Retiree's suicide fuels new Greek protests
Source: Agencies |
April 6, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
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ANTI-AUSTERITY activists were planning new protests yesterday in Athens' main square the day after a retiree publicly killed himself, leaving a note that blasted politicians over Greece's financial crisis.
Many in the debt-crippled country see the 77-year-old retired pharmacist as a martyr, whose suicide symbolized the cumulative effect of over two years of economic pain imposed to secure international bailouts shielding the country from bankruptcy.
More than 1,500 people gathered at Syntagma Square hours after the suicide on Wednesday, chanting "this was no suicide, it was a state-perpetrated murder," and clashing with riot police.
The retiree chose the morning rush hour to shoot himself in the head near a subway exit on the square - a focal point for protests and a stone's throw from Parliament. The tree under which he died was quickly festooned with notes blaming government-imposed austerity for his death. Dozens gathered at the spot yesterday, leaving flowers, Greek flags and candles on the grass.
In a suicide note, the man said he could not survive on his pension and expected Greeks to take up arms and "hang traitors" in the square.
"It was clearly a political act," said Petros Constantinou, organizer for the left-wing Antarsya group that participated in Wednesday's protests. "The fact that a person reached the point of giving his life to change the situation shows ... where the policies of austerity and poverty have brought people."
Greece has survived on rescue loans from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund since May 2010. To secure the cash lifeline, the country imposed harsh cutbacks, slashing pensions and salaries while repeatedly increasing taxes. A new round of belt-tightening worth about 7 percent of Gross Domestic Product is expected to be announced in June.
The crisis has cost tens of thousands of jobs, sending unemployment to a record high of 21 percent while one in two Greeks aged under 25 is jobless.
Groups ranging from social media activists to schoolchildren have said they will join in the protests later yesterday.
Many in the debt-crippled country see the 77-year-old retired pharmacist as a martyr, whose suicide symbolized the cumulative effect of over two years of economic pain imposed to secure international bailouts shielding the country from bankruptcy.
More than 1,500 people gathered at Syntagma Square hours after the suicide on Wednesday, chanting "this was no suicide, it was a state-perpetrated murder," and clashing with riot police.
The retiree chose the morning rush hour to shoot himself in the head near a subway exit on the square - a focal point for protests and a stone's throw from Parliament. The tree under which he died was quickly festooned with notes blaming government-imposed austerity for his death. Dozens gathered at the spot yesterday, leaving flowers, Greek flags and candles on the grass.
In a suicide note, the man said he could not survive on his pension and expected Greeks to take up arms and "hang traitors" in the square.
"It was clearly a political act," said Petros Constantinou, organizer for the left-wing Antarsya group that participated in Wednesday's protests. "The fact that a person reached the point of giving his life to change the situation shows ... where the policies of austerity and poverty have brought people."
Greece has survived on rescue loans from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund since May 2010. To secure the cash lifeline, the country imposed harsh cutbacks, slashing pensions and salaries while repeatedly increasing taxes. A new round of belt-tightening worth about 7 percent of Gross Domestic Product is expected to be announced in June.
The crisis has cost tens of thousands of jobs, sending unemployment to a record high of 21 percent while one in two Greeks aged under 25 is jobless.
Groups ranging from social media activists to schoolchildren have said they will join in the protests later yesterday.
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