50th Polytechnic uprising anniversary march concludes

The rally and march commemorating the 50 years since the Polytechnic uprising against the junta in 1973 concluded on Friday night after reaching the US and Israel embassies in Athens.

After the bulk of the march first reached the American embassy a large segment continued to the embassy of Israel. No incidents occured in the vicinity of either embassy.

At the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens’ students’ halls of residence in the Athens district of Zografou, students set dustbins onfire on Friday night and police closed road traffic there for a while.

In the city of Thessaloniki minor scuffles broke out between protesters and riot police, and similar minor scale incidents occured in the cities of Patras and Ioannina.

Earlier in the day in Athens, university student unions, representatives of agencies and of opposition parties, as well as of non-parliamentary leftist parties, labor unions and antiestablishment groups rallied on Stadiou Avenue and began marching to the US embassy.

Ahead of the main body of the protest march went the Association of Jailed & Exiled Anti-Junta Fighters holding a banner saying ‘Resistance against fascism forever’.

KKE marched to the American embassy independently, while before the main rally began the PASOK-related student union PASP marched by itself holding the blood-spattered flag of the university students killed during the junta’s attack on the university. PASP completed their march to the American embassy at around 17:30.

Brief incidents took place at Stadiou Avenue shortly after the main body of the protesters started off, when a group of unknown people broke the front windows of a hotel. At least 20 people were detained in Athens throughout the day Friday, according to the police.

Road traffic restrictions were introduced in the greater Athens area from Thursday and heavy security measures were put in place on the streets including extra security at universities, embassies and government buildings.

Shortly before 22:00 on Friday night, road traffic in central Athens was restored and all the metro stations that were closed during the day were reopened.

source:amna.gr