6 hours ago
ATHENS (AFP) — Street violence raged into a third week in Athens as protests sparked by the fatal shooting of a teenager fused with political tension hours before a Greek parliament budget vote Sunday.
Clashes between youths and police extended deep into the night after hundreds of people gathered late Saturday in Athens' Exarchia district, at the site of the December 6 shooting of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos.
Protesters occupying the Athens Polytechnic university hurled firebombs and rocks at police who responded with tear gas, while police cars, a government building and banks were targeted in various parts of the capital, the port city of Piraeus and the island of Crete.
Late Sunday, around 100 youths briefly took over an Orthodox church in the northern city of Thessaloniki, remaining inside the church for two hours before dispersing peacefully. The church was undamaged, local police sources said.
It was the first time a church has been targeted in the protests.
It followed an incident on Saturday when around 30 youths occupied the Olympion theatre in the city.
Saturday's unrest in Athens flared after youths gathered on the spot where Grigoropoulos died after being shot by police, and where a makeshift shrine has since emerged.
Flowers and messages of support adorn the scene along with mock street signs bearing Grigoropoulos's name.
The officer who shot the teenager claims he fired into the air whilst under attack by youths, and has attributed the death to a bullet ricochet.
Investigators scoured the crime scene again early on Sunday in search for further clues, accompanied by lawyers for the Grigoropoulos family, the police officer and his colleague who is also implicated in the murder.
"The crime scene search will help lead to conclusions but will not change our position," said lawyer Dimitris Tsovolas who represented the victim.
The unrest later subsided as thousands of Athenians filled the city centre where protestors shared the streets in bizarre scenes this past week with throngs of Christmas shoppers.
The embattled right-wing government faced a fresh hurdle at midnight Sunday, when the budget -- staunchly opposed by unions, and likely to trigger more protests if adopted -- was to be put to a vote.
The budget makes provision for a two-percent deficit and 2.7-percent growth -- down from a current 3.1 percent.
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has argued that the unrest is complicating efforts to reduce Greece's national debt, which this year stands at 93.9 percent of GDP, one of the highest in Europe.
The conservative leader said last week that Greece expects to pay about 12 billion euros (16 billion dollars) in 2009 to service its debt, amounting to over 19 percent of its revenue and nearly five percent of GDP.
The depth of anti-government sentiment witnessed over the past fortnight has also cost the government dearly in opinion polls.
Socialist leader George Papandreou has overtaken Karamanlis for the first time as the preferred choice for prime minister, pollsters Public Issue said in a survey published in the Kathimerini newspaper on Sunday.
Karamanlis -- whose government has a one-seat majority in parliament -- has repeatedly shrugged off opposition calls to resign, announcing financial measures to support the business and tourism sectors hard-hit by the unrest.
Hundreds of shops and banks in Athens and elsewhere have sustained damage in street violence which dealt a severe blow to the Christmas shopping season.
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