Greece

Violence in Athens after police shoot 15-year-old dead

Article published on the 2008-12-07 Latest update 2008-12-09 11:09 TU

(Photo: Reuters / John Kolesidis)

Hundreds of people demonstrated in Athens and across Greece on Sunday after police shot dead a 15-year-old boy on Saturday. Police said the boy had been shot after a policeman fired into a crowd of people who had launched molotov cocktails at a police car.

The shooting took place in the Exarchia area of the capital and two police officers were arrested on Sunday following the killing.

On Sunday 5,000 people attended a demonstration in Athens but violence broke out later and three banks were set on fire along with supermarkets and shops.

Three police officers were hospitalised in Athens and a fourth in the western city of Patras. Fourteen protesters were brought to hospital with breathing difficulties caused by tear gas.

Stephanos Bagiorgos of the left-wing party Synaspismos says about the shooting that sparked the riots, "The police usually don't act in this way."

"It's a lot of anger here in Athens because it was totally unnecessary", he told RFI.

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis expressed sympathy to the family of the dead boy on Sunday and said that the Greek State would ensure "such a tragedy would not happen again".

Correspondent Corinne Valois says that in Athens dozens of cars were set on fire overnight while about 50 stores were destroyed.

The country's Interior Minister, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, expressed "deep regret" over the shooting and has ordered an inquiry into the shooting. Along with Junior Minister Panayotis Hinofotis, the Interior Minister offered his resignation to the Prime Minister, but it was not accepted.