Friday, December 3, 2010

Prisoners across Greece in a new wave of struggle


Echoing the large mobilisations of November 2008, when prisoners went on meal abstaining/ hunger strikes across the country, a fresh wave of mobilisations in the Greek prisons has just begun.
Translation of the prisoners’ demands and call for solidarity
Since Monday 29th November the prisoners in Greek jails have begun an abstention from meals, which is to escalate into a hunger strike, as a protest against the political indifference that they are experiencing. The prisoners, with a press release of the coordinating bodies of all the prisons-hellholes in the country, submit their demands (analytically in the enclosed list) for de-congestion of the prisons, improvement in the conditions, real justice, less imprisonment:
Demands:
1. To stop the abuse of pre-trial detention.
2. Reduction of the statutory upper limits to continuous imprisonment
3. Abolition of devastating sentences and wider application of the measure of probation/remission and conditional release
4. Legislation setting the upper time limit of the statute of limitation for disciplinary sentences at 6 months – for these not to be used as restraining factor for conditional release.
5. The abolition of the anti-terrorism law and the special terms of detention for political prisoners
6. Abolition of under age prisons and the establishment of structures of protection for underage offenders [translators' note: we are unsure of the meaning 'ανοιχτών δομών προστασίας']
7. Immediate release of prisoners with special needs and those who suffer from chronic serious illnesses
8. Immigrant prisoners: (a)immediate and unconditional practice of their right to serve their sentence in their country of origin (b) immediate release of all those who are held for judicial or administrative deportation, c) immediate trying of all trials of greeks and immigrants in all degrees
9. Leave of absence: (a) granting of leaves of absence with the same preconditions for all, no to the unequal and discriminatory treatment, no to arbitrary rejections of applications. (b) increase in the duration of leave in all cases. c) granting of leaves at the 1/5th [of the sentence] for all offences and for all prisoners, including those who are serving sentences for drugs.
10. Improvement in conditions of imprisonment: (a) the right to dignity, health, education, communication, development of personality, free speech, exercise (b) the right to work, immediate opportunity of employment for those who wish to do so, without restrictions due to disciplinary measures c) increase of jobs and increase in the percentage accounted for the days worked [which is subtracted from the sentence] (d) application of measures alternative to imprisonment – expansion of the institution of rural prisons to include female prisoners (e) banning of physical examinations, especially vaginal and anal, (f) improvement of the conditions within holding areas, of transfers and of means of transport.
11. Abolition of monetary sentences (fines).
The Initiative for the Rights of Prisoners stands in solidarity with the just struggle of the prisoners and makes a call for individuals, collectives and organizations to an open meeting to coordinate our actions for the organisation of acts of solidarity for the prisoners’ struggle.
Saturday 4th December, 8 pm, Social Center – Meeting-place of Immigrants
Ermou 23 & Venizelou, Thessaloniki
Initiative for the Rights of Prisoners, Thessaloniki

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Solidarity Poster for Polykarpos Georgiadis and Vaggelis Chrisohoidis (greece)



POSTER SAYS:
did anyone speak of a
KIDNAPPING?
“…A handful of capitalists
have organized a criminal gang
and have kidnapped the proletarians,
demanding for ransom
their labor force,
merchandising their human activity,
their time (which is turned into money),
their own being itself…”
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
to vaggelis Chrisohoidis and Polykarpos Georgiadis
who the persecuting authorities, exactly because they denied to betray values and people,
accuse them as participators in the kidnapping of industrialist Milonas
anarchists from Serres from north-greece


Anarchists solidarity protest outside Korydallos prison, the main prison in Athens, at the time of the change of the year. This protest happens every New Year's Eve for the past six years. This year more than 400 people took part in the protest that interacted with the prisoners inside through shouting mutual slogans and fireworks. The main slogan was "The passion for freedom is stronger that your prisons".
NEW YEAR OUTSIDE IN KORRIDALOS PRISON 2011
Watch live streaming video from agitprop at livestream.com
FIRE TO ALL PRISONS

A society that punishes/the condition of incarceration/the prison of the mind/the prison as punishment/the rage of the damned will sound on the ruins of prisons/those denying obedience and misery of our era even within its hellholes/will dance together on the ruins of every last prison/with the flame of rebellion avenging whatever creates prisons.

To the prisoners struggle already counting one dead and thousands in hunger strike across greece, we stand in solidarity and anger until the destruction of every last prison.


ARSON AND WILDFIRE FOR EVERY PRISON

SOLIDARITY TO ALL PRISONERS IN GREECE


Keny Arkana - La Rage English Subtitles

1976 - 2000 Greek Anarchists Fight for Freedom

(December Riots in Greece)