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Bomb blast rocks Athens TV station in 'attack on democracy' Outrage at 'anti-democratic' bomb blast at Athens TV station
(about 9 hours later)
A powerful bomb blast has wrecked the offices at Greece’s SKAI TV in Athens in what officials called an attack on democracy. No one was injured. The European Union added its voice to the abhorrence being expressed after a bomb attack caused extensive damage to the headquarters of a Greek media group that has been critical of the country’s left-wing government.
SKAI is one of Greece’s biggest TV stations and part of a media group that includes a radio station and is affiliated with the leading daily newspaper, Kathimerini. Skai is one of Greece’s biggest TV stations and part of a media group that includes a radio station and is affiliated with the daily newspaper, Kathimerini.
Police said a makeshift explosive device went off near the SKAI building at 2.35am local time (0030 GMT) following warning calls to two media outlets. On its website, the station said windows were smashed from the first to the sixth floors. Police said a makeshift explosive device went off near the Skai building at 2.35am local time (0030 GMT) following warning calls to two media outlets. Warning calls provided enough time for no one to be injured police said, describing the early Monday bomb blast as “especially powerful”.
“The material damage is big on almost all floors, with the biggest seen on the third and fourth floors, where employees’ offices are located,” it said. The force of the blast was such that windows as high as the sixth floor were blown out of the glass-fronted building housing the broadcaster and conservative Kathimerini newspaper. Anti-terror police who spent the day combing through the debris, concluded the explosion had been triggered by up to 10 kilograms of dynamite packed into a rucksack.
“The picture is disheartening. Suspended ceilings collapsed to the floor. Glass windows broke to pieces.”
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Small-scale attacks on businesses, state buildings, police and politicians are not uncommon in Greece, which has a long history of political violence. The EU’s economics chief, Pierre Moscovici, called the strike “an attack against our way of life, our principles and our values.”
Speaking to SKAI from the scene, Greece’s citizens’ protection minister, Olga Gerovassili, said the attack had targeted democracy. European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said it “condemns all attacks on the freedom of expression and our free press cornerstones of our values.”
“Democracy, however, is shielded and of course not threatened,” she said. He added: “These freedoms are fundamental to the continent, our union and our very democracies. I hope that this will be the last time that we have to state the obvious.”
Journalists presenting SKAI’s morning show broadcasted live from outside the building. Its police correspondent said the device was estimated to have contained about 5kg of explosives and placed in a narrow alleyway close to the building. The bag is believed to have been placed on a roadside barrier along the coastal boulevard that the media group looks onto in southern Athens.
Video footage broadcast on local media showed a cloud of smoke emerging from the building after a loud explosion. Footage from inside the building showed windows blown out, with desks in offices strewn with glass. “There were warning calls to [other media outlets] 45 minutes earlier which allowed the building to be evacuated,” police spokesman Theodoros Chronopoulos told the Guardian. “But the blast was especially powerful. It is too early to say who was behind it even if we have our suspicions.”
“Press freedom will not be terrorised by anyone,” Maria Spyraki, a New Democracy party spokeswoman, told SKAI. The blast bore similarities to an attack against the Athens appeals court a year ago that was also powerful, he said. The far-left Group of Popular Fighters subsequently claimed credit for targeting the leading symbol of the justice system.
Earlier in the day the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, also deplored the attack as the work of “cowardly and dark forces against democracy itself.”
“I express my frank solidarity with the broadcaster’s journalists and employees,” he said in a statement.
Tsipras’ leftist-dominated coalition has frequently clashed with the media group amid accusations of anti-government bias.
A boycott by cabinet ministers Skai TV and radio channels was launched this year because of coverage perceived to be prejudiced.
In a statement Skai said it had warned authorities it had been receiving threats but the notifications were not taken seriously. “Government officials and propaganda mechanisms have rendered our station a target,” it said. “Following today’s dramatic development they must understand the weight and full extent of their incendiary comments.”
Journalists, who responded by broadcasting outside the glass-shattered building, vowed they would not be gagged or intimidated by the attack.
Greece has a long history of political violence attributed to its turbulent past under military dictatorship before the return of democracy in 1974.
As the debt-stricken country has navigated its worst economic crisis in modern history – applying excoriating austerity in return for three international bailouts to stay afloat – attacks have increased again in recent years.
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