Greeks hold candlelight protest

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STORY: Greeks held a silent candlelight vigil outside a historic cinema on Monday (February 13) that was set on fire after a protest march turned violent on Sunday (February 12).

The demonstrators gathered to protest against the damages wrought to historical building in central Athens.

Organizer Nikos Vatopoulos said that he was shocked and saddened at how Sunday's protest march against austerity measures spiraled out of control, and how so many historical buildings and shops burned to the ground.

"We have gathered here on this Monday evening in order to demonstrate and to show our support to the city of Athens, first of all. Because, you know Athenians feel disheartened, demoralized after all this crisis and the attack the city of Athens suffered last night, you know, by groups of unknowns, people that really put fire, there were arsons on historic buildings like this one, this was a historic cinema built in 1914," said journalist Nikos Vatopoulos, who organized the protest through social media.

The cinema was badly damaged by the fire and will need extensive rebuilding before films can be screened there again.

The violence spread around the country as the Greek parliament approved on Monday a deeply unpopular austerity bill to secure a second EU/IMF bailout and avoid national bankruptcy.