【奔向愛琴海】（1）雅典暴亂

April 9, 2012

雅典暴亂了，讓我們遇上了！這給我們幾乎完美的愛琴海之旅又增添了一筆斑斕的色彩。

最初一起同行的學姐學長因為要去看望兒子，提前離開了希臘。周周夫婦在結束了愛琴海/土耳其遊覽後也與我們分開，按照自己的路線去希臘自駕遊了。我和YanYan結束了Olympia，Delphi和Meteora遊覽後，於四月五日傍晚又回到了雅典，遇上當晚發生的暴亂，讓我們多了一次從未有過的經曆。

那天晚上我和YanYan在酒店放下行李後就去附近的Syntagma市中心廣場逛街。大約九點左右，我和YanYan在廣場前分手。YanYan先回酒店，我一人去買點食物。正當我從食品店出來時，發現一群年輕人企圖衝進店內，店主趕緊拉下鐵門阻擋了這群年輕人的進入。等這群年輕人離開後，店主才打開門讓我出去，並告誡我不要朝廣場中心方向走。這時空氣中充滿了辣椒粉的味道，許多人開始咳嗽。我本來還想留在原地看個究竟，突然想起瘦馬兄上次讀了我們在新西蘭遇到火警不逃命的帖子後，再三囑咐以後無論遇到什麽情況一定要先逃命，於是我反著廣場向巷子深處撒腿就跑。因為我當晚穿的是靴子，跑起來在石板路上擊起一陣陣清脆的響聲，於是路上越來越多不明情況的行人都跟著我一起跑起來了，結果一群警察也追著我們跑進了巷子。

正當我領著眾人奔跑時，突然聽到YanYan在路邊喊我的名字，於是我閃到路邊和YanYan會和，人群和警察則繼續往前跑，警察後來大概在前麵沒有發現什麽，又折了回來，這從YanYan的video footage中可以看出。

YanYan平時吃喝玩耍機靈過人，玩天上的跳傘蹦極海底的潛水從來沒有畏懼過，那天被嚇得沒了反應，直到我和她會和後，提醒她趕緊錄像，才用手機錄下了這段視頻。之後她一直不舒服，不知道是受了驚嚇，還是吸入了辣椒粉的原因，在回程的飛機上開始發燒了。

我後來又跟著警察反回廣場拍了些現場照片，並給朋友發了封email做為一線報道，直到手機沒電才離開廣場。

下麵這組照片是我在現場用手機拍攝的，video footage是YanYan拍攝的。

 

網絡上保留的當晚暴亂背景：
http://www.therecord.com/news/world/article/699308--retiree-s-suicide-prompts-athens-protests

Retiree‘s suicide prompts Athens protests

ATHENS, GREECE — A Greek retiree shot himself dead in the busiest public square in Athens during morning rush hour Wednesday, leaving a note police said linked his suicide with the country’s acute financial woes.

Hours later, more than 1,500 anti-austerity protesters gathered in the square, responding to social media calls for peaceful demonstrations accusing Greek politicians of driving people to despair with harsh cutbacks implemented to secure vital international bailouts.

Limited scuffles broke out between the protesters and riot police, who used a small amount of pepper spray to repel youths throwing bottles of water at them.
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. The square, opposite Greece’s parliament, is a focal point for public protests.

The incident 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.

“A pharmacist ought to be able to live comfortably on his pension,” said Vassilis Papadopoulos, a spokesperson for the “I won’t pay” group. “So for him to reach the point of suicide out of economic hardship means a lot. It shows how the social fabric is unravelling.”

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.

“As a Greek, I am truly shocked,” Dimitris Giannopoulos, an Athens doctor, said before the protest. “I am shocked because I see that (the government is) destroying my dignity ... and the only thing they care about are bank accounts.”
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,” read the note. 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.
By Wednesday evening, dozens of written messages had been pinned to the tree under which the man shot himself, some reading: “It was a murder, not a suicide,” and “Austerity kills.”

Hundreds of protesters made their way across the street from the square to outside parliament and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, chanting: “This was not a suicide, it was a state-perpetrated murder” and “Blood flows and seeks revenge.”

Dozens of riot police stood guard.

Papadopoulos, the protest organizer, said the suicide shows Greeks can take no more austerity.

“This suicide is political in nature and heavy in symbolism. It’s not like a suicide at home,” Papadopoulos said in a telephone interview. “There was a political suicide note, and it happened in front of a clearly political site, parliament, where the austerity measures are approved.”

Prime Minister Loucas Papademos issued a statement as protesters gathered at the site of the suicide.

“It is tragic for one of our fellow citizens to end his life,” he said. “In these difficult hours for our society we must all — the state and the citizens — support the people among us who are desperate.”

Government spokesperson Pantelis Kapsis described the incident as “a human tragedy,” but said it should not become part of the political debate.

“I don’t know the exact circumstances that led that man to his act,” Kapsis said. “I believe we must all remain calm and show respect for the true events, which we do not yet fully know.”

Evangelos Venizelos, leader of the Socialist party, said the suicide “is so overwhelming that it renders any political comment unbecoming and cheap.”

“Let us reflect on the condition of the country and of our society in terms of solidarity and cohesion,” said Venizelos, who served as finance minister for eight months before resigning to lead the Socialists.

Conservative party head Antonis Samaras said the tragedy highlighted the urgency of getting Greece out of the crisis.

“Unfortunately, this is not the first (suicide),” he said. “They have reached record levels.”

The Associated Press

事發第二天的現場照片：

我買食物的食品店。

當晚跑過的街道。