Images by Ged Travers
The Save Skouries/S.O.S. Halkidiki anti-gold mining campaigners held a follow-up demonstration today (28/12/14) to keep the pressure on Eldorado Gold Corporation after the disgraceful scenes of indiscriminate state violence against the peaceful demonstration held on 23rd. November 2014.
Xekinima comrades made the trip from Thessaloniki to show solidarity with the campaigners who continue to oppose the destructive gold mining operation which threatens water supplies, releases a toxic cocktail of pollutants into the atmosphere and has laid waste to acres of forest.
Once again the uniform and MAT riot police deployed teargas with a variety of delivery systems including hand-thrown grenades, compressed gas jets and the converted flare pistol which fires three gas cylinders at once indiscriminately into the crowd. The latter is very inaccurate; so much so that many of the gas cylinders fell into the surrounding forest setting light to dead leaves causing a fire hazard as well as a blatant human rights violation.
Tensions were running high among the MAT riot police with one officer breaking ranks to throw two stun grenades into a crowd of demonstrators. We were simply walking away from the teargas cloud at the Eldorado site gate when a MAT squad appeared behind us and took up a position on the side of the road. Without any warning or provocation a rogue officer threw the stun grenades and was immediately pulled back by his colleagues to be given an animated dressing-down. Luckily there were some calm heads among the campaign leadership who remonstrated with the senior uniform police commander who then ordered the MAT squad to withdraw. This incident is recorded here starting with the image of the young woman covering her ears as the stun grenades went off.
