Greek government sends in the riot police to break strike

With 70,000 tons of rubbish laying uncollected in the greater metropolitan Athens area the Greek governement has sent in riot police to ensure than the garbage trucks can enter the capital's Ano Losion land fill. The move underlines the Greek government's hardening stance over the stoppages caused by controversial pension reform plans. The country has been convulsed by strike action by unions determined to oppose the government's plans to merge  the countries 133 pension funds with the state run IKA fund.

Reporters from the Greek MEGA inteviewing the leader of the striking POE - OTA workers, Theodoros Balasopoulos  were attacked by members of the MAT (Greek riot police). The union has announced that it will continue strike action for the next two days and take part in the general strike scheduled for next Wednesday. 

The Greek police and in particular the riot police has been the centre of a series of scandals over the previous years over  accusations of violence and abuse of immigrants and opposition groups. In 2006 Greece was shocked by live TV coverage of plain cloth clothes police officers attacking a Cypriot student (see here for video). In 2007 a video on Youtube taken in a central Athenian police station showed a police officer forcing detainess to beat each other (see here for video).

On a personal note I was beaten by the MAT September 2008 whilst taking photographs during a peaceful demonstration (see here for more stories).