Thousands of protesters from Greece's Roma community marched through Athens and Thessaloniki tonight, with community leaders appealing for calm following the death of teenager Kostas Fragoulis, the 16-year-old Roma boy who was shot in the head last week during a police chase over an alleged unpaid tax bill. gas.
About 2,500 people demonstrated in Thessaloniki, where the teenager lived and died, and a similar protest march was held in Athens after student and anarchist groups called for protests following his death.
Greek media reported that protesters burned tires and blocked streets during protests in several parts of the country, the media reported.
Authorities did not release the teenager's name, but relatives identified him as Kostas Fragulis, who was married with a young child.
- Everyone is crying here. It is unfair for a child to leave like this, said the secretary of the Roma community, Andonis Tasios, where the teenager lived.
Frangulis was hospitalized in intensive care after emergency surgery following the shooting, and the funeral is scheduled for Thursday.
Police in Thessaloniki said around 50 people emerged from the university campus this afternoon and threw several Molotov cocktails at a police anti-demonstration unit stationed nearby. There are no reports of injuries.
The teenager was shot in the head by a police officer on a motorcycle during a chase after the young man filled up his truck at a gas station and allegedly fled without paying the €20 bill.
The accused officer said during his first court appearance last week that he fired his weapon to stop the truck because he feared for the lives of his colleagues, but that he aimed at the tires, not the driver.
The police officer has been suspended and since Friday is suspected of the crime of attempted murder with possible intent and illegal use of weapons.
With the teenager's death, it is now much more likely that the felony charge will be changed to manslaughter, according to US media.
In the meantime, the International Roma Union - IRU and its president Zoran Dimov sent a letter with a reaction to the Embassy of Greece in Skopje, where after a week they replied from the Embassy that they will also send their official announcement these days.
