LETTER FROM THE SPECIAL BASEMENT O THE 6TH WING OF KORIDALLOS PRISONS ( ATHENS GREECE)

Since the 29^th of November, we the three political prisoners of the underground special wing 6 of Koridallos, defendants for the case of Revolutionary Struggle, participated in the mobilizations of the prisoners of all prisons which either with prison food abstention, or with hunger strikes fight for the improvement of certain provisions of the C.C. (Correctional Code) regarding the leave days, the probations and disciplinary matters, decent treatment and improvement of the detainment conditions, the abolition of certain draconian penal provisions, special detainment conditions, reduction of the life sentence as well as the release of disabled prisoners and cancer patients.

In the frames of these demands it is also claimed that the special antiterrorist legislations that occasionally have been voted are abolished, with most recent those that passed in August that the “progressive” Kastanidis passed secretly and where its allowed for anonymous witnesses to testify in trials of cases of armed revolutionary organizations and “organized crime” as well as the penalization of violent action of demonstrators in mass mobilizations as “terrorist actions”.

Is not not accidental the situation in which they passed these two provisions since the present minister of “Justice” Kastanidis participates in a government of traitors of the Greek people that executes the commands of the lenders of the international economic elite.

It is natural that along with the application of the Memorandum, the repression of the state for the defense of the regime since they await social explosions that can put at risk its existence itself.

Also among the demands of the prisoners is the abolishment of the special regime of detainment of political prisoners whether its the special wing in the F.P.K. (female prisons of koridallos) where are detained the sentenced for the 17N (17November organization), or the basement of the 6^th wing.

The 6^th wing is an isolated small wing and the basement in which we are kept has 8 cells of 2 people.

The 6^th was a building - warehouse which was transformed into a detainment space in 2002 when the 17N arrests happened.

For many months, the arrested of the 17N experienced a regime of isolation where they were locked in the cells 23 hours a day, without free access to information and correspondence, while to the courtyard - grave 20 x 10 meters that sees only to the sky through a barbwire, they came out 1 hour 2 people at a time and with the escort of a prison guard.

Even though this special regime was abolished, the basement of the 6^th continues to function despite all the insufficiencies of the building infrastructure in air, lighting and the big tightness of space since outside the cells only a narrow corridor 10 x 2,5 m for the prisoners to walk.

As anyone can realize we have the same space that the domestic animals have in a cage or in a pen.

To the basement of the 6^th, the prison authorities sends either prisoners like us political, with the decision of the ministry, or prisoners that are branded dangerous (e.g. to escape) and are sent here for isolation, or prisoners which have problems with other prisoners from other wings.

Despite all this, recently, the prison authorities have crammed 20 detainees in the basement of the 6^th, putting a third person in the cells of two, which slept in the floor while the maximum capacity is 16 individuals in such a narrow space.

On Friday the 10^th of December in the afternoon, some of us protested this situation to the sergeant on shift who although justified us regarding that this situation offends human dignity, declared to us he cannot do anything because there is no other space to put the extra prisoners.

After few hours and just before the prison closed, we were informed that the minister of “Justice” of the troika, Kastanidis, is visiting the prisons of koridallos to “discuss” with a “delegation” of detainees the demands which have been placed with the mobilizations that are taking place all over greece in all prisons.

Then we decided the 19 prisoners of the basement, with common defiance, to deny to enter the cells at 8.00pm in the evening as sais the regulation of the prison and we demanded that the minister himself to come and visits the basement of the 6^th and see the situation for himself.

Since we realize that the minister came to koridallos in order to make another political “communication funfair” meeting with a non-existent “elected self-organized committee of struggle”, we denied as it was proposed to us by the prison authorities that 2 individuals go as representatives of the basement of the 6^th and we insisted that he should come down to the basement and that we will not enter the cells if he does not come. We had no intention to “discuss” with someone that, because of his political identity, the fake promises and the “i will” is his profession, e.g. he had promised when he was in the opposition to abolish the “hoodlaw” (law which says that if you cause damage while wearing a hood or mask, its a terrorist action) while now as minister of the troika of the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank. and the E.U. applies even more draconian laws.

Naturally our demand that the minister comes to the basement of the 6^th was not accepted either because the “honorable” minister denied, or because the sergeant denied to transmit our demand.

We then decided that we are not going to enter the cells all night if the basement of the 6^th is not relieved of the overcrowding, which means the transport of the extra prisoners, something that finally happened at 11.30 at night.

Nothing of course guarantees that we will not have similar situations in the future.

The obvious that we demand is dignity and this consists the abolishment of the basement of the 6^th wing, the abolishment of the special division where they keep the sentenced of the 17N, the abolishment of every special regime of detainment for any category of prisoners, while we support all the demands of our fellow prisoners that participate in the mobilizations.

The most and real criminals are not behind the prison walls. The real robbers and murderers, those that rob the greek people, that plunder the wages and the pensions, those that deprive the care and health, are in the “Megaro Maximou” (maximou mansion, the greek equivalent of the white house, in the ministerial offices, in the seats of parliament, in the bourgeois districts, in the villas and in the luxurious offices of the bankers, the businessmen and the shipowners.

k.Gournas, S.Nikitopoulos, N.Maziotis 

boubourAs translation for actforfreedomnow