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| Europe |
| Police arrested over Greek teen's death |
| 2008-12-11 |
| Greece plunges into further chaos on the fifth day of clashes between the police and youth which began following the death of a teenager. The clashes were followed by a general strike on Wednesday and two policemen have been charged with the killing of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos. Police in riot gear defended the legislature against thousands of protesters who were furious at the death of the 15-year-old Grigoropoulos and they then turned to the government and shouted, 'Sack Karamanlis', AFP reported. When the first results of the ballistics reports pointed out that Grigoropoulos was killed by a bullet ricochet, the controversy started. Two police officers have been held in police custody since Sunday. Epaminondas Korkoneas, 37, was charged with voluntary homicide and 'illegal use' of his service weapon and is still in custody by an Athens magistrate and his partner, Vassilios Saraliotis, 31, was charged with being an accomplice and also ordered to remain in custody. Korkoneas is alleged to have killed Grigoropoulos on Saturday during a clash with around 30 youths in the central Athens district of Exarchia. This is while the incident has led to riots outside the country itself with around a dozen Turkish protestors smearing red paint over the front of the Greek consulate in Istanbul, and the Greek embassies in Moscow and Rome were also targets for fire bombers. Elsewhere, airlines cancelled dozens of flights, and the country's two largest unions called for "the democratization of the police and an end to violent and arbitrary acts by state organs." The country is frustrated at the police as well as the government's economic policies. In a televised speech, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis pledged up to 10,000 euros to stricken businesses, plus a tax freeze and government-guaranteed loans to rebuild burnt property. "The government is determined to consolidate the feeling of public safety and to help businesses get back on their feet," he said. In spite of the chaos in his country, Karamanlis's office has confirmed that he will be attending a European Union summit in Brussels that starts on Thursday. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 OOPSIES, my bad, forgot GREECE versus ALBANIA versus SERBIA/FORMER YUGOSLAVIA. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-12-11 23:39 |
| #2 Lest we fergit, GREECE also has on-going sectarian issues vee MACEDONIA OR PRO-MACEDONIAIN ACTIVISTS as per NAME, HISTORY, ETHNICITY, + LAND BORDERS. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-12-11 23:38 |
| #1 Gee, and they did all this without guns? Maybe they should outlaw rocks. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-12-11 17:22 |