Some 150 students threw rocks and fruit at the government’s new press headquarters off Syngrou Avenue in Athens yesterday, claiming that Panteion University has been cheated out of facilities that had previously been set aside for its use.

Government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos said that due to the pressing needs of the General Secretariat of Press and Information, the government’s press department has taken over the building across the road from Panteion, one of the country’s largest universities.

“The building needs of a university is one issue and it is another issue when we have protests from people who try to create problems,” Roussopoulos said.

The students have planned another demonstration outside the building today at 1 p.m. and plan to block nearby Syngrou Avenue, one of the city’s main roads.