#rbnews international show - 20 October 2012

On the #rbnews international weekly show on 20 October 2012, @IrateGreek and @tsimitakis discussed the news of the week with SYRIZA's chief economist Yiannis Milios. Topics include the Israeli boarding of the Estelle, which was sailing to Gaza, the 18 October general strike and EU summit, and the links between Golden Dawn and the police,which were exposed in international media. You can listen to the podcast after the jump.

LIVE BLOG on anti-austerity protests: Feb 10-11 & 12

By @inflammatory_ 

FEB 12 TIMELINE

01:00 Recap of the day's main events 

"Greece en rage", might be an accurate description of what happened today.

• Several preventive detentions in Athens took place before even the demo starts. 
• Massive turnout as expected.The crowd was dispersed very early though, around 17:30-18:00 when tensions aroused on the front side of the demo and riot police officers started hurling teargas to repel demonstrators on the lower side of the square.
• The demo was split, but protesters remained en masse in the nearby roads, to avoid clouds of tear gas filling the air...which was literally unbearable. With sheer determination they attempted to get back on the spot but riot squad tactics were aimed at halting the demo. This cat-and-mouse chase kept for 3,5 hours.
• There were reports by journalists of policemen attacking on random people, protesting peacefully.
• Paul Mason, the BBC correspondent was attacked by a bunch of far right protesters as they thought he was German. The worst was prevented thanks to other people's intervention.
• Clashes spread across the city, with banks and retail outlets set on fire. Estimated number of arsoned buildings at 10  45.
• 100 people suffered injuries, while 74 have been arrested and 92 detained.
• In Thessaloniki 28.000 people demonstrated (including PAME members) and clashes broke out between protesters and riot police as well.



Feb 12, 2012 Demonstrators flooding the streets outside the parliament before clashes pic @Jaquou Utopie

About Menacius case

By @inflammatory_

On Dec 6, when demos were held to commemorate Alexis Grigoropoulos, the police reportedly proceeded to 21 arrests and 46 detentions. Among those arrested, was A.D. known as Menacius in the twitter community, who is a member of “A ship to Gaza” movement and an Omnia TV contributor. This fact is of great importance as it concerns a citizen who’s been covering live on Twitter the clashes between police and protesters. Menacius' citizen journalism activity is also evident from an article in Kathimerini newspaper on that topic and from comments his friends and comrades have made. On top of that, the arrest should be seen in the context of heavy policing taking place lately, along with the “zero tolerance” approach that police exercised with preventive detentions and stop-and-search tactics during Dec 6 demos.

Further updates on the issue will be aired on radiobubble web radio, posted on Omnia TV, Parallilografos blog and Athens Indymedia and #freemenacius hashtag on Twitter will keep you in the loop. There has been also a call to the Greek branch of Amnesty International to deal with the issue.

#freemenacius : hashtag for arrested @Menacius

By @Krotkie

Information on the young tweeterer arrested during the riots around Exarcheia square in downtown Athens on 6 December, is being delivered under the hashtag #freemenacius on twitter. @menacius is a well-known for his action on social networks activist (member of the initiative “A ship for Gaza and contributor to Omnia TV); according to eyewitnesses, he was arrested with absolutely no reason. For the moment, and while he is expected to meet the prosecutor, together with other arrested protesters, humor is prevailing in the Greek social networks concerning this topic, covering thoroughly how indignant are those who know him personally and confirm that he is definitely a peaceful and harmless person.