From various sources in Greece we have learned that during the arrest of comrade Pola Roupa (member of Revolutionary Struggle and partner of the comrade Nikos Maziotis, also a member of Revolutionary Struggle), that the police have kidnapped and detained her 6 year old son.
The child is being held in a hospital room under armed guard and the police are refusing to allow family members or legal representatives to see him. It is illegal under Greek law for a minor to be interrogated without the presence of a guardian or lawyer.
In response to the state’s illegal kidnapping and detention of their son, comrades Pola and Nikos have begun a hunger and thirst strike to demand that their child be released from police custody and into the care of close relatives. The 25 year old woman comrade who was arrested with Pola has also begun a hunger strike with the same demands as Pola and Nikos. Mobilizations in solidarity with the comrades have already begun on the streets and in Korydallos prison.
Below are the latest reports and social media posts regarding the situation that have been translated into English so far, we will provide more updates as soon as they become available.
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY WITH POLA ROUPA & NIKOS MAZIOTIS!
END THE STATE’S VENGEFUL DETENTION OF THEIR 6 YEAR OLD SON!
LONG LIVE REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE!
First statement from Pola Roupa since her arrest, read by her legal representative:
I Panagiota (Pola) Roupa declare that I was and will be until I die an unrepentant enemy of the system. They have now put a child in the middle of this war and they punish him in order to get revenge against me. They have kidnapped my child and I don’t know where he is since our arrest in the early morning.
We are at war, it is true. But them fighting against my child, by not allowing me or other close relatives to see him and by threatening to send him to an institution, is the most despicable act in this war. Those who are in the state apparatus are worms because they are fighting against a 6 year old child.
And I want to state that I have now begun a hunger and thirst strike to demand that the child is given to my mother and my sister. As for me I will remain the enemy until I die. And I will never yield.
Long live the revolution!
Pola Roupa
(via Mpalothia, translated by BlackCat)
Korydallos Prison, Greece: Intensification of prisoner actions in solidarity with the hunger strike of Nikos Maziotis & Pola Roupa
The mobilizations in solidarity with N. Maziotis and P. Roupa, who have been on food and water strike to stop the vengeful detention of their 6 year old child and to give custody of the child to close relatives are intensifying as the prison yard will remain open throughout midday.
The yard will remain open in the wing where the political prisoners are housed and also in A, C and D wing of the men’s section of the prison.
(via Mpalothia & Athens Indymedia, translated by BlackCat)
Video: comrade Pola Roupa being led to court under extreme armed police repression.
Photos: Intervention by anarchists in solidarity with Pola Roupa and Nikos Maziotis outside the home of the Minister of Justice S. Kondonis in Athens. (photos via @GiannisNegris)
