Anarchists try retake squats

Police arrested seven people on Saturday after a group of self-styled anarchists attempted to reoccupy two squats in the downtown Athens neighborhood of Exarchia that were raided by police at the end of last month.

The arrests were carried out in the early hours of Saturday after the anarchists tried to reenter the buildings on Dervenion Street, lobbing homemade firebombs and rocks at officers.

The raids in late June were a continuation of the conservative government’s pledge to crack down on lawlessness in the broader area. The property of the Hellenic Railways’ Organization, the buildings at 52 and 56 Dervenion had been occupied by anarchists since 2016.