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Greece

Solidarity with the social rebellion

A statement by British anti-capitalists

Friday 12 December 2008, by Socialist Resistance

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On Saturday 6 December, the Greek police murdered in cold blood Alexis Grigoropoulos, a 15-year old school boy, in the centre of Athens. Spontaneous protests erupted immediately after the killing in Athens, Thessaloniki and other cities of Greece and escalated to widespread revolt all over the country, joined by thousands of people.

Alexandros Grigoropoulos

The following day a big demonstration with 10,000 people marched in the central streets of Athens towards the Central Police Station and ended up in clashes with the police for a second night.
On Monday morning, thousands of high school students organised walkouts and headed to local police stations all over Greece showing their outrage against the police brutality.
In the evening a huge crowd of more than 40000, gathered in front of the House of Parliament in Athens and resisted state and police suppression for a third night in a row. All around Greece in big cities and small towns, as small as Arta, Corfu and Ithaca, social unrest is mounting and tension with state authorities has brought the Government to a situation beyond control.

Contrary to the Government’s and media claims, this murder is not an isolated event. The Greek government has created a police state in order to suppress the escalating social unrest that the aggressive neoliberal policies of the last two decades have created.

Series of events like workers accidents, inmates’ hunger strikes, pogroms against immigrants and refugees, and tortures at the police detention centres, numerous economic scandals, all escalated to the unprecedented social tension of the last few days. Greek police has increasingly used violence against students, workers, youngsters, immigrants and social groups resisting the policies of austerity, unemployment, social insecurity, environmental catastrophes and the collapse of the public education system.

Furthermore the government’s soft-handed treatment of previous events of deaths of activists, immigrants, and civilians caused by the police, indicate the cynicism of the government, which facilitates the police with the “licence to kill”.

We express our solidarity with the protesters in Greece and our full support to their just struggle.

In line with their demands, we call for:

Immediate release of all those arrested in the protests in Greece and the end of any measures against those arrested outside the Greek embassy in London.

On December 10th there were two demonstrations organised at the Greek embassy in London. One was organised by KKE (and supported by the British SWP); the other by a broader framework, including Syriza and anarchists (which was supported by the Socialist Party and Socialist Resistance). Supporters of Socialist Resistance gave out this statement at both demonstrations.