Greece cracks down on Roma settlements over teen shooting protests

By Magda Panoutsopoulou

ATHENS (AA) - Police raided Roma settlements near Athens for a second consecutive day on Friday as tensions continue over the police shooting of a teenage Roma boy in northern Greece.

A number of people have been arrested since Thursday from various Roma settlements in the towns of Zefyri, Menidi, Neoktista Aspropyrgou, and Ano Liossia, most on drug-related charges, police said.

Parts of Greece have been gripped by violence after a 16-year-old Roma boy was shot dead by a police officer in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, on Monday, with vehicles and at least one shop torched.

“We want justice. This was a racist crime,” Panagiotis Sabanis, head of the Roma Federation of Central and Western Macedonia, told local media on Friday.

“There is racism against us in Greece. This is not the first incident of police shooting a Roma just because he is a Roma.”

The victim was shot in the head during a police chase after he allegedly left a gas station without paying a €20 ($21) bill.

A 34-year-old police officer who fired the fatal shots has been suspended and faces charges of attempted manslaughter with possible intent and illegally firing his weapon.