Greek pensioner threatens to set himself on fire

Greek police evacuated a state finance office in the northern city of Thessaloniki Thursday after a pensioner doused himself with petrol and threatened to set himself on fire, a police source said. The woman running the office remained inside with the man, but it was unclear whether she was a hostage, the source said. The man is thought to be a 72-year-old who a decade ago was implicated in a fraud case involving slot machines and who was protesting the state’s seizure of some of his assets. Successive Greek governments have slashed state spending drastically, cutting civil servant salaries and pensions, to secure international bailout funds. In recent years a number of people, in particular the elderly, have threatened to kill themselves outside tax offices because of their financial plight. In April, 77-year-old retired pharmacist Dimitris Chrisoula shot himself in Athens’ central Syntagma Square in front of the parliament building, leaving a note saying his pension had been wiped out. Hundreds of Greeks attended his funeral.