Two Athens metro stations to close for Grigoropoulos rally

Police in Athens on Tuesday ordered the closure of two central metro stations amid concerns of violence at a rally marking the eighth anniversary since the police killing of teenager Alexis Grigoropoulos.

The Panepistimio metro station at Athens University will close at 3 p.m. and Syntagma at 4 p.m., and will not serve commuters until police give the all-clear.

Authorities have ramped up security in central Athens after the discovery over the weekend of a large cache of Molotov cocktails in the downtown district of Exarchia, raising fears that events marking the fatal shooting on December 6, 2008, of teenager Alexis Grigoropoulos by a police officer may turn violent.

The killing in 2008 had sparked widespread riots across Athens and other cities.