(2 Feb 2013) Riot police evict squatters; anti-Samaras protest at Development Ministry 874330 AP TELEVISION Syntagma Square, central Athens - 9 Jan 2013 ++16:9++ 1. Riot police in front of the Ministry, protesters in the background 2. Mid of riot police wearing helmets and holding shields 3. Riot police pushing back demonstrators holding banner 4. Greek Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras, arrives in a car at the Development and Finance Ministries and walks through main entrance Gunman opens fire outside headquarters of governing New Democracy party 875001 AP TELEVISION Athens - 14 Jan 2013 5. Wide of New Democracy party offices cordoned off, police in foreground 6. Mid of forensics personnel Bomb explodes in shopping mall, injuring two security guards 875860 AP TELEVISION Athens - 20 Jan 2013 7. Wide of mall with security in foreground 8. Mid of other entrance to mall with ambulance Golden Dawn stage anti-US, Turkish and immigrant march past US embassy 877748 AP TELEVISION Athens - 2 Feb 2013 9. Wide of political rally of Greek far right party, Golden Dawn, people holding burning torches and Greek flags, AUDIO: singing 10. Close-up of Golden Dawn supporters holding flags, AUDIO: singing 11. Mid of Golden Dawn leader Nikolaos Mihaloliakos speaking to supporters 12. SOUNDBITE (Greek) Nikolaos Mihaloliakos, Golden Dawn leader speaking: STORYLINE: On January 9th 2013 Greek police used special forces to end a standoff at a squat in central Athens, while protesters responded briefly by occupying the offices of a political party in the country's coalition government. Police said about 80 people were detained for questioning in the two incidents, which ended peacefully at the dilapidated building and the offices of the Democratic Left party. The incident came weeks after authorities had forcibly cleared the building, which had been used as a squat for over 20 years, in a case that has become an issue of political contention between the government and the left-wing opposition. Police say that the building, known as Villa Amalia, was used by groups involved in violent street protests. None of those detained on the 20th of December, when the squat was initially cleared, were later taken into custody. Eight were arrested initially - the charges were later dropped for three of them, while the other five were released conditionally. The main opposition party, the left-wing Syriza, has said the police were heavy-handed in their initial operation, and accused the government of trying to capitalise on the attempted re-occupation of the squat by using it to divert public attention from Greece's financial woes. Later on January 9th, protesters marched through the centre of the Greek capital and reached the Development and Finance Ministries ahead of a visit by Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. The police pushed the protesters away without using violence, ahead of the Prime Minister's arrival. In a news conference later at the Development ministry, Samaras said that attracting investments is imperative if they are going to boost the Greek economy. Kostis Chatzidakis, Greek Development Minister, said the government has reduced " the cost of starting a business by 50 percent, as is the recommendation of the World Bank." Greece has been gripped by a severe financial crisis since late 2009, and relies on funds from international rescue loans. In return, a series of successive governments have had to introduce harsh austerity measures that have slashed salaries and pensions and repeatedly hiked taxes. *** No one was hurt in the shootings. No party officials were in the building at the time of the attack. *** You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/4992cb6899f54d95bb415c8f245ea2d2 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

• published: 31 Jul 2015
• views: 176