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2008 Greek riots
The 2008 Greek riots started on 6 December 2008, when Alexandros Grigoropoulos (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Γρηγορόπουλος), a 15-year-old Greek student, was killed by a special officer in Exarcheia district of central Athens. The killing of the young student by police resulted in large protests and demonstrations, which escalated to widespread rioting, with numerous rioters damaging property and engaging riot police with Molotov cocktails, stones and other objects. Demonstrations and rioting soon spread to several other cities, including Thessaloniki, the country's second-largest city, and international cities in solidarity. Newspaper Kathimerini called the rioting "the worst Greece has seen since the restoration of democracy in 1974".
While the unrest was triggered by the shooting incident, commentators described the reactions as expressing deeper causes as well, especially a widespread feeling of frustration in the younger generation about specific economic problems of the country (partly as a result of the Great Recession), a rising unemployment rate among the young generation and a perception of general inefficiency and corruption in Greek state institutions.
The fatal shooting that triggered the riots and protests took place in the evening of 6 December 2008, shortly after 9 pm, in the Exarcheia district of central Athens.
According to press reports, two special guards (Ειδικοί Φρουροί) (a special category of the Greek police personnel, originally meant for guard duties on public property) had been engaged in a minor verbal clash with a small group of teenagers in a main street of Exarcheia, outside a shop. On driving away in their police car, they were then confronted by another small group at a nearby street crossing. The two guards were ordered by the Greek police center of operations to disengage immediately and withdraw from the confrontation site. However, the two guards did not comply and were later accused of insubordination. Instead, the two special guards chose to station their police vehicle outside the PASOK headquarters, left the car and went to Tzavella Street on foot, in order to confront the youngsters.
Following some exchange of verbal abuse that, according to several witnesses, was initiated by the guards, one fired his gun. The guards said that a group of youth had thrown stones and other items at them. Eyewitnesses who spoke to Greek media, however, reported that the special guards were not attacked by the youths, nor was their physical safety put in danger at any time. Instead, the special guards approached the group and verbally assaulted them in order to provoke them. The special guard said he fired three rounds, two warning shots in the air and a third aimed on the ground. Several eyewitnesses said they believed the policeman had directly targeted the youngsters.
The victim, Alexandros – Andreas Grigoropoulos (Greek: Αλέξανδρος – Ανδρέας Γρηγορόπουλος) was a 15-year-old student, who lived in the affluent northern Athens suburb of Palaio Psychiko and attended the private Moraitis School. Immediately following the shooting, he was transported to the nearby Evangelismos Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
A criminal investigation was initiated against the police officer who fired the shot, on a charge of murder ("intentional homicide" according to Greek law), while his partner was charged as an accomplice. Both were suspended from duty and were kept in detention. The defense counsel who was initially hired resigned shortly after accepting the case, citing personal reasons.
On 10 December, Alexis Kougias, counsel for the defendants, said that preliminary results of the ballistic tests apparently show that it was indeed a ricochet and that the two policemen will only appear before the public prosecutor after the forensic, toxicological, and ballistic examinations had been completed. However, the results of forensic tests indicated that the bullet that killed Grigoropoulos had entered the youth's body directly. This supported doubt on claims, by the 37-year-old policeman charged with the boy's murder, that the bullet had been fired as a warning and ricocheted. On the morning of 11 December, Dimitris Tsovolas, former MP and economic minister under the previous PASOK government, agreed to serve as the counsel for Grigoropoulos' family.
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2008 Greek riots
The 2008 Greek riots started on 6 December 2008, when Alexandros Grigoropoulos (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Γρηγορόπουλος), a 15-year-old Greek student, was killed by a special officer in Exarcheia district of central Athens. The killing of the young student by police resulted in large protests and demonstrations, which escalated to widespread rioting, with numerous rioters damaging property and engaging riot police with Molotov cocktails, stones and other objects. Demonstrations and rioting soon spread to several other cities, including Thessaloniki, the country's second-largest city, and international cities in solidarity. Newspaper Kathimerini called the rioting "the worst Greece has seen since the restoration of democracy in 1974".
While the unrest was triggered by the shooting incident, commentators described the reactions as expressing deeper causes as well, especially a widespread feeling of frustration in the younger generation about specific economic problems of the country (partly as a result of the Great Recession), a rising unemployment rate among the young generation and a perception of general inefficiency and corruption in Greek state institutions.
The fatal shooting that triggered the riots and protests took place in the evening of 6 December 2008, shortly after 9 pm, in the Exarcheia district of central Athens.
According to press reports, two special guards (Ειδικοί Φρουροί) (a special category of the Greek police personnel, originally meant for guard duties on public property) had been engaged in a minor verbal clash with a small group of teenagers in a main street of Exarcheia, outside a shop. On driving away in their police car, they were then confronted by another small group at a nearby street crossing. The two guards were ordered by the Greek police center of operations to disengage immediately and withdraw from the confrontation site. However, the two guards did not comply and were later accused of insubordination. Instead, the two special guards chose to station their police vehicle outside the PASOK headquarters, left the car and went to Tzavella Street on foot, in order to confront the youngsters.
Following some exchange of verbal abuse that, according to several witnesses, was initiated by the guards, one fired his gun. The guards said that a group of youth had thrown stones and other items at them. Eyewitnesses who spoke to Greek media, however, reported that the special guards were not attacked by the youths, nor was their physical safety put in danger at any time. Instead, the special guards approached the group and verbally assaulted them in order to provoke them. The special guard said he fired three rounds, two warning shots in the air and a third aimed on the ground. Several eyewitnesses said they believed the policeman had directly targeted the youngsters.
The victim, Alexandros – Andreas Grigoropoulos (Greek: Αλέξανδρος – Ανδρέας Γρηγορόπουλος) was a 15-year-old student, who lived in the affluent northern Athens suburb of Palaio Psychiko and attended the private Moraitis School. Immediately following the shooting, he was transported to the nearby Evangelismos Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
A criminal investigation was initiated against the police officer who fired the shot, on a charge of murder ("intentional homicide" according to Greek law), while his partner was charged as an accomplice. Both were suspended from duty and were kept in detention. The defense counsel who was initially hired resigned shortly after accepting the case, citing personal reasons.
On 10 December, Alexis Kougias, counsel for the defendants, said that preliminary results of the ballistic tests apparently show that it was indeed a ricochet and that the two policemen will only appear before the public prosecutor after the forensic, toxicological, and ballistic examinations had been completed. However, the results of forensic tests indicated that the bullet that killed Grigoropoulos had entered the youth's body directly. This supported doubt on claims, by the 37-year-old policeman charged with the boy's murder, that the bullet had been fired as a warning and ricocheted. On the morning of 11 December, Dimitris Tsovolas, former MP and economic minister under the previous PASOK government, agreed to serve as the counsel for Grigoropoulos' family.