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On September 24, in an operation of unprecedented scale in recent years, the anti-terrorist unit of the greek police raided at least two houses in the suburbs of Athens. In total four young persons of up to 21 years old were arrested and are interrogated by the anti-terrorist unit. The police claim that some findings from house searches that followed link the arrested to the group “Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire – Nihilist Splinter” without however publishing any specific information, as is customary in such occasions. The arrested were taken to the attorney general who charged them with three felonies and four misdemeanours. The same attorney general issued an order allowing for the publication of the names and photographs of the four arrested, who deny all charges.
At the same time a witch-hunt has been declared by the majority of corporate media. The arrested has been characterized as “terrorists” by the media, while a direct implication of the anarchist movement as a whole has been communicated (eg. Mega TV) even if no specific findings have been presented justifying this implication. Once again, the anarchist movement is being targeted as a whole by media demanding the erosion of hard-won liberties, more policing and repression.
Under this climate another six arrest warrants have been issued for the same case. This means that more arrests are likely to follow. What is more, media “leaks” directly from the police headquarters are trying to suggest that the fugitives might be hiding in university grounds or anarchist squats, in an attempt to lay the ground for raids of either that could follow.