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.
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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.
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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.
—
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.
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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” (?).
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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.
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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
Letter from Theofilos Mavropoulos
From Culmine (July 22, 2011):
Theofilos Mavropoulos was arrested two months ago after being wounded during an armed confrontation with two police officers (who also got their share) in northern Athens. He spent several weeks at Red Cross Hospital before being transferred to a prison hospital and then to A Wing at Korydallos Prison. Below is his first full-length open letter.
The rebel is a kamikaze—someone who simply won’t accept the fate the machine has dealt her. That’s how you seek a life worth living. Those who completely reject this society have already faced the risk of death head-on. The struggle against the existent is an armed farewell. War or suicide.
—People Collaborating to Achieve Negation (Toward the Outside)*
On May 18, 2011, a comrade and I accidentally bumped into a mobile police unit in the Pefki neighborhood. They wanted to stop us and we tried to run, but we got fouled up (a police officer pounced on my colleague and immobilized him while he was trying to escape). Thus, wanting to extricate ourselves, I made the choice—the political choice—of armed confrontation. Wanting to flee from democracy’s armed mercenaries, since we couldn’t allow ourselves to surrender without a fight, I myself decided to take that risk, giving my comrade—who was unarmed—a chance to escape. He did so successfully, using the police patrol car itself, but I was unable to because of my wounds.
The reason why my comrade and I didn’t stop for a police ID check was because we had consciously chosen revolutionary clandestinity—the final, obligatory choice of those who refuse to allow the “Law” to imprison them.
Being underground means living on the edge of a knife, making complicated choices, and assuming a high level of risk. “Legality” is therefore of obvious use to a revolutionary entity.
Nevertheless, for revolutionaries who reach the dilemma of “whether to surrender or not,” how easy or difficult it is to “sell your own skin” depends on your previous experience with disobedience. Like the case of the “robbers in black,” who just a few years ago chose freedom underground over arrest and imprisonment, and especially Simos Seisidis, who refused to stop for a random ID check and lost his leg to police gunfire. Examples like theirs, among others, fill all our hearts with pride and strength.
Right now, I define myself as yet another revolutionary anarchist political prisoner in the hands of the State. A State that, in view of the gestating possibility of social unrest, is tightening its hold on its subjects and directly or indirectly abolishing many of its democratic pretexts (doing away with telephone anonymity, requiring that citizenship papers be carried, putting prices on certain peoples’ heads, releasing photos of those in struggle and imprisoning some of them on the basis of completely insubstantial evidence, making it illegal to mask up, etc.)
However, these measures are incapable of intimidating the generalized war of conscience that is underway. A polymorphic war, here and now, continually developing toward the goal of demolishing the existent. A revolutionary war. Without a beginning, middle, or end, but with many fronts. From open public assemblies to fiercely combative marches, from armed guerrilla attacks to the little everyday occurrences that make us evolve on an individual and collective level.
But for the anarchist/antiauthoritarian movement to be effective against the methodical maneuvering of the enemy, is must not be divided. False friendships, personality conflicts, maliciousness, and especially tolerance and acceptance of such behaviors and attitudes have to be replaced by unity and continual rejuvenation within the anarchist/antiauthoritarian milieu. At the moment, of course taking into account attempts at an organized internationalization of subversive action from Latin America to Europe, that urgency is more necessary than ever.
Additionally, the fact that the number of political prisoners has quickly increased as of late leads us to several conclusions. Apart from the matter of our solidarity, which has depth and substance when it is interactive and attacking, we must stress the need for revolutionary forces to always be one step ahead of the enemy. Winning a war doesn’t just require will and certain essential abilities. It also requires strategy. When your adversary is moving her pawns, you should be moving yours as well.
The way each one decides to fight is an individual choice and responsibility. Accordingly, starting from the individual, it’s enough to simply collectivize the common desire to fight Power. Political stability certainly has its part, but it’s also important to attempt to subvert that stability in order to reach something better.
The spread of anarchist/antiauthoritarian ideas plays a key role. Intensifying it quantitatively as well as qualitatively is essential. Also, in war, losses are a statistical certainty. However, potential revolutionaries aren’t solely motivated by their undesirable origins in the lower social strata. The complex of capitalist relationships and perspectives so dominates everyone’s life that the “worst off” can be found within every social and economic class. When human life has become just another product on the shelves of the market and its marketing, what’s the point of talking about cheap or expensive products when anything and everything has its price? Among the impoverished and exploited classes, there will doubtless be sound revolutionaries, but there will also be submissives, plenty of submissives.
All of you watching your children happily enjoying themselves in playgrounds and schoolyards today shouldn’t be surprised when you see them forming revolutionary alliances or taking part in armed attacks on Capital and the State tomorrow.
Thus, with coherence and persistence, as well as inexhaustible fighting spirit, you can achieve many things. Degrees of reconciliation may be different, but the goal remains the same, whether it sprouts up at assemblies in university auditoriums or comes blasting from the barrel of a gun: REVOLUTION FIRST AND FOREVER.
My fingerprints were found at the apartment in Kallithea and the apartment in Nea Ionia in Volos. I can’t take historical and political responsibility for belonging to the Fire Cells Conspiracy revolutionary organization because we never created that organization’s political discourse together. I also had certain disagreements with that discourse. Therefore, I am very clearly stating that I was never a member of the Fire Cells Conspiracy revolutionary organization.
But in no instance did those disagreements obstruct the path we walked together. I and my comrades in the Fire Cells Conspiracy evolved side-by-side, learning from one another and then—now stronger—taking action from a revolutionary perspective for the cause of freedom.
For those reasons, I proudly declare that I was PRESENT at the apartments in Kallithea and Volos, and I was also present in the lives of the members of the Fire Cells Conspiracy.
Recognizing their revolutionary activity, I stand in solidarity with all the imprisoned members of the organization, and I send them my comradely greetings.
May the pamphlet The Sun Still Rises be the prelude to a new, more relentless, more destructive, and more unyielding cycle of attacks. Comrades, whatever the cost, we will keep our heads high.
HONOR TO ANARCHIST LAMBROS FOUNTAS, MEMBER OF REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE
SOLIDARITY WITH ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS
NO ONE WILL BE FREE UNTIL THE LAST PRISON IS DESTROYED
—Theofilos Mavropoulos; July 18, 2011; A Wing; Korydallos Prison
*Translators’ Note: This quote comes from a pamphlet published by four of our Thessaloniki comrades (Sokratis Tzifkas, Dimitris Dimitsiadis, Haralambos Stylianidis, and Dimitris Fessas) during their brief period underground (October 2010–January 2011) before being arrested for the arson of several Public Power Corporation (DEI) vehicles.
Conscious Nihilism
For those who haven’t already read it, one of the better pieces of English writing summarizing a certain current of antiauthoritarian thought/action in Greece can be found here. Props.
TIOJ
Roundup of recent actions in Greece
From Culmine (April 1, 2011) via Indymedia Barcelona (March 21, 2011):
It would be impossible to keep track of every sabotage that has taken place during the past few weeks in Greece, and we are therefore limiting ourselves to details about attacks that have been claimed.
In the early hours of February 20, a Piraeus Bank in the Athens neighborhood of Votanikos was attacked with hammers and then set on fire. The action was dedicated to those being charged with membership in the Fire Cells Conspiracy, but the accompanying communiqué was unsigned.
In the early hours of February 21, a gazaki (camping gas canisters plus a flammable liquid, like gasoline) exploded at the Treasury Office in the Thessaloniki neighborhood of Touba. The action was claimed by the International Revolutionary Front: Arson Attack Cell and dedicated to “those being charged with membership in the Fire Cells Conspiracy, social bandit Rami Syrianos, and all dignified prisoners in struggle.”
On March 1, a Zografos driving school was torched in the Athens neighborhood of Kaisariani. The accompanying communiqué—simply signed “Action”—explained that Zografos was attacked because of its collaboration with the pigs, as evidenced by its participation in the Police Day celebrations at the Hellenic Police Academy’s Officers’ School last October. Like many other communiqués connected to actions commemorating the one-year anniversary of the death of Revolutionary Struggle member Lambros Fountas (shot and killed by the pigs on March 11, 2010), it ended with the slogan “Honor forever to Lambros Fountas.”
A group called Shadows for the Instigation of Nighttime Sabotage claimed responsibility for a series of arsons that took place in Athens on March 2. A Eurobank EFG branch in Kaisariani, the Treasury Office in Holargos, and the local New Democracy party headquarters in Tavros were all set on fire. These actions were dedicated to anarchist prisoner Christos Politis and the five others being charged in the same case (all six comrades were arrested on December 4, 2010), anarchist prisoner Aris Seirinidis, and the hunger-striking Chilean comrades being charged in the “Bombings Case.”
In the early hours of March 6, the Lambros Fountas Guerrilla Formation set fire to an Emporiki Bank branch located right in the middle of the bourgeois Athens neighborhood of Kolonaki. The action was dedicated to the “captive Guerrillas of the Fire Cells Conspiracy, Revolutionary Struggle, and November 17,” as well as the Chilean comrades on hunger strike.
That same morning, a KION construction site was torched. KION is one of the companies that constructs prisons and courthouses in Greece. The unsigned communiqué dedicated the arson to Aris Seirinidis and “all dignified prisoners of the war on the regime.”
In the early hours of March 14, the local PASOK party headquarters in the Thessaloniki neighborhood of Sikea was set on fire. The accompanying communiqué was signed by the International Revolutionary Front: Incendiary Plans for Nighttime Disorder. It mentioned the Chilean comrades caught up in the “Bombings Case,” the imprisoned Fire Cells Conspiracy members as well as the other prisoners being charged with membership in the group, and the five imprisoned Thessaloniki anarchists (Yiannis Skouloudis, Dimitris Fessas, Dimitris Dimitsiadis, Haralambos Stylianidis, and Sokratis Tzifkas) being charged with the arson of Public Power Corporation (DEI) vehicles.
In the early hours of March 15, the Chaos Warriors torched two Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE) vans parked in the city of Gerakas, just north of Athens. The arson was a display of solidarity with the five comrades arrested the previous day and charged with membership in the Fire Cells Conspiracy.
During the afternoon of March 18, a gazaki exploded on the doorstep of Health Minister Andreas Loverdos’ office in downtown Athens. In the accompanying communiqué signed by Revolutionary Liberatory Action, the arson was dedicated to Aris Seirinidis, Christos Politis, and the six prisoners being charged with membership in Revolutionary Struggle (three of whom deny the charges). The communiqué also made reference to Loverdos’ vile career as Labor and then Health Minister, the recently ended hunger strike by 300 illegal immigrants in Athens and Thessaloniki, and the revolts sweeping through the Arab world.
Additionally, there have been a number of solidarity protests in front of prisons. On March 13, 100 comrades demonstrated in front of Grevena Prison (photos), where Christos Politis has been locked up since his December 4, 2010 arrest during an Antiterrorist Unit operation. And on March 19, there was a demonstration in Ioannina in support of Rami Syrianos, who is imprisoned there (photos).
Apart from the above, there have been several anarchist “invasions” of Athens metro stations, during which ticket validation machines were destroyed (last month, the price of a trip on public transportation rose from 1 to 1.40 euros). There have also been a number of semi-organized stone and Molotov attacks on riot police in Exarcheia, as well as a few clashes with Nazis. In addition, the Keratea residents’ struggle against the construction of a local garbage dump continues in full swing, with support from a large portion of the anarchist milieu. Finally, several luxury cars have been torched in immediate response to the arrests of certain comrades, and there have been numerous protests and demonstrations in solidarity with anarchist prisoners Aris Seirinidis and Simos Seisidis, whose trials are both currently underway.
The good news: Actions in solidarity with the Fire Cells Conspiracy in Greece
From Klinamen (various dates):
The recent wave of attacks in solidarity with those on trial for being members of the Fire Cells Conspiracy began in Thessaloniki on January 12, when the Revolutionary Solidarity Cell of the Informal Anarchist Federation set fire to the office of journalist and LAOS (a far-right party) parliament member Aggelos Kolokotronis and the headquarters of the Retired Police Officers’ Union. They struck again the next night, torching a diplomatic car and the personal vehicles of two pigs.
On January 15 in Athens, the Warriors of Revolutionary Conscience carried out an arson against the Vasartis construction company in Halandri. Vasartis built the courtroom inside Korydallos Prison where the Fire Cells Conspiracy trial is being held.
That same day, the Lambros Fountas Guerrilla Formation left an explosive device consisting of three camping gas canisters, five liters of gasoline, and a fuse in the courtyard of the Halandri apartment complex where Greek Ombudsman Kalliopi Spanou lives. Supposedly an “independent” authority tasked with serving as a direct link between the state and “the people,” Spanou’s role in fact only serves to legitimize the democratic regime.
Also in mid-January, the Wolves of Solidarity went on an Athens arson spree against a Proton Bank branch in Vyronas, a PASOK office in Moschato, two private security cars in Gizi, and a pig’s personal motorcycle in Exarcheia.
On January 21, the Nighttime Agitators torched two Brinks armored trucks in Chania on the island of Crete.
On January 25 in Thessaloniki, the Offensive Policy Cell of the Informal Anarchist Federation set fire to a café/bar frequented by the pigs and the offices of the Judicial Superintendents’ Association.
On January 31 in Athens, the Revolutionary Formation for the Spread of Chaos torched a DIAS squad pig’s personal motorcycle in Sepolia and a mail truck in Nea Smyrni. This double-attack was specially dedicated to the recently arrested Michalis Nikolopoulos and all the other anarchist prisoners in Greece.
At noon on February 2, a low-strength package-bomb was deactivated outside the Justice Ministry in Athens. The package was addressed to Justice Minister Haris Kastanidis from the Independent Initiative of Paralegals, but ministry mail-room employees considered it suspicious and called the police. Four days later, a claim of responsibility was released by the Clandestine Sector of the Fire Cells Conspiracy, now part of the Informal Anarchist Federation.
Between February 3 and 5, the Reflective Attack Cell of the International Revolutionary Front’s Deviant Behavior for the Spread of Revolutionary Terrorism group carried out a series of arsons in Athens. The targets were a McDonald’s in Ampelokipoi, the Zografou town hall, and the Kaisariani town hall. Another three incendiary devices left at Marks & Spencer and Fred Perry clothing stores in Kifissia were unfortunately found by some of democracy’s serfs and deactivated by the police.
Finally, in Chania on the island of Crete, an incendiary device set fire to the headquarters of the Ktistor ATE construction company (a subsidiary of the giant multinational Électricité de France), which is contributing to the island’s ecological destruction. The attack was dedicated to the Fire Cells Conspiracy prisoners on hunger strike, and succinctly signed: “Down with the State.”
Many of these actions were also dedicated to the Revolutionary Struggle prisoners and the four comrades from Thessaloniki arrested at the beginning of January. A number of translated communiqués and claims of responsibility can be found at the excellent Act for Freedom Now! blog.
