Greek Roma boy shot by police prompts outrage in Greece

A teen is warring for his beingness successful a Greek infirmary aft a policeman changeable him successful the caput arsenic helium fled a petrol station, allegedly without paying.

The serviceman fired 2 shots astatine the 16-year-old Roma lad successful the 2nd biggest metropolis Thessaloniki.

Protesters took to the streets connected Monday, throwing petrol bombs astatine police.

The shooting has highlighted the recurrent contented of constabulary unit successful Greek cities.

Last twelvemonth an 18-year-old Roma antheral called Nikos Sampanis was fatally changeable successful a car pursuit adjacent Athens and connected 6 December 2008 a 15-year-old lad was changeable dormant successful the superior during a constabulary nighttime patrol.

Alexis Grigoropoulos's decease successful the cardinal territory of Exarchia is remembered each twelvemonth with large protests successful Athens and different cities. Several 1000 officers were deployed successful the superior connected Tuesday to forestall trouble.

In the latest shooting, the teen filled up his conveyance with €20 (£17) of petrol and past left. CCTV released connected Tuesday revealed that 4 policemen were wrong the petrol presumption astatine the time.

The 16-year-old drove distant chased by constabulary connected motorbikes. Police said helium past turned his conveyance towards them with the purpose of ramming into them.

"I fired erstwhile successful the aerial and erstwhile towards the vehicle. Colleagues' lives were astatine risk," the 34-year-old serviceman was quoted arsenic saying. He was aboriginal suspended from work and charged with carrying retired the shooting.

News of his shooting prompted protests from the section Roma assemblage extracurricular the infirmary successful Thessaloniki wherever the lad had country to region the slug from his head. Protesters joined friends and relatives astatine the country and stones were thrown astatine police, who responded with stun grenades.

"And what if helium didn't pay? Did they person to termination him?" his begetter told Greek media, adding that the lad had made a mistake and constabulary should person arrested him astatine home.

Local reports accidental Roma protesters burned tyres and rubbish bins successful the westbound of the city. The constabulary serviceman charged with the shooting appeared successful tribunal accused of attempted homicide and different offences.

Video from extracurricular the tribunal aboriginal went viral showing a antheral identified arsenic the boy's begetter being manhandled by constabulary extracurricular the court. The antheral is seen being thrown to the ground, surrounded by riot police.

According to the Council of Europe, the Roma (Gypsies) are Greece's biggest number and fig immoderate 270,000, mostly surviving successful makeshift accommodation.

As the lad laic successful a captious information successful infirmary successful Thessaloniki, his lawyer told reporters that they did not privation him to go different Alexis Grigoropoulos.

Theofilos Alexopoulos told Thess Today that his beingness was hanging by a thread but they wanted him to past and for the plight of Roma radical to beryllium recognised.