured but no arrests.
The clashes began on Saturday morning when two groups of extreme leftists met on Stadiou Street in the city center and ran into members of the far-right Chryssi Avgi (Golden Dawn) group that had gathered in Kolokotroni Square to mark the 12th anniversary of the Imia islets dispute with Turkey.
It is estimated that there were at least 400 leftists and about 100 right-wingers involved in the clash. The two groups hurled rocks, pieces of wood and any other objects they could get hold of.
Some 200 riot police were called in to try and defuse the situation. Officers used tear gas to disperse the rioters, who had erected burning barricades along Stadiou Street. The leftist demonstrators also clashed with riot police on Panepistimiou Street a little later.
The clashes led to two people suffering head injuries that required hospital treatment. Another person was stabbed in the stomach and needed a minor operation. None of the injuries were life threatening. Four policemen were also slightly injured after being struck by rocks.
The police issued a statement yesterday saying that 100 people, 66 men and 34 women, had been detained and questioned following the riots but all of them were released.
According to a police statement, six banks, one store and four CCTV cameras were damaged during the clashes. http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100006_04/02/2008_92961
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I thought this was interesting. There is a post on the athens newswire about Rod Coronado, Jeff Luers, Eric McDavid and so forth.
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=821966
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=821966
Dear friends:
Below is some additional information about events of 2 Feb. 2008.
I hope that you find this post useful.
On 2 February 2008, portions of Athens were converted into
battlefields for police, a neo-fascist organization called "Golden
Dawn" and various fractions of the Greek anarchist movement.
Sources report that fighting began in the morning and until 10 p.m.
Two anarchists were stabbed and several others hospitalized.
The fighting was described by one commentator as "a type of street-level political
violence unseen in Europe since the tumultuous late 1960s and early
1970s." The fighting received some international coverage and was the
lead story in the Greek media for about a day.
Yet it was noted by some that the media coverage neglected
to report the matter that produced headline news in Greece (discussed below).
Clashes between the Greek riot police and Greek anarchists are a commonplace
in Athens, although their intensity would appear to have grown in the recent past.
Indeed, according to the pro-Empire R.A.N.D. Corporation, Greece experiences
the highest intensity of anarchist-led incidents of 'political violence' against the
state and privateproperty in the world. Various anarchist groups routinely attack
police stations with instruments that range from simple Molotov cocktails to modified gas-canisters. Police attacks against migrants often meet ferocious counterattacks
by various elements of the anarchist movement. That's not new, nor are confrontations
between antifa elements and their opponents.
Strikingly, however, the international coverage failed to note the
cooperation and camaraderie between the Greek riot police and the
neo-fascists. Published photographs show members of this neo-fascist
organization attacking, side-by-side with the riot police units, the
anti-fascist demonstrators and other allies. One source (a MP) reported
that the police supplied Golden Dawn with weapons. Moreover, the lines
of the riot police were opened to allow the neo-fascists to retreat to safety.
There were several instances where it was clear that the police line was
intended to support the attacks of the neo-fascists on the demonstrators.
So, what appear new about this situation is that the Greek riot police (MAT)
and the neo-nationalists are overtly cooperating with each other.
Below is some additional information about events of 2 Feb. 2008.
I hope that you find this post useful.
On 2 February 2008, portions of Athens were converted into
battlefields for police, a neo-fascist organization called "Golden
Dawn" and various fractions of the Greek anarchist movement.
Sources report that fighting began in the morning and until 10 p.m.
Two anarchists were stabbed and several others hospitalized.
The fighting was described by one commentator as "a type of street-level political
violence unseen in Europe since the tumultuous late 1960s and early
1970s." The fighting received some international coverage and was the
lead story in the Greek media for about a day.
Yet it was noted by some that the media coverage neglected
to report the matter that produced headline news in Greece (discussed below).
Clashes between the Greek riot police and Greek anarchists are a commonplace
in Athens, although their intensity would appear to have grown in the recent past.
Indeed, according to the pro-Empire R.A.N.D. Corporation, Greece experiences
the highest intensity of anarchist-led incidents of 'political violence' against the
state and privateproperty in the world. Various anarchist groups routinely attack
police stations with instruments that range from simple Molotov cocktails to modified gas-canisters. Police attacks against migrants often meet ferocious counterattacks
by various elements of the anarchist movement. That's not new, nor are confrontations
between antifa elements and their opponents.
Strikingly, however, the international coverage failed to note the
cooperation and camaraderie between the Greek riot police and the
neo-fascists. Published photographs show members of this neo-fascist
organization attacking, side-by-side with the riot police units, the
anti-fascist demonstrators and other allies. One source (a MP) reported
that the police supplied Golden Dawn with weapons. Moreover, the lines
of the riot police were opened to allow the neo-fascists to retreat to safety.
There were several instances where it was clear that the police line was
intended to support the attacks of the neo-fascists on the demonstrators.
So, what appear new about this situation is that the Greek riot police (MAT)
and the neo-nationalists are overtly cooperating with each other.
Dear friends:
Can you provide more information about the action against the police station? None of my usual online sources (Athens IndyMedia, Infoshop News, Anarchismo, etc.) have mentioned it.
Politicus
Can you provide more information about the action against the police station? None of my usual online sources (Athens IndyMedia, Infoshop News, Anarchismo, etc.) have mentioned it.
Politicus
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