"Molotov bombs have become child's play!"

Anxiety and deep concern about the “rapid escalation of violence” were expressed by the leader of ELAS Eleftherios Economou, speaking to the committee of transparency in Parliament.

Specifically, Mr. Economou used dramatic tones to describe the situation, mainly in Attica, and added that “we are the only European country where attacks with Kalashnikov AK-47s are made daily!”. As explained by the chief of police, there is an increase of violence since the events of 2008 (the murder of Alexis Grigoropoulos) and the adjustment of “tactics and weapons” used by the criminal assault groups.

Furthermore, as Mr. Economou stated, “we are seeing that classic Molotov cocktails tend to establish themselves in Greek society as a children’s sport. We observe that the classic cocktail turns from incendiary to explosive using fireworks powder. They include iron fillings or viscous fluids in order for the explosive to “stick” on police uniforms and cause even more damage. They use bows and arrows, flare guns, slingshots, iron bars, rocks and marbles. A flare hit one police officer’s helmet, causing him great injury. Another was responsible for the fire in the National Garden. The perpetrators also use extinguishers to create a foggy environment, smoke bombs, eye-blinding lasers, caustic acids and bottles of urine. In all these cases, the perpetrators take advantage of the asylum area of the university”.

In addition, Mr. Economou expressed the view that “the other side seeks loss of life. There is a very great and alarming escalation of events. Extreme right-motivated violence is also in evidence, but it has not yet reached the stage at which the anarchists are. It acts in many areas rife with illegal immigrants, while we even witnessed a strange cooperation between right-wing and left-wing extremists fighting against police. In Syntagma, the amount of rocks thrown was over 20 tons.

Finally, Mr. Economou said that although initially there was a de-escalation of violence following the tragic incident at Marfin Bank, lately there has been a flare-up, while during the Keratea clashes, the anarchist forces were able to regroup and improve upon their plans of action.