Around 200 friends, relatives and other demonstrators from the Roma community gather in front of the court in Thessaloniki.
A Greek police officer appeared in a court in northern Greece over the shooting and serious injuries of a Roma teenager during a police chase over an allegedly unpaid gas station bill, with protesters gathering outside the court.
Around 200 friends, relatives and other protesters from the Roma community gathered outside the court in Thessaloniki on Friday, holding up photos of the injured 16-year-old and demanding justice.
Monday’s shooting caused days of violent protests by members of the Roma community in Greece’s second largest city, as well as in Athens and other regions.
“It wasn’t the gas, it wasn’t the money, the cops shot because he was Roma,” protesters chanted on Friday.
Community leaders called for a peaceful protest outside the court and demanded that the officer be detained pending trial.
“We want justice. The crime was racist,” said Panagiotis Sabanis, president of the Roma Federation of Central and Western Macedonia. “There is racism against us in Greece. This is not the first time that a police officer has shot a Roma simply because he is Roma.”
Previous cases
Several Roma men have been shot or injured in recent years during clashes with police as they apparently sought to escape arrest for breaking the law.
Andonis Tasios, general secretary of the Roma community where the boy lives, was among the protesters outside the court on Friday.
“They shot him because of his color. If he wasn’t Roma, they wouldn’t have done it,” he said.
Members of the Roma community in Greece have long faced discrimination and many often live on the margins of society.
The 16-year-old, who was chased by police on motorbikes after leaving a gas station without paying a 20-euro bill on Monday morning, was shot in the head and remains hospitalized in critical condition.
The 34-year-old police officer who fired the shooting has been suspended and faces charges of attempted manslaughter with possible intent and unlawful discharge of his weapon.
Police said the youth tried to ram one of the motorcycles involved in the chase with his pickup truck and two shots were fired in an attempt to stop the truck from hitting the vehicle.
During a preliminary court appearance earlier in the week, the officer said he fired his gun because he feared for the lives of his colleagues, but did not aim at the youth. .
During his interrogation on Friday, the police officer said that the young man had tried to hit the motorcycle three times.
The shooting sparked days of violent protests, with vehicles and at least one business set on fire and police officers fired upon by shotgun fire.
Greek public broadcaster ERT said Friday that a police officer was lightly injured by shotgun bullets during overnight unrest west of Athens.
