List of anarchist and other political prisoner comrades in Greece (August 2011 update)
From Liberación Total (August 9, 2011):
Our comrades are transferred frequently. Therefore, this list will continue to be updated as needed. The mailing addresses of the prisons where our comrades are being held are written in Greek, but with Latin letters in order to make it easier for those showing solidarity from other countries to send letters, postcards, etc. The way the addresses are written should make them understandable to Greek postal employees and civil servants.
Three comrades from the anarchist milieu are at large: Marios Seisidis and Grigoris Tsironis, fugitives since January 2006 (with prices on their heads since October 2009) and accused of the same bank robbery as Yiannis Dimitrakis, plus a comrade accused of belonging to Revolutionary Struggle.
For the first time on this list we have included prisoners from the leftist November 17 urban guerrilla group, who have been in prison since 2002 (the year the group was “dismantled”). Despite enormous political differences, most anarchists and antiauthoritarians support them. We also want to point out that Dimitris Koufodinas is perhaps the only political prisoner in Greece who is fluent in Spanish (he actually translated Xosé Tarrío’s Huye, hombre, huye into Greek).
There are also a number of “social” prisoners (Vangelis Pallis, Ilias Karadouman, and Spiros Stratoulis, among others) who always show solidarity with and are very active in struggles on the inside, but they haven’t been included on this list. Additionally, several weeks ago a young comrade was sent to Korydallos Prison after being brutally beaten by riot police (leaving him with a bunch of missing teeth, a head wound, and back injuries) while on his way home from a DIY concert in Exarcheia one morning. The pigs apparently identified him as one of the people who had carried out Molotov attacks on riot police units stationed in the neighborhood just a few hours earlier. However, the young man hasn’t yet decided if he wants his name to be released.
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Yiannis Dimitrakis
Geniko Katastima Kratisis Domokou
TK 35010 Domokos
Fthiotida
Greece
On January 16, 2006, Dimitrakis was arrested after being seriously wounded by police bullets during a bank robbery in downtown Athens. Arrest warrants were later issued for three comrades alleged to be his accomplices. Two of them, Marios Seisidis and Grigoris Tsironis, remain at large. The third, Simos Seisidis, was arrested on May 3, 2010. In June 2007, Dimitrakis was sentenced to 35 years and 6 months in prison. At a December 2010 appeal hearing, he was acquitted of several charges (one of which was attempted homicide of a security guard) and his sentence was reduced to 12 years. He is now able to go on leave from prison every other month.
—
Vangelis Chrysochoidis
Dikastiki Filaki Komotinis
TK 69100 Komotini
Greece
Polykarpos Georgiadis
Kleisti Filaki Kerkiras
TK 49100 Kerkyra
Greece
In late August 2008, Chrysochoidis and Georgiadis were arrested in Thessaloniki and charged with the kidnapping of powerful industrialist Giorgos Mylonas, which took place earlier that summer. Chrysochoidis and Georgiadis denied that they participated in the kidnapping, but they did declare their solidarity with Vassilis Palaiocostas (Greece’s “most-wanted” and the country’s most famous bank robber, who has been charged in the same case). In February 2010, Chrysochoidis and Georgiadis were each sentenced to 22 years and 3 months in prison. An appeal hearing is scheduled for February 2012.
—
Members of the Fire Cells Conspiracy:
Panayiotis Argyrou
Dikastiki Filaki Koridallou, A Pteryga
TK 18110 Korydallos
Athens
Greece
In October 2009, a warrant was issued for Argyrou’s arrest on charges of belonging to the Fire Cells Conspiracy. On November 1, 2010, he and Gerasimos Tsakalos were arrested for mailing incendiary packages. After their arrest, Argyrou and Tsakalos revealed that they are Fire Cells Conspiracy members. He was tried in the so-called “Halandri case” (for three specific Fire Cells Conspiracy attacks) and sentenced to 25 years in prison out of a total sentence of 37 years. He is currently awaiting future Fire Cells Conspiracy trials.
Damiano Bolano
Geniko Katastima Kratisis Domokou, D1 Pteryga
TK 35010 Domokos
Fthiotida
Greece
In September 2009, a warrant was issued for Bolano’s arrest on charges of belonging to the Fire Cells Conspiracy. On March 14, 2011, he and four other comrades were arrested in Volos. After his arrest, he revealed that he is a Fire Cells Conspiracy member. He is currently awaiting trial.
Olga Economidou
Katastima Kratisis Ginaikon Eleonas Thivon
TK 32200 Thebes
Greece
On March 14, 2011, Economidou and four other comrades were arrested in Volos. After her arrest, she revealed that she is a Fire Cells Conspiracy member. She is currently awaiting trial.
Haris Hatzimichelakis
Dikastiki Filaki Koridallou, A Pteryga
TK 18110 Korydallos
Athens
Greece
On September 23, 2009, Hatzimichelakis was arrested and charged with belonging to the Fire Cells Conspiracy. In November 2010, after Panayiotis Argyrou and Gerasimos Tsakalos were arrested for mailing incendiary packages, Hatzimichelakis revealed that he is a Fire Cells Conspiracy member. He was tried in the so-called “Halandri case” (for three specific Fire Cells Conspiracy attacks) and sentenced to 25 years in prison out of a total sentence of 37 years. He is currently awaiting future Fire Cells Conspiracy trials.
Giorgos Nikolopoulos
Dikastiki Filaki Komotinis
TK 69100 Komotini
Greece
In September 2009, a warrant was issued for Nikolopoulos’ arrest on charges of belonging to the Fire Cells Conspiracy. On March 14, 2011, he and four other comrades were arrested in Volos. After his arrest, he revealed that he is a Fire Cells Conspiracy member. He is currently awaiting trial.
Michalis Nikolopoulos
Kleisti Filaki Trikalon
TK 42100 Trikala
Greece
In September 2009, a warrant was issued for Nikolopoulos’ arrest on charges of belonging to the Fire Cells Conspiracy. On January 26, 2011, he was arrested, after which he revealed that he is a Fire Cells Conspiracy member. He is currently awaiting trial.
Giorgos Polydoras
Kleisti Filaki Kerkyras
TK 49100 Kerkyra
Greece
On March 14, 2011, Polydoras and four other comrades were arrested in Volos. After his arrest, he revealed that he is a Fire Cells Conspiracy member. He is currently awaiting trial.
Christos Tsakalos
Geniko Katastima Kratisis Grevenon
TK 51100 Grevena
Greece
Since mid-November 2010, Tsakalos had been at large, as a warrant for his arrest was issued shortly after the arrest of his brother Gerasimos. On March 14, 2011, he and four other comrades were arrested in Volos. After his arrest, he revealed that he is a Fire Cells Conspiracy member. He is currently awaiting trial.
Gerasimos Tsakalos
Geniko Katastima Kratisis Domokou, D1 Pteryga
TK 35010 Domokos
Fthiotida
Greece
On November 1, 2010 Tsakalos and Panayiotis Argyrou were arrested for mailing incendiary packages, after which they revealed that they are Fire Cells Conspiracy members. Tsakalos is currently awaiting trial.
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Other prisoners sentenced in the “Halandri case”:
Giorgos Karagiannidis
Dikastiki Filaki Koridallou, A Pteryga
TK 18110 Korydallos
Athens
Greece
In September 2009, a warrant was issued for Karagiannidis’ arrest on charges of belonging to the Fire Cells Conspiracy. On December 4, 2010, he was arrested during an antiterrorist operation that gave rise to the so-called “Nea Smyrni case” (Nea Smyrni is the Athens neighborhood where Alexandros Mitrousias and Costas Sakkas were arrested in possession of numerous weapons while leaving a garage where explosives and more weapons were found). Karagiannidis denies being a member of the Fire Cells Conspiracy, but he was nevertheless tried in the so-called “Halandri case” and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He is currently awaiting trial for the “Nea Smyrni case” (on charges of forming an “unnamed terrorist organization”), and it’s very likely that he will also face further charges for attacks carried out by the Fire Cells Conspiracy.
Konstantina Karakatsani
Ginaikies Filakes Koridallou
TK 18110 Korydallos
Athens
Greece
On September 25, 2009, a warrant was issued for Karakatsani’s arrest on charges of belonging to the Fire Cells Conspiracy, and she was ultimately arrested on April 22, 2011. She denies being a member of the Fire Cells Conspiracy, but was nevertheless tried in the so-called “Halandri case” (for three specific Fire Cells Conspiracy attacks) and sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Panayiotis Masouras
Geniko Katastima Kratisis Grevenon
TK 51100 Grevena
Greece
On September 23, 2009, Masouras was arrested. He was finally granted a conditional release on March 23, 2011 (given that he had already been in prison for 18 months, which in Greece is the maximum amount of time one can serve without having been sentenced). He denies being a member of the Fire Cells Conspiracy, but was nevertheless tried in the so-called “Halandri case” (for three specific Fire Cells Conspiracy attacks) and sentenced to 11 years and 6 months in prison. He was taken back into custody and returned to prison immediately after the sentences were announced on July 29, 2011.
Alexandros Mitrousias
Dikastiki Filaki Koridallou, A Pteryga
TK 18110 Korydallos
Athens
Greece
In September 2009, a warrant was issued for Mitrousias’ arrest on charges of belonging to the Fire Cells Conspiracy. On December 4, 2010, he was arrested during an antiterrorist operation that gave rise to the so-called “Nea Smyrni case” (Nea Smyrni is the Athens neighborhood where Mitrousias and Costas Sakkas were arrested in possession of numerous weapons while leaving a garage where explosives and more weapons were found). Mitrousias denies being a member of the Fire Cells Conspiracy, but he was nevertheless tried in the so-called “Halandri case” and sentenced to 11 years in prison. He is currently awaiting trial for the “Nea Smyrni case” (on charges of forming an “unnamed terrorist organization”), and it’s very likely that he will also face further charges for attacks carried out by the Fire Cells Conspiracy.
—
Other prisoners in the “Nea Smyrni case” (there were six in total, but in May 2011 Dimitris Michail and Christos Politis were granted a conditional release pending trial):
Stella Antoniou
Kleisti Kentriki Filaki Ginaikon Koridallou
TK 18110 Korydallos
Athens
Greece
As part of an antiterrorist operation that gave rise to the so-called “Nea Smyrni case,” Antoniou was arrested on December 4, 2010 in an apartment she shared with Costas Sakkas. She is currently awaiting trial for the “Nea Smyrni case” (on charges of forming an “unnamed terrorist organization”).
Costas Sakkas
Dikastiki Filaki Nafpliou
TK 21100 Argolida
Greece
On December 4, 2010, Sakkas was arrested during an antiterrorist operation that gave rise to the so-called “Nea Smyrni case” (Nea Smyrni is the Athens neighborhood where Sakkas and Alexandros Mitrousias were arrested in possession of numerous weapons while leaving a garage where explosives and more weapons were found). Sakkas is currently awaiting trial for the “Nea Smyrni case” (on charges of forming an “unnamed terrorist organization”).
—
Members of Revolutionary Struggle (although only three have revealed their membership, similar charges are being leveled at an unnamed comrade who has been at large since April 2010, Maria Beraha (Costas Gournas’ partner), Christoforos Kortesis, Sarantos Nikitopoulos, and Vangelis Stathopoulos (in April 2011, after spending a year in prison, the latter three were granted a conditional release pending trial):
Costas Gournas
Dikastiki Filaki Koridallou, ST Pteryga
TK 18110 Korydallos
Athens
Greece
Nikos Maziotis
Dikastiki Filaki Koridallou, ST Pteryga
TK 18110 Korydallos
Athens
Greece
Pola Roupa
Kleisti Kentriki Filaki Ginaikon Koridallou
TK 18110 Korydallos
Athens
Greece
On April 10, 2010, Gournas, Maziotis, Roupa, and three other comrades (who are currently on conditional release) were arrested on charges of belonging to the Revolutionary Struggle organization. On April 29, 2010, via an open letter, Gournas, Maziotis, and Roupa revealed that they are in fact members of Revolutionary Struggle. They are currently awaiting trial, which will most likely begin in October 2011.
—
Alexandros Kosivas
Dikastiki Filaki Koridallou, A Pteryga
TK 18110 Korydallos
Athens
Greece
Michalis Traikapis
Dikastiki Filaki Koridallou, A Pteryga
TK 18110 Koridallos
Athens
Greece
On September 17, 2010, Kosivas and Traikapis were arrested (along with a female comrade, who was granted a conditional release) on the island of Evia on charges of robbing a bank in the town of Psachna that same day. They deny the charges and are currently awaiting their October 2011 trial.
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Christos Stratigopoulos
Dikastiki Filaki Larisas
TK 21110 Larissa
Greece
On October 1, 2009, Stratigopoulos and Alfredo Bonanno were arrested in Trikala on charges of robbing a bank. Stratigopoulos admitted full responsibility for the robbery. Nevertheless, both men were tried on November 22, 2010. Bonanno was sentenced to four years in prison for being a “common accomplice,” but he was granted a release (along with a ten-year ban on entering Greece), while Stratigopoulos was sentenced to eight years in prison.
—
Yiannis Skouloudis
Eidiko Katastima Kratisis Neon Avlona
TK 19011 Avlona
Attica
Greece
On October 13, 2010, Skouloudis was arrested in Thessaloniki while torching two Public Power Corporation (DEI) vehicles. He has admitted responsibility for the arson. After his arrest, four more comrades were named as his accomplices and went into hiding.
—
The “Vyronas Four” (Vyronas is the Athens neighborhood where they were arrested):
Dimitris Dimitsiadis
Dikastiki Filaki Koridallou, A Pteryga
TK 18110 Korydallos
Athens
Greece
Dimitris Fessas
Dikastiki Filaki Koridallou, A Pteryga
TK 18110 Korydallos
Athens
Greece
Haralambos Stylianidis
Dikastiki Filaki Koridallou, A Pteryga
TK 18110 Korydallos
Athens
Greece
Sokratis Tzifkas
Eidiko Katastima Kratisis Neon Avlona
TK 19011 Avlona
Attica
Greece
Dimitsiadis, Fessas, Stylianidis, and Tzifkas were charged for the same October 13, 2010 arson of Public Power Corporation (DEI) vehicles that led to the arrest of Yiannis Skouloudis in Thessaloniki, so they chose to go into hiding. After spending three months underground, they were arrested on January 13, 2011 in an apartment in the Athens neighborhood of Vyronas, where a number of weapons were also found. They are currently awaiting trial for the Thessaloniki arson and for forming an “unnamed terrorist organization” (on account of the weapons they were found with). Some time ago, they released a lengthy letter as a contribution to the revolution.
—
Simos Seisidis
Nosokomeio Kratoumenon Koridallou
TK 18110 Korydallos
Athens
Greece
On January 16, 2006, a warrant was issued for comrade Seisidis’ arrest on charges of taking part in the that day’s bank robbery during which Yiannis Dimitrakis was arrested. On May 3, 2010, Seisidis was shot by police during his arrest and suffered a serious injury to his leg, which later had to be amputated. He is currently at Korydallos Prison hospital. At his trial, which began in late March 2011, he was acquitted (due to a lack of evidence) of the January 2006 bank robbery as well as charges of having participated in another six bank robberies between 2006 and 2008 (since Seisidis was at large during that time period, the authorities “generously” charged him in a number of unsolved cases). Nevertheless, Seisidis remains in prison awaiting two more trials. On September 16, 2011, he will be tried for “attempted homicide”—of the same police officer who shot him from behind on May 3, 2010! Then there is a pending trial for arms theft involving an incident that took place over three years ago, when someone snatched a semiautomatic from the guard watching the home of a Supreme Court judge. Neither the weapon nor the perpetrator were ever found, thus making it easy to charge Seisidis.
—
Rami Syrianos
Dikastiki Filaki Ioanninon
TK 45110 Ioannina
Greece
On January 31, 2011, Syrianos was arrested in Thessaloniki after a robbery at an auction of vehicles seized by the police due to their connected to smuggling or customs violations. He has admitted responsibility for the robbery and is currently awaiting trial.
—
Dimitris Hatzivasiliadis
Dikastiki Filaki Koridallou, A Pteryga
TK 18110 Korydallos
Athens
Greece
On the morning of February 11, 2011, while walking through the Athens neighborhood of Kypseli, Hatzivasiliadis was arrested in possession of two pistols. Despite the fact that carrying weapons is in itself not (yet) a felony in Greece, Hatzivasiliadis was nevertheless locked up because the judges at his hearing increased the degree of the charge in accordance with the antiterrorist law, intimating that Hatzivasiliadis “intended to use the weapons for indeterminate ends” (?).
—
Theofilos Mavropoulos
Kleisti Kentriki Filaki Ginaikon Koridallou, Eidiki Pteryga
TK 18110 Korydallos
Athens
Greece
On May 18, 2011, Mavropoulos was arrested in the Athens neighborhood of Pefki after being seriously wounded during a shootout with two patrol officers. The comrade who was with him managed to escape. Mavropoulos is being charged with two counts of attempted homicide, among other charges. After spending a month in the hospital, he is currently in a special solitary confinement wing located on the premises of the women’s prison at Korydallos. Members of November 17 are in the same wing.
—
Sentenced in the November 17 case (the third Xeros brother, Vassilis, was released on July 20, 2011):
Dimitris Koufodinas
Iraklis Kostaris
Christodoulos Xeros
Savvas Xeros
Kleisti Kentriki Filaki Ginaikon Koridallou, Eidiki Pteryga
TK 18110 Korydallos
Athens
Greece
First Fire Cells Conspiracy trial ends with severe sentences [UPDATED]
From Act for Freedom Now! (July 19, 2011) and Liberación Total (July 21, 2011):
The verdicts and sentences were announced today in the first Fire Cells Conspiracy trial (the so-called “Halandri case,” which began on January 19), and the end results are not good. The three-member Athens Felony Court imposed even longer sentences than those requested by the prosecutor. The breakdown is as follows:
Haris Hatzimichelakis: Guilty of forming and belonging to a terrorist organization, manufacturing and possessing three explosive devices, and causing explosions with those devices at the Ministry of Macedonia-Thrace, the home of former Interior Vice-Minister Panayiotis Hinofotis, and the home of PASOK ministers Louka Katseli and Gerasimos Arsenis. Sentenced to 25 years in prison out of a total combined sentence of 77 years.
Panayiotis Argyrou: Guilty of forming and belonging to a terrorist organization, manufacturing and possessing three explosive devices, and causing explosions with those devices at the Ministry of Macedonia-Thrace, the home of former Interior Vice-Minister Panayiotis Hinofotis, and the home of PASOK ministers Louka Katseli and Gerasimos Arsenis. Sentenced to 25 years in prison out of a total combined sentence of 77 years.
Giorgos Karagiannidis: Guilty of belonging to a terrorist organization, manufacturing and possessing the explosive device used at the home of former Interior Vice-Minister Panayiotis Hinofotis, and being an accomplice to the explosion at the home of PASOK ministers Louka Katseli and Gerasimos Arsenis. Sentenced to 20 years in prison out of a total combined sentence of 32 years.
Panayiotis Masouras: Guilty of belonging to a terrorist organization, manufacturing and possessing the explosive device used at the home of former Interior Vice-Minister Panayiotis Hinofotis, and being an accomplice to the explosion at the home of PASOK ministers Louka Katseli and Gerasimos Arsenis. Sentenced to 11 years and 6 months in prison out of a total combined sentence of 19 years. Submitted an application for a suspended sentence, which was unanimously rejected despite the prosecutor’s willingness to accept it.
Konstantina Karakatsani: Guilty of belonging to a terrorist organization, manufacturing and possessing the explosive device used at the home of former Interior Vice-Minister Panayiotis Hinofotis, and being an accomplice to the explosion at the home of PASOK ministers Louka Katseli and Gerasimos Arsenis. Sentenced to 11 years in prison out of a total combined sentence of 19 years. Submitted an application for a suspended sentence, which was unanimously rejected despite the prosecutor’s willingness to accept it.
Alexandros Mitrousias: Guilty of belonging to a terrorist organization, manufacturing and possessing the explosive device used at the home of former Interior Vice-Minister Panayiotis Hinofotis, and being an accomplice to the explosion at the home of PASOK ministers Louka Katseli and Gerasimos Arsenis. Sentenced to 11 years in prison out of a total combined sentence of 19 years. Refused to submit an application for a suspended sentence.
Manolis Yiospas: Guilty of three misdemeanors: two counts of robbery (stealing an official hospital stamp a Special Guard fines ledger) and one count of fraud (falsifying a student ID card). Sentenced to 2 years and 9 months in prison. Yiospas’ charges were based solely on objects found in his home, and had nothing whatsoever to do with the Fire Cells Conspiracy. The prosecutor initially requested that Yiospas be acquitted, and after the prison sentence was announced the prosecutor then proposed a three-year suspended sentence, which the court accepted.
Nikos Vogiatzakis: Acquitted of all charges due to lack of evidence.
Errikos Rallis: Acquitted of all charges due to lack of evidence.
Excluding Yiospas, these are the very first sentences ever handed down under the so-called “Antiterrorist Law 2.” It’s also important to note that the sentences apply to ethical/intellectual responsibility for the bombings in question, not physical responsibility. The actual physical perpetrators of the bombings are still considered to be unknown.
An extenuating circumstance in the sentences of Masouras, Karakatsani, Mitrousias, and Yiospas was that their “crimes” were commited before reaching the age of 21, and a further extenuating circumstance in Yiospas’s sentence was his “good behavior” during the six months he spent in prison, given that he didn’t release a single statement or open letter.
Our comrades’ friends and relatives, as well as their defense attorneys, were stunned by the severity of the sentences, especially considering the Court’s finding that most of the accused were only involved in the Fire Cells Conspiracy for the span of a few months.
We will fully update our comrades’ contact information as soon as it becomes available.
Giorgos Voutsis-Vogiatzis: An Extract from Diary of a Bomb-Thrower*
In early April 2010, Greek anarchist prisoner Giorgos Voutsis-Vogiatzis (now released) wrote this text in solidarity with the people being charged in the Fire Cells Conspiracy case. Many thanks to the comrades who included it in their Spanish-language Fire Cells Conspiracy compendium entitled Blowing Up the Existent: Reflections on Minority Combat.
I’m no good at saying goodbye, especially final goodbyes. I get uncomfortable when the curtain goes down. Goodbyes are the worst, particularly when emotion gets in the way, causing a strange chill as it crashes into the obligatory “forced goodbyes.” Generally, I consider emotional hysteria useless when it has an expiration date, since it depends on timing. Most of the time it’s fake, happening at just the right moment by pure luck, like a scene from a movie whose director is responsible for cutting it into the story in a specific way—when a soldier boards his train, when a prisoner goes back to prison after being on leave, when a couple breaks up. At these moments, a small death is consummated, and only at such moments do people come into contact with the vastness of death.
I suppose that, on the contrary, I’m good at leaving bombs. I don’t mean “placing” them. That’s something anyone can do with great ease, more or less. The life of a bomb-thrower is a life filled with selflessness, pain, vengeance, justice, war, love, hate. We can find such elements in anyone’s heart, but in a bomb-thrower’s life, there is a particular weight and intensity to these concepts’ coexistence. You live with them every day. The deepest emotions overwhelm you. Like a philosopher of action, you flirt with death and freedom, but also with their negations. You prefer to say goodbye to bombs instead of people. A bomb-thrower is a most contradictory person, but not in the usual sense of contradiction. She is not contradictory as a result of the prevailing societal confusion. She is no chameleon changing colors at will.
Her love for life and contempt for death motivate her actions. She arms herself with a love of justice in order to hate injustice. She arms herself with a passion for life in order to kill.
The moment of leaving a bomb is occasion for an extraordinary goodbye. You don’t count down the minutes until you can see her again. You count down the minutes until she explodes. You never want to see her again, because if you do, it means your action has failed.
Saying goodbye to a bomb is like waiting for a metamorphosis. Success or failure. EXPLOSION OR SURRENDER. Orgasm or dysfunction. In the end, the most pleasant goodbyes involve those who sow chaos without loving chaos.
Notes on taking part in radical struggle
The act of taking part in radical struggle is a true rejection of dominant ideology and modern lifestyle. Through revolutionary violence and a deep belief in the righteousness of her actions and the defense of her ideals, a fighter walks a path where selflessness nullifies confusion and determination destroys cowardice. The act of participating in the struggle is a fighter’s demonstration of coherence and commitment to ideals as well as comrades. A demonstration that revolution is not a cause removed from everyday life, is not a hobby or an activity on which to while away the time we live under capitalism. It’s not a youthful indiscretion that, when repression escalates and the going gets tough, one abandons like a summer fling while alarm clocks start ringing again throughout the metropolis. Revolution says: “I was, I am, and I will be.”
IMMEDIATE LIBERATION FOR COMRADES P. MASOURAS, M. YIOSPAS, AND H. HATZIMICHELAKIS, CHARGED WITH MEMBERSHIP IN THE FIRE CELLS CONSPIRACY ORGANIZATION EVEN THOUGH THEY THEMSELVES DENY THE CHARGES.
IMMEDIATE REVOCATION OF ALL ARREST WARRANTS PERTAINING TO THE SAME CASE.
—Giorgos Voutsis-Vogiatzis; from prison; April 5, 2010
*Said book still doesn’t exist.
Note: Haris Hatzimichelakis no longer denies the charge of membership in the Fire Cells Conspiracy, and has openly admitted to his participation in the group.
Panayiotis Masouras: Statement in Solidarity with the “Bombings Case” Prisoners in Chile
From Culmine (March 7, 2011) via Indymedia Barcelona (March 7, 2011):
On March 2, Panayiotis Masouras released the following letter in solidarity with the hunger strike being carried out by the imprisoned “Bombings Case” comrades in Chile.
In a world where most people exhaust themselves over the petty-bourgeois dilemmas produced by modern capitalism, and their common ethical code of self-interest celebrates the importance of saving their own skin, direct solidarity is a way to connect with people we’ve never met face-to-face and yet have fought and are fighting with on the same side: the side whose objective is true rejection of this society and its prevailing structures and perceptions.
It is an attempt to recover time and space, to stand firm beside one’s comrades. It is a permanent commitment to create alternative escape routes while consciously maintaining direct collaboration to spread revolutionary discourse and subversive practice as a necessary intensification of the struggle.
In the war being waged, we have known victory, we have confronted defeat, we have experienced joy, and we have tasted the bitterness of difficulty. In the trenches, between revolutionary forces and the regime’s machinery, losses come as the result of injuries on both sides. Of course, an inseparable part of the revolutionary movement comprises political prisoners, and it is inseparable because it makes us reflect on whether a war without losses can be called a war at all.
The captives express their opinion on how things are going, they take action, they propose solutions, they encounter dead ends, they communicate, and they are affected by severe doubts and anxieties. The discourse they articulate from behind the walls is a way for them to cut through the immovable wire fence and join the polymorphic subversive struggle.
Behind different walls, surrounded by different fences, locked up in cells far away from one another, what we share is the desire for liberation and the intensification of the radical subversive struggle for total disruption.
We continue to be among those decisive minorities that reject the dominant morality. We discover our commonalities in the context of struggle, spreading our ideas and completely rejecting the era we were destined for.
We raise a global barricade against the structures of Domination, and we fight on the side of revolution. We fight until victory.
I send my Solidarity to comrades Andrea Macarena Urzúa Cid, Camilo Nelson Pérez Tamayo, Carlos Luis Riveros Luttgue, Felipe Guerra Guajardo, Francisco Solar Domínguez, Mónica Andrea Caballero Sepúlveda, Pablo Hernán Morales Führmann, and Rodolfo Luis Retamales Leiva, who are captives of the Chilean regime and began a hunger strike on February 21, 2011, demanding the immediate release of all comrades being charged in their case.
—Panayiotis Masouras, political prisoner, Korydallos Prison
Note: The above statement doesn’t mention comrades Vinicio Aguilera and Omar Hermosilla, likely because news hadn’t yet reached Greece that Aguilera and Hermosilla were back in prison and had immediately joined the hunger strike. Another error is the mention of Pablo Morales as one of the hunger strikers, when in actuality he is the only one who has not joined.
Update on Fire Cells Conspiracy and recent arrests in Greece
From Culmine (December 29, 2010) via Indymedia Barcelona (December 28, 2010):
On November 1, two anarchist comrades—24-year-old Gerasimos Tsakalos and 22-year-old Panayiotis Argyrou—were arrested in Athens after attempting to mail package-bombs to various embassies. While Tsakalos was known to police simply because he is an anarchist, Argyrou had a warrant out for his arrest since October 2009 on charges of belonging to the Fire Cells Conspiracy, and he was also awaiting trial for allegedly torching a public bus two years ago. On November 22, Tsakalos, Argyrou, and Harilaos “Haris” Hatzimichelakis—who has been in pretrial detention since September 2009—released letters (Tsakalos and Argyrou’s letter, Hatzimichelakis’ letter) in which they admitted to being members of the Fire Cells Conspiracy.
On November 25, the Fire Cells Conspiracy claimed responsibility for mailing the package-bombs.
On December 4 and the days that followed, a massive counterterrorism operation took place in and around the Athens metropolitan area. Pigs raided and searched a number of homes and arrested several comrades. Among the six people (five men and one woman) later imprisoned were Giorgos Karagiannidis and Alexandros Mitrousias, both of whom had warrants out for their arrest since September 2009 on charges related to the Fire Cells Conspiracy case. Karagiannidis was arrested at an apartment in Piraeus. Mitrousias and another comrade, Constantinos Sakkas, were arrested as they were leaving a garage in the Nea Smyrni neighborhood. They allegedly had a bag in their possession containing two Glock pistols, a Skorpion submachine gun, and a hand grenade. In the garage, police also found three submachine guns, seven pistols of different manufacture, 50 kilograms of ANFO explosive, four hand grenades, three AK-47 assault rifles, a silencer, a large quantity of bullets, and 200 grams of TNT. At another location, the pigs found more than 30 fake ID cards, as well as other “contraband.” Karagiannidis and Mitrousias both denied having any relationship to the Fire Cells Conspiracy. Their arrest warrants, as well as warrants for others, were issued at the end of September 2009 on the basis of fingerprints found at Hatzimichelakis’ home—the notorious “safe house” in the Halandri neighborhood, where everything began. Since all the weapons were clean, the authorities were unable to link the six people arrested on December 4—some of whom don’t know one another and were arrested in different places—to any specific attacks, so they are now talking about “a new terrorist organization.” Due to our not wanting to release news based exclusively on police statements and articles in the bourgeois press, we consciously avoided writing anything about these events in the hope that those arrested would speak for themselves. A week ago, one of those arrested—well-known anarchist Christos Politis—released a letter that we intend to translate as soon as possible.
On December 22, Hatzimichelakis, Argyrou, and Tsakalos released a statement saying that Karagiannidis and Mitrousias have nothing to do with the Fire Cells Conspiracy.
On January 17, the first Fire Cells Conspiracy trial will take place in the courtroom at Korydallos Prison, and the group has called for solidarity. The thirteen people facing trial are: Panayiotis “Takis” Masouras (in pretrial detention since September 2009, he denies membership), Harilaos “Haris” Hatzimichelakis (in pretrial detention since September 2009, he recently admitted to membership), Konstantina “Nina” Karakatsani (at large since September 2009 and in pretrial detention since April 2010, she denies membership), Panayiotis Argyrou (at large since September 2009 and in pretrial detention since November 2010, he admitted to membership), Alexandros Mitrousias (at large since September 2009 and imprisoned on December 4, 2010, he denies membership), Giorgos Karagiannidis (at large since September 2009 and imprisoned on December 4, 2010, he denies membership), Emmanouil “Manolis” Yiospas (arrested in September 2009 and released on probation in April 2010), Nikos Vogiatzakis (imprisoned in February 2010 for one month and subsequently released on probation), Errikos Rallis (at large since November 2009, arrested in March 2010, and released on probation a few days later), plus four people who have warrants out for their arrest (three since October 2009, with the fourth being Gerasimos Tsakalos’ older brother, whose arrest warrant was issued a week after Gerasimos was arrested for the package-bombs). Absent from the list is Gerasimos Tsakalos, who will likely be tried at a later date.
