NEWS,07.04.2012

Hundreds attend funeral of Greek pensioner

Hundreds of people shouting defiance have attended the funeral of retired pharmacist Dimitris Chrisoula, who shot himself in central Athens this week saying government austerity cuts had left him in penury. "Forward the people, heads high, the only answer is resistance" they shouted, applauding as the coffin arrived at Athens' main cemetery, television pictures showed.Chrisoula's daughter said in a farewell speech that his act had been "deeply political," while a message from composer Mikis Theodorakis, an icon of defiance against the junta that ruled Greece in the 1970s, was also read out.Unusually for Greece, the ceremony had no religious component and the remains were to be taken to neighbouring Bulgaria for cremation, a practice forbidden by the powerful Greek Orthodox Church.Chrisoula shot himself in Athens' central Syntagma Square on Wednesday, leaving a note saying his pension had been wiped out and that "I find no other solution for a dignified end before I start sifting through garbage to feed myself".His death prompted new protests and clashes with police over the government's measures aimed at resolving Greece's massive debt crisis.Athens has been forced to cut state spending drastically, and has slashed civil servant salaries and pensions by up to 40 percent to secure bailout loan payments from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.Hundreds of thousands of Greeks have lost their jobs in the past year, and unemployment currently tops one million, a quarter of the workforce.Greek protesters marching in memory of a man who killed himself over financial woes have attacked a policeman. The policeman was left bloodied and his bulletproof vest was stolen.The demonstrators marched after a memorial service for Dimitris Christoulas, 77, a retired pharmacist who shot himself on Wednesday in the Greek capital's Syntagma Square. He left a note blaming politicians for his money problems and calling on "young people" to kill their elected leaders.His death has further galvanised Greeks angry over their leaders' implementation of tough austerity measures that are aimed at bringing the country out of its fiscal crisis but which have caused hardships for many ordinary citizens. Greece's economy is now also heavily dependent on international loans.Hundreds attended the memorial service for Mr Christoulas, singing and chanting slogans. Afterward, about two hundred people, escorted by bikers, marched through central Athens, ending their march at Syntagma.There, some of the demonstrators spotted two policemen who had just finished their patrol. About a dozen protesters quickly put on balaclavas to hide their faces and pursued the policemen.One managed to escape. The second was dragged down some steps, shoved to the ground and punched and kicked for about three minutes.The attackers took his bulletproof vest, as well as a bag containing a belt, a uniform and handcuffs. The attackers placed some of the items on the spot where Mr Christoulas shot himself, adding them to a makeshift memorial.The policeman, his face covered in blood, managed to make his way to a police van that had arrived on the scene. A police official said the policeman was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The official did not give his name in line with agency rules.According to a text of Mr Christoulas' 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," read the note.Mr Christoulas' daughter, Emy, told media that her father, who had taken part in several protests at Syntagma Square, had intended to send a political message with his suicide. He had incurred no debts, she said."Father, you could not grasp it when they took away our democracy, our freedom, our integrity, " Emy Christoulas said at her father's memorial service."You could not grasp it when they surrounded us with a harsh social and economic apartheid."Mr Christoulas' body will be cremated at a later date, in Bulgaria, because Greece lacks cremation facilities.