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Prisners in struggle in Greece
Malaka Anarxista - 10.11.2008 20:22
Since the 3 of november prisoners all over Greece have started a hungerstrike against their conditions. Anarchists have shown solidarity from outside, indifferent ways. One of those was the soldarity demo on October 30st in Thessaloniki.
 http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=oeit24dB2iU
The last days a new circle of struggle has started inside the Greek prisons. from the 3rd of November 2008, though a organized and coordinated move, many prisoners in all over Greece refused as a first step, to take food from the prison service in order to achieve their demands. Their demands are collected in a list of 45 points that was send to the ministry of justice and it was announced publicly. Until now more than 8.000 prisoners signed this list. They announced that in case of the rejection of their claims they will continue their struggle with more radical ways. Today Friday 7th of November in 5 prisons of Greece almost 1100 people are already on hunger strike and many more will follow the next days. Due to their statements the hunger strike is the second stadium of their struggle. If the state keeps refusing their demands they threat with a massive revolt as it has happened in the past.
The situation in the greek prisons is really difficult for the prisoners. The jails are overcrowded, for example in a jail for 80 people now live more than 200, there is a continuous lack of hygiene and pharmaceutical services as many other basic needs. Also, the greek penal code is really strict and many people condemned for "petty crimes" are facing high sentences, for example the half percent of the prisoners are drug addicts who are treated by the law as dealers with sentences up to 12 years. Every prison service uses different methods to keep prisoners quite and passive. If anyone protests about something if he or she does not obey to the service's orders can get disciplinary charges that increase the sentences and reduce their rights or even got transferred to other prisons. This is happening very often, Against this general situation many times in the past struggles rise up. The last big one took place the spring of 2007 when the prisoners revolted in the most important jails of the country and in many cases they faced the brutal state repression.
From the first day many people from the radical movement mobilize in support of the prisoners, organizing demos, direct actions, public meetings, propaganda. Also the solidarity groups have set a communication net not only between the supporters and the prisoners but also between the prisoners themselves. More precisely in Thesseloniki 2 demos (31/10 200 people and 6/11 300 people) with motorbikes marched outside of Diavata prison and shouted solidarity slogans, a common action happened in athens at 4/11 (200 people) and many other towns. Also for the next days more solidarity actions are coming (demos, solidarity concerts, public concentrations and more).
PRISONERS DEMANDS
We the prisoners of the hell called with an euphemism: prisons of the greek state, tired with the fake promisses of all justice ministers in the last 10 years, to ameliorate prison conditions and the penal code and the penal justice code, decided to move forcefully, in order to claim our rightful demands.
WE DEMAND:
1. Abolish disciplinary charges. Modify the Penitentiary Code's articles 68, 69, 70, 71. In any case, the disciplinary charges must be removed after the are served, and not accumulated nor taken into consideration when it comes to days off, work, education and discharge under conditions after they are served.
2. Reduction of the sentence limit for discharge under conditions, from 3/5 to the 3/7 of the sentence time. Immediate abolishment of the anti-constitutonal treaty that increased up to the 4/5 of crimes related to drugs.
3. Once and for all 3 year reduction of all prices, to make easier the relieve of over-crowding of prisons. NO to the new panoptic prisons, built isolated away from the cities social tissue.
4. Abolish the juuvenile prisons. Adopt open structure to take care of and protect the teenagers and youth.
5. Reduction of sentence limit of 25 years of continuous detention. Reduction of the minimum detention time to be discharged under conditions to 12 years from 16 that it is today, according to european legislature.
6. Immediate and without exceptions application of days-off, suspensions, and other benefits of the law, reduction of the minimal sentence time limits. Increase the number of days-off to 60 for those that have a right to 5 days and to 96 for those with a right to 8.
7. To end the over-use of pre-trial detentions and reduce the time limit to 12 months.
8. The para-justice racket is known for its hysteria of the last 8 years, leading to revengeful killing sentences. We as for proportionate sentences and wide application of the measure of suspension and discharge under conditions.
9. Full, permanent and 24 hour medical treatment and respect to the patients. Creation and improvement of adequate hygiene spaces (baths and toilets). Immediate integration of the Korydallos prison psychiatric and medical clinic to the National Health System, with new aisles for women and juveniles, that lack now. Immediate transportation of patients to public hospitals with ambulances and not in police vehicles, tied up with their hands behind their back.
10. To be provided the right in beneficial work payment, education, second chance schools, technical workshops and participation in diverse similar programms, to all prisoners proportionate and without any discrimination. To be given educational days-off, for all prisoners, that meet with the criteria and terms to study outside prison and for all levels of education and technical skills learning. Substancial amplification of withdrawal projects to all prisons.
11. Abolishion of the prison no-go zone. Free access for social and political institutions, Lawers Associations, Hellenic Medical Association and EINAP, organizations for human rights, NGOs and international organizations. Free circulation of political and educative press, with no exceptions.
12. Alternative forms of detention, amplification of agricultural prisons and of the institution of semi-free sentence as well as community service.
13. Amplification of the institution of free visits in humain conditions with respect to the personality and dignity of the prisoners and the visitors. Private place to meet with our companion.
14. Work and access to creative activities for all of us. Beneficial account of days of work in the sentence.
15. Right to selection of serving the sentence in their country of origin, for the prisoners from other countries, once and if they wish.
16. Humain transport conditions with improvement of the room in the preposterous transportation means of the greek police. More stops, improvement of the detention room in the miserable "Metagogon" transfer prison and faster transfer to the destination prisons.
DEMANDS OF THE WOMEN PRISONERS AT ELEONAS, THIVA PRISON:
On the occasion of the third-world life conditions inside this establishment but also our treatment by the totality of the ministry of justice services, and more precisely: Inexistant medical-pharmaceutical supply. Few, to even inexistant hygiene supply (without any right to a private purchase). Inexistant basic hygiene (no warm water). Inexistant social services and care. Preposterous food, because of luck of supplies. Even first need stuff is an unknown word here. Racist treatment of the prisoners when it comes to days-off and suspensions. Injust treatment of sentence accounts for suspension proportionate to the offence (2/5, 3/5 etc). Vast delays when it comes to bringing the case to the courthouse and especially the court of appeals. The peculiar stiffness of the persons judging us, despite the recommendations they have received. The inexistant second chance we are all waiting for and most of us have a right on it, but are never given. We decided to abstain from prison food commons from 03/11/2008 until proportionate measures are taken in regards to all the above. We expect your understanding.
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| Read more about: vrijheid, repressie & mensenrechten | | supplements | | Polykarpos Georgiades | Polis - 10.11.2008 20:43
more than 14.000 persons are imprisoned in Greece (~1,3/1.000 citizens).
Following is a quick translation of a letter of our comrade Polys' circulated also within prisons:
ON THE PRISONER MOVEMENT AND THE HUNGER STRIKE ISSUE
Not many words are needed to describe the conditions that reign inside prisons. One word would fit: Dahaou.
Crushing incarcerations, equally exterminative penalties (the only ones really paying for the judge's racket scandal coming to light are the inmates), prolonged captivity through un unmeasured use of disciplinary charges, minimum or zero medical supplies (with the exception of constant drug pills dispensation, to produce Pavlov's dogs), overcrowding of the prisons (Concerning just the Dahaou of Ioannina where I am kept, more than 200 prisoners live in a prison built to "house" 80 persons. Prisoners are packed like sardines in a can, even in the corridors!).
This overcrowding could end with a few simple ways:
1) Reduction of pre-trial imprisonment
2) End of captivity of the vindictive disciplinary charges
3) Abolishion of the 4/5 of time rule for the drug cases (in Greece all drug addict prisoners are labeled as dealers, leading to the "dealers" being more than the users...)
Inside these miserable conditions we have millions of reasons to revolt, and none to remain passive. With full consciousness that whatever measures they take to disburden the prisoners are nothing more than painkillers, since for as long as this authoritarian/class society stands, the miserableness of prison will stand by it. I join forces with the prisoners struggle, as I did in solidarity with them, while I was outside the prison bars.
On the other hand, I can't keep to my self my disagreement on the weapon of hunger strike, that was suggested, and I regard as useful to express this disagreement openand in public. I regard as by NO means necessary to eliminate ourselves and move into actions that only waste our forces, the same time that there are still many other ways to resist and fight (as much for the inmates as for the out of prison bars solidarious). Our health, our bodies and our minds should be kept fit and strong our ENTIRE lives, and not surrender in a wilful decay.
Our clash with the society that gives birth to the prison misery should continue until we finally become food for the worms, and for this reason our full physical and mental health should be safeguarded as the apple of our eye.
Maybe a hunger strike will bring some short term positive results (draw some support, sensitizing), but in a long term it acts only as a deleterious effect. It's simply one step forward and two steps aback.
Moreover, it creates fighters of many levels. The same time that 50-100 persons in a self-sacrifice spirit risk their physical and mental health, thousands of other inmates will eat typically their "zwan" meat.
I consider more useful the decision making through collective processes, so that every means of struggle we use must concern EVERY prisoner in struggle.
By no means do I wish to break apart the unity that prevails among prisoners. This text was written aiming only to make clear my stance on the issue of the hunger strike (an issue the radical movement deals with for many years now) and not to criticise the comrades that selected this means. All I do is striving for the sportiness of words and actions I strived before my imprisonment, and nothing more than that. It is obvious that I will put all my efforts in the prisoners fight for Dignity.
UNTIL THE DESTRUCTION OF EACH LAST PRISON
Polikarpos Georgiadis
(Ioannina Juridical Prisons)
| | Solidarity demo | Anarcores - 10.11.2008 20:46
On Sunday October the 5th, around 150 "participants in the party of Life"
from various places around Greece, travelled to the town of Kyra-Frosyni
(Ioannina) to invite to party the disposessed of Ioannina prisons and
especially the new-comer Polikarpos Georgiadis. Chanting slogans as "Fire
for this hole", "Neither penal, nor political, fire to every prison", "Let's bring a helicopter to take out Polys", "Kidnap Mylonas, gas canister bombings every night, freedom for Polys Georgiadis", and the people inside the prison replied with "burn it all" and "bring in the wire-cutter". There was also a microphonics gig accompanying the demonstrations with songs mostly of Thanasis Papakonstantinou where were read communiques of Polykarpos on his case, a communique by the "Cell of Guerrilla Action" on the reasons they had bombed Nigrita prisons, and a text the group from Thessaloniki wrote during the journey. Later on, there was a march through the city center where slogans were chanted and spray painted on walls.
During the way back, at the 20 minute bus stop, the group met with a bus
driver of Alumil, Mylonas' company. Once they asked him to carry their
"regards" to Mylonas, the comrades there had the chance to live a
surrealistic moment, once the driver started gibbering on the great social
work his boss does, giving work to hundreds of families!
Following is a text written by the group from Thessaloniki.
This June 3 unknown persons kidnapped Giorgos Mylonas, president of northern Greece industrialists, as a reward for the hundreds of workers he and his class abduct every day. An action speaking of its own for the hostile stance of these persons against him and the class he is a symbol of.
A class, straightforward on its behalf, against its subjects. Schools,
military camps, and prisons constitute this world that this class, Mylonas'
class saves for us.
This June, three unknown persons took Giorgos Mylonas as a hostage, this
main expression of the unscrupulous capitalism of 21rst century, also called neo-liberalism, claiming back, some of the stolen money of his. He gets treated the same way he and his class treat their subjects: as a merchandise that needs to tighten its belt (a phrase actually used by Mylonas to make clear his views of the working class).
On August 20, three persons get arrested for participation in Mylonas' case.
Among them is the anarchist communist Polykarpos Georgiadis, who has clearly hostile stance against what Mylonas and his class have imposed: A condition, that takes away from people the control of their lives. A condition turning them into merchandise, number, statistices. A condition, that in order to act against it, it is n't enough to expropriate only the stolen surplus value, but the whole of life in its totality, living not as a merchandise, not as a number nor statistics, but as a human.
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