Nick Squires
London Telegraph
December 15, 2010
A former government minister was stoned by a mob in Athens s riots broke out in the Greek capital in protest at the government’s austerity measures.
Kostis Hatzidakis, who is now an opposition MP, was left with blood pouring from his head after being chased and beaten by dozens of protesters.
He was set upon by up to 100 youths, who shouted “Thieves” and “Shame on you” when he emerged from the Greek parliament building on Constitution Square, in central Athens.
Protesters hurled lumps of concrete and paving stones at riot police, set fire to cars and smashed shop fronts.
The violence in Greece erupted during a general strike called by unions to protest against new labour laws which unions say will give employers too much power and take workers' rights "back to the Middle Ages."Greece is struggling to reform its economy under conditions set by a 110 billion euro international bail-out package but many Greeks feel that they have ceded away their sovereignty to the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
The 24-hour strike, the seventh this year, also grounded flights, closed factories, disrupted hospitals and shut down trains, ferries and buses across the country.
An estimated 20,000 protesters marched on parliament. Christmas shoppers fled as rioters wearing black masks and ski goggles hurled petrol bombs wrapped in bundles of firecrackers.
A similar protest in Greece's second largest city, Thessaloniki, also turned violent.
Greece was saved from bankruptcy in May by an international rescue loan package. In return, the Socialist government led by George Papandreou slashed pensions and salaries, raised taxes and extended retirement ages.
On Tuesday, the government won a key vote in parliament on new labour reforms that include deeper pay cuts, salary caps and a reduction of unions' collective bargaining power in the private sector.
Meanwhile riot police in Turkey also clashed with students who were protesting against Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, calling for university reform.
The violence came a day after thousands of demonstrators in Rome went on the rampage when Silvio Berlusconi, the prime minister, survived a no-confidence vote that had threatened to topple his coalition.
