What happened in Patras on Tuesday night
TGL | 11.12.2008 17:20 | Repression | Social Struggles | World
[ Finally, an account of what happened on Tuesday night in Patras, when the greek shadow state made its presence felt once again through the - apparently seamless - collaboration between the police & the neonazis. The text below was put together by Parartima, one of the most active local squats. The original greek text may be found here: 
http://patras.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=3032 ]
http://patras.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=3032 ]
2008.12.06: The 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos is murdered in cold blood by a cop in Exarchia square. Nearly immediately, wide clashes break out in mostly all greek cities which mostly target symbols of capital & of state authority. It is obvious that, with the murder acting as a spark, a generalized feeling of discontent & doubt [towards the system] finds its release.
In the cadre of this release, similar mobilizations take place in Patras as well. From the get-go, people flow into the Parartima [a squat in Patras, originally belonging to the local University & highly active in local antiauthoritarian affairs] &, a while later, the General Police Administration of Achaea in Ermou street is attacked. The next day, a demo takes place followed by further clashes with the police forces in Ermou street. 5 get arrested; they're released that same evening, an attempt of the state to detonate the [explosive] situation. An intervention in the court house takes place on Monday until the 50 year old comrade who had gotten arrested the night before is released. In the evening, a march [reportedly of about 1,000 people!] takes place; it stops at the [TV station] Super B, which is occupied for the next half hour. During the return to the Parartima, 3 banks, a WIND store, Olympic Airways & [the discount supermarket] Dia are attacked.
At the same day that Alexis was buried, a demo is announced; thousands of people take part in it; it [also] goes unnoticed by the mass media rufians. In the duration of the march, all banks that the march comes across are laid in tatters. The demo concludes at the Parartima, where barricades are put up in the streets surrounding it & hour-long clashes with the cops break out - the participation [in the clashes] is immense. The police chokes nearby streets with teargas & chemicals, & it also makes use of plastic bullets. A little while after, the scum of the shadow state [parakratikoi] enter the stage; tgether with the Riot Squad & plainclothes policemen, & in military formation under the leadership of the director [of the plainclothes policemen] Ntavlouros, they attack the demonstrators. The clashes with the parakratikoi go on for a long while, but they cannot be pushed back despite the efforts, as their best pals the cops make sure the clear the way for them by continuously hurling chemicals which force the people to gradually retreat back to the Parartima. The retreta finally at the Agia Sofias square, where the people flee to nearby houses. A pogrom led by the parakratikoi follows, during which they drag people out of nearby cafe's & narrow streets & beat them up. Despite this, people decide to actively crush terror by taking part by the thousand in Wednseday's strikes.
What the parakratikoi & the cops started could not but be completed by the journalists, a fact which - once again - drives home the message: Cops, Mass Media, Parakratikoi, All The Scum Work Side By Side. The journalists keep talking about smashed-up stores & about 2,000 (!) citizens which chased the demonstrators. Whoever wants to check whether there are any smashed-up [family-owned] stores, they are invited to take a walk in the center of the city. It has been our [conscious] decision that we only attacked [the] police [station], governmental buildings & banks. Anything else is either a lie or police provocation. Regarding the 2,000 citizens which took to the streets against demonstrators, they're nothing more than a bunch of plainclothes policemen & parakratikoi such as Spinos from the [Ioannis] Kalampokas team (those parakratikoi were identified by older comrades). [A bit of history: in '91, Nikos Temponeras was murdered by Ioannis Kalampokas with a crowbar - in Patras. In that case, the parakratikoi counter-occupied the already occupied schools throughout greece, after they had been incited to do so by then-minister of education Vassilis Kontogianopoulos. In one of those counter-occupations, Nikos Temponeras - a teacher - was killed with a crowbar by the leader of ONNED - the youth organization of Nea Dimokratia, the current ruling party - Ioannis Kalampokas.] It is also obvious that similar events unfolded in other cities as well, & that the state chooses, once again, to use the shadow state in order to repress the vibrant mass demonstrations of recent days.
The attacks of the state & of its shadow state do not intimidate us - they infuriate us!
Let's all take to the streets to crush terror
Our last word has not been said
These days belong to Alex
Demo: 18.00 at the Parartima
We extend a call to all people to take part in the squatting.
In the cadre of this release, similar mobilizations take place in Patras as well. From the get-go, people flow into the Parartima [a squat in Patras, originally belonging to the local University & highly active in local antiauthoritarian affairs] &, a while later, the General Police Administration of Achaea in Ermou street is attacked. The next day, a demo takes place followed by further clashes with the police forces in Ermou street. 5 get arrested; they're released that same evening, an attempt of the state to detonate the [explosive] situation. An intervention in the court house takes place on Monday until the 50 year old comrade who had gotten arrested the night before is released. In the evening, a march [reportedly of about 1,000 people!] takes place; it stops at the [TV station] Super B, which is occupied for the next half hour. During the return to the Parartima, 3 banks, a WIND store, Olympic Airways & [the discount supermarket] Dia are attacked.
At the same day that Alexis was buried, a demo is announced; thousands of people take part in it; it [also] goes unnoticed by the mass media rufians. In the duration of the march, all banks that the march comes across are laid in tatters. The demo concludes at the Parartima, where barricades are put up in the streets surrounding it & hour-long clashes with the cops break out - the participation [in the clashes] is immense. The police chokes nearby streets with teargas & chemicals, & it also makes use of plastic bullets. A little while after, the scum of the shadow state [parakratikoi] enter the stage; tgether with the Riot Squad & plainclothes policemen, & in military formation under the leadership of the director [of the plainclothes policemen] Ntavlouros, they attack the demonstrators. The clashes with the parakratikoi go on for a long while, but they cannot be pushed back despite the efforts, as their best pals the cops make sure the clear the way for them by continuously hurling chemicals which force the people to gradually retreat back to the Parartima. The retreta finally at the Agia Sofias square, where the people flee to nearby houses. A pogrom led by the parakratikoi follows, during which they drag people out of nearby cafe's & narrow streets & beat them up. Despite this, people decide to actively crush terror by taking part by the thousand in Wednseday's strikes.
What the parakratikoi & the cops started could not but be completed by the journalists, a fact which - once again - drives home the message: Cops, Mass Media, Parakratikoi, All The Scum Work Side By Side. The journalists keep talking about smashed-up stores & about 2,000 (!) citizens which chased the demonstrators. Whoever wants to check whether there are any smashed-up [family-owned] stores, they are invited to take a walk in the center of the city. It has been our [conscious] decision that we only attacked [the] police [station], governmental buildings & banks. Anything else is either a lie or police provocation. Regarding the 2,000 citizens which took to the streets against demonstrators, they're nothing more than a bunch of plainclothes policemen & parakratikoi such as Spinos from the [Ioannis] Kalampokas team (those parakratikoi were identified by older comrades). [A bit of history: in '91, Nikos Temponeras was murdered by Ioannis Kalampokas with a crowbar - in Patras. In that case, the parakratikoi counter-occupied the already occupied schools throughout greece, after they had been incited to do so by then-minister of education Vassilis Kontogianopoulos. In one of those counter-occupations, Nikos Temponeras - a teacher - was killed with a crowbar by the leader of ONNED - the youth organization of Nea Dimokratia, the current ruling party - Ioannis Kalampokas.] It is also obvious that similar events unfolded in other cities as well, & that the state chooses, once again, to use the shadow state in order to repress the vibrant mass demonstrations of recent days.
The attacks of the state & of its shadow state do not intimidate us - they infuriate us!
Let's all take to the streets to crush terror
Our last word has not been said
These days belong to Alex
Demo: 18.00 at the Parartima
We extend a call to all people to take part in the squatting.
TGL
Homepage:
http://tapesgoneloose.blogspot.com
Additions
Update - Patra reacts!
11.12.2008 20:13
[ Translated from here: http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=941270 ]
Over 5,000 people demonstrated today in the city center of Patras, an unprecedented magnitude for this city.
The provocation of cops & neonazis worked as a boomerang against them, as the people realized the role played by... "infuriated [citizens; the name traditionally assigned to the puppets of the greek shadow state by mass media & the state itself]" & flooded the streets.
Let it be remarked that a municipality cop [one part "neighborhood cop," one part "traffic cop," & one part common snitch] was lynched today in the city center. [Indeed: http://patras.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=3029 reports that the cop was beaten by peddlers who were trying to sell their produce in the market, apparently without a license.]
At this moment [21:00 local time], there's a large demonstration going on in Patras, despite the terror crusade unleashed by local [TV] channels. Riot Squad forces have sealed off all side streets. Concurrently, SYRIZA [Coalition of the Radical Left; been given about 15% by recent gallops on the citizens' voting intention] organizes a gathering in Georgiou square with [former party leader Alekos] Alavanos. In the morning, the commerce chamber denied that anything was damaged - in fact, the sole merchant that talked on TV said that his storefront was smashed up by cops during the stone exchange with the demonstrators.
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=941270 ] Over 5,000 people demonstrated today in the city center of Patras, an unprecedented magnitude for this city.
The provocation of cops & neonazis worked as a boomerang against them, as the people realized the role played by... "infuriated [citizens; the name traditionally assigned to the puppets of the greek shadow state by mass media & the state itself]" & flooded the streets.
Let it be remarked that a municipality cop [one part "neighborhood cop," one part "traffic cop," & one part common snitch] was lynched today in the city center. [Indeed:
http://patras.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=3029 reports that the cop was beaten by peddlers who were trying to sell their produce in the market, apparently without a license.] At this moment [21:00 local time], there's a large demonstration going on in Patras, despite the terror crusade unleashed by local [TV] channels. Riot Squad forces have sealed off all side streets. Concurrently, SYRIZA [Coalition of the Radical Left; been given about 15% by recent gallops on the citizens' voting intention] organizes a gathering in Georgiou square with [former party leader Alekos] Alavanos. In the morning, the commerce chamber denied that anything was damaged - in fact, the sole merchant that talked on TV said that his storefront was smashed up by cops during the stone exchange with the demonstrators.
TGL
Homepage:
http://tapesgoneloose.blogspot.com