from :actforfreedomnow!
25/07/2010, 17.42 - A couple of hours ago today, 25 July the hunger strike of comrades Nikos Maziotis and Kostas Gournas and the abstinence from prison food of about 90 prisoners across the country in solidarity with Nikos Maziotis to see his newborn child, all ended.
Nikos was transferred this morning to Alexandra hospital to see his partner Panagiota Roupa who gave birth to their son yesterday with PROPER CARE from their doctors and WITHOUT THE PRESENCE OF ANTI-TERRORISM COPS AT ANY STAGE.
Almost certainly the second request, to visit Pola at Korydallos women's prison, is being considered.
The mobilization succeeded. The hunger strike and abstension from prison food has ended.
Our best wishes to the baby!!
Solidarity to all the comrades!
Showing posts with label Pola Roupa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pola Roupa. Show all posts
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
Friday, 23 July 2010
Athens - Letter of comrade Pola Roupa of 9 July
I am in prison for involvement in Revolutionary Struggle, for which I assume political responsibility. I said in a joint letter with my comrades Nikos Maziotis and Kostas Gourna and I still say we will not stop struggling against the economic and political State even within the prison. I know that my political choice to join Revolutionary Struggle and my attitude from inside jail classifies me as a registered political enemy of the system, a fact which not only I don't deny but is my choice and honours me.
As it is known to my political opponents that no "special treatment" or form of pressure is going to bend me, the revenge is directed against the life of my unborn child, who suffers the consequences of this "special treatment" from the repressive mechanisms and is now treated as a political prisoner.
Let me explain:
From the first moment of my arrest I was not given the slightest careful treatment because of my pregnancy by the "anti-terrorists" and the E.K.A.M. (special forces) that held me and were in charge of my transport. I was subjected to the “special treatment” of total isolation in one of the airless cells 1 × 2,5 m on the 12th floor, (meaning G.A.D.A.'s 12th floor of the "antiterrorist" police) with the light on 24 hours (actually it is a method of psychological torture) for five days, transported to the prosecutor and investigator with my hands cuffed behind my back for hours, transported to jail in Thebes with my hands tied in the same way (no pregnant woman wears handcuffs when transported, let alone in the way they were put on me), and to violent treatment during my transport to the office of the investigating prosecutor, which ultimately resulted in my injury. After my insistence and after they feared I was going to lose the baby in the "anti-terrorist" office, they eventually took me to the hospital for tests.
During the two months I was held in the prison in Thebes, and while there was evidence from previous medical examinations that I might be suffering from severe complications of pregnancy which, if not treated immediately, could create very serious problems, my examination to confirm this complication was completed one and a half months late after I reacted strongly to the criminal indifference of the prison and bureaucracy concerning my health, and thus the health and life of my child.
It is, of course, a given that prisoners who need medical care are most often treated as prisoners first and as patients second. A characteristic phrase is that of the obstetrician in Thebes who said I cannot expect to do all the tests and with the frequency that I would if I was not in prison, a phrase that reveals the racist treatment that the prisoners-patients get in certain medical services of at least some prisons, which often puts their very lives at risk.
"Special security measures"
In my case, the "medical care" of the prison led to my staying for one and a half months with a health problem, not undergoing the necessary tests, which the doctor in charge considered to be of minor importance, constantly creating problems so I couldn't do them, although I myself asked for them several times. After finally being taken to the hospital in Livadia where this complication was confirmed, I still did not to have the opportunity to face the problem, waiting for minister of justice Kastanidis and Chrisochoïdis to decide when to transfer me to Korydallos prison where I could face the problems more effectively.
The first image of "special security measures" that would be imposed by the 'ministry to protect the regime'[*](former public order ministry) for each of my transfers to the hospital was in Livadia, which "took" several dozen uniformed and non-uniformed cops from various regions of Central Greece and Athens, involving of course the "antiterrorists" and the E.K.A.M., who were escorting me and were stationed everywhere at the hospital. Please note that during my transport to this hospital I was also handcuffed.
And if the delay in transferring me to the hospital in Livadia for the necessary tests was due to the indifference of the prison medical staff of Thebes and the bureaucracy, the delay in transferring me to Athens was merely the brutal revenge of Chrisochoïdis, which was covered up behind the "special security measures" which he imposed on every one of my transfers and transports. This finding is not merely an estimate, since from the moment it became known to the authorities of Thebes prison that
I face a serious complication in my pregnancy, which was by now threatened, they began to put pressure not only on the Ministry of Justice and Public Order but also on Kastanidis and Chrisochoïdis personally for my immediate transfer to Athens. Nevertheless, they delayed my transfer for one and a half weeks, without in the meanwhile providing any medical care for the problem that I faced, a delay thanks to the "special security measures".
Delays due to the measures ordered by Chrisochoïdis for me did not stop here. The day after my arrival in Korydallos, an emergency situation demanded my immediate transfer to the hospital. While in any other case, the transfer would be very fast, I had to wait hours for the "special forces" and E.K.A.M. to gather. Of course at Tzaneio hospital where they took me, I was constantly surrounded by armed E.K.A.M. who, naturally, caused panic in the corridors of the emergency rooms. The same image prevailed at Alexandra clinic, which I was referred to by the doctors of Tzaneio due to the jurisdiction of the hospital.
A key issue for me is that, because of these "special security measures" that are taken for each of my transfers to hospital, the danger for the health and life of my child is increasing.
"In Alexandra hospital"
But these pressures and the vindictiveness of my political opponents, did not stop here. This peculiar war continued with the conditions during my 5day stay at Alexandra Hospital. There I was in a stifling ring of cops and in a state of isolation. The guards outside the room-cell in which I was held constantly harassed me with continuous monitoring, - even at very private moments in which I was forced to yell and make gestures to make them leave.
This practice can only be described as brutal psychological warfare. Please note that I was alone and constantly locked in a small room on the 1st floor, with bars and without any contact with other people other than medical and nursing staff. This perverse practice that they were preforming, on the orders of their superiors, male and female cops, constantly watching me from the window of the locked door, stopped largely after my intense intervention and after adding additional forces outside the window of the room-cell where I was.
All the days I was hospitalized in Alexandra they forbade me to have relatives visit - other than one a week for about half an hour - and phone calls - but one phone call a day for a minute and just one person (relative or lawyer) -, minimized the time spent with lawyers, of whom they kept all personal belongings (bags, phones, etc.) and imposed the constant presence of the guard in any medical and hospital visit.
The consequence of this is that all medical and hospital visiting and examination was always under police supervision and was circumventing any notion of medical confidentiality as all the details of my medical history were known to any cop who happened to be there.
The continuous monitoring of each review, any discussion with doctors and nurses was no longer just about me but it was a blatant intrusion in the work of the doctors, which they treated as another "possible threat to security".
The presentation of the patient-doctor relationship in a regime of continuous monitoring by the repressive mechanisms and their political bosses, who are informed in detail about any medical development, undermines the special relationship and inevitably harrasses the smooth operation and medical treatment.
Eventually the whole process of treatment is converted into a perversion of control by organized power, which alienates it.
These "special conditions of detention", applied to me during my stay in hospital are not legalized by any law. The treatment of each patient-prisoner depends on the "risk" that he is for "security" and the "chances he has to escape". Therefore, every security measure (presence of cops during examinations, surgeries, etc.) is determined either by the political leaders of the cops or from the operationals and sometimes left to the discretion of those who form the prisoner's guard. Thus, we have cases where police attend a birth on the grounds that the prisoner can escape.
I have never called for and never will call for humanitarianism from my political opponent. I do not believe that any kind of authoritarian is interested in the survival or health of my child, let alone mine. Instead, I think if they could, without taking into account the political cost, I would be left in total abandonment and it's likely that I would - based on many factors and my high risk, according to the opinion of the doctors, pregnancy - not be able to make it and my child would not survive. It is no exaggeration to say that this would be the wish of my persecutors and would be the best revenge for them.
It is also true that whatever proper medical care I receive at this moment is due to the doctors of Alexandra Hospital, which because of the emergency that happened to me took the situation into their own hands, completed a full medical diagnosis and put in proper order the way my problems will be treated from now on.
"Natural right"
I do not believe in any de facto respect of human and political rights by the regime, since both are covered and defined by the conditions and intensity of the social and class war which in each historical period it is conducted.
For those who make up the economic and political elite, humanity and value of human life is not for anyone other than class peers and their families.
It does not concern the proletarians, the poor, those who have nothing, who get sick and die in the increasingly squalid and inhuman living conditions that apply to the low social and class backgrounds.
The poor are undernourished and have to eat poison, do not have basic medical care, have to die on the stretchers of the decaying public hospitals.
Concerning the above facts, over the last few decades the social conditions are becoming more brutal because of the deep economic crisis that the system has plunged into, resulting in a growing number of social groups going into the category of the excluded, being condemned to a slow death, while the -for years now- substandard public hospitals are collapsing under the weight of public spending cuts imposed by the government and the Troika (Eur.Committee, International Monetary Fund, European Social Fund) which completely controls the business operation of the country and public funds.
The natural right of every single human to nutrition, housing, health, life, is already being abused in increasingly large parts of the population, while the regime steals wages, pensions and public money in order to preserve the economic and political elite and to ensure the perpetuation of power.
Their humanitarianism does not concern the prisoners stacked in prison-soul warehouse, who are treated as third-class people by the regime and the value of their lives is priced according to the space their death will fill in a newspaper column.
Their humanitarianism does not concern the enemies of the system, which, in reality and despite the ridiculous assertions by the Government to respect human rights, wants their physical extermination. If anything prevents it, as I said, it is only the political cost.
The fighter Simos Seisidis, who the regime has classified, using a range of police scenarios and assumptions, in their list of enemies, is an example. Seisidis, after being seriously injured by a cop’s bullet and risked losing his life, faced throughout the duration of hospitalization all available means of psychological torture and revenge by his persecutors, and wannabe killers: isolation, presence of cops in the ICU, continuous harassment, obstruction of medical and nursing staff - which reached the point of police surveillance being imposed even during the amputation of his leg.
This brutal behavior of the mechanisms of repression against Simos Seisidis ended with the decision to remand him in custody while his health is in this very bad situation.
"They Seek revenge"
The invocation of any human and civil rights is an outdated practice and refers to the remains of an era in which a series of social and class compromises coordinate the balance between oppressor and oppressed, allowing the maintenance of the regimes normalcy and peace. These balances are of the past, the class and social compromises have been invalidated by the system itself, which is attacking society more and more viciously, while the regime's peace hangs by a thread.
Within the current historical period it is known that the system, political and economic power and those who compose it, are creating public outcry continuously at all levels. On the other hand, rebel forces, such as Revolutionary Struggle, are finding a wider and wider social base.
Despite the regime’s efforts to discredit us as political figures and discredit the activities of Revolutionary Struggle, our organization receives the political acceptance of a large segment of society, which will eventually turn into options and practices of rupture and violent conflict with the system of representative democracy, capitalism and market economy.
In this historical context, where the rulers are expressing extreme vindictive fury against those who are fighting the dilapidated system, the attitude of law enforcement mechanisms can be interpreted in political terms, and that of Chrisochoïdis personally, towards me, since after seeking revenge for Revolutionary Struggle and for my political stance they are constantly threatening the health and life of my child with every available means.
Because for all the time that I've been in prison nothing has been given to me and any medical care was granted by a struggle on my part, I declare I will continue to pursue the necessary medical and pharmaceutical care and I will fight for his life and health.
To do so, I demand:
-No repeat of delay in transferring me to hospital, whether for scheduled appointments for medical examinations or in an emergency, with the justification of the maintenance of "special security measures". Particularly in the latter case, any delay can in fact be crucial for the survival of my child.
I'd like to emphasize that I do not care how many and what kind of armed ones accompany me in my transport or my stay in hospital. What interests me is that the time that these forces take to assemble works against the life of my son which is continually compromised.
-There shall not be any interference by government entities and repressive mechanisms on where to nurse me again, for reasons of "security." It would be another brutal act of revenge.
-Not to repeat the petty status of isolation and continuous control that is imposed on me in Alexandra Hospital, which can only cause problems to the successful completion of my hospitalization, and can affect the birth in the most negative way as well.
-No guard shall attend my examinations, visits of doctors, the nurses' care and, of course, no cop - including a female cop - should be in the room where I deliver, a practice which is the greatest insult to the dignity of female prisoners. Also, not only will I not tolerate my medical history, my personal information associated with it and my body being under the perverse control of the repressive mechanisms, but I consider this whole process to be a practice of war, punishment and revenge by my political opponents imposing it on me.
-To also stop the vindictive regime of isolation, allow me to get visits and be able to communicate by telephone. Also, to have the 24-hour care of my relatives, which is absolutely necessary.
Because until now, since I've been taken over by the ministry of the regime and the anti-terrorists, I have constantly faced problems that have threatened the health and life of my son, i declare that, if they do not respect the above basic requirements to have a safe delivery, this would mean that not only my political opponents have no intention to stop targeting my child, but want to persist and intensify the war.
Any bad course of my pregnancy under these hostile and vengeful conditions, any new threat to the life of my son would be a blatant attempt to politically murder my unborn child, who of course is not a prisoner even if he is treated as a hostage of war. I charge this attempted assassination in advance to Chrisochoïdis personally.
But to blame will also be his political and operational officers, Papandreou and the entire government.
Pola Roupa
Koridallos Prisons
[*]it's actually now called 'the ministry for the protection of the citizen'
...boubourAs translations... actforfreedomnow...
As it is known to my political opponents that no "special treatment" or form of pressure is going to bend me, the revenge is directed against the life of my unborn child, who suffers the consequences of this "special treatment" from the repressive mechanisms and is now treated as a political prisoner.
Let me explain:
From the first moment of my arrest I was not given the slightest careful treatment because of my pregnancy by the "anti-terrorists" and the E.K.A.M. (special forces) that held me and were in charge of my transport. I was subjected to the “special treatment” of total isolation in one of the airless cells 1 × 2,5 m on the 12th floor, (meaning G.A.D.A.'s 12th floor of the "antiterrorist" police) with the light on 24 hours (actually it is a method of psychological torture) for five days, transported to the prosecutor and investigator with my hands cuffed behind my back for hours, transported to jail in Thebes with my hands tied in the same way (no pregnant woman wears handcuffs when transported, let alone in the way they were put on me), and to violent treatment during my transport to the office of the investigating prosecutor, which ultimately resulted in my injury. After my insistence and after they feared I was going to lose the baby in the "anti-terrorist" office, they eventually took me to the hospital for tests.
During the two months I was held in the prison in Thebes, and while there was evidence from previous medical examinations that I might be suffering from severe complications of pregnancy which, if not treated immediately, could create very serious problems, my examination to confirm this complication was completed one and a half months late after I reacted strongly to the criminal indifference of the prison and bureaucracy concerning my health, and thus the health and life of my child.
It is, of course, a given that prisoners who need medical care are most often treated as prisoners first and as patients second. A characteristic phrase is that of the obstetrician in Thebes who said I cannot expect to do all the tests and with the frequency that I would if I was not in prison, a phrase that reveals the racist treatment that the prisoners-patients get in certain medical services of at least some prisons, which often puts their very lives at risk.
"Special security measures"
In my case, the "medical care" of the prison led to my staying for one and a half months with a health problem, not undergoing the necessary tests, which the doctor in charge considered to be of minor importance, constantly creating problems so I couldn't do them, although I myself asked for them several times. After finally being taken to the hospital in Livadia where this complication was confirmed, I still did not to have the opportunity to face the problem, waiting for minister of justice Kastanidis and Chrisochoïdis to decide when to transfer me to Korydallos prison where I could face the problems more effectively.
The first image of "special security measures" that would be imposed by the 'ministry to protect the regime'[*](former public order ministry) for each of my transfers to the hospital was in Livadia, which "took" several dozen uniformed and non-uniformed cops from various regions of Central Greece and Athens, involving of course the "antiterrorists" and the E.K.A.M., who were escorting me and were stationed everywhere at the hospital. Please note that during my transport to this hospital I was also handcuffed.
And if the delay in transferring me to the hospital in Livadia for the necessary tests was due to the indifference of the prison medical staff of Thebes and the bureaucracy, the delay in transferring me to Athens was merely the brutal revenge of Chrisochoïdis, which was covered up behind the "special security measures" which he imposed on every one of my transfers and transports. This finding is not merely an estimate, since from the moment it became known to the authorities of Thebes prison that
I face a serious complication in my pregnancy, which was by now threatened, they began to put pressure not only on the Ministry of Justice and Public Order but also on Kastanidis and Chrisochoïdis personally for my immediate transfer to Athens. Nevertheless, they delayed my transfer for one and a half weeks, without in the meanwhile providing any medical care for the problem that I faced, a delay thanks to the "special security measures".
Delays due to the measures ordered by Chrisochoïdis for me did not stop here. The day after my arrival in Korydallos, an emergency situation demanded my immediate transfer to the hospital. While in any other case, the transfer would be very fast, I had to wait hours for the "special forces" and E.K.A.M. to gather. Of course at Tzaneio hospital where they took me, I was constantly surrounded by armed E.K.A.M. who, naturally, caused panic in the corridors of the emergency rooms. The same image prevailed at Alexandra clinic, which I was referred to by the doctors of Tzaneio due to the jurisdiction of the hospital.
A key issue for me is that, because of these "special security measures" that are taken for each of my transfers to hospital, the danger for the health and life of my child is increasing.
"In Alexandra hospital"
But these pressures and the vindictiveness of my political opponents, did not stop here. This peculiar war continued with the conditions during my 5day stay at Alexandra Hospital. There I was in a stifling ring of cops and in a state of isolation. The guards outside the room-cell in which I was held constantly harassed me with continuous monitoring, - even at very private moments in which I was forced to yell and make gestures to make them leave.
This practice can only be described as brutal psychological warfare. Please note that I was alone and constantly locked in a small room on the 1st floor, with bars and without any contact with other people other than medical and nursing staff. This perverse practice that they were preforming, on the orders of their superiors, male and female cops, constantly watching me from the window of the locked door, stopped largely after my intense intervention and after adding additional forces outside the window of the room-cell where I was.
All the days I was hospitalized in Alexandra they forbade me to have relatives visit - other than one a week for about half an hour - and phone calls - but one phone call a day for a minute and just one person (relative or lawyer) -, minimized the time spent with lawyers, of whom they kept all personal belongings (bags, phones, etc.) and imposed the constant presence of the guard in any medical and hospital visit.
The consequence of this is that all medical and hospital visiting and examination was always under police supervision and was circumventing any notion of medical confidentiality as all the details of my medical history were known to any cop who happened to be there.
The continuous monitoring of each review, any discussion with doctors and nurses was no longer just about me but it was a blatant intrusion in the work of the doctors, which they treated as another "possible threat to security".
The presentation of the patient-doctor relationship in a regime of continuous monitoring by the repressive mechanisms and their political bosses, who are informed in detail about any medical development, undermines the special relationship and inevitably harrasses the smooth operation and medical treatment.
Eventually the whole process of treatment is converted into a perversion of control by organized power, which alienates it.
These "special conditions of detention", applied to me during my stay in hospital are not legalized by any law. The treatment of each patient-prisoner depends on the "risk" that he is for "security" and the "chances he has to escape". Therefore, every security measure (presence of cops during examinations, surgeries, etc.) is determined either by the political leaders of the cops or from the operationals and sometimes left to the discretion of those who form the prisoner's guard. Thus, we have cases where police attend a birth on the grounds that the prisoner can escape.
I have never called for and never will call for humanitarianism from my political opponent. I do not believe that any kind of authoritarian is interested in the survival or health of my child, let alone mine. Instead, I think if they could, without taking into account the political cost, I would be left in total abandonment and it's likely that I would - based on many factors and my high risk, according to the opinion of the doctors, pregnancy - not be able to make it and my child would not survive. It is no exaggeration to say that this would be the wish of my persecutors and would be the best revenge for them.
It is also true that whatever proper medical care I receive at this moment is due to the doctors of Alexandra Hospital, which because of the emergency that happened to me took the situation into their own hands, completed a full medical diagnosis and put in proper order the way my problems will be treated from now on.
"Natural right"
I do not believe in any de facto respect of human and political rights by the regime, since both are covered and defined by the conditions and intensity of the social and class war which in each historical period it is conducted.
For those who make up the economic and political elite, humanity and value of human life is not for anyone other than class peers and their families.
It does not concern the proletarians, the poor, those who have nothing, who get sick and die in the increasingly squalid and inhuman living conditions that apply to the low social and class backgrounds.
The poor are undernourished and have to eat poison, do not have basic medical care, have to die on the stretchers of the decaying public hospitals.
Concerning the above facts, over the last few decades the social conditions are becoming more brutal because of the deep economic crisis that the system has plunged into, resulting in a growing number of social groups going into the category of the excluded, being condemned to a slow death, while the -for years now- substandard public hospitals are collapsing under the weight of public spending cuts imposed by the government and the Troika (Eur.Committee, International Monetary Fund, European Social Fund) which completely controls the business operation of the country and public funds.
The natural right of every single human to nutrition, housing, health, life, is already being abused in increasingly large parts of the population, while the regime steals wages, pensions and public money in order to preserve the economic and political elite and to ensure the perpetuation of power.
Their humanitarianism does not concern the prisoners stacked in prison-soul warehouse, who are treated as third-class people by the regime and the value of their lives is priced according to the space their death will fill in a newspaper column.
Their humanitarianism does not concern the enemies of the system, which, in reality and despite the ridiculous assertions by the Government to respect human rights, wants their physical extermination. If anything prevents it, as I said, it is only the political cost.
The fighter Simos Seisidis, who the regime has classified, using a range of police scenarios and assumptions, in their list of enemies, is an example. Seisidis, after being seriously injured by a cop’s bullet and risked losing his life, faced throughout the duration of hospitalization all available means of psychological torture and revenge by his persecutors, and wannabe killers: isolation, presence of cops in the ICU, continuous harassment, obstruction of medical and nursing staff - which reached the point of police surveillance being imposed even during the amputation of his leg.
This brutal behavior of the mechanisms of repression against Simos Seisidis ended with the decision to remand him in custody while his health is in this very bad situation.
"They Seek revenge"
The invocation of any human and civil rights is an outdated practice and refers to the remains of an era in which a series of social and class compromises coordinate the balance between oppressor and oppressed, allowing the maintenance of the regimes normalcy and peace. These balances are of the past, the class and social compromises have been invalidated by the system itself, which is attacking society more and more viciously, while the regime's peace hangs by a thread.
Within the current historical period it is known that the system, political and economic power and those who compose it, are creating public outcry continuously at all levels. On the other hand, rebel forces, such as Revolutionary Struggle, are finding a wider and wider social base.
Despite the regime’s efforts to discredit us as political figures and discredit the activities of Revolutionary Struggle, our organization receives the political acceptance of a large segment of society, which will eventually turn into options and practices of rupture and violent conflict with the system of representative democracy, capitalism and market economy.
In this historical context, where the rulers are expressing extreme vindictive fury against those who are fighting the dilapidated system, the attitude of law enforcement mechanisms can be interpreted in political terms, and that of Chrisochoïdis personally, towards me, since after seeking revenge for Revolutionary Struggle and for my political stance they are constantly threatening the health and life of my child with every available means.
Because for all the time that I've been in prison nothing has been given to me and any medical care was granted by a struggle on my part, I declare I will continue to pursue the necessary medical and pharmaceutical care and I will fight for his life and health.
To do so, I demand:
-No repeat of delay in transferring me to hospital, whether for scheduled appointments for medical examinations or in an emergency, with the justification of the maintenance of "special security measures". Particularly in the latter case, any delay can in fact be crucial for the survival of my child.
I'd like to emphasize that I do not care how many and what kind of armed ones accompany me in my transport or my stay in hospital. What interests me is that the time that these forces take to assemble works against the life of my son which is continually compromised.
-There shall not be any interference by government entities and repressive mechanisms on where to nurse me again, for reasons of "security." It would be another brutal act of revenge.
-Not to repeat the petty status of isolation and continuous control that is imposed on me in Alexandra Hospital, which can only cause problems to the successful completion of my hospitalization, and can affect the birth in the most negative way as well.
-No guard shall attend my examinations, visits of doctors, the nurses' care and, of course, no cop - including a female cop - should be in the room where I deliver, a practice which is the greatest insult to the dignity of female prisoners. Also, not only will I not tolerate my medical history, my personal information associated with it and my body being under the perverse control of the repressive mechanisms, but I consider this whole process to be a practice of war, punishment and revenge by my political opponents imposing it on me.
-To also stop the vindictive regime of isolation, allow me to get visits and be able to communicate by telephone. Also, to have the 24-hour care of my relatives, which is absolutely necessary.
Because until now, since I've been taken over by the ministry of the regime and the anti-terrorists, I have constantly faced problems that have threatened the health and life of my son, i declare that, if they do not respect the above basic requirements to have a safe delivery, this would mean that not only my political opponents have no intention to stop targeting my child, but want to persist and intensify the war.
Any bad course of my pregnancy under these hostile and vengeful conditions, any new threat to the life of my son would be a blatant attempt to politically murder my unborn child, who of course is not a prisoner even if he is treated as a hostage of war. I charge this attempted assassination in advance to Chrisochoïdis personally.
But to blame will also be his political and operational officers, Papandreou and the entire government.
Pola Roupa
Koridallos Prisons
[*]it's actually now called 'the ministry for the protection of the citizen'
...boubourAs translations... actforfreedomnow...
Saturday, 17 July 2010
Letter from the comrade Pola Roupa of July 9, 2010
In a letter published on blognonserviam.wordpress.com, the comrade Pola Roupa (Πόλα Ρούπα) describes her treatment as a prisoner while heavily pregnant.
Both her conditions of arrest and her transferral from one prison to another have been excessively severe, often resulting in her remaining handcuffed behind her back for hours. Both in jail and in hospital, police are constantly present for 'security reasons' even during medical examinations.
She is currently confined in Korydallos prison.
The letter is under translation.
Both her conditions of arrest and her transferral from one prison to another have been excessively severe, often resulting in her remaining handcuffed behind her back for hours. Both in jail and in hospital, police are constantly present for 'security reasons' even during medical examinations.
She is currently confined in Korydallos prison.
The letter is under translation.
Athens, Koridallos prison - comrade Nikos Maziotis' declaration of hunger strike in the face of the revenge of the State against his unborn child
actforfreedomnow! / From the Greek Streets
July 19, 2010 -
Hunger strike against vengeance.
The treatment that the state reserves for imprisoned revolutionaries and its political enemies is a given. Vengeance, sadism, physical and psychological violence, disrespect for human dignity, indifference about their health, their physical wellbeing, for human life itself.
For the security of the state and power, the denial of freedom is above everything, above life itself and "human rights".
For state officials, the political and financial elite and the rich, "human rights" only concern themselves and those of the same class.
They do not concern the people, the poor, the workers, the unemployed, the veterans of work, the immigrants, those who search in the garbage of the local markets to eat.
Neither do they concern prisoners - social prisoners, of which the overwhelming majority come from the poor social strata and whose life is worth absolutely nothing for the system.
And they do not concern, of course, revolutionaries and political prisoners, for which the system has always pursued their physical and ethical annihilation.
In this framework, my partner, comrade and co-fighter Panagiota Roupa and myself, who are members of Revolutionary Struggle, are denied the right of prison visits thanks to the attorney of Koridallos prison, who has rejected for "reasons of security" my transfer to the maternity clinic "Alexandra" in order to visit my partner, who will bring our son into the world, the youngest political prisoner of Greek "democracy".
She has also rejected, for the same "security reasons", my application to visit the female section of Koridallos because, due to her condition, my comrade is unable to visit the male prison as would normally happen.
Demanding, therefore, the "obvious" as a partner and as a father to visit my partner-cofighter and our son, I am going on hunger strike from the 15th of July in order for my two following demands to be met:
1. To be transferred for a visit to the maternity clinic "Alexandra" on July 25th in order to visit my partner Panagiota Roupa and our son, since the birth has been planned by Caesarean section for July 24th and she will remain in the clinic for a few days and
2. That I be transferred for visits to the female prison for the first period after the birth because my partner and our son will inevitably be too weak to be moved.
If the repressive mechanisms believe that by imprisoning us they’ll get done with us, they are wrong.
Either outside or inside the prisons the struggle for us is a question of honour and dignity; it will continue.
Revolutionary struggle continues.
NIKOS MAZIOTIS
July 19, 2010 -
Hunger strike against vengeance.
The treatment that the state reserves for imprisoned revolutionaries and its political enemies is a given. Vengeance, sadism, physical and psychological violence, disrespect for human dignity, indifference about their health, their physical wellbeing, for human life itself.
For the security of the state and power, the denial of freedom is above everything, above life itself and "human rights".
For state officials, the political and financial elite and the rich, "human rights" only concern themselves and those of the same class.
They do not concern the people, the poor, the workers, the unemployed, the veterans of work, the immigrants, those who search in the garbage of the local markets to eat.
Neither do they concern prisoners - social prisoners, of which the overwhelming majority come from the poor social strata and whose life is worth absolutely nothing for the system.
And they do not concern, of course, revolutionaries and political prisoners, for which the system has always pursued their physical and ethical annihilation.
In this framework, my partner, comrade and co-fighter Panagiota Roupa and myself, who are members of Revolutionary Struggle, are denied the right of prison visits thanks to the attorney of Koridallos prison, who has rejected for "reasons of security" my transfer to the maternity clinic "Alexandra" in order to visit my partner, who will bring our son into the world, the youngest political prisoner of Greek "democracy".
She has also rejected, for the same "security reasons", my application to visit the female section of Koridallos because, due to her condition, my comrade is unable to visit the male prison as would normally happen.
Demanding, therefore, the "obvious" as a partner and as a father to visit my partner-cofighter and our son, I am going on hunger strike from the 15th of July in order for my two following demands to be met:
1. To be transferred for a visit to the maternity clinic "Alexandra" on July 25th in order to visit my partner Panagiota Roupa and our son, since the birth has been planned by Caesarean section for July 24th and she will remain in the clinic for a few days and
2. That I be transferred for visits to the female prison for the first period after the birth because my partner and our son will inevitably be too weak to be moved.
If the repressive mechanisms believe that by imprisoning us they’ll get done with us, they are wrong.
Either outside or inside the prisons the struggle for us is a question of honour and dignity; it will continue.
Revolutionary struggle continues.
NIKOS MAZIOTIS
Saturday, 10 July 2010
Defense excerpts from six arrested in Revolutionary Struggle case (plus update and chronology)
6 05 2010
From Liberación Total:
April 30, 2010
Nikos Maziotis
Responding to the question “Do you accept or deny the charges?”:
“I am a revolutionary, and I am fighting an unjust, criminal regime known as the state and capitalism. If anyone should make a plea in defense, it is not me but those who are accusing me: the police and judges who serve the rich. I, for my part, am in the right, and I will not apologize for myself.”
Panagiota “Pola” Roupa
Responding to the same question:
“I am a revolutionary, and I do not recognize your proceedings. The criminals and terrorists are you and the system you serve: the state and capitalism.”
Sarandos Nikitopoulos
“I am being singled out for my political activity. I have been politically active in the anarchist and antiauthoritarian milieu ever since I was very little, and I can assure you that I as well as hundreds of others before me were already in the authorities’ sights, and that will continue. I consider the criminal prosecution against me to be based on and a product of my own political activity, as well as that of the entire anarchist milieu. Cases like Thessaloniki—in which even video recordings show police planting bags containing “illegal” items near people in order to charge them—or the imprisonment of demonstrator Mario Z. in Athens, and many others, must put an end to this blind faith in police accusations.”
Kostas Gournas
The prosecutor: “What do you say in your defense? Do you accept or deny the charges?”
Kostas: “I am not going to answer. I do not recognize these proceedings. Since the age of 20, I have been a worker and have taken part in the social and class struggle in Greece. I am against the regime, the political system, and the economic system. I am not a terrorist. The terrorists are the ones on the 12th floor of police headquarters who gave me a beating and threatened to kill my children.”
Vaggelis Stathopoulos
“Mixing me up in the Revolutionary Struggle case is a consequence of my political convictions. I do not condemn any type or method of struggle. My political activity has always taken place in broad daylight.”
Christoforos Kortesis
Through his lawyers, he said that he will testify alone under certain specific conditions. He demanded in writing that “they have to clearly specify the charge common to all six of us that refers to my involvement in specific actions claimed by Revolutionary Struggle.” He also demanded an itemization of the evidence for each action.
_____
Our comrades were quickly transferred to different prisons: Kostas Gournas and Vaggelis Stathopoulos to Trikala, Christoforos Kortesis to Corinth, Panagiota “Pola” Roupa to Eleona womens’ prison near Thebes (let’s remember that our comrade is seven months pregnant), and Nikos Maziotis and Sarandos Nikitopoulos to Korydallos prison in Athens. On Sunday, April 25, simultaneous solidarity demonstrations and marches took place outside Trikala, Corinth, and Eleona prisons (where, apart from Pola, Konstantina Karakatsani is also locked up after her arrest in the Fire Cells Conspiracy case).
On April 29, three of the charged comrades (Maziotis, Roupa, and Gournas) published a statement in which they proudly claim their participation in the actions of Revolutionary Struggle (Epanastatikos Agonas) and recognize that comrade Lambros Foundas, who was murdered by police bullets over a month ago, was part of the group. The letter is very long (11 pages; excerpts here), and a translation will be attempted in the coming days.
_____
Revolutionary Struggle are thought to be responsible for the following attacks, all in Athens:
September 5, 2003: Bombing at courthouse.
March 14, 2004: Bombing at Citibank subsidiary in Psychico neighborhood.
May 5, 2004: Bombing at police station in Perissos neighborhood.
October 29, 2004: Bombing of police buses.
June 2, 2005: Bombing at Labor Ministry.
December 12, 2005: Bombing at Finance Ministry in Syntagma Square, near Parliament.
May 30, 2006: Attempted assassination of Georgios Voulgarakis, former Minister of Public Order, now Minister of Culture.
January 12, 2007: Wasp 58 LAW rocket attack on United States Embassy.
April 30, 2007: Shots fired at police station in Nea Ionia neighborhood.
October 24, 2008: Bombing at Shell offices in Palaio Faliro neighborhood.
December 23, 2008: Shots fired at riot police bus near Athens University in Goudi neighborhood.
January 5, 2009: Shots fired at police guarding Culture Ministry in Exarcheia neighborhood. One riot cop critically wounded.
February 18, 2009: Car bombing at Citibank headquarters in Kifissia neighborhood. Bomb fails to detonate.
March 9, 2009: Bombing at Citibank subsidiary in Nea Ionia neighborhood.
May 12, 2009: Bombing at Eurobank subsidiary in Argyroupoli neighborhood.
September 2, 2009: Car bombing causes serious damage to Stock Exchange building.
From Liberación Total:
April 30, 2010
Nikos Maziotis
Responding to the question “Do you accept or deny the charges?”:
“I am a revolutionary, and I am fighting an unjust, criminal regime known as the state and capitalism. If anyone should make a plea in defense, it is not me but those who are accusing me: the police and judges who serve the rich. I, for my part, am in the right, and I will not apologize for myself.”
Panagiota “Pola” Roupa
Responding to the same question:
“I am a revolutionary, and I do not recognize your proceedings. The criminals and terrorists are you and the system you serve: the state and capitalism.”
Sarandos Nikitopoulos
“I am being singled out for my political activity. I have been politically active in the anarchist and antiauthoritarian milieu ever since I was very little, and I can assure you that I as well as hundreds of others before me were already in the authorities’ sights, and that will continue. I consider the criminal prosecution against me to be based on and a product of my own political activity, as well as that of the entire anarchist milieu. Cases like Thessaloniki—in which even video recordings show police planting bags containing “illegal” items near people in order to charge them—or the imprisonment of demonstrator Mario Z. in Athens, and many others, must put an end to this blind faith in police accusations.”
Kostas Gournas
The prosecutor: “What do you say in your defense? Do you accept or deny the charges?”
Kostas: “I am not going to answer. I do not recognize these proceedings. Since the age of 20, I have been a worker and have taken part in the social and class struggle in Greece. I am against the regime, the political system, and the economic system. I am not a terrorist. The terrorists are the ones on the 12th floor of police headquarters who gave me a beating and threatened to kill my children.”
Vaggelis Stathopoulos
“Mixing me up in the Revolutionary Struggle case is a consequence of my political convictions. I do not condemn any type or method of struggle. My political activity has always taken place in broad daylight.”
Christoforos Kortesis
Through his lawyers, he said that he will testify alone under certain specific conditions. He demanded in writing that “they have to clearly specify the charge common to all six of us that refers to my involvement in specific actions claimed by Revolutionary Struggle.” He also demanded an itemization of the evidence for each action.
_____
Our comrades were quickly transferred to different prisons: Kostas Gournas and Vaggelis Stathopoulos to Trikala, Christoforos Kortesis to Corinth, Panagiota “Pola” Roupa to Eleona womens’ prison near Thebes (let’s remember that our comrade is seven months pregnant), and Nikos Maziotis and Sarandos Nikitopoulos to Korydallos prison in Athens. On Sunday, April 25, simultaneous solidarity demonstrations and marches took place outside Trikala, Corinth, and Eleona prisons (where, apart from Pola, Konstantina Karakatsani is also locked up after her arrest in the Fire Cells Conspiracy case).
On April 29, three of the charged comrades (Maziotis, Roupa, and Gournas) published a statement in which they proudly claim their participation in the actions of Revolutionary Struggle (Epanastatikos Agonas) and recognize that comrade Lambros Foundas, who was murdered by police bullets over a month ago, was part of the group. The letter is very long (11 pages; excerpts here), and a translation will be attempted in the coming days.
_____
Revolutionary Struggle are thought to be responsible for the following attacks, all in Athens:
September 5, 2003: Bombing at courthouse.
March 14, 2004: Bombing at Citibank subsidiary in Psychico neighborhood.
May 5, 2004: Bombing at police station in Perissos neighborhood.
October 29, 2004: Bombing of police buses.
June 2, 2005: Bombing at Labor Ministry.
December 12, 2005: Bombing at Finance Ministry in Syntagma Square, near Parliament.
May 30, 2006: Attempted assassination of Georgios Voulgarakis, former Minister of Public Order, now Minister of Culture.
January 12, 2007: Wasp 58 LAW rocket attack on United States Embassy.
April 30, 2007: Shots fired at police station in Nea Ionia neighborhood.
October 24, 2008: Bombing at Shell offices in Palaio Faliro neighborhood.
December 23, 2008: Shots fired at riot police bus near Athens University in Goudi neighborhood.
January 5, 2009: Shots fired at police guarding Culture Ministry in Exarcheia neighborhood. One riot cop critically wounded.
February 18, 2009: Car bombing at Citibank headquarters in Kifissia neighborhood. Bomb fails to detonate.
March 9, 2009: Bombing at Citibank subsidiary in Nea Ionia neighborhood.
May 12, 2009: Bombing at Eurobank subsidiary in Argyroupoli neighborhood.
September 2, 2009: Car bombing causes serious damage to Stock Exchange building.
Update on "Revolutionary Struggle" case.
29/04/10 Today 3 of the accused comrades in the "Revolutionary struggle" case, admitted being members of the guerilla group. With a 16 page letter, N.Maziotis P. Roupa and K.Gournas took political responsibility for the group's actions. In the letter they mention that Lambros Foundas was also a member of Revolutionary Struggle and that he fell in the battle for freedom and the revolution, theyare proud of him and will always honour him. They also say that they are proud of their organization, of their history and of every moment of their political actions. They also say that they will continue their struggle whether it's outside or inside jail, because its a matter of dignity to them.
SOLIDARITY TO OUR COMRADES
THEY ARE NOT TERRORISTS,THEY ARE FIGHTERS
Three of the six arrested anarchists claim "political responsibility" for participation in "Revolutionary Struggle".
29/4 This morning, three of the six arrested anarchists for the Revolutionary Struggle case published a 16-page letter (in the Athens weekly "Pontiki", which has traditionally hosted a few of the armed guerrilla groups’ communiques) in which they claim political responsibility for their participation in the group Revolutionary Struggle. The three are Pola Roupa, Nikos Maziotis and Kostas Gournas. Extracts of their letter follow
We claim the political responsibility for participation in Revolutionary Struggle. We declare that comrade Lambros Foundas, who died in [the Athens suburb of ] Dafni on March 10, 2010, after a shoot-out with the cops, also participated in Revolutionary Struggle.The fight he gave was one for materialising the subversive plan collectively decided by Revolutionary Struggle. It was a struggle for revolution and for freedom.
We also declare that we are very proud of our group, Revolutionary Struggle, we are proud of our history, of every moment of our political action. We are proud of comrade Lambros Foundas, who we honour and will always do so.
As much as the mechanisms of repression might believe that by imprisoning us they will do away with us, they are wrong.
Whether outside or inside prisons the struggle, which for us is a matter of honour and dignity, will continue.
As much as the two terrorists, [PM] Papandreou and [minister of public order] Chrisochoidis laugh smugly, as much as they believe they have safeguarded the security necessary for their social-fascist party to continue with the application of its criminal plans against society, wagging their tails now that their American superiors congratulate them, as much as they claim they are done with a serious threat for their regime, we assure them they will not do away with us easily. As long as we are alive, for as long as we live and breathe, we will do our best to pose problems to their antisocial and criminal plans.
And if our hunters and the political authorities of this country believe they have the entire society on their side, if they believe that the majority of the people consider us to be a social threat, they are mistaken. For the majority of the population, the social threat comes from the government passing one anti-social measure after the other, by dictation of the crows of capital which "bribe", with the cash they have at their disposal, the state mechanism.
Terrorism is the years-long neoliberal policy imposed by the parties in power with the toleration or support of smaller parties.
Terrorism is the application of the stability plan which has so far caused large segments of the population to watch this unprecedented attack against them in fear.
Terrorism is not having the most basic material to survive, having your wage and your pension taken away, the bank confiscating your house, living in lethal pollution.
Terrorism is living everyday under a regime of fear for your own survival. [...] The objective conditions are now ideal. Let’s form the subjective conditions required for us to attempt the revolution. This is our chance.
LONG LIVE REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE
HONOUR TO COMRADE LAMBROS FOUNDAS
LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION
POLA ROUPA
NIKOS MAZIOTIS
KOSTAS GOURNAS
SOLIDARITY TO OUR COMRADES
THEY ARE NOT TERRORISTS,THEY ARE FIGHTERS
Three of the six arrested anarchists claim "political responsibility" for participation in "Revolutionary Struggle".
29/4 This morning, three of the six arrested anarchists for the Revolutionary Struggle case published a 16-page letter (in the Athens weekly "Pontiki", which has traditionally hosted a few of the armed guerrilla groups’ communiques) in which they claim political responsibility for their participation in the group Revolutionary Struggle. The three are Pola Roupa, Nikos Maziotis and Kostas Gournas. Extracts of their letter follow
We claim the political responsibility for participation in Revolutionary Struggle. We declare that comrade Lambros Foundas, who died in [the Athens suburb of ] Dafni on March 10, 2010, after a shoot-out with the cops, also participated in Revolutionary Struggle.The fight he gave was one for materialising the subversive plan collectively decided by Revolutionary Struggle. It was a struggle for revolution and for freedom.
We also declare that we are very proud of our group, Revolutionary Struggle, we are proud of our history, of every moment of our political action. We are proud of comrade Lambros Foundas, who we honour and will always do so.
As much as the mechanisms of repression might believe that by imprisoning us they will do away with us, they are wrong.
Whether outside or inside prisons the struggle, which for us is a matter of honour and dignity, will continue.
As much as the two terrorists, [PM] Papandreou and [minister of public order] Chrisochoidis laugh smugly, as much as they believe they have safeguarded the security necessary for their social-fascist party to continue with the application of its criminal plans against society, wagging their tails now that their American superiors congratulate them, as much as they claim they are done with a serious threat for their regime, we assure them they will not do away with us easily. As long as we are alive, for as long as we live and breathe, we will do our best to pose problems to their antisocial and criminal plans.
And if our hunters and the political authorities of this country believe they have the entire society on their side, if they believe that the majority of the people consider us to be a social threat, they are mistaken. For the majority of the population, the social threat comes from the government passing one anti-social measure after the other, by dictation of the crows of capital which "bribe", with the cash they have at their disposal, the state mechanism.
Terrorism is the years-long neoliberal policy imposed by the parties in power with the toleration or support of smaller parties.
Terrorism is the application of the stability plan which has so far caused large segments of the population to watch this unprecedented attack against them in fear.
Terrorism is not having the most basic material to survive, having your wage and your pension taken away, the bank confiscating your house, living in lethal pollution.
Terrorism is living everyday under a regime of fear for your own survival. [...] The objective conditions are now ideal. Let’s form the subjective conditions required for us to attempt the revolution. This is our chance.
LONG LIVE REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE
HONOUR TO COMRADE LAMBROS FOUNDAS
LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION
POLA ROUPA
NIKOS MAZIOTIS
KOSTAS GOURNAS
Three of the six arrested anarchists claim “political responsibility” for participation in “Revolutionary Struggle”
actforfreedomnow
29/4
This morning, three of the six arrested anarchists for the Revolutionary Struggle case have published a 16-page letter (in the Athens weekly “Pontiki”, which has traditionally hosted a few of the armed guerrilla groups’ communiques) in which they claim political responsibility for their participation to the group Revolutionary Struggle. The three are Pola Roupa, Nikos Maziotis and Kostas Gournas. Extracts of their letter follow.
We claim the political responsibility for participation to Revolutionary Struggle. We declare that comrade Lambros Foundas, who died in [the Athens suburb of ] Dafni on March 10, 2010, after a shoot-out with the cops, also participated in Revolutionary Struggle.The fight he gave was one for materialising the subversive plan collectively decided by Revolutionary Struggle. It was a struggle for revolution and for freedom.
We also declare that we are very proud of our group, Revolutionary Struggle, we are proud of our history, of every moment of our political action. We are proud of comrade Lambros Foundas, who we honour and will always do so.
As much as the mechanisms of repression might believe that by imprisoning us they will do away with us, they are wrong. Whether outside or inside prisons the struggle, which for us is a matter of honour and dignity, will continue.
As much as the two terrorists, [PM] Papandreou and [minister of public order] Chrisochoidis laugh smugly, as much as they believe they have safeguarded the security necessary for their social-fascist party to continue with the application of its criminal plans against society, waging their tails now that their American superiors congratulate them, as much as they claim they are done with a serious threat for their regime, we assure them they will not do away with us easily.
As long as we are alive, for as long as we live and breathe, we will do our best to pose problems to their antisocial and criminal plans.
And if our hunters and the political authorities of this country believe they have the entire society on their side, if they believe that the majority of the people consider us to be a social threat, they are mistaken. For the majority of the population, the social threat comes from the government passing one anti-social measure after the other, by dictation of the crows of capital which “bribe”, with the cash they have at their disposal, the state mechanism. Terrorism is the years-long neoliberal policy imposed by the parties in power with the toleration or support of smaller parties. Terrorism is the application of the stability plan which has so far caused large segments of the population to watch this unprecedented attack against them in fear.
Terrorism is not having the most basic material to survive, having your wage and your pension taken away, the bank confiscating your house, living in lethal pollution. Terrorism is living everyday under a regime of fear for your own survival.
[...]
The objective conditions are now ideal. Let’s form the subjective conditions required for us to attempt the revolution. This is our chance.
LONG LIVE REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE
HONOUR TO COMRADE LAMBROS FOUNDAS
LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION
POLA ROUPA
NIKOS MAZIOTIS
KOSTAS GOURNAS
A letter from Christoforos Kortesis, an imprisoned comrade
30/4
The letter that follows was written in the prison of Corinth by Christoforos Kortesis (one of the 6 arrested anarchists on the “Revolutionary Struggle” case):
On 10th April, 6 people were arrested and taken to the Police Headquaters (GADA). I was one of them. We didn’t know why we were detained, and when we insisted to contact lawyers the cops told us that we couldn’t, because this was a case of adduction. After 56 hours – during which we were not even allowed to contact each other – we were taken to the courts on Evelpidon St. facing the charge of participation in the “Revolutionary Struggle”. The timing of my arrest coincided with the prime minister’s announcement (Papandreou) that Greece will possibly take a loan from the IMF. There is obviously no room left for coincidences here, as is also the case with the police raid in the alleged “Halandri safehouse” and the arrests, by the former ruling party Nea Dimokratia, of comrades only a few days before the elections of 2009.
Following our arrest, we were hardly surprised to see that instantly the leading role in misinformation was taken on by the usual tele-nosy parkers - among all the scum. They presented evidence that was not even written in the legal brief, and started to piece together a puzzle which went as far as… attacking the Twin Towers!!!
Soon afterwards, our guilt was taken for granted in the media that started competing who will be the one to give out more information on our personal lives; who will be the first to take photos of the apartment-safehouse and tell what motorcycles we prefer, what time we go to bed, what time and how many times we make love and things of this sort: nothing more than offerings on the altar of spectacle. However, none of this comes as a surprise to me. I am well aware that mass media in our ‘democratic’ society play exactly the same role as the ministries of propaganda used to play under totalitarianism.
People in Greece will inevitably realize that nothing has changed in their everyday life, even after those blood thirsty terrorists got arrested. If before capitalists were offering the remains of their affluent buffets to the people, at this point they will stop doing even that. But in those times of acute economic crisis and social despair, people can end up doing things that before we could not even imagine. The massive rebellion that spread all over Greece after the murder of Alexis Grigoropoulos, two years ago, was just a hint – offering hope for some and despair to others… Repression now will be harsher than ever aiming primarily at breaking the most radical part of society, its greatest internal enemy, the anarchist anti-authoritarian movement. That is why, at the same time as unemployment in general exceeds 15%, Chrisochoidis intends to employ even more people to join the security forces so as to ‘combat’ the growing menace of terrorism, while the only goal is to enforce the defensive lines of the state establishment.
But it is exactly at this time of crisis that we are presented with unique possibilities and diverse social groups can be radicalized. It is exactly at this time of crisis that tones of explosives are accumulated at the foundations of the capitalist establishment and the only thing missing, comrades, is to put fire on them!
On the other hand, I am not going to talk at all about the accusations laid upon us, since innocence and guilt give and go depending on the side that we have chosen to take in life. If the cops, the journalists, the politicians, the bankers, or the judges consider someone as guilty in the name of bourgeois democracy, then, all of them are guilty in the name of public justice.
In the same sense, I am not going to talk at all about the conditions of detention throughout those first days at GADA. As an anarchist, I consider myself and my comrades prisoners of war. This war, which Chrisochoidis became able to see only some months ago, has been actually conducted with rage during centuries between any kind of masters and the masses of revolted.
Everyone has already chosen sides and when some realize that they are at the wrong side of the camp, then, it will be too late…
Patience and determination for all those who chose to march through the troubled path of history towards social revolution…
Honour forever to the anarchist Lambros Fountas
Farewell, comrade
Monday, April 26, 2010
SOLIDARITY GATHERINGS FOR THE 6 ANARCHIST COMRADES PRISONERS
26/4/
Comrades gather outside Korinthos, Trikala, and Thiva prisons where some of the 6 anarchists accused of the "Revolutionary Struggle" case are held.In Korinthos prisons were Christoforos Kortesis is held,there were about 150 comrades.There were many cops, and they had closed all the roads with riotcopvans so there was no view of the prison and so no one could get close. At some point one van left and the people could see the prison yard.The comrades are chanting, throwing leaflets and a loudspeaker has been set up.In Trikala,where Kostas Gournas and Vaggelis Stathopoulos are held,100 comrades gathered and chanted while throwing leaflets,not a big police presence and after the gathering,there was a solidarity demo in the city of Trikala.In Thiva,where Panagiwta Roupa,who is 8months pregnant, is held (along with Kwstandina Karakatsani now since friday, accused of the "conspiracy cells of fire"case),150 comrades gathered. The cops shut the road from far away so noone could hear them inside the prison. The people then cut through some fields and came up right next to one wing of the prison,they chanted and they prisoners responded with chants from the inside. After a while,some riotcops showed up in the inside of the prison yard,where the people chanted and made fun of them.All demonstrations were very strong and emotional and finished with no trouble.THE PASSION FOR FREEDOM IS STRONGER THAN THEIR PRISONSFREEDOM TO THE 6 COMRADES ACCUSED FOR THE"REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE" MORE
Thursday, April 22, 2010
FREEDOM NOW TO THE 6 ANARCHISTS COMRADES
Kostas Gournas is one of the six anarchists arrested recently in Athens, accused by the cops of participating in the urban guerrilla group'' Revolutionary Struggle.''Kostas has since been transferred to the prison ofTrikala in the north of the country where, together with another one of the six arrested anarchists (Vaggelis Stathopoulos) he is being held under ISOLATION – that is, with limited access to toilet and water and with many obstacles in his communication with relatives and lawyers. 19/4
The Philadelphia Experiment athens greece 19/4
Translator’s note: What follows is a communiqué by anarchists on the recent arrests supposedly linked to the organisation “Revolutionary Struggle” and the media-led hysteria that accompanied them here in Greece. Its title is a play of words on the well-known US naval military “Philadelphia experiment” and the Athens neighbourhood of Nea (New) Philadelphia, where the most recent police operations and arrests have taken place. Freedom to the Six, freedom to all of us.
Cops with machine guns in hands; police roadblocks at night, humiliating checks on every corner; secret agents of the regime knocking on doors, demanding from the population that they give names; willing informants rushing to offer their services; scared people walking on their streets trying to “mind their own business”. Is this 1936 Berlin or 2010 Philadelphia, Athens? A return to the past or an experiment for the future?
The only thing certain is that no coup d’état has been declared so far, nor has [greek prime minister] Papandreou decided to trim off his mustache to make it shorter. And the reason why this has not happened is simply because it is not at all necessary. Western democracies, in exactly the same way that they integrated those elements of nazism useful to them, also learned from its mistakes. The state of exception, that is, the condition imposed under the pretext of the capturing of the organisation “Revolutionary Struggle” does the job just fine, without a need for the eye-sore of tanks, let alone concentration camps or the suspension of constitution.
…. and the “job” is nothing else than the turning of a condition now presented as concerning very few into a vehicle for changes that will concern everyone. The state of emergency imposed at this moment in Nea Philadelphia is cementing its functioning as a normality, as something that can take place whenever the state deems necessary. The force of the state is never applied exclusively toward its occasional target. Rather, every time it is applied without meeting any resistance, it gets diffused toward all directions, further establishing itself, establishing its capacity to be applied again, anywhere, against anyone, under any pretext that will be presented as a “necessity”… the state of exception tends to become the rule.
And so, anyone believing that the state of exception imposed in Nea Philadelphia does not concern them, is asleep – and their awakening will not be pleasant at all. Anyone believing that the night road-blocks, the raids, check-points, police patrols on foot and the “friendly interrogations” of the counter-terrorism unit are the logical consequences of a “necessary capturing” [of the organisation Revolutionary Struggle], of a safe lead or at least, some grounded suspicions against someone who was “looking for trouble” does nothing else than to cheerfully saw off the branch they are sitting on.
Anyone calmly watching people in struggle being prosecuted, imprisoned and presented as some kind of beasts on TV screens simply because they are “terrorists” in the eye of sovereign power, must understand that this rationalising is part of the same strategy that names the politicians as innocent, shipowners as philanthropists, cops as citizen protectors, syndicalist leaders as protectors of the workers’ rights, migrants as criminals, strikers as illegal. They must understand that the “capturing of the Revolutionary Struggle” is in its essence a tool for the potential capturing and dismantling of any and all social disobedience. This of course concerns not only the urban guerillas nor just the anarchist/anti-authoritarian scene but rather, everyone for whom the alibi of the capitalist system have started to run out.
No sociology degrees are necessary for anyone to understand that the falling apart of the first-world consumerist euphoria, the emergency fiscal measures and the forthcoming subordination of the country to the IMF combined with the increasingly suffocating everyday reality of surveillance and control leave little leeway for people to remain oblivious. They leave little leeway for silent or scared inaction and most certainly, they should leave no leeway for the formation of a wiling, subservient reserve army and authority collaborators. A reserve army that personifies itself in one or the other scum who find an exit from their individual misery in the social “recognition” of the informant, the one willing to do the dirty job in some “common cause” against the “absolute Evil”.
All those willing to join the ranks of this underground army of the bosses must be isolated and routed immediately. Their position and motives must be exposed and pilloried. The sordid motives they present as a merit must be countered publicly. Every unsolicited protector of the law should take notice.
Zero tolerance against the terrorism of the state and mass media. Immediate release of everyone prosecuted in connection to the case of the organisation “Revolutionary Struggle”.
Anarchists / Anti-authoritarians
29/4
This morning, three of the six arrested anarchists for the Revolutionary Struggle case have published a 16-page letter (in the Athens weekly “Pontiki”, which has traditionally hosted a few of the armed guerrilla groups’ communiques) in which they claim political responsibility for their participation to the group Revolutionary Struggle. The three are Pola Roupa, Nikos Maziotis and Kostas Gournas. Extracts of their letter follow.
We claim the political responsibility for participation to Revolutionary Struggle. We declare that comrade Lambros Foundas, who died in [the Athens suburb of ] Dafni on March 10, 2010, after a shoot-out with the cops, also participated in Revolutionary Struggle.The fight he gave was one for materialising the subversive plan collectively decided by Revolutionary Struggle. It was a struggle for revolution and for freedom.
We also declare that we are very proud of our group, Revolutionary Struggle, we are proud of our history, of every moment of our political action. We are proud of comrade Lambros Foundas, who we honour and will always do so.
As much as the mechanisms of repression might believe that by imprisoning us they will do away with us, they are wrong. Whether outside or inside prisons the struggle, which for us is a matter of honour and dignity, will continue.
As much as the two terrorists, [PM] Papandreou and [minister of public order] Chrisochoidis laugh smugly, as much as they believe they have safeguarded the security necessary for their social-fascist party to continue with the application of its criminal plans against society, waging their tails now that their American superiors congratulate them, as much as they claim they are done with a serious threat for their regime, we assure them they will not do away with us easily.
As long as we are alive, for as long as we live and breathe, we will do our best to pose problems to their antisocial and criminal plans.
And if our hunters and the political authorities of this country believe they have the entire society on their side, if they believe that the majority of the people consider us to be a social threat, they are mistaken. For the majority of the population, the social threat comes from the government passing one anti-social measure after the other, by dictation of the crows of capital which “bribe”, with the cash they have at their disposal, the state mechanism. Terrorism is the years-long neoliberal policy imposed by the parties in power with the toleration or support of smaller parties. Terrorism is the application of the stability plan which has so far caused large segments of the population to watch this unprecedented attack against them in fear.
Terrorism is not having the most basic material to survive, having your wage and your pension taken away, the bank confiscating your house, living in lethal pollution. Terrorism is living everyday under a regime of fear for your own survival.
[...]
The objective conditions are now ideal. Let’s form the subjective conditions required for us to attempt the revolution. This is our chance.
LONG LIVE REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE
HONOUR TO COMRADE LAMBROS FOUNDAS
LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION
POLA ROUPA
NIKOS MAZIOTIS
KOSTAS GOURNAS
A letter from Christoforos Kortesis, an imprisoned comrade
30/4
The letter that follows was written in the prison of Corinth by Christoforos Kortesis (one of the 6 arrested anarchists on the “Revolutionary Struggle” case):
On 10th April, 6 people were arrested and taken to the Police Headquaters (GADA). I was one of them. We didn’t know why we were detained, and when we insisted to contact lawyers the cops told us that we couldn’t, because this was a case of adduction. After 56 hours – during which we were not even allowed to contact each other – we were taken to the courts on Evelpidon St. facing the charge of participation in the “Revolutionary Struggle”. The timing of my arrest coincided with the prime minister’s announcement (Papandreou) that Greece will possibly take a loan from the IMF. There is obviously no room left for coincidences here, as is also the case with the police raid in the alleged “Halandri safehouse” and the arrests, by the former ruling party Nea Dimokratia, of comrades only a few days before the elections of 2009.
Following our arrest, we were hardly surprised to see that instantly the leading role in misinformation was taken on by the usual tele-nosy parkers - among all the scum. They presented evidence that was not even written in the legal brief, and started to piece together a puzzle which went as far as… attacking the Twin Towers!!!
Soon afterwards, our guilt was taken for granted in the media that started competing who will be the one to give out more information on our personal lives; who will be the first to take photos of the apartment-safehouse and tell what motorcycles we prefer, what time we go to bed, what time and how many times we make love and things of this sort: nothing more than offerings on the altar of spectacle. However, none of this comes as a surprise to me. I am well aware that mass media in our ‘democratic’ society play exactly the same role as the ministries of propaganda used to play under totalitarianism.
People in Greece will inevitably realize that nothing has changed in their everyday life, even after those blood thirsty terrorists got arrested. If before capitalists were offering the remains of their affluent buffets to the people, at this point they will stop doing even that. But in those times of acute economic crisis and social despair, people can end up doing things that before we could not even imagine. The massive rebellion that spread all over Greece after the murder of Alexis Grigoropoulos, two years ago, was just a hint – offering hope for some and despair to others… Repression now will be harsher than ever aiming primarily at breaking the most radical part of society, its greatest internal enemy, the anarchist anti-authoritarian movement. That is why, at the same time as unemployment in general exceeds 15%, Chrisochoidis intends to employ even more people to join the security forces so as to ‘combat’ the growing menace of terrorism, while the only goal is to enforce the defensive lines of the state establishment.
But it is exactly at this time of crisis that we are presented with unique possibilities and diverse social groups can be radicalized. It is exactly at this time of crisis that tones of explosives are accumulated at the foundations of the capitalist establishment and the only thing missing, comrades, is to put fire on them!
On the other hand, I am not going to talk at all about the accusations laid upon us, since innocence and guilt give and go depending on the side that we have chosen to take in life. If the cops, the journalists, the politicians, the bankers, or the judges consider someone as guilty in the name of bourgeois democracy, then, all of them are guilty in the name of public justice.
In the same sense, I am not going to talk at all about the conditions of detention throughout those first days at GADA. As an anarchist, I consider myself and my comrades prisoners of war. This war, which Chrisochoidis became able to see only some months ago, has been actually conducted with rage during centuries between any kind of masters and the masses of revolted.
Everyone has already chosen sides and when some realize that they are at the wrong side of the camp, then, it will be too late…
Patience and determination for all those who chose to march through the troubled path of history towards social revolution…
Honour forever to the anarchist Lambros Fountas
Farewell, comrade
Monday, April 26, 2010
SOLIDARITY GATHERINGS FOR THE 6 ANARCHIST COMRADES PRISONERS
26/4/
Comrades gather outside Korinthos, Trikala, and Thiva prisons where some of the 6 anarchists accused of the "Revolutionary Struggle" case are held.In Korinthos prisons were Christoforos Kortesis is held,there were about 150 comrades.There were many cops, and they had closed all the roads with riotcopvans so there was no view of the prison and so no one could get close. At some point one van left and the people could see the prison yard.The comrades are chanting, throwing leaflets and a loudspeaker has been set up.In Trikala,where Kostas Gournas and Vaggelis Stathopoulos are held,100 comrades gathered and chanted while throwing leaflets,not a big police presence and after the gathering,there was a solidarity demo in the city of Trikala.In Thiva,where Panagiwta Roupa,who is 8months pregnant, is held (along with Kwstandina Karakatsani now since friday, accused of the "conspiracy cells of fire"case),150 comrades gathered. The cops shut the road from far away so noone could hear them inside the prison. The people then cut through some fields and came up right next to one wing of the prison,they chanted and they prisoners responded with chants from the inside. After a while,some riotcops showed up in the inside of the prison yard,where the people chanted and made fun of them.All demonstrations were very strong and emotional and finished with no trouble.THE PASSION FOR FREEDOM IS STRONGER THAN THEIR PRISONSFREEDOM TO THE 6 COMRADES ACCUSED FOR THE"REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE" MORE
Thursday, April 22, 2010
FREEDOM NOW TO THE 6 ANARCHISTS COMRADES
Kostas Gournas is one of the six anarchists arrested recently in Athens, accused by the cops of participating in the urban guerrilla group'' Revolutionary Struggle.''Kostas has since been transferred to the prison ofTrikala in the north of the country where, together with another one of the six arrested anarchists (Vaggelis Stathopoulos) he is being held under ISOLATION – that is, with limited access to toilet and water and with many obstacles in his communication with relatives and lawyers. 19/4
The Philadelphia Experiment athens greece 19/4
Translator’s note: What follows is a communiqué by anarchists on the recent arrests supposedly linked to the organisation “Revolutionary Struggle” and the media-led hysteria that accompanied them here in Greece. Its title is a play of words on the well-known US naval military “Philadelphia experiment” and the Athens neighbourhood of Nea (New) Philadelphia, where the most recent police operations and arrests have taken place. Freedom to the Six, freedom to all of us.
Cops with machine guns in hands; police roadblocks at night, humiliating checks on every corner; secret agents of the regime knocking on doors, demanding from the population that they give names; willing informants rushing to offer their services; scared people walking on their streets trying to “mind their own business”. Is this 1936 Berlin or 2010 Philadelphia, Athens? A return to the past or an experiment for the future?
The only thing certain is that no coup d’état has been declared so far, nor has [greek prime minister] Papandreou decided to trim off his mustache to make it shorter. And the reason why this has not happened is simply because it is not at all necessary. Western democracies, in exactly the same way that they integrated those elements of nazism useful to them, also learned from its mistakes. The state of exception, that is, the condition imposed under the pretext of the capturing of the organisation “Revolutionary Struggle” does the job just fine, without a need for the eye-sore of tanks, let alone concentration camps or the suspension of constitution.
…. and the “job” is nothing else than the turning of a condition now presented as concerning very few into a vehicle for changes that will concern everyone. The state of emergency imposed at this moment in Nea Philadelphia is cementing its functioning as a normality, as something that can take place whenever the state deems necessary. The force of the state is never applied exclusively toward its occasional target. Rather, every time it is applied without meeting any resistance, it gets diffused toward all directions, further establishing itself, establishing its capacity to be applied again, anywhere, against anyone, under any pretext that will be presented as a “necessity”… the state of exception tends to become the rule.
And so, anyone believing that the state of exception imposed in Nea Philadelphia does not concern them, is asleep – and their awakening will not be pleasant at all. Anyone believing that the night road-blocks, the raids, check-points, police patrols on foot and the “friendly interrogations” of the counter-terrorism unit are the logical consequences of a “necessary capturing” [of the organisation Revolutionary Struggle], of a safe lead or at least, some grounded suspicions against someone who was “looking for trouble” does nothing else than to cheerfully saw off the branch they are sitting on.
Anyone calmly watching people in struggle being prosecuted, imprisoned and presented as some kind of beasts on TV screens simply because they are “terrorists” in the eye of sovereign power, must understand that this rationalising is part of the same strategy that names the politicians as innocent, shipowners as philanthropists, cops as citizen protectors, syndicalist leaders as protectors of the workers’ rights, migrants as criminals, strikers as illegal. They must understand that the “capturing of the Revolutionary Struggle” is in its essence a tool for the potential capturing and dismantling of any and all social disobedience. This of course concerns not only the urban guerillas nor just the anarchist/anti-authoritarian scene but rather, everyone for whom the alibi of the capitalist system have started to run out.
No sociology degrees are necessary for anyone to understand that the falling apart of the first-world consumerist euphoria, the emergency fiscal measures and the forthcoming subordination of the country to the IMF combined with the increasingly suffocating everyday reality of surveillance and control leave little leeway for people to remain oblivious. They leave little leeway for silent or scared inaction and most certainly, they should leave no leeway for the formation of a wiling, subservient reserve army and authority collaborators. A reserve army that personifies itself in one or the other scum who find an exit from their individual misery in the social “recognition” of the informant, the one willing to do the dirty job in some “common cause” against the “absolute Evil”.
All those willing to join the ranks of this underground army of the bosses must be isolated and routed immediately. Their position and motives must be exposed and pilloried. The sordid motives they present as a merit must be countered publicly. Every unsolicited protector of the law should take notice.
Zero tolerance against the terrorism of the state and mass media. Immediate release of everyone prosecuted in connection to the case of the organisation “Revolutionary Struggle”.
Anarchists / Anti-authoritarians
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