Greece is hit by the case of young Kostas Fragulis, shot by police and killed a week later
- On 5 December, in the Greek city of Thessaloniki, the Police shot in the head a 16-year-old boy who went from a gas station without paying 20 euros. Eight days later, Tuesday dies. The protests have not been interrupted in the last week, and after learning about the murder, the country has been outraged, with mass demonstrations in different places on Tuesday. These days they have repeatedly denounced that there is racism behind the murder, because the young man was a Roman.
After a week in the ICU, Kostas Fragoulis, a 16-year-old Greek shot by the police, dies on Tuesday. On 5 December, after passing through a gas station in Thessaloniki, the police followed Fragoulis behind to celebrate without paying EUR 20. In this follow-up the police shot Fragoulis and one of the shots hit the young man in the head. Since then he has been in a critical situation until his death. Tuesday morning announced the death of the young man. Denouncing the murder, mass demonstrations have taken place in many parts of Greece. According to data provided by the police, at least 60 people are arrested.
As soon as the attack on Fragoulis was known, the protests spread throughout the country and conflicts arose between the protesting citizens and the police in both Thessaloniki and Athens. In Thessaloniki, the clashes reached the outside of the hospital where Fragoulis was being treated.
In the demonstration that began on the streets of Athens, Nikos Sabanis, one of the brothers of the 18-year-old Romanesque youth, his sister and father, shot by the police a year ago, held the banner of shots they made for being Roma. As they have constantly denounced these days, the attack on Fragoulis is due to racism, which was Roman. In this regard, the journalist based in Greece, Hibai Arbide, pointed out on social networks that Fragoulis is not an isolated fact, and that in Greece, for alleged minor offences, the police shoot at the Roma with the intention of systematically killing them. "Greece is the European Union country with the most differences in life expectancy between Roma and Payos," he stressed. According to the journalist, the most repeated motto was as follows: "It wasn't for gasoline, it wasn't for money, the police shot because I was a gypsy."
The officer charged with the facts cancels the shot to death. On December 6, he passed over to the judge, accusing the illegal use of the weapon and the attempted murder of Godfather. The 34-year-old defendant, in self-defense, stated that he had not intervened with the intention of killing and that to frighten the young man had first shot in the air, pointing for the second time to the ground. It suggests that this second shot was unintentionally diverted, declaring that the road was changing and that a lot of weapons were being fired at it. Arbide reported a detail that denies the defendant’s version: in the vicinity of the shooting they found a bullet framed at a hotel’s door. "This shows that the police did not fire in the air as a warning, but shot to kill."
While the defendant police were in court, several people met outside for justice. As a symbolic gesture, the participants burned EUR 20 banknotes to declare that a person’s life cannot be paid in cash:
Angehörige und Freunde von Kostas Fragoulis heute 20
[https://t.co/g4K4WHcFXb] pic.twitter.com/FnwE0jralF
— désertions (@desertions_) December 9, 2022
Incidents also arose before the courts. There are images of how the Police dared the gathered at the courthouse doors to subsequently attack Fragoulis' father by hitting him on the ground:
One more name on the long list of young people killed by the police
Police violence coincides with the date marked in red on the Greek calendar by the attack on the young Fragoulis. Fourteen years ago, on 6 December, a police officer murdered Alexis Grigoropoulos, a 15-year-old boy, in the Exarchia district of Athens. The young man was on the street when a police shot hit him in his heart. The incidents broke out on the same day leading to the 2008 revolt. Since then, 6 December is an important date for many, and it is reason to take the streets every year.
The fact that the Police’s attack on Fragoulis took place on the eve of that date has calmed the atmosphere this year, and the images that that morning showed hitting the father of the young Police increased their anger. The incidents were numerous in both Athens and Thessaloniki. Since then, mobilisations have not ceased.
It appears that a typical motto of the demonstrations designates young people killed by the police in recent years. "There are so many, that Fragoulis's does not go to the metric," wrote Monday Arbide, a journalist who has just known the death of the young man.
Karen Daniela Ágredok dioenez, atxilotu zutenean berak ez zuen ertzainik zauritu, haiek lurrera bota zuten eta konortea galdu zuen. Ondoren, Ertzaintzaren komisariaren zoruan iratzartu zen eta handik ospitalera eraman zuten.
