Almost 20 days after the brutal attack of Greek police against a peaceful KKE rally on November 17th, another orgy of police repression and violence took place earlier today in Athens, on the 12th anniversary of the murder of 15 year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos by a special police officer.
Grigoropoulos had been murdered by special police officer Epaminondas Korkoneas on December 6, 2008. Korkoneas had been convicted to life sentense. However, in 2019, a court reduced his term to just 13 years and, on the basis of the new legal code introduced by the then SYRIZA government, he was ultimately released from prison on July 2019!
Once again, the conservative New Democracy (ND) government resorted to authoritarianism by prohibiting all public gatherings on Sunday, creating a police state environment in the central Athenian neighborhood of Exarchia.
Riot police used violence against random people (including political parties and youth organizations' representatives) who tried to approach the spot where Grigoropoulos had been murdered. Clashing with groups of people, including photoreporters, police forces also made use of flash grenades while approximately 100 protesters were arrested. Among the prosecuted ones were anti-fascist lawyers Thanasis Kampagiannis and Kostas Papadakis who tried to defend the people.
Riot police used violence against random people (including political parties and youth organizations' representatives) who tried to approach the spot where Grigoropoulos had been murdered. Clashing with groups of people, including photoreporters, police forces also made use of flash grenades while approximately 100 protesters were arrested. Among the prosecuted ones were anti-fascist lawyers Thanasis Kampagiannis and Kostas Papadakis who tried to defend the people.
In the city of Chania, Crete, police forces violently dispersed the crowd and arrested nine people.
Dimitris Koutsoumbas, the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), strongly condemned the new orgy of governmental authoritarianism. In his statement, Koutsoumbas pointed out:
“Since morning, delegations of political parties, youth organizations, elected officials in the local administration, trade unions and organizations of students, pupils, etc, observing all health measures, approach the place where A. Grigoropoulos was murdered in order to leave a flower. In face of these symbolic events in the memory of a boy who died so early, the government responds with thousands of crowded police officers, with authoritarianism and arrests.
Once again, the government is exposed and ridiculed. The authoritarian measures it takes are beyond any logic of protection of public health which, after all, the government has left to chance. These measures obey only in one logic and one goal: To gag the people – especially the youth – and to perpetuate repression practices under the pretext of the pandemic”.
The KKE General Secretary called the people to condemn the new governmental orgy of violence, demanded the release of all who were arrested.
“Since morning, delegations of political parties, youth organizations, elected officials in the local administration, trade unions and organizations of students, pupils, etc, observing all health measures, approach the place where A. Grigoropoulos was murdered in order to leave a flower. In face of these symbolic events in the memory of a boy who died so early, the government responds with thousands of crowded police officers, with authoritarianism and arrests.
Once again, the government is exposed and ridiculed. The authoritarian measures it takes are beyond any logic of protection of public health which, after all, the government has left to chance. These measures obey only in one logic and one goal: To gag the people – especially the youth – and to perpetuate repression practices under the pretext of the pandemic”.
The KKE General Secretary called the people to condemn the new governmental orgy of violence, demanded the release of all who were arrested.