Nineteen members of the anarchist group Rouvikonas were arrested on Monday following the occupation of the building housing the political office of Independent Greeks, a far-right political party that's part of the current coalition government. According to witnesses, nearby streets were blocked by police vans while riot police guarded all entrances into the building. The arrestees are indicted on misdemeanor charges for disturbing the peace and illegal space occupation, while their reluctance to have their photographs taken could result in charges of disobedience.
Excerpts of the announcement made by the anarchist group follow below:
''The majority, the weak, those who are always paying the price are called once again to contribute to the exit from a crisis created by the segregation of wealth in the hands of a minority. Since 2010 people have endured an unprecedented violation of basic rights won through struggles and sacrifices. The government policies leading to unemployment, starvation salaries, extreme taxation and impoverishment, aim to enforce regulations that will benefit the capital and increase the earnings of a domestic and foreign elite. The government presented these policies as inevitable, necessary and a duty.
We already went through the first memorandum imposed by the PASOK government, by politicians who had publicly stated that ''there is enough money''. Then followed the second memorandum of the coalition government PASOK-New Democracy who had promised a hard negotiation with the loan sharks. Finally, the third memorandum was introduced by the Syriza-Independent Greeks coalition government, despite their promise to ''tear the memorandum''. The president of the Independent Greeks had specifically and emphatically said that he will not tolerate the imposition of new taxes but he obviously changed his mind after the elections.
(...)
The capitalist system will always find new tricks when the old ones are no longer effective for the promotion of its own interests. We witnessed the management of the state authority by different political parties in succession, parties that initially appeared as the saviours of the people but essentially served the interests of the capital. The latest trick is the Syriza-Independent Greeks coalition government that's been branded as pro-grassroots. But its role was always the same: to mitigate social struggles, which could not be done by authority-worn political parties. When the current government fails, the tactic of universal management is to be deployed next. The first signs of universal management are revealed in the votes in favour of the third memorandum by the entire political system and the ongoing pleas of New Democracy towards Syriza to form a coalition government (before the elections).
The hypocrisy is apparent in the position of Independent Greeks as well as Syriza, which for years seemed to be having irreconcilable differences only to forget everything overnight in the prospect of gaining and sharing power.
The role of Independent Greeks in this government is on the one hand to reassure the most conservative segments of society through various communicational absurdities such as the prevention of building a mosque in Eleonas area, the dropping of a flower wreath above Imia and the tragicomic ceremony in Salamis. On the other hand, on the level of geopolitics, Independent Greeks are to reassure the U.S., the E.U. and the N.A.T.O. with positive remarks on the creation of a new N.A.T.O. base in the Aegean and the provision of support to the Ukrainian state via the healthcare treatment of Ukrainian nazi paramilitaries in Greek military hospitals.
At the same time, as the lives of workers are becoming more difficult, so the lives of imprisoned fighters are worsening through the implementation of unprecedented harsh measures that even the military jounta did not implement.
Specifically, the mothers, sisters and wives of fighters are put in jail and even after release they are ostracized in islands -Athena Tsakalou is forced to remain within the limits of Salamina island- or are forced to live within the confines of an imaginary barbed-wire 1km away from their homes- such as the case of Evi Statiri's conditional release.
It's obvious that these decisions are political in their nature and judicial in their position, which is why we DEMAND the cancellation of the restrictive conditions imposed upon Athena Tsakalou and Evi Statiri and the release of Maria Theofilou, wife of G.Petrakakos. We also DEMAND the immediate release of polytrauma patient Savvas Xiros and the immediate granting of educational furloughs to the student Nikos Romanos.
In today's political circumstances speaking about solutions and finding ways out seems difficult. Whatever course of action is chosen if this deviates from the one determined by the centres of power of the ruling classs, we are to face a ruthless war. We think that in this stage, people and society in general, must fulfill their part in the context of class war, which must be intensified.
On the financial level, refusing to pay and opposing unfair taxes and measures such as the property tax ENFIA, the ''solidarity'' contribution and the house auctions of citizens' first home, is a weapon whose co-ordinated use by large segments of society can destabilize the state and its mechanisms.''
NO NEGOTIATION WITH THE DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL CAPITAL
RESIST THE NEW MEASURES
GET OUT ON THE STREETS
(via BlackCat)
The following information comes to us via BlackCat; a sociologist, translator and writer from Greece.
Female relatives and partners of prisoners are still being targeted by the Greek state in an effort to isolate prisoners and repress solidarity movements. Women are seen as an 'easy target' whose repression facilitates the prevalence of a climate of fear impeding the struggles against injustice.
Maria Theofilou, the sister of anarchist communist author and political prisoner Tasos Theofilou was arrested and imprisoned despite the law passed by the so-called 'leftist' Syriza government decriminalizing family relations of political prisoners and despite the recent hunger strike staged by anarchist Evi Statiri. Evi Statiri was arrested and imprisoned under the same conditions as Maria with the excuse of family relations which are supposedly now decriminalized by law.
Maria has been in detention for over a month now because of her relationship with her partner G. Petrakakos and her brother Tasos. Maria was specifically asked about her incarcerated brother during her interrogation by police and then her detention was ordered.
No matter how cruel the repressive tactics used to create this climate of fear, people will resist as they are left with no other choice.
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The counter-terrorism unit raided the home of the Theofilou family
The vengeful treatment of prisoners' families and relatives continues and the Theofilou family is at the epicenter of this tactic, despite the law reforms enacted by Minister of Justice Nicos Paraskevopoulos that forbid the criminalization of family relations.
On Monday, 5th of October, around 2pm, 7-8 men of the counter-terrorism unit intruded the residence of the parents of Tassos and Maria Theofilou, while other officers had remained outside.
According to Mrs. Theofilou, the men were conducting a search for four hours and were disrupting and destroying everything inside the rooms. They confiscated the family's personal computer, old mobile phones, keys and irrelevant documents such as addresses and phone numbers of friends of the family, as well as documents regarding the ownership of land and the correspondence between Maria and Tassos.
Because of the unexpected police raid, Mrs. Theofilou was forced to arrange for her two grandchildren (the children of Maria, aged two and four) to remain at a local park for four hours until the search was over.
The counter-terrorism units stated that the search was ordered by the 17th investigator who is in charge of the case of Tassos' sister. Maria was arrested, remanded and faces serious charges for participation in an unknown terrorist organization, without any incriminating evidence at hand, except her relationship to her partner and father of her children G. Petrakakos.
After Maria Theofilou's prosecution, her attorney, Spyros Phytrakis stated that the facts contained in the case file are not indicative that "we are dealing with a terrorist organization." In reference to the 36 year-old woman, he said:
"None of the added evidence proves that the two guns found in a wardrobe within the house were used by the woman, or that she was aware of them being kept there, or that she committed a delinquent act. Having two children with a man who has engaged in delinquency is not a crime. That was typical of a different time in the past. I hope that the interrogation will not cause problems to the woman and the two underage children."
A similar intrusion of the counter-terrorism unit took place at an empty house owned by the family in the city of Volos.
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The International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry demands the release of detainee Maria Theofilou
Athens, 7th of October 2015
Dr. Argyris Argyriades
We have systematically clarfied that the penalization of family relations and their use to reinforce an indictment is a constitutional construct that characterizes totalitarian regimes. It constitutes the most barbaric institutional process and practice.
Another typical example is the new ''grand success'' of the police in the arrest and detention of Mrs Maria Theofilou, a young mother of two toddlers (aged two and four) who is indicted on charges of being an accomplice of her partner and father of her children. This is a flagrantly unlawful prosecution of a relative which has taken place despite the law prepared by Minister of Justice Nicos Paraskevopoulos, that forbids this kind of treatment against relatives.
We consider the violent removal of the mother away from her children a psychologically pressurizing event bearing traumatic consequences to the mother as well as the children, since it contributes to separation anxiety. The dependence of toddlers at the age of two and even four on their mother is a very normal response based on the instict of survival. Children internalize the safety that stems from the mother's love and care, a process that was disrupted abruptly in this case. As the counter-terrorism unit raided the home of Maria's parents, her mother was forced to arrange that the children stayed away at a local park for four hours, which only made the situation worse.
We insist once again that the case against Mrs Maria Theofilou is the practical expression of institutional retribution of justice. It is obvious that her prosecution and detention resulted from her family relations. According to anthropologists all people are relatives of each other, which is why Maria's case is relevant to all of us.
We demand the immediate release of Maria Theofilou in order for her to reunite with her two children.
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The Initiative for Prisoners' Rights demands the release of Maria Theofilou
The life choice of a husband or the accidental fact of parental or any kind of relationship to defendants continues to amount to incriminating evidence and has become the focal point for the expression of vengeful and inhumane treatment by the authorities based on a new kind of statutory familial co-responsibility.
The pre-trial detention and ill-treatment of defendants' families is not something new, it's a tactic that has been deployed for years in order to inflict psychological pressure and fear in defendants. The most recent case was that of Evi Statiri who remained in detention for six months until she became released following a geat struggle she carried through hungerstrike. The only incriminating evidence in Evi Statiri's case was the fact that she is the wife of political prisoner and member of the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire Gerasimmos Tsakalos.
The case of Maria Theofilou is even more unfair and vengeful on the part of the authorities, since the outcomes affect both of her children. Maria Theofilou - from the day she was pilloried when her photographs appeared in mass media- was remanded and her relationship to her husband and father of her two under-aged children (2 and 4 years old), G. Petrakakos, was used as ''evidence''.
It is obvious that for the authorities the separation of the two small children from their mother was not enough, despite the fact that at this age separation can be be a cause of trauma. This inhumane treatment goes to extremes when, in complete disregard for the children as well as Maria's parents, the police raided her parent's home resulting in the two toddlers having to stay at a park for four hours, which is how long the raid by the counter-terrorism unit lasted.
The most solid proof of the arbitrariness exhibited by the judicial and investigative authorities is the clear violation of the amendment introduced in the bill for prison reform voted in April 2015, which clarifies that family relations cannot be penalized.
For all these reasons analyzed above, the Initiative for Prisoners' Rights demands:
- that the prosecution and vengeful treatment against prisoners' families must be stopped
- adherence to the amendment of Minister of Justice Paraskevopoulos which de-penalizes family relations
- the immediate release of Maria Theofilou as a family member of a defendant and as a mother of two under-aged toddlers.
INITIATIVE FOR PRISONERS RIGHTS
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Maria Theofilou on her pre-trial detention and the effect on her children
Since Tuesday, September 29th, after five days of detention in the Counter-terrorism jail, I have been remanded in the women's section of Korydallos prison. The series of charges I am facing essentially occurred from harbouring my Partner.
Our children 2 and 4,5 years old had to endure the violent moment of their father's arrest but mainly the frightening experience of the attack against them since there were guns pointed at the four of us with excessive violence the moment we got in our car. These events along with the violent separation and weaning as well as the deprivation of both their parents pose a great risk to their mental health.
I would like to clarify that the only incriminating evidence against me, based on which my pre-trial detention was decided, was my relationship with my brother who is incarcerated in Domokos prison. It's worth noting that the final question I was asked by the interrogator and the prosecutor with a great amount of irony and satisfaction, as if this was proof of my guilt, was whether I have any siblings and where my brother is currently.
Considering that there is no evidence against me, I am asking for my temporary detention to be terminated so that I can return to my children. I am asking for an end to this vengeful prosecution and a treatment based on evidence and not my family relationships.
Maria Theofilou
21/10/2015
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INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY WITH MARIA THEOFILOU!
END THE PERSECUTION OF PRISONER'S FAMILIES & RELATIVES BY THE GREEK STATE!
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY WITH ANARCHIST COMMUNIST PRISONER TASO THEOFILOU AND ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS IN GREECE!
