Police officer appears in court over teen shooting
A police officer appeared before a court on Tuesday over the shooting of a teenager who allegedly failed to pay a gas station bill, as protesters gathered outside.
The 16-year-old, teenager, is in critical condition in a hospital in Thessaloniki.
The 34-year-old police officer who allegedly shot him in the head was suspended from duty and arrested.
He appeared in court Tuesday morning on a felony charge of attempted manslaughter with possible intent and a misdemeanor count of illegally firing his weapon.
He asked for and was granted more time to prepare his defense, as is common in the Greek justice system, before he appears before an investigating magistrate. He will appear in court again on Friday.
According to AP, scuffles broke out between police and the protesters gathered outside the courthouse, who held up a banner reading: “It wasn’t the gas, it wasn’t the money, the cops shot because he was Roma.”
The shooting occurred outside Thessaloniki. . Officers from a motorcycle patrol chased the teenager’s pickup truck after a gas station employee reported the unpaid bill of 20 euros.
The court appearance coincides with the anniversary of the 2008 fatal police shooting of teenager Alexis Grigoropoulos in Athens that sparked Greece’s worst riots in decades. Protest marches commemorating Grigoropoulos often turn violent.
On Monday night, about 1,500 people took part in a protest march in central Thessaloniki over the latest shooting.
Police detained six people after the end of the march.
Several hundred people also took part in a peaceful demonstration Monday in central Athens.
Members of the Roma community in Greece and human rights activists frequently accuse Greek authorities of discriminating against Roma.
AP
