NEW EVIDENCE in thessaloniki case!
pescao | 13.11.2003 04:16 | Thessaloniki EU
according to this, simon's lawyers are going to present new video evidence of the cops filling bags with molotovs. now why would they be doing that?
http://www.eubusiness.com/afp/031112134923.ftp0ltf0 British anti-globalisation protester "framed" by Greek police: lawyer
12 November 2003
A British man who is on hunger strike after being detained in Greece on charges of using explosives during anti-EU riots in June, was framed by police, one of his lawyers said on Wednesday.
"Today we're going to handover to the judicial authorities... a video cassette from a private Greek television channel showing police filling a rucksack with explosives," lawyer Haris Ladis told AFP.
Simon Chapman, a British anti-globalisation activist who was arrested after violent protests during a European Union summit in northern Greece in June, was accused of owning the rucksack.
He has been detained and charged, along with four other anti-globalisation protestors, of possessing and using explosives. The five have been on hunger strike for over a month, demanding to be released on bail ahead of their trial.
Defence lawyers have already submitted to the courts a video cassette from Greek public TV channel ERT-3, which they say shows police swapping Chapman's rucksack for another.
On Tuesday the five -- Chapman, two Spaniards, a Syrian and a Greek -- were transferred from a hospital where they were being kept under police guard to the medical wing of Greece's highest-security prison near Athens.
One of the Spaniards was subsequently returned to hospital because of his deteriorating health. Two other Greek protesters have also been in jail since the EU summit near Salonika, one of whom joined the hunger strike on Monday.
The detention of the activists has triggered sporadic protests by anarchist and left-wing groups in Greece and several fire bomb attacks.
So far, no date has been set for their trial. Under Greek law, suspects facing criminal charges can be held for 18 months before the courts rule on their case.
pescao
Comments
Hide the following 2 comments
BBC
13.11.2003 05:03
Last Updated: Tuesday, 11 November, 2003, 17:54 GMT
Greek detainees 'refusing liquid'
Five suspected rioters on hunger strike in Greece to protest their innocence have begun refusing liquids as well as food, campaigners say.
The five have been transferred to Greece's highest-security prison, police have said.
The detention of the five over unrest at the June European Union summit in Thessaloniki has sparked sporadic unrest across the country.
The group includes two Spaniards, one Briton, a Syrian and a Greek.
They are into the second month of a hunger strike, claiming the evidence against them has been fabricated.
A prison official told AFP news agency the men were being held in the prison wing of Athens' top-security Korydallos prison.
The five are demanding to be released on bail until their case is heard.
Greek law allows them to be held for up to 18 months without a verdict.
Rucksack suspicions
Supporters of the British man, Simon Chapman from London, say police planted on him a rucksack containing Molotov cocktails and other weapons.
Television footage of his arrest has appeared to back the claims that he had a different colour rucksack at the time, they claim.
Campaigners allege that some of the five have been physically mistreated and denied access to phone calls and their lawyers.
pescao
guardian
13.11.2003 05:32
Prison protester in hospital
Helena Smith in Athens
Wednesday November 12, 2003
The Guardian
Greek doctors have voiced concern for the rapidly deteriorating health of a Briton on hunger strike.
Simon Chapman, who has refused food since October 5, was taken to a hospital in a top-security prison in Athens yesterday, lawyers said.
The 30-year-old from Basildon, Essex, and four other anti-capitalist campaigners were moved from a clinic in Salonika. The five were said to be in critical condition after intensifying their hunger campaign by refusing liquids.
The group, which includes two Spanish anarchists, a Syrian and a Greek, were arrested during anti-globalisation riots at an EU summit in Salonika in June.
Mr Chapman has produced video clips which he says prove police planted firebombs and hammers in a rucksack.
pescao