Riot police sent in to quell Greek carnival disturbances

Greek riot police were deployed against teenagers who had blocked roads in the centre of Greece's second city, Thessaloniki last night during Carnivali celebrations, the Greek Orthodox equivalent of Mardi Gras.

Hundreds of teenagers burned garbage bins, let off fireworks and hurled objects at the platoons of riot police on duty in the centre of the port city. The officers accompanied fire engines which quickly doused the fires in Mitropoleos St.

Traditionally, Tsiknopempti or "Burnt Thursday" marks the countdown to the start of Lent for Greek Orthodox Christians and is celebrated by fancy dress parties and carnivals across the country. However, the usually raucous atmosphere was more charged than previous years, a reflection that the effects of the riots and protests that swept Greece in December and January following the police shooting of a 15 year old are still being felt.

Now Public

The revolution will not be televised. More on our 6pm bulletin.

The revolution will not be televised. More on our 6pm bulletin., originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

In less than a week there will be a protest rally to mark the arrival of the prime minister of Greece, Kostas Karamanlis to open the annual trade fair here in Thessaloniki. He is guaranteed a "warm reception" by trade unionist and many other groups unhappy with the New Democracy administration's handling of the economy. Unemployment, rising prices, stagnant wages combined with this weeks swingeing tax hikes means that the only people happy to see Karamanlis in the city will be the cops looking to boost their overtime bonuses.

It's almost a year since Greece's finest kicked the crap out of me for taking pictures (click here) during last year's peaceful march. Lesson learned. This time I'll have my running shoes on.

Back from court

Just got back from court. It was a simple procedure in that all I had to do was tell a court official that everything I wanted to say was in the testimony I had already filed. The only thing they asked was if I had any more information on the names of the riot cops (MAT) who attacked me and since they refuse to reveal names, even to the ombudsman I had to say no. The reasons they gave for this refusal range from the absurd to the downright childish.

Interestingly, I saw in their reply to the ombudsman the reason why they choose me. It appears that

"προκλητικα και κατ' επαναληψη τους φωτογραφιζε τις κινησεις τους"

Meaning, I repeatedly and provocatively (?) photographed their movements. I never knew the goon squad was made up of such sensitive types.

A fugitive from justice

At long last my case against the riot police who attacked me in September simply for taking photos during a peaceful demonstration has shown signs of life. After spending a couple of months amassing evidence (including a doctor's report of my injuries that ran to more than two pages) I filed suit in December. This morning I found this taped to the front door of the apartment I live in.




Basically, it's a call to appear at the central police station within 48 hours or as it says I'll be taken there forcibly and fined the grand, if prosaic, sum of 14.67 Euros. Just one problem the date underneath is 18/01/2007 so technically I'm an outlaw subject to violent detention if caught.

UPDATE

Looks like I made a mistake in my translation as I have to go to the central courts and not the police station (got my megaros/halls mixed up). Phew!!!!!!!!!

For a full account of what happened click here.

For photos click here.

Suing the police

Today I finally entered that most Kafkaesque of world; the Greek judicial system. I filed a suit against the riot police who attacked me without reason on 8th September this year (see here for more details). The interesting thing about this whole procedure are the details. For example to file suit the court clerk used at least ten stamps and I lost count after the 30th time she used them to stamp the documents I and my lawyer had brought with us.

Another fascinating detail is that in order to sue somebody you need to have a tax number (ΑΦΜ) so making it impossible for large swathes of the population such as immigrants and those working in unregistered jobs to use the system. We wouldn't to lower the tone of the place by letting in riff - raff now, would we?

I know my chances of achieving anything with this action are somewhere between slight and non-existent but I felt I had to make the gesture if only because I'm in the privileged position to do something. That is a luxury many victims of police violence here do not have.