(20 Jun 2012) On April 4th 2012 Greek protesters threw molotov cocktails at riot police in Athens, after gathering for a demonstration following a Greek retiree's public suicide.
Police responded with tear gas and flash grenades after the anti-austerity rally turned violent and youths hurled rocks and petrol bombs outside parliament.
More than 1,500 demonstrators showed up to protest against government money-saving measures and hold a vigil in memory of a 77-year-old retired pharmacist who killed himself across from parliament this morning.
Protesters charged at police during the evening of April 4th throwing rocks and plastic furniture.
The streets surrounding Syntagma Square became littered with small fires and debris.
The 77-year-old retired pharmacist drew a handgun and shot himself in the head near a subway exit on central Syntagma Square which was crowded with commuters, police said.
Authorities reported no injuries or arrests.
The square, opposite Parliament, has become the focal point for frequent public protests against the Greece's two-year austerity campaign.
The incident, during morning rush hour, jolted public opinion and quickly entered political debate, with the prime minister and the heads of both parties backing Greece's governing coalition expressing sorrow.
Police said a handwritten note was found on the retired pharmacist's body in which he attributed his decision to the debt crisis.
According to a text of the note published by local media, the man said the government had made it impossible for him to survive on the pension he had paid into for 35 years.
"I find no other solution than a dignified end before I start searching through the trash for food," the note read.
Police did not confirm whether it was genuine.
Greece has seen an increase in suicides over the past two years of economic hardship, during which the country repeatedly teetered on the brink of bankruptcy.
Police did not release the pharmacist's name and offered few other details.
Greece has relied on international rescue loans since May 2010.
To secure them, Athens implemented harsh austerity measures, slashing pensions and salaries while repeatedly raising taxes.
But the belt-tightening worsened the recession and led to thousands of job losses that left one in five Greeks unemployed.
By April 4th dozens of written messages had been pinned to the tree under which the man shot himself.
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On May 1st more than 2,000 Greeks marched through central Athens in May Day protests centred on the debt-crippled country's harsh austerity programme.
Minor scuffles broke out in Athens when young men targeted the street kiosks of political parties after a protest march, destroying two and partially burning another. There were no injuries.
To the north of the capital in Aspropyrgos, thousands of communist-backed labour union supporters gathered to mark May Day at a factory where workers have been on strike for six months in protest at job cuts.
The demonstrations come a few days ahead of national elections on Sunday, after a campaign dominated by the past two years of economic pain that followed the debt crisis.
No party is expected to secure a governing majority in the election, while it remains unclear whether squabbling party leaders will be able to strike a power-sharing deal.
More than 1,500 people marched to Parliament on Tuesday, in a peaceful protest staged by Greece's two main labour unions and several small left-wing parties.
Several hundred more anarchists and students were holding a separate march. Previous demonstrations have turned violent.
Athens
Aspropyrgos
Athens
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