Police on alert after teenager’s death announced
Law enforcement officers across Greece were placed on alert by the force’s Athens headquarters on Tuesday following the death in Thessaloniki of a 16-year-old Roma youth who had been shot in a police chase last week.
On the orders of police chief Konstantinos Skoumas, all leave has been suspended and officers on holiday must report back to duty, while regular shifts have been abolished for emergency response service and units until further notice.
Security is also being increased around Roma settlements in different parts of the country, where violence has erupted in recent days during protests against police brutality and what members of the community say is institutional racism.
Several police officers have been injured in these altercations and in other attacks believed to be reprisals for the youth’s shooting, which took place in the early hours of December 5 during a chase after the 16-year-old reportedly left a gas station without paying his bill.
The Ministry of Justice, meanwhile, appealed to the public to refrain from reprisals after members of the Roma minority posted videos on social media calling for revenge against the police.
