Thessaloniki Prisoners Solidarity is attempting to collect, coordinate and distribute information and legal updates on the activists arrested, beaten and fitted up following last weekend's anti-EU Summit in Greece last weekend.
June 27th 2003
=================
This is the second update for (mainly) UK supporters.
If you received this bulletin via a website and would
like to be added to the email list to make sure you
recieve future bulletins email:
thessalonikiprisoners@yahoo.co.uk with your details.
=================
All those charged are facing between 7 years and 25
years imprisonment!
Imagine if this was your best friend, brother, boyfriend. We can not sit back and let another injustice go by at these international actions.
This could have happened to any of us. This is a brief run down of our comrades and friends currently incarcerated...
1) SALONIKA 8: Who are they?
There are 8 people who were refused bail out of the original 29 people who were and still are facing charges. 2 people [2 minors] have been released without charge as far as I know.
That leaves 19 people on misdemenour charges who have to return to Greece for their trial. The 8 people refused bail, who are all on felony (more serious) charges, including Simon Chapman from the UK, are as follows:
2 Spanish
- Fernando is one of them. He is from Castilla, not from the Basque Country as portrayed in the media. He has appeared in the press as a basque anarchist terrorist wanted in 23 countries!
Which is bullshit. There is no basque anarchist terrorist organisation. ETA, a well known basque terrorist organisation, is nationalist, not anarchist. And Fernando doesn't even live in the Basque Country.
3 Greeks
- This included two young kids, one is under 18 years old and the other is 20 or 21. No one has come forward for them, no one knows who they are, they are not part of any organised political group. As far as we know they were just two street kids "peasants" from the country who travelled alone to the demo. They have no family, or at least no contactable family.
1 American
- The american is going to be deported either today or tommorrow.
Apparently the USA has signed an agreement with the EU to deport all Americans facing charges in the EU, and for them to be personally returned to Greece for the trial by the FBI.
1 Syrian
- The syrian is being deported back to Syria. This guy is apparently an exile from Syria and has been in Greece, mainly Crete, for about 13 years.
He hasn't the correct papers to stay and had been staying in Greece illegally. Due to him being exiled he faces the death penalty in Syria on his return. He has a support network and following in Crete who are going to publish more info soon.
1 Briton : Simon Chapman
- Our boy Simon, no updated news. An article was written by his lawyer for a Greek daily newspaper on Simons Case. The lawyer detailed that Simon AS WELL AS ALL 8 WHO WERE REFUSED BAIL have been FITTED UP. There is clear evidence of this.This is the first time that
this information has gotten out into the public domain in Greece.
>>>>Charges Update:
All 8 who were refused bail have had their charges equalised so that all are charged on the same level as simon i.e. Riot, resisting authority and possession of explosives (apparently this might be the same as if they had grenades on them!). All 8 will be tried
together. The lawyer thinks this is a good thing.
2) APPEAL PROCESS
There will be an bail appeal lodged in 3 to 4 days time. This was mistakenly represented as the actual appeal hearing regarding bail.
That will be in one months time. This will cost 550 euros (£360), and subsequent appearances will cost a similar amount.
Due to the summer recess, all courts ( we assume this is also includes appeal courts) will be closed. Therefore unless the bail hearing is succesful Simon and the others will be there at least until September for the first of the Appeals regarding the charges.
3) EVIDENCE
The evidence for Simon's case is as follows:
Photos of Simon on his arrest carrying ONLY his blue bag - no other bags, and later photos of him, after being arrested and beaten, with no blue bag, surrounded by 3 BLACK bags of molotov cocktails. This is important as police say he had no blue bag on arrest.
Video footage, taken from the Greek national news, showing Simon being beaten by police, while undercover police place the 3 BLACK bags of molotov cocktails at his feet. An undercover policemen is seen placing a hammer into one of the bags.
Witnesses who saw Simon, on his arrest, carrying his BLUE bag, and NO black bags.
We understand from the legal team, that there is evidence that all 8 people who were refused bail have been similarly fitted up, although we only know the details of Simon's evidence at this stage.
4) PRISON SOLIDARITY
Simon has been moved to a maximum security prison (and his head has been shaved!).
He will stay there until his first bail appeal. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send him letters, and paperback books (not hardback books as these are not permitted). Simon cannot receive anything else. He is not allowed tapes but is being bought a world receiver radio.
Simons 30th birthday is on 24th July. It would be excellent for him to receive hundreds of birthday cards around that time:
Simon Chapman
c/o DIKASTIKES FILAKES THESSALONIKIS
DIAVATA
Greece
5) EXTERNAL SUPPORT AND SOLIDARITY
Greece will be holding the Olympics in 2004, it does not want to be seen as a country which holds political prisoners or at least people who demonstrate against the fact that the police has fitted people up. This might be our best form of attack if the Greek state
knows that we will focus on its embassies, tourist boards and other greek companies involved in the Olympics. This provides us with an opportunity to use all our experiences in actions and so on to throw as much mud at the image of the Greek state as possible in relation to these fit ups.
It will be also good if a the pictures of Simon - one wearing a blue/purple bag and one with the fitted-up black bags can be made into a poster and a leaflet. We done this for the Prague prisoner support and it was effective in terms of handing them out at the tourist board or at airports by the Greek airlines. Also if people can research into any Olympic delegations visiting from Greece then that might be useful.
It may also be useful to organise petitions and letter writing to Greek embassies around the world, and also, if possible to project the video footage of the police planting the bags on Simon onto the side of Greek embassies, athough this will have to be done after
dark.
That's all for now. More updates as they come in.
======================
solidarity
Thessaloniki Prisoners Solidarity
e-mail: thessalonikiprisoners@yahoo.co.uk
This is a re-post, edited, of the original, which had unconfirmed and innaccurate information about the Spanish accussed of being a terrorist.
To see the original click here:
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2003/06/273234.html
for comments, please email imc-uk at lists.indymedia.org
=================
This is the second update for (mainly) UK supporters.
If you received this bulletin via a website and would
like to be added to the email list to make sure you
recieve future bulletins email:
thessalonikiprisoners@yahoo.co.uk with your details. =================
All those charged are facing between 7 years and 25
years imprisonment!
Imagine if this was your best friend, brother, boyfriend. We can not sit back and let another injustice go by at these international actions.
This could have happened to any of us. This is a brief run down of our comrades and friends currently incarcerated...
1) SALONIKA 8: Who are they?
There are 8 people who were refused bail out of the original 29 people who were and still are facing charges. 2 people [2 minors] have been released without charge as far as I know.
That leaves 19 people on misdemenour charges who have to return to Greece for their trial. The 8 people refused bail, who are all on felony (more serious) charges, including Simon Chapman from the UK, are as follows:
2 Spanish
- Fernando is one of them. He is from Castilla, not from the Basque Country as portrayed in the media. He has appeared in the press as a basque anarchist terrorist wanted in 23 countries!
Which is bullshit. There is no basque anarchist terrorist organisation. ETA, a well known basque terrorist organisation, is nationalist, not anarchist. And Fernando doesn't even live in the Basque Country.
3 Greeks
- This included two young kids, one is under 18 years old and the other is 20 or 21. No one has come forward for them, no one knows who they are, they are not part of any organised political group. As far as we know they were just two street kids "peasants" from the country who travelled alone to the demo. They have no family, or at least no contactable family.
1 American
- The american is going to be deported either today or tommorrow.
Apparently the USA has signed an agreement with the EU to deport all Americans facing charges in the EU, and for them to be personally returned to Greece for the trial by the FBI.
1 Syrian
- The syrian is being deported back to Syria. This guy is apparently an exile from Syria and has been in Greece, mainly Crete, for about 13 years.
He hasn't the correct papers to stay and had been staying in Greece illegally. Due to him being exiled he faces the death penalty in Syria on his return. He has a support network and following in Crete who are going to publish more info soon.
1 Briton : Simon Chapman
- Our boy Simon, no updated news. An article was written by his lawyer for a Greek daily newspaper on Simons Case. The lawyer detailed that Simon AS WELL AS ALL 8 WHO WERE REFUSED BAIL have been FITTED UP. There is clear evidence of this.This is the first time that
this information has gotten out into the public domain in Greece.
>>>>Charges Update:
All 8 who were refused bail have had their charges equalised so that all are charged on the same level as simon i.e. Riot, resisting authority and possession of explosives (apparently this might be the same as if they had grenades on them!). All 8 will be tried
together. The lawyer thinks this is a good thing.
2) APPEAL PROCESS
There will be an bail appeal lodged in 3 to 4 days time. This was mistakenly represented as the actual appeal hearing regarding bail.
That will be in one months time. This will cost 550 euros (£360), and subsequent appearances will cost a similar amount.
Due to the summer recess, all courts ( we assume this is also includes appeal courts) will be closed. Therefore unless the bail hearing is succesful Simon and the others will be there at least until September for the first of the Appeals regarding the charges.
3) EVIDENCE
The evidence for Simon's case is as follows:
Photos of Simon on his arrest carrying ONLY his blue bag - no other bags, and later photos of him, after being arrested and beaten, with no blue bag, surrounded by 3 BLACK bags of molotov cocktails. This is important as police say he had no blue bag on arrest.
Video footage, taken from the Greek national news, showing Simon being beaten by police, while undercover police place the 3 BLACK bags of molotov cocktails at his feet. An undercover policemen is seen placing a hammer into one of the bags.
Witnesses who saw Simon, on his arrest, carrying his BLUE bag, and NO black bags.
We understand from the legal team, that there is evidence that all 8 people who were refused bail have been similarly fitted up, although we only know the details of Simon's evidence at this stage.
4) PRISON SOLIDARITY
Simon has been moved to a maximum security prison (and his head has been shaved!).
He will stay there until his first bail appeal. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send him letters, and paperback books (not hardback books as these are not permitted). Simon cannot receive anything else. He is not allowed tapes but is being bought a world receiver radio.
Simons 30th birthday is on 24th July. It would be excellent for him to receive hundreds of birthday cards around that time:
Simon Chapman
c/o DIKASTIKES FILAKES THESSALONIKIS
DIAVATA
Greece
5) EXTERNAL SUPPORT AND SOLIDARITY
Greece will be holding the Olympics in 2004, it does not want to be seen as a country which holds political prisoners or at least people who demonstrate against the fact that the police has fitted people up. This might be our best form of attack if the Greek state
knows that we will focus on its embassies, tourist boards and other greek companies involved in the Olympics. This provides us with an opportunity to use all our experiences in actions and so on to throw as much mud at the image of the Greek state as possible in relation to these fit ups.
It will be also good if a the pictures of Simon - one wearing a blue/purple bag and one with the fitted-up black bags can be made into a poster and a leaflet. We done this for the Prague prisoner support and it was effective in terms of handing them out at the tourist board or at airports by the Greek airlines. Also if people can research into any Olympic delegations visiting from Greece then that might be useful.
It may also be useful to organise petitions and letter writing to Greek embassies around the world, and also, if possible to project the video footage of the police planting the bags on Simon onto the side of Greek embassies, athough this will have to be done after
dark.
That's all for now. More updates as they come in.
======================
solidarity
Thessaloniki Prisoners Solidarity
e-mail:
thessalonikiprisoners@yahoo.co.uk This is a re-post, edited, of the original, which had unconfirmed and innaccurate information about the Spanish accussed of being a terrorist.
To see the original click here:
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2003/06/273234.html for comments, please email imc-uk at lists.indymedia.org
e-mail:
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