Detailed account of the violent clashes at the Regional Offices today
Lefkimmi
25 Feb 2019
/ 15:30
CORFU. There were dangerous close-quarter clashes for over an hour at the Regional Offices.
Lefkimmi residents went to protest to the Deputy Regional Governors Ms. Pandi and Mr. Tsoukas about the forthcoming licensing of Lefkimmi landfill. Initially the police only allowed a few representatives from Lefkimmi Cultural Society to enter but other protestors got in through other entrances (KEP) and reached the door to Ms. Pandi's office.
The meeting inside Nikoletta Pandi's office was calm - apart from the slogans being shouted by the protestors on the other side of the door. The group of representatives then left the meeting and went to the 4th floor to meet with the Deputy Governor for Energy and the Environment Sakis Tsoukas. When he told them that he would sign the licence approval if legal conditions had been met things started to get heated.
Police began to push away the protestors who were outside Mr. Tsoukas' office. The ensuing abuse and recriminations led to violence and damage and things got out of control when some people grabbed the fire extinguishers in the corridors and started to use them - creating pandemonium.
In the midst of this disorder and the suffocating atmosphere there were shouts claiming that the police were using chemicals. There was no confirmation of use of chemicals but the danger and the impression created by the use of the fire extinguishers in such a small space full of people was almost one and the same thing.
A MAT (riot police) unit entered the building and started using truncheons. There were close-quarter skirmishes in the corridors and on the stairs and one man suffered head injuries. He was taken to hospital with a superficial temporal wound and was given first aid and stitches and kept hospitalised for a short period as a precaution.
The Deputy Regional Governor Ms. Pandis also suffered a sprain during the clashes.
No arrests were made. The Prosecutor and the Police Chief met to decide how to deal with the incident and to draw up charges.
The meeting inside Nikoletta Pandi's office was calm - apart from the slogans being shouted by the protestors on the other side of the door. The group of representatives then left the meeting and went to the 4th floor to meet with the Deputy Governor for Energy and the Environment Sakis Tsoukas. When he told them that he would sign the licence approval if legal conditions had been met things started to get heated.
Police began to push away the protestors who were outside Mr. Tsoukas' office. The ensuing abuse and recriminations led to violence and damage and things got out of control when some people grabbed the fire extinguishers in the corridors and started to use them - creating pandemonium.
In the midst of this disorder and the suffocating atmosphere there were shouts claiming that the police were using chemicals. There was no confirmation of use of chemicals but the danger and the impression created by the use of the fire extinguishers in such a small space full of people was almost one and the same thing.
A MAT (riot police) unit entered the building and started using truncheons. There were close-quarter skirmishes in the corridors and on the stairs and one man suffered head injuries. He was taken to hospital with a superficial temporal wound and was given first aid and stitches and kept hospitalised for a short period as a precaution.
The Deputy Regional Governor Ms. Pandis also suffered a sprain during the clashes.
No arrests were made. The Prosecutor and the Police Chief met to decide how to deal with the incident and to draw up charges.
