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Civil unrest

December 7, 2009

Masked youths fought street battles with riot police on Monday, hurling firebombs at police during a march in the Greek capital Athens to mark the first anniversary of the police shooting of a teenager.

https://p.dw.com/p/KrWV
Greek riot police try to repel demonstrators in Athens
Greek riot police try to repel demonstrators in AthensImage: AP

Police fired volleys of tear gas to disperse the youths in Athen's city center as several thousand demonstrators gathered to commemorate the death of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos. The teenager's death sparked massive riots across the county for two weeks last December.

At least five protesters and more than a dozen police were injured.

Authorities said Sunday 177 people were detained for public order offenses in Athens and another 103 in the northern city of Thessaloniki.

Police used tear gas to disperse crowds damaging store fronts and setting fire to trash cans. The Greek government had deployed thousands of extra officers in anticipation of the protests. On Sunday polcie in the Greek capital detained more than 150 people in several raids overnight after several cars were set on fire.

nrt/rtre/Ap/AFP

Editor: John Kluempers