ATHENS — The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) on Tuesday said that police attacked KKE's parliamentary spokesperson Thanassis Pafilis and other KKE deputies, while five persons were detained during the party's march for the Polytechnic anniversary, where all precautionary measures for the pandemic were observed.

KKE leader Dimitris Koutsoumbas has already intervened for the release of those detained.

Riot police were using tear gas and a water cannon on Tuesday afternoon in order to disperse the Communist Party's of Greece (KKE) rally in central Athens.

Earlier today, there was tension on Panepistimiou street in central Athens on Tuesday afternoon, with police using tear gas to prevent a demonstration. According to police sources, a group of individuals that wanted to demonstrate clashed with riot police on Panepistimiou street. Police made use of chremicals to disperse them.

Αt an order of the police, the metro station "Metaxourgio" has closed.

Thousands of police officers have been deployed in Athens and the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki to prevent gatherings usually held to mark the anniversary of the 1973 crushing of a student uprising against the military junta then ruling Greece. The government has banned the marches this year, citing public health concerns as the country struggles to contain a resurgence of the coronavirus.