Status: 09.12.2022 6:45 p.m
Roma have been protesting against police violence and racism in Greece for days. The trigger was an incident in Thessaloniki in which a police officer is said to have shot a 16-year-old in the head. The officer was placed under house arrest.
A Greek police officer accused of shooting a young Roma boy is placed under house arrest for the time being. The public prosecutor’s office had demanded pre-trial detention until the trial for attempted manslaughter, the court in Thessaloniki wanted to release the officer on bail – in the end they agreed on house arrest.
The 34-year-old police officer is said to have illegally shot the 16-year-old during a chase on Monday and hit him in the head. The teenager remains in critical condition in a clinic. He is said to have previously failed to pay a gas station bill for more than 20 euros. The police officer testified in court that the teenager had repeatedly tried to ram a police motorcycle. The officer believed his colleagues were in danger and therefore fired. But he wasn’t aiming for the teenager.
On Tuesday there were also riots during memorial demonstrations for the 16-year-old killed by a police officer, such as here in Athens.
Image: AFP
Racism allegations to the police
Around 200 members of the Roma community gathered outside the courthouse, which was under heavy police protection. They held up photos of the teenager and demanded justice.
“The crime was racist,” said Panagiotis Sabanis, head of a Roma association. “There is racism against us in Greece. It is not the first incident of police shooting at a Roma just because he is Roma.” The teenager was shot because of the color of his skin, said Andonis Tasios, secretary-general of the Roma community where the victim came from. “If he wasn’t Roma, they wouldn’t have done it.”
shots at police officers
Since the incident there have been riots and protests by Roma in Thessaloniki, Athens and other Greek cities, including shooting at police officers. In a suburb of Athens, around 30 people fired at officials with shotguns on Friday night, Greek media reported. An officer was slightly injured. Elsewhere, stones were thrown, garbage cans, tires and cars were set on fire.
Before the court date on Friday, the authorities feared that the protests could escalate further. The President of the Greek Roma Association, Vassilis Pantzos, called on people to calm down: “Together with the leaders of the respective communities, we are trying to calm the charged mood across the country,” he told the state broadcaster ERT. However, police violence against Roma has increased in recent years – the state must take action against this.
Commemoration of other young people who were killed
On Tuesday, demonstrators in Athens and Thessaloniki also commemorated Alexandros Grigoropoulos. The 15-year-old was shot dead by a police officer in Athens on December 6, 2008. During these demos there were riots, in which Molotov cocktails were thrown at police officers.