Hundreds at funeral of Greek pensioner who shot himself

Page last updated at 12:27 GMT, Saturday, April 7, 2012 - 17:27 EST

AFP:

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Hundreds of Greek mourners shouting defiant slogans attended the funeral on Saturday of a retired pharmacist who shot himself this week saying austerity cuts had left him in deep poverty.

"Forward the people, heads high, the only answer is resistance" they shouted, applauding as the coffin carrying Dimitris Chrisoula arrived at Athens' main cemetery, television pictures showed.

Chrisoula's daughter told mourners his act had been "deeply political".

Her 77-year-old father shot himself in Athens' central Syntagma Square in front of the parliament building on Wednesday, leaving a note saying his pension had been wiped out.

"I find no other solution for a dignified end before I start sifting through garbage to feed myself," he wrote.

At the funeral, a message from composer Mikis Theodorakis, an icon of resistance against the junta that ruled Greece in the 1970s, was read out. He is a leading critic of the government cuts.

Read the whole story: AFP