Letter from imprisoned comrade Christos Politis, one of the 6 arrested on the 4th of December during a widespread anti-terrorist operation.

Some very first thoughts on my detention 

1. This letter does not constitute an overall political analysis of the anti-terrorist operation which began on December 4th, but rather a first political reading of my detention; of its meanings and wider aims.

2. It is a fact that I find myself in prison exactly because I am an anarchist; because for 15 years now I am continuously active through this radical political element. A reading of the legal documents of my case, together with the cynical statement by the chief of the greek police – that I was arrested because I was released in the High-court case*- are indisputable proof of this. I find myself locked up here, and I am deeply convinced of this, for our reactions to the murder of Christoforos Marinos in ’96, for the barricades outside the examination centres in ’98, for the anti-war demonstrations in ’99, for the demonstrations against the european leaders’ summit in Thessaloniki in 2003, for the student protests in ’06-’07, for our solidarity to the prisoners’ struggles and to all those prisoners who refuse to bow their head, for the December insurrection, for…, for… For being everywhere, with our smaller or larger forces, where nothing seemed certain and social entropy gave again a meaning to our lives and strength to our struggles.

3. On the 4th of December we were taken to police headquarters together with my friend and comrade Kostas Barlis, from outside a café in Exarchia by police officers from the Delta force and the antiterrorist unit. My friend is released approximately 16 hours later. I am handed the report of my arrest 26 hours after I was taken in. And then the madness begins. Because if during the last period we can see in a series of cases the criminalization of relationships of friendship and comradeship, in my case they can’t even “invoke” that. I am in prison for a case in which I do not even know my fellow accused. No witnesses recognize me, no police officers are claiming that I met with anyone of my fellow accused, none of the phone taps have a mention of my name and as far as the search carried out in my house the only thing worth mentioning is that they stole my shaving machine, so also my DNA (I will note that this is not even mentioned in the confiscation report). However, according to the antiterrorist unit the first “incriminating” evidence was that on the night of November 24th they saw me moving parallel to Praxitelous street in Piraeus. So what if on Iroon Politehniou street, three side-streets down the road, is were my attorney’s office is situated. So what if I paid him a visit that night as in a few days I had to present myself to the interrogator in regards to the High-court case. The second “indisputable” piece of evidence is that I had a drink in Exarchia, the area in which I socialize with dozens of people everyday, with an “unknown person” who according to the antiterrorist unit had eaten earlier a souvlaki with one of my fellow accused. Each can come to their own conclusion. Of course, for that whole week that I was kept in the antiterrorist division I remained isolated in a 1by3 cell, without a window and with the light constantly switched on. And then came the pre-determined decision for my detention and not only that but in Grevena. Grevena is a high-security prison where only long-term convicts are held and not those accused pending trial, plus it is situated 500km away from Athens, making any communication with friends, comrades, family and lawyers almost impossible.

4. The two very serious prosecutions against me within the space of two weeks and my detention should not spread confusion and be considered only as a continuous effort for me personally to be placed in a regime of suffocative control. On the contrary, this whole setting of extermination lies in the heart of modern repressive policy; in the heart of a multilevel plan aiming at the intimidation and the imposing of discipline on the new “dangerous classes” and the neutralization of the regimes’ political rivals. Aiming at the stultification, in other words, of the projects of self-activity, direct action, solidarity and the struggle for the re-appropriation of life; at the undermining of the anarchist and anti-authoritarian dynamic inside social fermentations. So that the recent general strike and the dynamic demonstrations of December 15th last for only a day, so that resistance is devalued, those in struggle are scorned, Keratea becomes simply an area a little outside of Athens, December is forgotten and celebrated like the 17th of November. And for the kingdom of death and order to be established, for the victorious attack of the capitalist world to triumph, it is necessary to multiply all those that find themselves targeted. The penal spectrum must be widened and legal concepts must be expanded with a permanent character of intentional vagueness; to lose every meaning or rather, even better, to acquire their full meaning with the enforcement of a state of emergency. Without any reserve, the interrogators and the prosecutors keep proving that their only preoccupation is how to crush the enemy within. And after, it’s the turn of the monotony of the correctional facilities and the pure, raw violence of incarceration.

5. The fabricated and canalized prosecutions based on the scenarios and fixations of the antiterrorist unit resemble cluster bombs. They aim somewhere in order to strike in a large radius around them, to destroy a wider area. This prosecution is not about me personally. This prosecution wants to instill fear in everyone. To make us cautious with who we talk. With who we go fly-posting. With whom we bring out a pamphlet. With whom we walk side by side in demonstrations. With who we exchange points of view at different events. And of course where we go. To infuse our everyday life with suspicion and fear. The clerks of the troika offer us generously the permanent “alibi” of obedience, a transient security and the false certainty of submission. Because who will dispute, without making a complete fool of themselves, that if we wanted nothing, if we were anarchists until we finished high-school, if we were “relieved” with the signing of the memorandum, if we hated immigrants, if we were fuming against the koukouloforoi (hooded-ones), if we were in fear of the “terrorists” neither myself nor many others who resist would have suffered the consequences of repression

6. The struggle, however, will not retreat. The regime and its various officials will never feel neither joy nor relief. We stand by the imprisoned anarchists, the prisoners in struggle. Until their liberation. We continuously contribute to the –theoretical and organizational- composition of our class and we develop the necessary strategic planning for achieving its victory. Let’s stand up. And let us take the next step. For the social/class counterattack. For the proletarian storming of the heavens.  P.S. As a good comrade once said to me: “Patience. Strength. Faith in the cause. We are right. Final.” These words will be my guide in these truly difficult moments.

Christos Politis

Grevena Prison

16/12/2010 

* On May 22nd , 2008 and around noon on the way to get my motorbike which I had left near Panormou metro station I was taken to Police Headquarters where I was asked various questions on my whereabouts the previous night. After some hours I was released. On the previous night an arson attack on vehicles had taken place within the perimeter of the high court of Athens. From this moment in time and onwards published articles start to appear based on police scenarios, which link me in the beginning with the arson attack against vehicles at the high court and later on present me as participating in various organizations and attacks, many times as being a leading figure. Last November they actually reached the point of announcing through the television an arrest warrant against me, which in reality did not even exist. At the same time, for long periods I had visible police surveillance. And the highlight, 2,5 years later I was summoned to defend myself as I was accused for the High court case. Indeed I presented myself to the interrogator on December 2nd and was released (for 2 days!).