ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Greek police fired tear gas and pepper spray at pensioners during an anti-austerity protest in which some of the elderly demonstrators tried to tip over a riot police bus blocking a road to the prime minister’s office.
More than a thousand people, some of them with canes, took part in Monday’s demonstration against more cuts to pensions. Dozens chanted “Shame on you, shame on you!” as they tried to break through a police cordon.
Others were trying to push over a bus when officers fired the pepper spray. Protesters ran, with one gray-haired man falling to his knees and coughing and several others appearing to be in distress. No arrests or injuries were reported.
Greece’s left-wing government has imposed new cuts on pensions this year as part of its bailout commitments to international lenders, with the International Monetary Fund pressing for tougher measures.
The latest round of cuts follow six years of bailout-related austerity measures, while nearly a quarter of Greeks remain unemployed and no longer eligible for state benefits.