Earlier on, riot police had stormed the anarchist social space Nosotros in Exarcheia. As of 6 pm local time, there were 9 arrests, 6 detentions and 14 police injured according to a police report. The number is bound to increase during the night.

‘for it might end, you know,’ said Alice to herself, ‘in my going out altogether, like a candle. I wonder what I should be like then?’ And she tried to fancy what the flame of a candle is like after the candle is blown out, for she could not remember ever having seen such a thing.

(Alice in Wonderland)

I was never fond of public commemorations. The close ones no longer amongst us, I prefer to remember in spaces private. As for those we encountered in spaces public, remembering them in the public once again often feels as a memorial service, a litany exorcising the present in favour of some ubiquitous past.

Alexi, with you it’s a little bit different. I never knew you. I only ever encountered you through your commemoration, from the very first hours of that Saturday night over 1,000 nights ago up until now. I often try to imagine what could have become of a life I never crossed paths with. You would graduate from school. You would perhaps enroll in some university. You would consider migrating, just like so many of us do. I think you would ponder about the Occupy movement, too. You would excitedly watch videos pouring in from Tahrir, from Madrid, from New York and from Oakland. You would say aloud that you never thought you would live to see such a thing as an Oakland Commune, and deep inside you would know this is the sweetest of revenge, that none of this would have ever happened if they hadn’t shot down Oscar Grant. None of this would have happened if they hadn’t shot down you. I wish you were here to see what the flame of a candle is like after the candle is blown out.

I do miss you, kiddo.

Some of the posters calling for the demo on 6/12/2011 below.

Poster from Aigaleo, Athens, in yellow letters writes: 'Their message: 'The various Alexs are consumable for the System. Our message: The System is consumable for the various Alexs' and 'Their aim: the enslavement of the subordniated classes Our aim: the social liberation

Poster from Lesvos: 'The revolt is not a utopia, everything remains to happen

Poster from Athens: 'December was just the start, Revolts are happening are not a utopia.'

22:00 (GMT+2) Clashes still taking place in Exarcheia. Corporate media report that more than 90 people have been detained in Athens today.

21:30 (GMT+2) Police brutally attack the commemorative gathering on the spot where Alexis was assassinated. The police forced the gathered people away from the shrine. One person has fainted. The gathered people are no marching towards the Polytechnic School. Tear gas and stun grenade bombs thrown by police

21:03 (GMT+2) The memory gathering in Messologiou Street in Athens has just started. Hundreds are already there while more are on their way.

20:05 (GMT +2) People have been concentrating all evening at the spot where Alexis Grigoropoulos was shot in 2008 in the Exarcheia district. At the moment barricades and clashes with riot police in various streets of Exarcheia, but as it seems in other parts of Athens’ centre are taking place. According to reports on Athens IMC, a few minutes ago the police threw tear gas and stun grenades to people concentrated in Messologiou st. exactly where Alexis was shot two years ago. At 21:00 a commemoration gathering will take place there.

Police have attacked demonstrations in other cities such as Giannena, Agrinio and Volos, but demonstrators defended the protests, yet several people (many high school students as it seems) have been detained or arrested.

19:40 (GMT+2) There is tension in the centre of Athens, where police attacks to protesters who remain in the streets while they are pushing groups of protesters towards various directions. The police attacked demonstrators in Syntagma Sq. while at the moment clashes take place in front of the Polytechnic School.

18:00 (GMT+2) According to posts on Athens Indymedia there are several thousands of people in the streets of Athens at the moment. Police surrounded several demonstrator blocks and attacked to the demonstration a number of times, notably a harsh attack against the block of the Athens Law School students’ took place, now several demonstrators are in the building of the Law School. There were some clashes in front of the parliament and it seems that molotov cocktails were thrown to the police lines in front of there.

16:20 (GMT+2) The demonstration in Athens have been effectively banned. charging at the first people who gathered at the University’s Propylaia police have now pushed a large demo block. Hundreds of people keep gathering, effectively behind the police lines.

15:55 (GMT+2) Main demo has not even started, but clashes with the police have. Riot police have surrounded the university of Athens where the pre-demo gathering was taking place.

13:45 (GMT+2) The joint student/teacher demonstration in Athens just ended. In the spirit of December, students pelted the police with oranges. We are waiting for the main evening demonstration to start.

Earlier high school students’ demonstrations took place in various parts of Athens and outside the capital, in the Athens’ suburb of Aigaleo it was reported that a few hundred students marched to the local police department where were they clashed with police.

Today, 6.12.2010, marks two years from the date of the assassination of 15-year old Alexis Grigoropoulos by special police forces in the Exarcheia district of Athens.

This post will be carrying continuous updates from demonstrations and actions organised in Athens and Thessaloniki and a summary of the events nationwide. There are demonstrations called in at least 17 Greek cities.

On Sunday night, police presence in Exarcheia was very high (even higher than usual) and at least four people were reported to have been detained by police.

Called demonstrations:

- Athens: student demonstration at 11am, main demonstration at 4pm, gathering at the point of Alexis’ assassination at 9pm.

- Thessaloniki: student demo at noon, main demo at 3pm.

On the eve of December 6th, the police announced an unprecedented 21-hour traffic ban in central Athens: no vehicles whatsoever are permitted to park or drive through the roads marked in the map below; these effectively include the entire city centre:

Alexis has been gone for two long years.

There is little to be said, much to watch in awe.

Alexis lives.

He stays over in university occupations in the UK.

He street-fights the education cuts in Italy.

He protests against austerity in the freezing cold streets of Dublin.

Tomorrow, Alexis is back in the streets of Athens.

We’ll all be back there. For those days, for the days that followed, for the

days and the revolts yet to come.

These days are Alexis’ days, these days are ours.

As it has just been announced: Korkoneas, the murderer of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, has received a life sentence for the murder, plus 15 months for illegal weapon possession. His co-defendant and accomplice to the murder, Saraliotis, has received 10 years. Saraliotis has asked for his sentence to be suspended until the court of appeals; his demand is being considered now (14.30 GMT+2) by the court – this caused a reaction by Alexandros’ grandmother and the atmosphere in the courtroom is now tense.

Saraliotis, the second cop, was also found guilty for accomplice to the manslaughter. At this moment the court is deciding whether to recognise any mitigating factors for him.

More info as it comes.

Updates from the trial will appear here tomorrow.

The trial will recommence on September 2nd. Following the trial procedures in Greece, it is now the turn of the two lawyers (those representing the cops and Alexandros’ family) to make their final speeches before the final verdict is announced -  which we expect to happen in the first week of September.