'More trouble to come' as three die in Greek clashes
Updated on 05 May 2010
After three peole die in Athens during protests against government austerity measures, Channel 4 News asks whether Europe's entire economy is at stake.
The anger and violence on the streets of Athens today confirms how hard it will be to make the rescue plan for Greece work, writes Channel 4 News producer Ben King.
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in front of the Greek parliament, where the IMF-backed bailout package was being debated.
Anger welled as members of the communist PAME trade union, the All Workers Militant Front, massed in the square.
"Thieves, thieves!" they shouted, gesturing at the building with open palms – a serious insult in Greece. "Burn, burn, this brothel of a parliament!"
A chorus of jeers rang out whenever an official was spotted scuttling out of the building. A woman laid a black flag on the tomb of the unknown soldier, a token of national shame on the revered national monument which stands before parliament.
The mood grew more tense as protesters made their way up the stairs towards parliament, where lines of riot police awaited them. Bottles and sticks flew as waves of demonstrators made their way up and were beaten back.
Soon the dull thud of teargas rounds was heard, and the crowds were forced back from the square.
Demonstrators, some of them pensioners, had been expecting it. Many had surgical masks and antacid lotions to protect themselves from the effects of the gas – their faces crusted with white paste.
Masked protesters wielding rock hammers smashed at pavements and the marble frontages of bank buildings, hurling the fragments at advancing riot policemen.
One bank was set alight by a firebomb – and three bank workers were suffocated inside.
As the running battles continued, officers on motorcycles rode through the crowd, and the protesters grabbed and kicked at them. Burning barricades smouldered in the streets.
Extreme left-wing anarchist groups were blamed for the worst violence, though many others were involved in the scuffles.
Police put the size of the protest at 30,000 – other estimates ran as high as 100,000. Either way, it is the biggest protest George Panandreiou's socialist government has yet seen.
Even for a country used to political violence and daily protest, this was a shocking day.
As a Channel 4 News crew made its way through the streets, a woman called to us. "You have seen nothing," she said – and her fear of greater violence in the days ahead is one that many in Greece and beyond will share.
Protests against austerity
A day of protests
The trouble flared as protesters marched on parliament to demonstrate against the 30 billion Euros in tax hikes and spending cuts, agreed by Greece over the weekend in return for a 110 billion Euros aid package.
Airports, trains and public services have been disrupted today during the strikes by around 4,000 teachers, rubbish collectors, pensioners, students and civil servants.
It is the first union organised march following the government's announcement of sweeping spending cuts to secure the economic bailout package from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
Union bosses promised big crowds as private sector workers joined forces with the public sector's 48-hour strike for a day.
It is the third joint public-private sector walkout since January and puts more pressure on the Greek government as it struggles to recover from its economic downfall.
The latest opinion polls in the country suggested anger is increasing among ordinary Greeks who feel they are being made to pay the price for their country's crisis while tax evasion and corruption goes unpunished.
Ilias Iliopoulos, general secretary of public sector union ADEDY said: "These measures are unfair, they burden the poor and the weak only.
"We will keep on protesting and urge workers to insist."
Channel 4 News Correspondent Jonathan Rugman (@jrug) Tweets from Athens:
Police on motorbikes smashing through crowds. Street battles.
Government says Greeks can take IMF medicine.
Anger today might suggest otherwise.
Afp say 2 dead (Now 3) in bank attacked by protesters.
This is not a gen strike of the usual type, so violent.
This was not just about govt cuts. It was a revolt against the pols themselves.
All those who fiddled for years
Investors are concerned the mass walkouts could jeopardise government efforts to reform Greece under the fiscal package, especially if they turn violent as they have in the past.
The euro fell to a one-year low of beneath $1.31 and risk premiums on Greek, Portuguese and Spanish bonds soared, amid concerns over the implementation of the Greek aid and reform plan and worries over the fiscal health of other southern European countries.
