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Sunday, May. 20, 2012 |  Syndicate content

Athens district joins ranks of Greeks refusing to foot the bill

Page last updated at 08:51 GMT, Friday, October 28, 2011 - 13:51 EST

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Washington Post:

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Greeks have launched a wave of civil disobedience against the embattled government’s austerity measures designed to appease international creditors, which provided rescue loans to the country.

The latest example of rebellion is the Athens municipality of Nea Ionia, where authorities are urging people not to pay a much reviled new property tax being charged through electricity bills.

“Our constituents can’t pay, they don’t have the ability to,” Nea Ionia mayor Ilias Gotsis said. “We consider the new tax to be illegal. But in essence, the truth is our people just can’t pay.”

Local officials believe mass nonpayment could derail the law and the municipality hopes to persuade as many of its 70,000 residents as possible to join the campaign.

The local council held town hall meetings and posted instructions on its website on how to pay an electricity bill without handing over the new levy. A poster on the town hall’s front door says: “We don’t owe. We don’t have any (money). We won’t pay. Enough!”

Read the whole story: Washington Post

Greece-World News