“Justice was born when we lost control over our lives”
Bruno Filippi
My political status and conscience would never allow me to be standing here “apologizing” before a fixed trial-parody as played out recently in this court hall, hence the comments I am about to make will therefore relate to a purely political sphere rather than a procedural one. Political action neither begins nor ends under the Criminal Code, consequently in any case you, both as individuals and as an institution, are not able to judge it.
As anarchists, being against the state, we have to oppose the laws that underlie and justify its existence.
But what is the law?
Nothing more than a set of rules that define right and wrong, good and bad, moral and immoral. It is a “guide” of social behavior aiming to enforce the choice of allegiance and for the maintenance of power through the fear of sanctions for any deviation from the permissible, the legal…
It is “fair”, indeed, that the banks constitute themselves as global loan sharks, but it is “unfair” to blow them up in the air with a strong dose of explosives. In this case, they are renamed as “charities” and “your” justice metes out life-sentences…
It is “fair”, that the governments constantly bomb civilians within the framework of the so-called “humanitarian” war, but it is “unfair” to execute those liable for the deaths of thousands …
A game of words forming the collective imagination, elevating the doctrine of “law and order” to the utmost virtue, aiming solely to preserve the existing authoritarian system.
The dominant world which you protect and preserve promotes and imposes a structured life, the manifestations of which oppress, enslave and limit the capabilities of human existence.
The behaviors, thoughts, feelings, relationships, are transformed into mechanical processes that shape what is called normality or social norm. The lifestyle you suggest to me is summarised to a miserable repetition, specified and without any twists. A boring course of a pointless existence that just waits to be interrupted by death.
But I do not fit into your world. I can not stand this perfectly organized boredom.
All those moments at night, just before you fall asleep when you are smoking the last cigarette and you evaluate the day that passed… The smoke gets mixed with your thoughts and you end up at the last puff… Your day was not enough… The feeling of dissatisfaction is overwhelming and breathtaking … “I can not live like this …”, “I do not want to live like this.” You fall asleep while the same words keep coming in your head…
The new day is to bring you face to face with the reality and the time has come to make your choices… I have chosen to live rather than to survive… Instead of the safety of normality, I have chosen to begin a journey into the unknown where every single moment conceals its own surprises. Where the tension comes to replace the weakness.
The need that burns within me makes me refuse the uniformity that your legitimacy stipulates and led me to a continuous process of rebellion to escape from such narrow limits of the social-prison. During this journey, the time is reset. Our clocks stopped at the time of the attack. No more “triggers” are needed. We stopped taking into account the “must”. The costs, the consequences…
There is one goal; to maximize the threat, to create a dangerous internal enemy that will strike at the heart of your system. This journey is lonely and often you are confronted with your own self, with your own personal contradictions. This is a war that starts from within yourself and surges impetuously against every expression of your modern civilized world. In this war that as anarchists we have declared against you – and we have not refused it a minute; there are no neutral attitudes.
The comrades of the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, despite their long captivity, they did not retreat. They refused to bow down their heads and embrace the cross of remorse. They defended with all their powers and with dignity their anarchist substance. While, therefore, I am not a member of the Conspiracy, our common political conscience allies us. We share the same values, the same ideas and the same passion for freedom. The political bonds that link us could not but make me stand beside them with solidarity.
Solidarity is not just an emotionally charged word.
Solidarity carves insurrectionary directions and prevents forgetfulness from becoming the tombstone of the captured comrades. At this point is when guilt is born. What could be a more authentic and sincerest manifestation of solidarity to these comrades than to contribute morally and practically to the breaking of their captivity? I can only feel proud that I participated in the attempted escape of the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire and no court is competent to judge my choice.
The prison, besides, is a stopping point for anyone who decides to arm his/her desires and refusals. At this point, the contradictions begin… We love freedom so much and we get stuck in the prison… We love life passionately and at the same time we flirt with death every single minute. If the prison is meant to “civilise” ourselves, you should know that the walls and the locks nourish us with anger and the desire for revenge grows… We can fail, but we can not bow down … This is not about the beginning and certainly not about the end of the story, but it is about the journey and this is where the whole beauty is found…
For these reasons, and for all the reasons in the world, I proudly and without a trace of remorse, undertake the responsibility for my practical political contribution to the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire escape plan. No matter how many times I would turn the clock back I would make the same choice again and again.
Aggeliki Spyropoulou
Women’s Prison of Korydallos
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Imprisoned anarchist comrade Aggeliki Spyropoulou was sentenced to 28 years in prison for her involvement in the 2015 escape attempt of the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire. The comrade will shortly be transferred to Thiva prison from Korydallos now that the trial is over.
via 325.nostate.net
