| The statements of the comrades imprisoned in the activity : The speech in memory of the political prisoners. On Thursday, June 9, within the framework of the Week of events for the restoration of the monument to the anarchist student Alexandros Grigoropoulos and in the presence of several comrades, an event entitled «Speech in memory of the political prisoners» was held. The event was attended by the following comrades: Giannis Dimitrakis, Giannis Michailidis (on hunger strike since 23/05), Fotis D., Dimitris Chatzivasileiadis, Panos Kalaitzis, Haris Mantzouridis and Thanos Xatziagkelou. Below we provide pdf files of each statement separately, except that of Comrade Giannis Dimitrakis, which was purely telephonic and will be uploaded when the transcript is completed. SOLIDARITY WITH ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS Anarchist Initiative Against State Murders |
Friday, December 6, 2008. A day with two faces for me. On one side, my release in the morning, on the other, the blood flowing at night. Two days before I was captured for breaking into banks during the last university demonstration before the uprising. Friday night I find myself «free» for a quick beer. The familiar place, agkelakia in the former PASOK offices, on the corner of Messolonghios and Tzavela.
I meet a colleague, waiting for another colleague and Alexandros. Around 21:00 hours they make their appearance. The next image is the blue lighthouse of Zoodochou Pigi and the characteristic sound of the horn. The companions decide they must leave. Shouts, counter-shouts and the banging. I get up to look. The next image is of the comrade dragging the unconscious Alexandros by the armpits. My first thought is to get him to the square before the platoon comes down. I communicate my thought without response. Confusion reigns as people scurry out of the surrounding tents. Those who were with him in the attack are silenced. They know something that escapes me. There is no plastic bullet as I would like to believe. His shirt is torn from the drag just above his navel. I lift him higher, as something makes it difficult for him to breathe. It’s not the shirt. A pool of blood, below the left breast. A bullet.
Tears accompany Alexandros in his last sighs. With his last exhalation, the tears turn to rage. The first response is to fall on the PASOK platoon. Stones, sticks, fires in the containers. The cops are confused, waiting for orders. Next stop the square, down Stournari, all cars overturn and end up at the Polytechnic. An assembly follows. Next stop: Acropolis Police Station, then Ermou, ending at Monastiraki. The first sparks in the fuse. The following days follow clashes in Alexandra and student marches, which also end in clashes and walkouts in the TAs all over the country. Violent aggressive practices are adopted by the people involved. Anarchists, leftists, students, unemployed, workers, youth, hooligans, migrants, found themselves flanking the barricades.
The first social uprising of the 21st century on European soil. This was the insurgents’ response to this state murder. A state murder that was followed by others and then by others. The question is the responses we give. The state murder of the anarchist student Alexandros Grigoropoulos was announced by the Minister of Public Order Byron Polydoras, who some time ago spoke of the sensitive nervous systems of policemen, and that it is good not to play with their resistance. The media narrative intended to characterize it as an isolated incident in which a crazed, psychopathic, right-wing extremist cop acted with abuse of power and dereliction of duty fell apart. As great as the counterinsurgency wall built in the TV windows was, it was not enough to stop the onslaught of rioters. Where the assassination took place was no accident. The target was the wild youth roaming the pedestrian street, the people of struggle moving in Exarchia. It is our political duty to defend this particular spot against the corporate investment plans of neoliberal politics that seek the redevelopment of Exarchia and its transformation into a commercial zone. Our dead will not be forgotten as long as the struggle continues.
«No tears are shed from eyes that are used to seeing fires. The fighters do not bow their heads, they hold the star with pride… Ashes you will be, old man of the world, the path of crushing is written for you and you will not be able to bend us, killing our brothers in battle and knowing this we will be victorious, even if our sacrifices are heavy.»
Nazim Hikmet
Immediate release of hunger striker Giannis Michailidis.
Victory in the struggle of the 11 Turkish revolutionaries.
Haris Mantzouridis imprisoned in the prison of Korydallos, A wing.
9/6/2022
| Haris Mantzouridis, is arrested on October 13, 2021, accused of robbing a safe in Zografou in 2018. |
| SOURCE: ATHENS INDYMEDIA TRANSLATION: ANARQUÍA |