Athens calm after six-day protest

Athens was relatively calm early Friday after six days of protests and clashes, police sources said, according to AFP. The violenece followed the death of a teenaged schoolboy by a policeman's bullet. Athens calm after six-day protest The only violence reported was an 23:00 GMT incident when stones were thrown at a sports club headed by Antenna television owner Minos Kyriakou, who is also the chairman of the Greek Olympic Committee, the police said. Saturday's fatal shooting of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos unleashed a wave of anger against police and the conservative government leading to demonstrations, attacks on police targets and looting. A protest march on parliament in Athens on Thursday ended in minor clashes between youths and police while another demonstration in Thessaloniki ended peacefully. But authorities were on alert as a number of universities and faculties in Athens and Thessaloniki are still occupied by students and used to spring attacks on police. More demonstrations are scheduled in Athens and Thessaloniki on Friday. Greek embassies in other countries have also become a target for protests. The violence has caused dozens of injuries and left hundreds of banks, stores and public buildings destroyed, badly damaged by fire, or looted. It has also caused a political crisis for Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, whose parliamentary majority consists of just one deputy, and whose government was already shaken by corruption scandals and unpopular reforms. The opposition has called on Karamanlis to resign. Protesters have said they are striking out against police repression, corrupt politicians and a social system that offers little hope. The government has blamed the violence on loosely organized self-styled anarchists who have a long tradition of attacking banks, car dealerships and other business targets though the scale of the recent attacks is unprecedented. The two officers implicated in Grigoropoulos' killing have been placed under pre-trial detention but fresh uproar was caused this week when their lawyer said the death "was sadly brought about by an act of God." The officer who shot Grigoropoulos claims he was trying to defend himself from a gang of youths and killed the boy by accident due to a bullet ricochet. A ballistics report is said to confirm the officer's claim but the findings have yet to be officially released, raising suspicions of a cover-up.

Athens calm after six-day protest

The only violence reported was an 23:00 GMT incident when stones were thrown at a sports club headed by Antenna television owner Minos Kyriakou, who is also the chairman of the Greek Olympic Committee, the police said.

Saturday's fatal shooting of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos unleashed a wave of anger against police and the conservative government leading to demonstrations, attacks on police targets and looting.

A protest march on parliament in Athens on Thursday ended in minor clashes between youths and police while another demonstration in Thessaloniki ended peacefully.

But authorities were on alert as a number of universities and faculties in Athens and Thessaloniki are still occupied by students and used to spring attacks on police.

More demonstrations are scheduled in Athens and Thessaloniki on Friday. Greek embassies in other countries have also become a target for protests.

The violence has caused dozens of injuries and left hundreds of banks, stores and public buildings destroyed, badly damaged by fire, or looted.

It has also caused a political crisis for Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, whose parliamentary majority consists of just one deputy, and whose government was already shaken by corruption scandals and unpopular reforms.

The opposition has called on Karamanlis to resign.

Protesters have said they are striking out against police repression, corrupt politicians and a social system that offers little hope.

The government has blamed the violence on loosely organized self-styled anarchists who have a long tradition of attacking banks, car dealerships and other business targets though the scale of the recent attacks is unprecedented.

The two officers implicated in Grigoropoulos' killing have been placed under pre-trial detention but fresh uproar was caused this week when their lawyer said the death "was sadly brought about by an act of God."

The officer who shot Grigoropoulos claims he was trying to defend himself from a gang of youths and killed the boy by accident due to a bullet ricochet.

A ballistics report is said to confirm the officer's claim but the findings have yet to be officially released, raising suspicions of a cover-up.