Anonymous Takes Down Greek Police and Government Web Sites as Athens Erupts

Just a week after the Web site of the Greek Ministry of Justice was defaced by Anonymous in a protest against the signing of the controversial ACTA treaty by the Greek government, the online activist group has reportedly taken down a number of government-run Web sites in response to the people-powered uprising in Athens.

Reports said the Web sites that Anonymous has reportedly taken down include those of a Major TV channel, the Greek Prime Minister, the National Police, the Ministry of Finance, the Greek Parliament and the Minister of finance Evangelos Venizelos (personal site).

However, apart from the Greek Prime Minister's Web site and the National Police Web site, other sites were apparently functioning at the time of reporting.

TANGO DOWN, read Twitter posts by Anonymous for each Web site.

According to latest reports, the Greek parliament has finally approved an enormously unpopular bill on Monday to secure a second EU/IMF bailout and avoid national bankruptcy, despite buildings being set ablaze in central Athens against it.

Black-masked protesters burnt down cinemas, cafes, shops and banks in central Athens and fought riot police outside parliament before lawmakers voted in favor of the bill that imposes harsh new austerity measures in return for a $172 billion (€130 billion) new bailout agreement to cut off $132 billion (€100 billion) off the country's national debt.

Vandalism, violence and destruction have no place in a democratic country and won't be tolerated, Prime Minister Lucas Papademos told parliament as it prepared to vote.

However, he did admit that imposing austerity measures on a nation that has already tolerated years of cuts would be tough.

The full, timely and effective implementation of the program won't be easy. We are fully aware that the economic program means short-term sacrifices for the Greek people, Papademos said.

Overall 199 of the 300 lawmakers backed the bill, while 43 deputies from the two parties in the government of Papademos, the socialists and conservatives, rebelled by voting against it. They were immediately expelled by their parties, Reuters reported.

The rebellion and street violence foreshadowed the problems the Greek government faces in implementing the cuts, which include a 22 percent reduction in the minimum wage -- a package, critics say, that condemns the economy to an ever-deeper downward spiral, the report stated.

While opponents argue that the measure will deteriorate an already desperate financial situation for Greece, supporters fight back, arguing that the cuts are necessary in the face of complete crisis.

According to many Greeks, their living standards have already collapsed and the new measures will just add to their misery.

Enough is enough! Reuter quoted 89-year-old Manolis Glezos, one of Greece's most famous leftists and a national hero. They have no idea what an uprising by the Greek people means. And the Greek people, regardless of ideology, have risen.

Anonymous - Message to Greece Video:

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