18 December 2008

I arrived in Athens on 18 December 2008 for a transit, on my way to Alexandria in Egypt. During the 2 weeks of clashes that opposed the population and the police forces, this day must have been the most violent. I followed the youngsters throwing pavements and burning cars. The riots started on 6 December 2008, when Alexandros Grigoropoulos, a 15-year-old Greek student, was killed by two policemen in central Athens. The murder of a young student by police resulted in large protests and demonstrations, which escalated to widespread rioting, with numerous rioters damaging property and engaging riot with Molotov cocktails, stones and other objects. Demonstrations and rioting soon spread to several other cities, including Thessaloniki, the country’s second-largest city.