[NYTr] Greek riots over Nigerian's death

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

sent by rick kissell

BBC - Aug 21, 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6956322.stm

Greek riots over Nigerian's death

Greek police have clashed with African immigrants protesting over the 
death of a Nigerian man in the northern city of Thessaloniki at the 
weekend.

Police fired tear gas at a stone-throwing crowd who had gathered
outside the police station on Monday holding up photographs of the dead
man.

The Nigerian in his 20s died after he jumped from a building where he 
was selling pirated DVDs in a cafe.

He had fled when he believed police in the cafe were trying to arrest
him.

Police say no officers had been in the cafe at the time.

Protests first took place on Sunday when angry migrants gathered
outside the cafe and threw stones and chairs at police, AP news agency
reports.

A local leader expressed solidarity with Thessaloniki's Nigerian 
community, Greece's English-language paper /Kathimerini/ reports.

"The tragic death of the young man from Nigeria reminds us all of the 
difficult days we Greeks experienced a few decades ago when we
emigrated to make a living," Prefect Panayiotis Psomiadis is quoted as
saying.

"It is the duty of the Greek state, whose development was influenced by 
emigration, to show sensitivity and attribute blame where necessary."

© BBC MMVII