Violent protests erupted in northern Greece on Monday after police shot a teenager in a chase.
The 16-year-old Roma boy, who is being treated at a hospital in Thessaloniki, was allegedly shot by one officer in the head. The officer has been arrested and suspended from duty, according to police in Greece’s second-largest city.
Police pursued the teenager after he allegedly filled his vehicle at a petrol station and drove off without paying.
The incident occurred outside Thessaloniki before dawn Monday. Officers from a motorcycle patrol chased the teenager’s pickup truck after authorities claimed a gas station employee reported he had not paid a bill of 20 euros.
Around 1,500 took part in the protest organised by left-wing and anarchist groups in central Thessaloniki.
Some smashed shops and threw Molotov cocktails at police, who responded with tear gas and stun grenades.
The march ended without any arrests or injuries reported.
About a hundred Roma men set up barricades before that protest. They blocked the main road outside the hospital where the boy was being treated, setting fire to rubbish bins.
Police used stun grenades and tear gas to disperse the protesters throwing bottles at them outside the hospital.
Several hundred people also took part in a peaceful protest march in central Athens, the Greek capital, over the teen’s shooting as well as a past incident in which a Roma man also was shot during a police chase.
“They shot them because they were Roma,” displayed a banner held by demonstrators in Athens.
A spokesman for Greece’s main opposition left-wing Syriza party accused the centre-right government of failing to keep excessive policing methods in check.
“Society can no longer tolerate this climate of fear created by extreme police brutality which, for trivial reasons, has threatened the life of an underage 16-year-old child,” said Christos Spirtzis, the party spokesman for public order.
Members of the Roma community in Greece and human rights activists frequently accuse Greek authorities of discriminating against Roma.
Several Roma men have been fatally shot or injured in recent years during confrontations with police while allegedly seeking to evade arrest for breaches of the law.
The arrested officer was due to appear before a public prosecutor Tuesday on charges of attempted manslaughter.
