Police injured by anti-fascists in Ioannina

Seven police officers were hospitalized with minor injuries on Tuesday following clashes with a group of anti-fascist demonstrators protesting the presence of far-right Golden Dawn officials at a memorial to the victims of the 1913 Battle of Bizani, in Ioannina, northwestern Greece.

The ceremony was organized to mark the city’s 104th anniversary of liberation from Ottoman rule, in which the Battle of Bizani played an instrumental role.

Left-wing protesters were gathered at the site to express their opposition to the presence of local Golden Dawn deputy Christos Pappas and other members of the neo-Nazi party.

They turned on police officers trying to push them away from the site of the memorial, hitting them with wooden sticks used to fly flags with anti-fascist slogans.

Five protesters were briefly detained before being released without charge.