On Friday 15 November anarchists marched in Athens city center following the recent events of riot police invasions and attacks on students of Athens University of Economics.
The chain of events was set in motion by the police when on Saturday 9 November 2019 scores of policemen invaded the university grounds of Athens University of Economics to evict an anarchist student place, as a publicity stunt that went sour, because they found nothing of criminal importance. Then on Sunday 10/11 the university Board arbitrarily imposed a lock – out, closing down the university for a week following police orders (from Monday 11/11 till 17/11) ahead of the anniversary of the student revolt of 17 November 1973 against the junta regime at the time, when ironically enough, the army and the police invaded the Polytechnic School of Athens turning the massive student protest into a bloodshed. In order for this bloodshed not to happen again, from 1974 till the repeal of the law by the current right wing government few months ago, the law forbade the greek police from entering any academic grounds.
On Monday 11 November 2019 students defied the academic lock – out, forbidding anyone to enter the closed university on police orders and the riot police once again invaded the university and attacked students with batons and teargas. What the government and the police actually managed was to have dozens of universities occupied in protest all over Greec and 3 very big student protests just in Athens, with thousands of protesters in just 5 days, (on Monday 11/11, on Thursday 14/11 and the one depicted in the video, on Friday 15/11, ahead of the big march on 17 November).
The fact that the police advised the university to close down for a week and indeed just few days before the anniversary of the student bloodshed by the police and the army, infuriated students that decided to defy the lock – out and enter the grounds of Athens University of Economics, only to be attacked by the riot cops in army uniforms like in 1973. Ironically enough the governing party at the moment in Greece is called “New Democracy”.
Tensions are on the rise in Greece at the moment ahead of the 17 of November anniversary and the date of 6th of December (when in 2008 a 15 years old boy was murdered by a policeman at Exarcheia in Athens), as well as, the ongoing police attacks and evictions of squats all over Greece.
