More than 2 1/2 years after an anti-austerity protest in Athens, Greece, turned ugly and violent, 18 police officers were due to stand trial on Jan. 20 on brutality charges after images showed bloody confrontations with demonstrators. The events took place on June 29, 2011 in the Syntagma Square area across from the Parliament.
According to Eleftherotypia newspaper, the police officers, members of the MAT anti-riot and motorcycle-riding DIAS squads, face charges of causing grievous bodily harm and exposing citizens to danger.
The case file notes the types of injuries, particularly those to the head, suffered by protesters that day and also reportedly contains evidence that the police failed to help injured protesters and that police fired rocks at protesters and made excessive use of tear gas.
The protest in Syntagma Square was organized to coincide with MPs debating and voting on more spending cuts. It was infiltrated by anarchists who taunted police and fired Molotov cocktails and rocks and pieces of marble at them, leading to a response that critics said was excessive and caught up innocent, non-violent protesters in the mix.
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