Anti-fascist rally goes south in Thessaloniki

Police said on Friday that 45 men and six women had been arrested over the riots that broke out during a protest rally in downtown Thessaloniki in northern Greece on Wednesday evening.

The tension began when leftist extremists who participated in an anti-fascist protest spray-painted slogans on the city’s landmark monument, the White Tower, and the Royal Theater. They then clashed with police in riot gear who intervened to stop them.

Reports said the vandals had their faces covered and some carried bats with which they attacked police.

Thirty-eight suspects were to appear before an investigative magistrate on Friday while the remaining 13 will do so on Saturday.

All are being charged with disturbing the peace, causing bodily harm to a police officer, damage to foreign property, and violation of the law on weapons and public gatherings, as well as violation of the law on antiquities.