ATHENS — Rioting broke out in a suburb of Athens on Tuesday night as a protest towards police violence turned ugly.
Some 5,000 folks gathered in the principle sq. of the Nea Smyrni space within the south of the Greek capital to march towards police brutality however order rapidly broke down, with protesters throwing rocks and setting fireplace to bins and police firing tear gasoline and water cannons.
A police officer was thrown off his bike by an indignant mob, who then began kicking him. TV footage confirmed the injured and bloodied officer mendacity on the bottom earlier than being taken away in an ambulance.
“The unhappy photographs of violence all of us noticed tonight in Athens should be the final ones. And the lifetime of certainly one of our fellow residents, a younger policeman who was at risk, ought to awaken us,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated. “I cannot permit anybody to divide us.”
The primary opposition Syriza celebration additionally condemned the assault, saying in a press release: “Violence can’t be answered with violence.”
The protest was organized after a police officer beat a person in the identical sq. on Sunday afternoon, throughout lockdown violation inspections.
Video footage shared on social media confirmed a gaggle of individuals arguing with police about coronavirus fines and certainly one of them being attacked by an officer. The person, who was overwhelmed to the bottom whereas a minimum of three different officers stood close by, could be heard shouting “it hurts.”
Police initially stated it was the officers who had been attacked, though video footage from close by outlets doesn’t help that declare.
Athens prosecutors have opened an investigation into the incident and police are conducting an inside investigation. No officers have but been suspended and opposition politicians have known as for the resignation of Civil Safety Minister Michalis Chrisochoidis.
Police brutality is on the rise in locked-down Athens, with human rights teams and opposition events accusing the federal government of cracking down on protests below the pretext of combating the virus.
On Monday, Greek Ombudsman Andreas Potakis stated stories about police violence have risen by 75 % in the course of the previous 12 months.
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