Police ready for possible social upheaval
Over 2,000 police officers are set for mobilization in a large-scale security operation put together by the Greek police over the past few days in preparation for possible strife following Sunday’s controversial referendum, sources have told Kathimerini, while patrols near banks and ATMs are continuing.
The plan includes special security details for government officials, government buildings and foreign diplomatic missions, as well as high-risk targets such as telecom and power facilities.
Police have also compiled a list of 480 bank branches and more than 600 supermarkets around Attica that could be attacked in the event that social upheaval breaks out next week.
The operation is based on a similar plan that had been designed by the police to deal with widespread rioting in December 2008 following the fatal shooting by a police officer of a teenager in central Athens.
The force has also designed a separate operation to deal with the possibility of Greece slipping into a protracted period of political instability that could spark tension and rioting, code-named “Nemesis.”
“So far the conditions are not such to activate such a specific action plan,” one high-ranking officer told Kathimerini.
