SERIOUS street clashes erupted in Athens yesterday as tens of thousands of people demonstrated during a nationwide strike against the Greek government's austerity measures.
• Riot police clash with demonstrators in Athens as a general strike brought the country to a virtual standstill. Picture: Getty Images
Hundreds of masked and hooded youths punched and kicked motorcycle police, knocking several off their bikes, as riot police responded with volleys of tear gas and stun grenades.
The violence spread to a nearby square, where police faced off with stone-throwing anarchists and suffocating clouds of tear gas sent patrons scurrying from open-air cafes. Police say 16 suspected rioters were detained and two officers were injured.
Rioters used sledgehammers to smash the glass fronts of more than a dozen shops, banks, jewellers and a cinema. Youths also set fire to rubbish bins and a car, smashed bus stops and chopped blocks off balustrades and building facades to use as projectiles.
Organisers said 60,000 people took part in the protest. Buta police estimate set the crowd at about 20,000 – including those that took part in a separate, peaceful march earlier in the day.
Yesterday's strike – the second in a week – brought the country to a virtual standstill, grounding all flights and bringing public transport to a halt. State hospitals were left with emergency staff only and all news broadcasts were suspended during the 24-hour protest against cuts and tax rises to tackle the country's debt crisis.
Riot police made heavy use of tear gas throughout the demonstration as protesters banged drums and chanted slogans such as "no sacrifice for plutocracy" and "real jobs, higher pay". Banners draped from buildings read: "No more sacrifices, war against war."
The demonstrators included hundreds of black-clad anarchists in crash helmets and ski masks, who repeatedly taunted and attacked riot police with stones, paint and petrol bombs.
Fears of a Greek debt default have undermined the euro for all 16 countries that share it, putting the left-wing government of prime minister George Papandreo under intense European Union pressure to quickly show fiscal improvement.
It has announced an additional 4.8 billion (£4.4bn) in savings through public sector salary cuts, hiring and pension freezes and consumer tax rises to deal with its ballooning deficit, but the measures have led to labour discontent.
The cutbacks, added to a previous 11.2bn austerity plan, seek to reduce Greece's budget deficit from 12.7 per cent of annual output to 8.7 per cent this year. The long-term target is to bring overspending below the EU ceiling of 3 per cent of GDP in 2012.
The new plan sparked a wave of strikes and protests from unions, whose reaction to the initial austerity measures had been muted. Yesterday's strike shut down all public services and schools.However, some private bank branches were open, defying union calls to join the strike. But while police clashed with protesters, some of their colleagues joined the demonstration. About 200 uniformed police, coast guard and fire brigade officers, who cannot go on strike but can hold protests, gathered in the city centre shortly before the marches got under way.
"The police and other security forces have been particularly hard hit by the new measures because our salaries are very low," said Yiannis Fanariotis, general secretary of one police association. He said the average officer made about 1,000-1,200 a month, including weekend and night shifts. "We are working people like everybody else," he said.
