News Service from House Harris

EUR: A week on, protesters still on Greece's streets

ATHENS, Greece, Dec 13 AP - A week after the police killing of a 15-year-old boy sparked riots across Greece, young protesters have promised to remain on the streets until their concerns are addressed.

Several dozen students took part in a peaceful sit-down demonstration in Athens' central Syntagma Square on Saturday. More demonstrations are scheduled later in the day, including a vigil at the place and time 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos was fatally shot by a police officer a week ago.

"We want to see the policemen (involved in the shooting) punished and the police disarmed," said a 16-year-old student who gave her first name as Veatriki.

Grigoropoulos' death has sparked daily demonstrations that have turned violent, leaving hundreds of stores smashed and looted. At least 70 people have been injured and more than 200 arrested.

Besides their anger at the police, young people talk about the deteriorating conditions in their schools.

"We feel that our parents, our teachers do not listen to us. ... Schools are not a place where real learning takes place; it is just a preparation for the university entrance exams," Veatriki said.

"We are entering a long period of economic crisis," said Giorgos Kyrtsos, publisher of the City Press and Free Sunday newspapers. "But there is also a deepening social crisis, combined with a weakened state. We are truly at a crossroads."

Kyrtsos, a conservative, was highly critical of the government's handling of the incidents.

"This is the only government I remember that has managed to alienate both the rebellious youth and the law-and-order crowd. It has nothing to offer to anybody," he said.

While most of the protesters have been peaceful, the tone has been set by a violent fringe. And more young people have been willing to join them than in the past.

"Young people my age feel that their voice is being heard, immediately, when they smash a shop window or a car," said Veatriki.

Kyrtsos said the hard-core anarchists "number about 500 and certainly less than 1,000. They are joined by an anti-social element, many of them soccer hooligans and by many young people who seek excitement but also feel a diffuse sense of frustration and of not being listened to."

At the site where Grigoropoulos was shot, scores of people came to leave flowers and pin messages to a notice board. A privately made street sign bearing the teenager's name was placed on the corner of the block.

Christmas shoppers cautiously returned to central Athens, but many shops boarded up their windows instead of replacing glass for fear of further violence.

Glazier Michalis Mentis said he had replaced several storefronts twice. "There's been a lot of work for us but it's very bad for businesses in general," Mentis said. "It's very lucky more people were not hurt, because there was so much damage."