Masked Attackers With Axes and Firebombs Storm Student Meeting in Athens

Dozens of masked attackers armed with axes, crowbars and gasoline bombs burst into a student meeting at Greece's largest university this week and injured three people, according to students and police.

The assault has renewed a long-running debate over violence and policing on Greek campuses.

Video released Thursday shows helmeted, hooded figures forcing their way into the mathematics building

The meeting had been called to plan events marking the anniversary of a 1973 student uprising against the military dictatorship that ruled Greece at the time.

"We were attacked by a group of dozens of hooded men. We don't know who they are," said a member of the student association's board.

"They had axes, they had crowbars, they had Molotov cocktails."

Police said one victim suffered burns to the hands from a firebomb, another had head and abdominal injuries, and a third was wounded in the leg.

All three were taken to a hospital in Athens. Their condition was not disclosed. No arrests have been announced, and no group has claimed responsibility.

The attack comes less than two weeks before Nov. 17, the anniversary of the uprising at the Athens Polytechnic, which the junta crushed with tanks.

The date is marked every year with marches and is often followed by clashes between police and protesters.

For decades, Greek universities were largely off-limits to police under a tradition of campus "asylum" meant to protect free expression after the dictatorship.

The conservative government abolished it in 2019, arguing that it shielded vandalism, drug dealing and violence.

Critics on the left say the change threatens academic freedom.

Campus clashes between rival political groups have continued.

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Dozens of masked attackers armed with axes, crowbars and gasoline bombs burst into a student meeting at Greece's largest university this week and injured three people, according to students and police.

The assault has renewed a long-running debate over violence and policing on Greek campuses.

Video released Thursday shows helmeted, hooded figures forcing their way into the mathematics building on the University of Athens' Zografou campus during a general assembly of the department's student association on Wednesday.

The meeting had been called to plan events marking the anniversary of a 1973 student uprising against the military dictatorship that ruled Greece at the time.

"We were attacked by a group of dozens of hooded men. We don't know who they are," said a member of the student association's board.

"They had axes, they had crowbars, they had Molotov cocktails."

Police said one victim suffered burns to the hands from a firebomb, another had head and abdominal injuries, and a third was wounded in the leg.

All three were taken to a hospital in Athens. Their condition was not disclosed. No arrests have been announced, and no group has claimed responsibility.

The attack comes less than two weeks before Nov. 17, the anniversary of the uprising at the Athens Polytechnic, which the junta crushed with tanks.

The date is marked every year with marches and is often followed by clashes between police and protesters.

For decades, Greek universities were largely off-limits to police under a tradition of campus "asylum" meant to protect free expression after the dictatorship.

The conservative government abolished it in 2019, arguing that it shielded vandalism, drug dealing and violence.

Critics on the left say the change threatens academic freedom.

Campus clashes between rival political groups have continued.

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