Gsg9 1/87 Unité spéciale: The Greek Riot Force

samedi 12 novembre 2022

The Greek Riot Force - English Version

The GREEK RIOT FORCE

- English Version -

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

(Sorry if there are errors in the meaning, word or verb of the expressions).

Up date: 12/11/2022

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The Greek riot police is called Μονάδες Αποκατάστασης Τάξης and its abbreviation is MAT.
Greek riot police are nicknamed the MATADES...

The first group was established in 1976.
Their green uniforms were introduced in 1995.

Two members per team are equipped with bellows, a special tear gas injection system...

For many years, the MAT have been considered
as violent policemen.

Moreover, many criticisms are made to them because of their presence, sign for the demonstrators, of provocation with their equipment as well as with this dress which is close to the army.

In December 2008, following the death of a 15 year old teenager, things became even more tense. Indeed, a deep crisis of the Greek youth is expressed a little like during the riots in France in 2005, with a significant unemployment of the young people, few opportunities in spite of the long studies followed...

We will even see a riot police officer taking out his service weapon and pointing it at the demonstrators...

It is in 2010, with the accentuation of the monetary crisis, that Greece falls in protests and demonstrations even more violent.

Indeed, the demonstrators are against the austerity measures of the bank system, the European Union, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB) who demand painful financial reforms for the population.

The rise of violence was made during the demonstrations of the "indignant" and was very contrasted by the Greeks: hailed by the extreme left, and seen with a very bad eye by the government in place that hastened to violently repress by all means possible.

In 2012, after the "Indignant" movement had run out of steam, Greece saw its economic situation deteriorate dangerously: lower salaries, increased youth unemployment, impoverishment of the middle classes, suppression of collective agreements in the world of work...
Violence against immigrants also began.

The government of the time will use the riot police to break the strikes like the one in 2013 against the employees of the Athens metro.

It is in the center of Athens, in front of the parliament, that the protesters gather. Between 50,000 and 70,000 demonstrators.

The Greek riot police protecting the outskirts of the Parliament including the stairs leading to the esplanade,

as well as on the sides...

Molotov cocktails were thrown regularly.

In order to push back the riot police.

At the risk of serious burns...

Also the actions made by the riot police...

...lead to equally violent actions by demonstrators...

who want to fight against the forces of order...

A small note of humor in all this violence: Even dogs are on the side of the demonstrators... Here is the most known, Loukanikos (which means sausage in Greek) that one sees during several years wandering and barking against the greek police forces...

Like here on this video above.

The demonstrations will continue regularly every year.

The Greek riot police will use motorcycle rioters as seen in these 3 videos below:

And the violence towards the police will continue too.

The use of Molotov cocktails continues...

With always the growing risk of burns...

The Greek Authorities have "water cannon" trucks to intervene also when throwing molotov cocktails

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As you can see it used in this video

Person using a laser to blind law enforcement during riots, 11/17/16 in Athens

Other protesters use lasers to blind police officers during progress through narrow streets.

Canadians did investigative work at the 2001 Summit of the Americas on the categories of protesters: Whatever the country, the demonstrators are not homogeneous. They are divided into several categories:
- The demonstrator who asks for permission to march and does not break anything.
- The pacifist who is less convenient,
- The adept of civil disobedience and sitting deliberately obstructing official ceremonies.

But it is on the bangs of these majority groups that
the "dangerous categories":
- First of all, the thugs, for whom the demonstration serves as an alibi;
- and finally the groups constituted by autonomists and anarchists, better and better equipped and using the method known as "Black Blocs", that is to say individuals hidden behind black masks, black gloves and black clothes and operating in group not to be spotted during violent actions or degradations.

However, many demonstrations degenerate as here that of farmers in 2015...

Violence, also in stadiums, is created at the slightest opportunity to confront the forces of order,

and disrupt matches....

Greece is confronted with waves of migrants fleeing the fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, and having to manage the closure
borders of neighboring countries.

It also has to deal with the conflicts that arise in the Greek detention centers.

As we can see, the situation that has been going on for several years in Greece leads to violence that becomes the norm during demonstrations....

However the increasingly violent acts of aggression pose a real reflection as you can discover on the link below in the demonstrations and the Urban Violence: