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Anastasia Balezdrova

Chemicals and tear gas, clashes with police and Molotov bombs rounded off the protest procession organized by the Greek trade unions within the context of the Pan-Hellenic strike today.

Thousands, according to some sources more than 15,000, public and private sector employees, and students flocked to Klathmonos Square from where they set off to Syntagma Square and the Greek Parliament to protest against the Greek government and the strict measures it has introduced over the last few weeks.

When the first protesters appeared, police rushed from the parliament courtyard to the pavement by the monument of the Unknown Soldier, where they took up position. This angered some protesters and they booed them. The participants in the protest loudly chanted their slogans: "No to the labour reserve and layoffs," "Disobedience and constant strike", "We won´t pay" and "The measures will not pass."

When the procession reached the start of Panepistimiou Avenue the participants stopped and some of them went up Vassilias Sofias avenue, where police had set up the iron wall known from the protests in June to protect the entrance to the parliament. At one point, a group of employees tried to push the fence and began shifting it with joint efforts. Other participants in the protest joined them. The police responded with copious amounts of tear gas and the protesters went down to the square.

Minutes later, the first Molotov bomb flashed on Syntagma. Almost immediately, the procession broke into two parts and the part from the avenue between the square and the parliament almost completely dispersed. A street battle began between protestors and police on the street outside the Grande Bretagne Hotel. On the square, a group of young people with covered faces was throwing stones, pieces of marble and Molotov bombs at the police who responded with tear gas and flash bombs. Meanwhile, the majority of the participants left the protest area, which subsequently filled with policemen. They blocked the stairs to the square and did not allow anyone to go down there.

Citizens bearing protest slogans verbally attacked the police and accused them of "protecting those who rob people." Some young people chanted the slogan "The junta did not end in '73" and some older people commented that the military dictatorship was nothing compared to today's Greek rulers.

The police gradually surrounded the square and the streets around it were taken over by the traffic. The young people present tried several times to create tension, but unsuccessfully. During the clashes, three people were slightly injured. Doctors participating in the protest immediately gave them first aid.

Unsuspecting tourists and Athenians, who did not know that the square had once again become a battle scene, clashed with the police in an attempt to exit the subway and ran back scared. At that time, cars were moving along Amalias Avenue, their drivers unaware of the danger of being injured due to the lack of traffic police in the area. A bus driver, who parked across Othonos Street, interrupted the traffic.

Fourteen participants were captured during the clashes. Nine of them were subsequently arrested. The police squads left the square later in the afternoon, after dispersing the riots´ culprits. According to some commentators, their plan today had worked. Their behaviour, however, once again angered the citizens who had become the subject of attacks without reason. Media representatives did not escape the wrath of the guardians of order either, resulting in a wounded French journalist and Greek photo reporter. The manager of the metro station in the square accused the police saying that several times the station had risked turing into a battlefield, threatening the security of staff and passengers.