Dimitris Koufontinas

The rally was on support for the hitman of the left-wing terrorist organization “November 17”, Dimitris Koufontinas, who is on hunger strike

The protesters will gather for Dimitris Koufontinas

Police in Greece have been criticised after videos circulated on social media of officers violently pushing and shoving photojournalists covering a protest against a new bill for universities on Wednesday.

The photojournalists' union said riot police beat up a member of the union who had been reporting on the protests.

Under the terms of the new penal code (Article 110A) passed in parliament by the ruling party recently and which is in effect as of 1 July, the convicted leader of the 17N terrorist group Alexandros Giotopoulos and other prominent members can apply for release from prison under the condition that they wear a prison bracelet.

Pictures of Dimitris Koufontinas, a convicted member of Greece's most deadly guerrilla group, November 17, walking in the center of Athens during his six-day leave from prison under a parole board ruling have generated controversy.

Greece remained "a cooperative counterterrorism partner in 2017," the US State Department said in its annual "Country Reports on Terrorism" published on Wednesday, but went on to slam the decision to grant prison leave to convicted terrorist  Dimitris Koufodinas and delays in issuing new biometric identification cards.

Dimitris Koufontinas, the jailed hitman of the now defunct November 17 terrorist group, was transferred from Korydallos prison to hospital on Thursday, facing health problems following a seven-day hunger strike.

Many areas around the centre of Athens are in complete lockdown, as celebrations for the 44th anniversary of the 1974 Polytechnic uprising will culminate Friday with the traditional march towards the US Embassy later in the day.

The Greek state has deployed 7,000 police officers in the wake celebrations and events for the 44th anniversary of the Polytechnic uprising in 1974.

The decision by the board of the maximum security prison Korydalos to grant a 2-day leave to Dimitris Koufontinas, one of the key figures of the notorious extreme left terrorist group “November 17”, which was responsible for a string of high profile assassinations of politicians, diplomatic attaches and businessmen, has caused a political firestorm with the leader of major opposition party New