Greek riots after teen's killing

2008-12-07 12:02

Athens - Young Greeks angry at the deadly police shooting of a teenager, clashed with police officers in central Athens on Sunday in a second day of violent protests following the killing.

A group of masked youths threw stones and molotov cocktails at police who responded with tear gas in front of a university.

Other groups held siege at the polytechnic school in the Exarchia district, where 15-year-old Andreas Grigoropoulos was shot on Saturday by a police officer who opened fire after youths threw objects at his car.

Students occupied the main universities in Athens on Sunday to protest the killing, police said.

Hundreds of people protested through the night in central Athens and the country's biggest cities after the teenager was killed.

About 20 cars were set on fire on Saturday by groups of youths in Athens and two other cities.

The demonstrators, mostly residents of Athens' Exarchia district, protested against the "arbitrary" police action, shouting slogans against the right-wing government of Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis.

'Deep regret'

Youths set fire to garbage bins in the central Exarchia district, scene of frequent clashes with police, as news of the boy's death spread.

Protests later erupted in Salonika to the north and Patras to the south. The demonstrators targeted banks, damaging 17 in Athens and five in Salonika, the police said.

Grigoropoulos was among a group of about 30 youths who threw stones and other projectiles at a car transporting two police officers. One of the officers got out of the car and opened fire, hitting the teenager with three bullets.

Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos and the police expressed "deep regret" over the shooting and ordered an inquiry headed by three prosecutors.

Pavlopoulos and junior minister Panayotis Hinofotis offered their resignations to the prime minister, who did not accept them.

In 1985, 15-year-old Michalis Kaltezas was shot by a police officer, triggering violent clashes between far-left youths and the police in Exarchia.

- AFP