About half a million Greeks marched through Athens on Monday (17 November) to commemorate the second anniversary of the November 1973 fighting at the Polytechnic building in which 34 people were killed and 1,000 injured.

The 1973 fighting between troops and police and about 5,000 demonstrating students and workers is generally reckoned to have brought the fall of the military regime of the then President George Papadopoulos.

Democracy was restored to Greece in July 1974 and Mr. Papadopoulas and 32 others are now on trial before a high court charged with responsibility for the events. They face charges of premeditated homicide which dan draw the death penalty.

Monday's marchers, most of them waving Communist banners and chanting anti-American slogans walked peacefully from the Athens Polytechnic to the heavily guarded United States embassy.

The march had the support of all political parties. Members of parliament and Mrs. Ionna Tsatsos, wife of Greek president Constantine Tsatsos laid wreaths at the iron gate which was smashed by tanks when troops stormed the building to evict the demonstrators.