Text for the upcoming court (02/10/16) of the anti-fascists of Kavala with the support of the Solidarity Fund Prisoners and Persecuted Fighters

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The so-called Imia crisis that took place in 1996, on the one hand served the imperialistic politics of the two states (Greece and Turkey) and on the other hand, through the nationalist hysteria it provoked, helped the feast of armaments to be set up. After the Imia event, the Greek State, taking advantage of the “alibi” of the military risk, will proceed in an out of control investment in military armaments programs. These are the “good times”, when the nationalism business is so ludicrous that it feeds politicians, businessmen, military officers and journalists.

Alongside the official state that up to this day uses this event in its agenda (see: Kammenos, Defense Minister of the fascist-left who dropped a wreath on the islet of Imia), there is also someone else who has gained from this affair. For years, the fascist para-state has been taking advantage of the Imia incident by staging celebrations of hatred. From 2011 onwards, the Patriotic Movement of Kavala, on the pretext of the Imia incident, organizes each year a nationwide call, where other fascists and ultraconservatives take part, from Larissa, Drama, Thessaloniki, Komotini and Alexandroupolis. This call of hatred in our town is the second nationwide rally of ultraconservatives for Imia, after that of the Golden Dawn; in a similar fashion, in both rallies one can hear military marches and see military formations and nazi salutes, while anti-fascist banners are set on fire.

So, each year the night before, members of the patriotic movement guard the square in which their celebration of hatred takes place, while they bully and beat whomever they don’t like.

In the early morning hours of Sunday, 26/01/2014, a few hours before the open antifascist rally in Faliro Park, the contemporary nazi-collaborators of Kavala have once again taken on the too well-known role of the snitch. Only this time their role was upgraded and was not confined in just snitching. They break the store-front and attempt to set on fire the store that belongs to a comrade of ours, targeted for his antifascist action. The store was located in the vicinity of Agios Nikolaos and the lives of the building’s occupants were endangered. Our comrade, once notified of the attack on his store, goes down there to see what had happened. A few moments later some plain-clothes police officers arrive, having been notified by the local residents. That moment our comrade is informed that before the smashing and arson of his store, a clash had taken place between a group of antifascists and a group of members of the Patriotic Movement; the latter being there to guard the area of the Municipal Park for their Imia event next morning. Our comrade then goes to the police department, as he is informed by the cops that some formalities are required by him as the owner of the business, since arson attempt is a prosecutable ex-officio criminal offence; this was regardless of whether he wished to take legal action or to use the civil justice channels.

After a 3-hour wait at the police station, he finds out he is arrested after a lawsuit was filed against him by members of the Patriotic Movement. Obviously, the cops there, on another floor, were cooking up the lawsuit with the patriots. The main charge is the criminal offence of ‘disturbance of public order with facial features covered’. The one and only “evidence” for the charges were the testimonies of the Patriotic Movement members. During the three-hour wait at the police department, all high officials paraded, ranging from the Director of Security, Simoudis, to the Head of the Department, A. Koskeridis.

But the pure patriot snitches did not stop there. Around 20 of those remaining in the Municipal Park attacked and thrashed 2 university students, calling them anarchist scum, when the latter were returning home after a night out; the two students have no political associations whatsoever with the anarchist/anti-authoritarian movement.

The next morning, the organized antifascist rally, called by the Autonomous Collective of Kavala, Vironos 3 squat and individual antifascists, takes place in Faliro Park. From the very first moment of the rally, there is a huge police force with riot squads (around 10 squads), special police forces (OPKE) and plain-clothes cops. The antifascists gathered in Faliro Park, 150 to 170 people from Kavala and other towns, block the road in front of the park, while at the same time police vans shut any route that leads to the Municipal Park, where the fascist rally is taking place. Not only Golden Dawn and Patriotic Movement take part in the fascist rally, but also other neo-nazi groups, such as the National-Socialist Army of Macedonia, the Uncommitted Meandros Nationalists, Patriotic Movements from other towns and other known and unknown fascists from Northern Greece. After the end of the antifascist rally, people form chains by holding each other and move towards the Vironos 3 squat, with the riot squads following and then passing around the squat, cursing and making gestures at the antifascists.

With one comrade already held in custody for two days after the ridiculous lawsuit against him by members of the patriotic movement, in the afternoon of Monday 27 January 2014, the second comrade (the brother of the first), also targeted for his antifascist action, is informed that a lawsuit is pending against him as well, also by members of the patriotic movement, and he appears voluntarily at the police department of Kavala. This second comrade, up until the morning hours of Sunday, was trying to save what was left from his brother’s store. Our comrades are held in custody for one week until they go through the prosecutor.

On Friday, 31/01/2014, after appearing before the magistrate, our two comrades were released, with an abundance of charges, on the following conditions: They are not allowed to leave the country and they have to appear at the local police department within the first five days of each month, until the trial is held. The bail was 2,000 euros for both of them plus the court expenses, which amounted to 950 euros.

The first trial was set for 10/06/2015, where our comrades asked for an adjournment due to the absence of their defending attorneys. The second trial was set for 9/12/2015, which was also postponed due to the nationwide strike of attorneys. The next trial is on the 10th February 2016 at the Court of Xanthi.

All this time, up until today, no fascist has been detained or investigated for the smashing of our comrade’s store and no preliminary examination has taken place, despite the pending lawsuit against the fascists.

It is worth noting that before each trial the fascists are trying to provoke us with their behavior, by threatening and writing disgusting nationalist and nazi slogans, as well as the names of the two persecuted comrades throughout the town, but also in the area where the comrades live. At the same time, they set up various traps in order to intimidate and harm some of our comrades, in an attempt to create a climate of tension just before the trial. Needless to say, this is something they haven’t managed to accomplish, as the fascists are the ones who flee each time they meet our comrades on the streets.

The collaboration between the police of Kavala, the Patriotic Movement and the rest of the neonazi groups and organizations has one goal; to suppress and attack any local resistance there is within the community of Kavala -such as the Autonomous Collective and the Vironos 3 squat- and to terrorize the rest. 

No comrade alone in the hands of the State. Solidarity with our arrested comrades!

Wednesday, 10 February 2016 at the Court of Xantli, 9:00am. Let’s all be there.

SOLIDARITY IS OUR WEAPON 

AUTONOMOUS COLLECTIVE OF KAVALA
VIRONOS 3 SQUAT
SOLIDARITY FUND FOR IMPRISONED AND PERSECUTED FIGHTERS