– Greek Police Fire Tear Gas, Use Pepper Spray On Protesting Pensioners:
Familiar scenes returned to Athens today, when Greek police fired teargas at a demonstration of pensioners protesting over cutbacks to their benefits, part of an austerity drive dictated by the Troika (or was it Quadriga). Between 1,500 and 2,0000 pensioners attempted to march to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s office, however they were blocked when riot police blocked their path, intercepting them with pepper spray and tear gas.
Greek pensioners called on the nation to rise against the government’s harsh austerity policy as they attempted to break through a cordon of police buses and special operations troops barring their way to the prime minister’s residence.
#Police uses tear-gas and physical violence against anti-government #protesters#Greecepic.twitter.com/HzpgeUSVpr
— chill (@chiIIinois) October 2, 2016
As Reuters adds, tensions flared when dozens of pensioners attempted to push over a police bus blocking their way a few hundred meters (yards) from Tsipras’ office.
The government has approved several reforms since August 2015, including benefits cuts and tax hikes as part of its July 2015 deal with the International Monetary Fund and EU financial institutions that unlocked a third bailout package worth 86 billion euros ($96 billion).
The left-led government is expected to submit its budget for 2017 in parliament on Monday evening.
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