Posts Tagged ‘Athens’
A writing by CCF members for the US prison mobilization and anarchist prisoners in Italy (Greece)
Sunday, October 30th, 2016
NON SERVIAM – I WILL NOT SERVE YOU
“Worse than enslavement is getting used to it…”
Life in the modern civilized world comprises false representations, false patterns, and false formalities. Formalities that determine our upbringing within a family, our education, our professional career, our relationships, our emotions, our smiles or tears. Patterns that castrate the scope of our perception so that our thoughts are directed onto a moving walkway going only one direction. Representations that disguise the system’s functions and pathogenies so that we see life unfold only on stage, and never wonder what’s hidden backstage. So, the thousands of suicides of desperate debtors is just another statistic among the unpleasant consequences of the economic crisis, the impoverishment of the so-called third world is just an unfortunate fact, and its wounds will heal by charity organizations, the countless dead of modern crusades, the unfortunate victims of the absurdity of war, and the convict slaves in American prisons are simply antisocial elements that provide social services to Democracy.
Prison itself is exile from life; a non-place and non-time behind the screen of a decent society, to make the ugliness that bothers the eyes of reputable citizens unseeable. Prisons are a proof of the perverse intelligence of authoritarian minds. They’re built onto walls echoing the screaming and weeping of thousands of people who’ve learned to sleep with anguish and despair. Prison is the country of captivity, the country where one learns to kneel before the “Forbidden”, a landfill for the disposal of human waste, an industrial dump where the social machine’s hazardous waste ends up. For most people, however, for all those who never learned to doubt, to question, to look beyond the obvious, prison is a security wall necessary to protect their peaceful and quiet life. (more…)
Tags: Athens, Attica (Prison Uprising), Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, Greece, Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI), International Revolutionary Front, International Solidarity, Korydallos Prison, Letter, Operation Scripta Manent, Prison Labour, Prison Labour Strike, Racism
Posted in Prison Struggle
Conspiracy of Cells of Fire – “For Alfredo and Anna – Until we meet” (Greece, Italy)
Tuesday, October 25th, 2016
In Italy, comrade Alfredo Cospito since October 3rd and comrade Anna Beniamino since October 10th, are on a hunger strike against the isolation imposed on them and on the anarchists imprisoned for the attacks of FAI (Operation “Scripta Manent”).
We know that the struggle against authority is unequal… Nevertheless we choose the war for freedom instead of the peace of fear.
Because we know that there are “free” people, who are more enslaved than prisoners, and living people that are more dead than most of our dead comrades who fell in the battle for freedom.
Because for every battle that we lose, a new one begins.
“Because if I don’t get burnt, if you don’t get burnt, how will the darkness turn to shining…”
For us solidarity is not simply a “touching” word, but a way of life, of becoming people with the dream as our measure.
We stand by our comrades Alfredo and Anna with all our hearts and minds, until our dreams meet…
STRENGTH AND SOLIDARITY TO THE COMRADE HUNGER STRIKERS
ALFREDO COSPITO AND ANNA BENIAMINO
NEVER REGRETFUL
NEVER DEFEATED
CCF / FAI – Urban Guerrilla Cell
George Polydoros
Olga Economidou
Gerasimos Tsakalos
Christos Tsakalos
Korydallos prison
–
CCF Per Alfredo ed Anna fino al incontro
In Italia dal 3 ottobre il compagno Alfredo Cospito e dal 10 ottobre la compagna Anna Beniamino sono in sciopero di fame contro il regime d’isolamento imposto a loro ed agli anarchici incarcerati per attachi di FAI (operazione scripta manent).
Conosciamo che la battaglia contro il potere è ineguale….però scegliamo la guerra per la libertà che la pace di paura. Perché sappiamo che ci siano “liberi” più schiavi che i carcerati e vivi più morti che i nostri compagni caduti in battaglia per la libertà. Perché per ogni battaglia che perdiamo, una nuova comincia. “Perché se non mi brucio io, se non ti bruci tu, come il buio diventerà splendore…”
Per noi la solidarietà non è una parola “emozionante” ma una maniera di vivere ad essere umani dove la nostra misura sarà il sogno.
Stiamo a lato dei compagni Alfredo ed Anna con tutta la nostra cuore e nostro mente fino al incontro del sogno…
FORZA E SOLIDARIETÀ AI COMPAGNI CHE FANO SCIOPERO DA FAME ALFREDO COSPITO ANNA BENIAMINO MAI PENTITI MAI PERDITI CCF/FAI-Cellula guerriglia urbana
Polidoros Giorgio Iconomidu Olga Tsacalos Gerasimos Tsacalos Christos Dalle prigioni di Coridalos
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Italy – Anarchist comrades Alfredo Cospito and Anna Beniamino ended their hunger strike on 22nd October
On 22nd October, following the revocation of solitary confinement, Alfredo and Anna stopped their hunger strike, which they had begun on 3rd October and 10th October respectively.
via: Croceneranarchica, actforfree
Tags: Alfredo Cospito, Anna Beniamino, Athens, Christos Tsakalos, Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, Conspiracy of Cells of Fire - Urban Guerilla Cell, Gerasimos Tsakalos, Giorgos Polydoros, Greece, Hunger Strike, Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI), International Revolutionary Front, International Solidarity, Korydallos Prison, Letter, Olga Economidou, Operation Scripta Manent
Posted in Prison Struggle
Nemesis Project : Athens – Conspiracy of Cells of Fire take responsibility for the bombing at the home of the Judge Georgia Tsatani / Conspiración de las Células del Fuego reivindica ataque con bomba contra casa de fiscal (Grecia)
Friday, October 14th, 2016
NEMESIS PROJECT
FIRST ACT
We claim responsibility for attacking the house of the district attorney Georgia Tsatani, in Ippokratous street in Athens city center, next to the Exarhia police department.
We knew that G. Tsatani has a police escort and that she is a guarded target, but this didn’t stand in our way to accomplish our attack.
We chose a symbolic action with only material damage as a sole purpose, but the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire won’t be limited to that…
We have two reasons for choosing this particular district attorney.
The first one is that G. Tsatani is a member of the para-judicial network whose job is to take out of sight case files that impinge the interests of the business and politics mafia (with a view to profit of course). She is the judicial vanguard of her masters.
The apex of her tainted career is the Vgenopoulos case, where G. Tsatani closed the case, aiding him to be discharged of his certain conviction. Her venality by the businessman Vgenopoulos pumped up more her invisible para-judicial account. These inconspicuous courtesies of businessmen can built the villas of the judges as an exchange for their “justice”.
Another sample of this district attorney’s writing, that is being kept diligently secret from the media, is Meimarakis’ case. Georgia Tsatani is the one who took on the case file regarding the equipment and the bribes of Vagelis Meimarakis, the former minister of national defense back then and she made sure to “forget” to send these files in the parliament, with her sole purpose being to cover for him. The exchange of this conciliation was the placement of Tsatanis’ daughter and husband as minister candidates in New Democracy on Meimarakis’ presidency.
Georgia Tsatani was involved in the Vatopedi case, making clear once again the mafia-like partnership between Church and Justice, as well as in many other famous cases that she would “chop off” in order to conceal and protect the interests of authority.
The second reason for choosing to attack the district attorney Georgia Tsatani was her participation in the judicial thralldom of our comrades’ relatives.
G. Tsatani was the one who viewed as unacceptable one of the applications of release by Evi Statiri, who is the wife of Gerasimos Tsakalos, member of the C.C.F. Thus, she contributed in the anti-guerrilla campaign and in one of the most immoral extortions against anarchist revolutionaries.
The vengeful obsession of the judges against the families of our comrades is a choice that all judges involved will be asked to pay and at a great cost. We have remembrance and most of all patience, persistence and diligence…
We are dedicating this action to the imprisoned members of C.C.F, Gerasimos Tsakalos, Christos Tsakalos, Giorgos Polydoros and Olga Economidou.
We are sending our solidarity to the anarchist comrade Aggeliki Spyropoulou, to all unshakeable political prisoners that lie in the cells of the Greek Democracy, as well as to the Italian comrades Alfredo Cospito, Nicola Gai and the anarchists persecuted in Italy within the undertaking “scripta manent” against F.A.I.
Soon the complete version of this proclamation will follow, as well as our initiative for “Nemesis” Project.
We will be back…
Translated by A-politiko.
–
Conspiración de las Células del Fuego reivindica ataque con bomba contra casa de fiscal.
[“Reporte” por Sin Banderas Ni Fronteras]
Con un comunicado subido a internet el grupo de guerrilla urbana anarquista “Conspiración de las Células del Fuego” se atribuyó la responsabilidad por una bomba que explotó el día miércoles 12 de octubre en la casa de la fiscal G. Tsatani en el centro de Atenas, cerca de la estación de policía de Exarchia.
En el comunicado – disponible hasta ahora solo en griego- se detalla que el ataque se realizó aun a pesar de que la fiscal contaba con protección policial y que la bomba buscó generar daños materiales, pero que los ataques no se limitarán solo a eso. También se mencionan los motivos para centrar el ataque en la fiscal Tsatani, siendo uno de ellos su participación en el encarcelamiento de lxs familiares de lxs miembrxs presxs de CCF. El comunicado menciona más específicamente el rol jugado por la fiscal en el secuestro judicial de Evi Statiri (actualmente en la calle), quien es la compañera amorosa del compañero Gerasimos Tsakalos (miembro de CCF actualmente encarcelado en el módulo subterráneo de la prisión de mujeres de Koridalos).
Según la prensa griega, el ataque fue precedido por una llamada anónima de advertencia y la bomba explotó aproximadamente a las 23.45 horas del miércoles.
A continuación se pueden leer algunos extractos del comunicado a la espera de una versión en inglés que permita una mejor traducción al español:
“PROYECTO NEMESIS
PRIMER ACTO
Asumimos la responsabilidad por el ataque a la casa de la fiscal Georgia Tsatani en la calle Hipócrates, en el centro de la ciudad al lado de la estación de policía Exarchia.
Sabíamos que Tsatani tiene escolta policial (…) pero esto no fue impedimento para instalar nuestra ofensiva. Elegimos un acto simbólico destinado únicamente a daños materiales, pero en el futuro la Conspiración de Células del Fuego no se limitará a eso…
La elección de esta fiscal en concreto fue por dos razones principales.
La primera razón es que Tsatani es miembro del circuito (…) que se compromete a hacer “desaparecer” los archivos que afectan los intereses de los empresarios y de la mafia política (con fines de lucro, por supuesto). Es la vanguardia judicial de los patrones.
(…)
La segunda razón por la que elegimos golpear a la fiscal Tsatani fue por su participación en el secuestro judicial de los familiares de nuestrxs compañerxs (…) por lo que también contribuyó a su vez con la campaña judicial anti-guerrillera (…).
La furia vengativa de los jueces hacia lxs familiares de nuestrxs compañerxs es una opción por la que pagarán un alto precio (…)
Tenemos memoria y, sobre todo, paciencia, persistencia y consistencia…
Dedicamos esta acción a lxs miembros encarcelados de CCF Gerasimos Tsakalos, Christos Tsakalos, Georgio Polidoro y Olga Economidou.
Enviamos nuestra solidaridad a la compañera anarquista Angeliki Spyropoulos, a todxs lxs presxs políticxs no arrepentidxs en las celdas de la República griega y a los compañeros italianos Alfredo Cospito, Nicola Gai y lxs anarquistas perseguidxs en Italia dentro de la operación “Scripta Manent” contra la FAI.
Pronto lanzaremos todo nuestro manifiesto y propuesta para el ‘Nemesis’.
Volveremos…
Conspiración de Células del Fuego / F.A.I.”
–
Ver comunicado en griego acá.
Tags: Aggeliki Spyropoulou, Alfredo Cospito, Athens, Christos Tsakalos, Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, Conspiracy of Cells of Fire - Urban Guerilla Cell, Evi Statiri, Georgia Tsatani, Gerasimos Tsakalos, Giorgos Polidoras, Greece, Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI), International Revolutionary Front, International Solidarity, Nemesis Project, Nicola Gai, Olga Economidou, Operation Scripta Manent, Solidarity Action
Posted in Direct Action
Communique from Anarchists from D Wing, Korydallos Prison, Athens, for the struggle in Syria (Greece)
Wednesday, October 5th, 2016
1st of October
A minimum response on the call-out for the day of Rage against the massacre at Aleppo.
Even if there are only ruins left at Aleppo, the bombings haven’t stopped. Even now, after 5 years of bombs and sieges, people still live in this city. Some because they didn’t manage to leave, some because they didn’t see a better future at Mediterranean’s seabed, some because they refused to abandon the revolution against the dictatorship of Assad, that started with the Arab Spring. At Aleppo’s ruins a guerilla warfare is taking place, that until now, Assad with Hezbollah, Iran and Russian military machine haven’t achieved to defeat.
If the things that happened with the repression of Spanish Revolution by Franco and the Nazis were the rehearsal of World War II, probably the war in Syria is an image of the post-industrial future on earth. A future, where the democratic excuses collapse and the absolute violence prevails. A world, that despite the gigantic military power of the tyrants, the most effective way to control the insurrection is still by division. A situation of despair, where people in order to defend themselves and survive, are organized in groups manipulated by generals, who only seek more power and who lead the revolting crowds away from the fight against the regime and into a fight for control of the war zones of their interests.
The result is a constant war, a profitable business for the capitalists, who sell weapons and armament to war zones, where trade and economy still exist.
The example of Syria’s punishment is a clear warning to everyone in the world, who even thinks about revolting.
In this chaotic total war, the reference point for us, are the few guerilla groups, organized outside the control the “moderate Muslims” of Al Nusra, or the “cosmics” of the FSA, who are both manipulated from the dominant powers of imperialistic competition, like USA, and both have the same target, a big piece from the power reallocation.
In a situation where people are cruelly attacked from one imperialist, and seek safety from the actions of its rival, we are affected by some revolutionaries, like the Leon Sedov Brigade, who stand against any imperialist and propose the solidarity and unity among the repressed of this world. We are inspired from the attempts of organization from the Revolutionary Coordination Committees against the dividing of the uprising, from the manipulant organizations.
Those rebels who try to self-organize in a battlefield with bombs and chemical weapons, who are still fighting despite the heavy losses, who prefer to die rather than surrender to the murderer Assad, who define and defend their freedom at all costs, they spread the message that in every condition struggle is possible, if there is the will to fight.
They spread a message that the powerful military machines of Al Assad, Iran, Lebanon, Isis, Russia and USA haven’t achieved to defeat them for more than 5 years.
That explains the cruelty of the attack to Aleppo, the capital of revolution. After smaller towns were besieged and lead to starvation, the same tactic was attempted at Aleppo. But there were dynamic demonstrations where banks were expropriated, actions outside the guidelines of the army parties, which control the masses. That’s why Aleppo is now being totally destroyed.
A major factor for the ongoing slaughter in Syria is the absolute absence of social resistance to this war, from the people of the imperialistic countries that invaded Syria.
European people, not only they do not react to the war, but the majority consent to the closure of the borders for refugees, who, if they survive from the death in the sea, are the only fighting, like the great example of Syrian refugees in Paris who went on hunger strike, demand the termination of the war.
We don’t have a clear picture of what happens in movements in the rest of the world, but we are going to talk for the Greek case. Because after all, the economic crisis and poverty here in Greece, except from radicalizing parts of the people, lead more to the pacification. On the one hand we have people who take care of the refugees, rescuing them with their boats, independently from political parties and non-governmental organizations, and on the other hand there were beatings, fascist attacks and actions against the refugees. No big anti-war demonstration though, as happened in the past, because now economy is the only concern. Using it’s left mask, Syriza combining fear management and harsh repression, lead social resistances, in general, to surrender. And now Greek state is placing refugees to concentration camps, obeying the demands of the European Union. Sadly, the solidarity to the refugees is limited to charity, without any reference to the revolution, that lead to war.
For the lefts, the “anti-american” feelings and the belief that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” doesn’t allow them to stand against Assad, while the majority of the anarchists, lacking analysis, refer exclusively to Rojava.
At the same moment, refugees give their own fights like the uprising in Moria, where after destroying a large part of the infrastructure, they escaped, but rather than run, as usually happens, they gathered and demonstrated, resulting their arrest.
In our opinion, we seek the expansion of the solidarity to the refugees, in a more general context, that will regard the war in Syria as an example of an uprising and how capitalists dealt with it, in order to be able to exclude the proper conclusions from it.
It’s obvious, that the unity of the rebels doesn’t come from the big, centralized, hierarchical organizations, that end up fighting each other for the biggest share of power. The only hope is a horizontal organization, that doesn’t allow to any ambitious leader to sell the fight. The decentralized network of collectives that fight with their one will to a common direction, coordinating when possible, exchanging information, know-hows, arms and political ideas.
The views that see hierarchical organization as a necessary condition to achieve victory in a revolutionary war, were tried in the past and were lead to defeat or to the reproduction of the same social systems that they hypothetically fought.
The example of Syria, where small guerrilla groups and no centralized armies stand against the Russian military machine and the alliance of local armies, proves that what is missing is not the proper leadership, but a new mindset of organization. And that applies to every field of organization of revolutionary action, whether it is guerilla warfare, or the spread of revolutionary ideas, that do not persuade anyone because they are signed by the biggest federation, but are spread through initiative, close human contact, and co-action.
The massacre in Syria won’t stop, unless we do something to stop it.
Unless we face it as a part of the repression that we all have felt. If we don’t feel the tenacity of the rebels who don’t surrender. If we don’t realize that the distance from suffocating because of tear gas in demonstrations to the endless gas chamber of Syria is short. As long as we abstain from the streets, we give our permission to this bloodshed.
When captivity and death become universal condition, we are called to make insurrection and solidarity a universal condition.
EVERY DAY, A DAY OF RAGE
WAR AGAINST AUTHORITY ON EVERY INCH OF EARTH
Anarchists from D’ wing of Koridallos Prison (Greece)
Tags: Al-Nusra Front, Aleppo, Analysis, Athens, Brigade León Sedov, Hezbollah, International Solidarity, Iran, Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Korydallos Prison, Lebanon, Letter, Migrant Struggle, Rojava, Russia, Social Insurrection, Syria, USA, War
Posted in Prison Struggle
Solidarity from imprisoned anarchist comrades in Korydallos Prison, Athens, to uprising prisoners in USA (Greece)
Wednesday, October 5th, 2016
Dear comrades,
This is a banner from Greek prisoners (Koridalos Athens) to be forwarded to American prisoners.
In solidarity
ABC- Solidarity Cell
Tags: ABC - Anarchist Solidarity Cell, Athens, Banner drop, Greece, Korydallos Prison
Posted in Prison Struggle
Update from the appellate trial of anarchist comrades Giannis Naxakis and Grigoris Sarafoudis (Greece)
Wednesday, October 5th, 2016
During the session on September 27th, prosecution witnesses were examined who did recognize the comrade. They did not recognize the voice of anarchist G.Sarafoudis, neither his characteristics. What they testified was not very different from what they said in the first trial for the case.
The initial sentences in this case were 16 years each. Comrades G.Sarafoudis and G.Naxakis were arrested on April 30th 2013 in Nea Filadelfia area, with the then wanted comrades A.Dalios and F.Harisis. Grigoris has also been sentenced to 8 years for a robbery of a bank in Filota. The next session is on October 11th and the head of the anti- terrorist force will testify.
Gathering on October 11th at 9am at room D120A on the 6th floor of the
appellate court room on Loukareos.
Factual solidarity to our comrades.
Strength!
Act for freedom now!
Tags: Athens, Giannis Naxakis, Greece, Grigoris Sarafoudis, Trial
Posted in Prison Struggle
Athens: Protest outside of the American embassy in solidarity to the prison labour strike (Greece)
Wednesday, October 5th, 2016
Inside the framework of the international day of solidarity to the struggle of the US prisoners that was called by the Anarchist Black Cross-Solidarity Cell, a protest outside of the American embassy took place.
ABC solidarity cell, Assembly for solidarity to political prisoners, Assembly for solidarity to the prisoners’ struggle against slavery, A.S.M.P.A., Assembly of anarchists communists for the class counter attack against the European union as well as other comrades participated in the protest. During the protest, slogans were shouted, flyers were spread, texts were given out and banners were hanged.
Anarchist Black Cross – Solidarity Cell
Tags: ABC - Anarchist Solidarity Cell, Athens, Demo, Greece, International Solidarity, Prison Labour Strike, USA
Posted in Prison Struggle
PDF: “Individuality and the anarchist group” by Conspiracy of Cells of Fire – Urban Guerrilla Cell (Greece)
Monday, September 12th, 2016
PDF: “Individuality and the anarchist group” by Conspiracy of Cells of Fire – Urban Guerrilla Cell.
Individuality and the anarchist group
Prologue
This title from Black International, “Individuality and the anarchist group”, written by Gerasimos Tsakalos of the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire – Urban Guerrilla Cell, is about a topic that concerns many of those who are an active part of the anarchist tension. Concerning not just the way comrades negotiate and conduct themselves within minimal organisational structures (clusters, networks, affinity groups) of informality and attack, and the effect of those forms on individuals, it also looks at the problems that can arise and some possible solutions. All this can add to a notional ‘to-be-completed’ mapping of some of the borderlands between the peripheries of the social and the clandestine for those traversing such terrains.
Written from the lived experience of an armed anarchist urban guerrilla who is imprisoned in the isolation dungeon of Korydallos prison in Athens, Greece, this is not a dreamy fantasy but a text which was developed in the furnace of practical theory and it’s consequences. The horizontal forms of organisation which are described here are ones that have been used and developed in practice, not from scriptures, but in the actual chaos of the everyday.
For a black international of anarchists of praxis.
September 2016
–
Individuality and the anarchist group
Instead of a Prologue
About the subject of “Individuality and the anarchist group”, one could say that it’s a timeless issue within the anarchist milieu… Is an anarchist individuality subjugated or liberated within a group? How does the individual encounter the collective? Can disagreements between comrades of the same collective be creative or do they inevitably lead to disputes, rivalries, intrigues, competitions and end up in rupture?
How are friendships and cliques able to bring about a cancellation of an anarchist group?
What is the relationship of an anarchist organization to the expulsions of members who participate? How can informal hierarchies and their members-followers survive in an anarchist project?
These are some of the issues that arise from the explosive relationship between individuals who try to coexist in anarchist groups.
The pamphlet “Individuality and the anarchist group” is an experimental testimony of political experiences from the interior of anarchist illegal infrastructures of revolutionary violence. The relationships that are formed in such cores are acrobatic at the sharp end because they are tested in extreme concentrated conditions and options. (more…)
Tags: Analysis, Athens, Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, Conspiracy of Cells of Fire - Urban Guerilla Cell, Conspiracy of Cells of Fire : Imprisoned Members Cell, Gerasimos Tsakalos, Greece, Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI), International Revolutionary Front, Korydallos Prison, PDF, Zine
Posted in Library
Korydallos Prison: Text from anarchist prisoners from D wing in solidarity to the struggle of the prisoners in USA (Greece)
Saturday, September 10th, 2016
The 9/9/71 marked one of the most important dates for the struggle against prisons. The uprising in Attica would still be a major event, even without the subsequent massacre committed by the cops who acted in compliance with the mandates of the Law and Order doctrine, which has found various diversified applications in the western world until today.
Back then, the liberation movements (black liberation, anti-war movement, feminist movement etc.) that were active outside prisons influenced a substantial number of US prisoners, who chose to position the prison -as a space and institution- in the core of struggle for change in the status quo.
Prisons constitute a fundamental tool in the hands of the state and its pursuit to get rid of all those who are deemed superfluous or dangerous to the deathly hush it seeks to impose.
The more capitalism evolves and reaches its limits, swallowing down human beings, natural resources and entire ecosystems in its destructive course of action, the bigger profits it demands, resulting in millions of people being turned into slaves.
The Pan-American strike which is due on 9/9 means to convey a straightforward message: “We refuse to be slaves any longer”.
Forced labor in public or private, federal or state prisons turns nearly 2.500.000 prisoners in the US into slaves to international corporations.
“This is a call to end slavery in America. This call goes directly to the slaves themselves”, as we read in the prisoners’ announcement.
We know how hard it is to fight capitalism where it’s the most powerful, namely the US; and we also know that depriving it from part of its profits is the only way to inflict a severe damage.
That’s why the upcoming strike is of utmost importance.
That’s why we stand in solidarity and salute the subversive dignity of the prisoners in the US.
VICTORY FOR THE PRISONERS’ FIGHT IN THE US
SOCIAL REVOLUTION TO ABOLISH STATES AND CAPITALISM
Some anarchist prisoners from Greece
Korydallos Prison Block D
Tags: Athens, Greece, Korydallos Prison, Prison Labour Strike, USA
Posted in Prison Struggle
“Sacco and Vanzetti: A journey through time” – Text by Members of CCF for Bibloteca Kaos during the International Week of Solidarity for Anarchist Prisoners (Brazil)
Sunday, September 4th, 2016
Here is a text that several imprisoned members of the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire in Athens, Greece, wrote for an event at the squatted anarchist centre Bibloteca Kaos in Brazil.
To all comrades, to all our anarchist brothers and sisters who are present in this event organized by the anarchist library Kaos. Let our thoughts break out and travel to Brazil so as to send these few words with the hope that maybe a little, you can feel our presence beside you.
In response to the subject of the event taking place during the International Week of Solidarity to Anarchist Prisoners and on the case of Nicola Sacco and Bartholemeo Vanzetti we would like to throw in our personal and historical contribution. The Conspiracy of Cells of Fire was from the very beginning an anarchist group of direct action that aspired to an upsurge of the anarchist aggressive presence in Greece. Thus, the CCF did not hesitate to often criticize that which was believed to be preventing the generalization of this intensification. But when the oppression finally made it to our doorstep, we fully understood that we would not own up to our standards should we refuse to defend our identity, our political viewpoints and our very substance. Furthermore we could have ended up being in complete contrast with our critiques against others in the past. So seven years after the day that repression struck us, we remain at the forefront of anarchist dignity, at least so as we perceive it. We refused to dishonor ourselves in any way and defended what we believed we had to defend, still paying the price of our uncompromising attitude. (more…)
Tags: Andrea Salsedo, Athens, Biblioteca Kaos, Brazil, Carlo Valdinoci, CCF - Metropolitan Violence Cell, Charles Poggi, Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, Emma Goldman, Ferrecio Coacci, Gabriella Antollini, Greece, Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI), International Solidarity, International Week for Anarchist Prisoners, Luigi Galleani, Mario Buda, Nicola Recci, Sacco and Vanzetti, Severino Di Giovanni
Posted in Prison Struggle
Solidarity actions by Initiative of individuals from ‘Ochetos’ for the international week of solidarity to anarchist prisoners (Greece)
Wednesday, August 31st, 2016
Contribution to the international call for solidarity with the imprisoned anarchist comrades (August 23-30)
As a contribution to the international call for solidarity with the imprisoned anarchist comrades (August 23-30), and as a denotation of support to the recently arrested and imprisoned comrades K. Sakkas and M. Seisidis, we hung 2 banners and wrote slogans in Athens, and we hung a banner in Volos.
”There are people unknown to you that watch you from the shadows, while you haunt the anarchists, and they wait for the favorable moment to haunt the haunters on their turn.”
STRENGTH TO K. SAKKAS AND M. SEISIDIS
SOLIDARITY WITH ALL THE IMPRISONED ANARCHIST COMRADES
FIRE TO THE PRISONS
LONG LIVE ANARCHY
Initiative of individuals from ‘Ochetos’
Tags: Athens, Banner drop, Greece, Initiative of individuals from ‘Ochetos’, International Week for Anarchist Prisoners, Kostas Sakkas, Marios Seisidis, Volos
Posted in Prison Struggle
Report about the recent trials against the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire by Christos Tsakalos (Greece)
Tuesday, August 9th, 2016
Chronicle of the trials (“250 actions” case, escape plan case)
Conspiracy of Cells of Fire – Christos Tsakalos
- i) Posthumous sentences
When something comes to an end, we are usually concerned only about the overall review.
We calculate the profit and the damage.
We hardly ever turn back time to reflect on the course that led to the final outcome. And even more rarely do we look ahead to stare at the new horizon that rises, when today becomes yesterday…
The two trials against the CCF ended 2 weeks ago. The one, regarding the 250 actions of the organization, lasted 3 years more or less while the other, regarding the escape attempt, lasted 5 dramatic months in a continuous climate of tension with the presiding judge.
Each one of us, who claimed political responsibility for the CCF and defended the organization and its actions, was sentenced to 21-28 years in prison for the first case and 115 years for the second one…
The first conclusion is that the judges believe in life after death, since one lifetime is not enough for these sentences to be served.
The second conclusion is that the choice of urban guerilla and the armed revolutionary action are still a threat to authority…
- ii) The scenery of the show.
But let us first see the way that the scenery of this show unfolded. Normally, i don’t like the victimization logic as it comes along with the narration of exaggerations which only maintains phobic myths. If we want to overcome fear, we must not amplify it but stare it right in the face… Dramatization of facts may make narration more exciting, but it keeps truth at a distance.
The court regarding the 250 actions case of the R.O. CCF (the exact number is actually 148 actions, although the case became known as the “250 actions” case) was characterized by a relatively mild and modest attitude that the judges adopted towards us.
During the proceedings, the composition of the Tribunal demonstrated a velvety laxity regarding the technical aspects (arrival time, suspension of the trial when it coincided with G.D.’s trial etc.)
Obviously, this was the result of our own attitude during the trial. When we made clear, since the beginning, that we claim responsibility for the CCF and that we ignore the penal forfeit, basically we deactivated their main bogeyman. (more…)
Tags: Athens, CCF Escape case, Christos Tsakalos, Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, Conspiracy of Cells of Fire - Urban Guerilla Cell, Greece, Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI), International Revolutionary Front
Posted in Prison Struggle
Second unclaimed deadly parcel bomb sent to a state judge, Conspiracy of Cells of Fire are blamed (Greece)
Sunday, August 7th, 2016
According to the Greek press, on July 28 police reported another parcel bomb was sent to a state judge, in this case it was sent to the bastard P. Houzouris, who received a parcel bomb at home packed with nails and razor blades. [1]
After finding the suspicious package that was disguised as a book, the judge notified police. An anti-explosives squad then proceeded to detonate the device.
According to police, the parcel bomb was similar to the one that was sent in June to judge Isidore Ponga who presided over the judicial council that rejected a 2015 request for the release of Evi Statiri (wife of Gerasimos Tsakalos, member of the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire). [2]
The Greek press and the police are again trying to link our comrades from the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire to these attacks, this time pointing the finger at the comrade Christos Tsakalos who referred in a statement to a major trial that the judge P. Houzouris is presiding over.
The statement in question was published in Greece at the end of June. In it the comrade refers to the trial that the judge who received the parcel bomb presides over. The trial is known as the ‘Noor 1′ trial, named after the boat on which a shipment of heroin was found. Comrade Christos, along with pointing out the inquisitor role of the judges also expressed in his statement: “Faced with the arrogance of the judges and the authorities who enjoy life like small gods in the throne of their offices, we must use the strategy of the anarchist urban guerrillas”. [3]
With this statement the Greek media and police are linking the comrade with this new attack, however, no group has claimed responsibility for either of the parcel bombs.
(Report by Sin Banderas Ni Fronteras, translated into English by Insurrection News, slightly edited for clarity)
1. http://www.thenationalherald.com/131868/
2. https://emboscada.espivblogs.net/2016/grecia-paquete-bomba-contra-jueza-que-en-2015-nego-excacelacion-a-evi-statiri/
3. http://mpalothia.net/odiporiko-mnimis-gia-ti-diki-tou-schediou-apodrasis-s-p-f-christos-tsakalos/
Tags: Athens, Christos Tsakalos, Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, Evi Statiri, Gerasimos Tsakalos, Greece, Judge P. Houzouris, Letter Bomb
Posted in Direct Action
Political statement of Panagiotis Argyrou for the trial for the escape attempt in 2015 (Greece)
Friday, July 22nd, 2016
Political statement of Panagiotis Argyrou for the trial for the escape attempt
Looking back…
“We’re given our life only once, like a unique chance. It’s never going to exist again, at least in this autonomous form. And what do we do with it instead of living it? What do we do? We drag it from place to place, killing it…” (Hronis Missios)
The courts have a unit of their own to count life and freedom by; a unit that uses types and algorithms of the legal language to say what’s fair or unfair, right or wrong, normal or in decline. And in this process where lives and freedoms are being put in the balance of the law, you’re sometimes given the chance to look back; you feel guilty or you don’t. It’s an important moment because whatever you say might pour some more cement around you, it might increase the amount of those moments where the door opens up and closes, perhaps it makes your ear get used even more to the sound of the key turning into the door’s slot, enough to make you think you’ve always been hearing this sound, that there was no morning or evening you didn’t hear this sound at a certain pre-arranged time.
So here we are… For five and a half years I‘ve been hearing that key. Five and a half years that my eyes crash onto the walls. Five and a half years with two sentences (37 and 19 years) and another two coming. And now here in this trial one more. This will be the fifth trial in a row where I wait “to see what will happen to me” or for “my laughter to turn to crying“. And it is again the moment to put a mirror in front of the past and my choices and look back. So I look…
Tags: Athens, CCF Escape case, Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, Greece, Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI), International Revolutionary Front, Korydallos Prison, Letter, Panagiotis Argyrou, Trial
Posted in Prison Struggle
CCF Escape Case: Statement of Athena Tsakalou to the court (Greece)
Tuesday, July 12th, 2016
Below is the statement of Athena Tsakalou (the mother of CCF anarchist prisoners Christos Tsakalos and Gerasimos Tsakalos) which was read out in Koridallos prison court by her defense lawyer in late June 2016, while the CCF escape case trial was still underway.
I haven’t chosen silence, even though it expresses me on many occasions because everyone interprets silence as it suits them. I’ve preferred to make this personal statement. And I call it personal because I don’t belong anywhere; I only belong to myself.
There comes a moment when you take a look back at the years in your life, and you realise you’ve left to live far fewer than the years you’ve already lived; that is, if everything goes well. And this is a strange but intense sensation, which makes me ask myself to be sincere. Not in the simple way we often think about it, but in an essential, deeper way.
I don’t like to say: where is this world going? It’s something that we – people at an older age – often do, but such a phrase conceals some sort of innocence that I refuse to accept. I prefer to ask myself: how do you yourself walk through this world?
And the truth is that all I want is to walk among people in a consolatory manner. It’s very important to be able to console people, especially your own people; to be able to tell them when they’re going through tough times: I’m standing by you; I’ll always stick with you. Nothing else. This is my only desire, and I’m glad whenever I’m able to do that.
So when Angeliki knocked on the door of my home, that’s exactly what I did. And it was a great pleasure for me that I was able to offer her refuge, even if only for a short while. The way the world is, the only place I want to live in is the place of defiance.
Assuming that, throughout the centuries, people have intended to live, if not a life of happiness, at least a joyful life, their history to date shows that they’ve failed. History books, either the official, inspected ones, or the secret ones that it’s hard to come by, show that people have failed. It may be that the conditions for survival or living standards got better – although ‘better’ is relative, as this is not the case in some parts of the earth – but the pain, the horror of wars, of hunger and oppression continue to rise.
Of course there’s a difference; a nightmarish difference. Nowadays, death is no longer caused just by hand-to-hand combat on the battlefields where, even from a distance determined by a firearm, you’re able to see the falling body and hear the cry of pain, and regardless of how much dehumanised you’ve become, this sight and sound leaves a peculiar imprint within you that, at some point, might make you not want war anymore. On today’s battlefields, we find ourselves in the era of smart bombs, and one is able to retain ‘their innocence’ by pressing a button which brings mass death; that’s the difference.
For some time now, more than 10,000 refugee children who were travelling unaccompanied have disappeared in Europe over the past 18–24 months. There are fears that many of them have fallen victim to exploitation by organised crime networks…
The world’s 62 richest people hold as much wealth as half the population on the planet…
The earth’s products are enough to feed its entire population, yet millions of people, millions of children die of hunger.
Some very few, like these 62 wealthiest people in the world, might say: ‘all this stuff about a joyful life is nothing but a trap set for the many to be lured into it, because the whole deal with the world is a game, a game of death. It’s not just the money that matters; besides, we have plenty of that; what really matters is the ability to use our power to play games with the entire world; all of a sudden, to drive thousands of people to death; to scare entire populations with wars, famine and diseases when we’re bored; because that’s also up to us, to cause diseases, thanks to scientists. In some sense, we’re a kind of gods; and gods are always almighty.’
And this is true, but it’s also true that there are no gods without believers. Gods cannot just live all by themselves; they want their faithful to walk quietly around their gardens, ready to execute their orders – all of their orders, even if it means killing one another. However, there are always those whose blood is resided by the first rebellion of Eve and Adam.
And it’s about time we said: after so much human blood watering the earth’s soil every day, after all this lament filling the earth’s air, if there’s no change of course for the human species, if the human mind isn’t crossed by a lightning at some point, so that we see everything differently… then indeed it’d be a brave decision if people eventually said: ‘for so many centuries, we’ve been unable to find joy; we might as well admit that as a species we aren’t capable of something like this; we might as well admit our failure and leave calmly; let us be the last of the humans; let us admit that only trees deserve life, continuity, eternity as they’re free of the instinct of war, of horror.’
Lately all I want to do is plant trees. And someone might ask me: but is this truly your deepest desire? No, I haven’t done well; I’m still determined by the ability to see as far as my eye can see, to keep my mind off things by taking pleasure in small joys; but when I open the eye of my mind to a worldwide wandering, a worldwide looking, and I see how small a share joy has in people’s lives, I say once more: if the dream doesn’t enter people’s lives, if there’s no change of course for the human species, only trees deserve continuity, life, eternity.
Athena Tsakalou
– via contrainfo
Tags: Athena Tsakalou, Athens, CCF Escape case, Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, Greece, Korydallos Prison, Letter, Trial
Posted in Cognitive Liberty