Tag: Greece
Realities Behind the Arrest of Nikos Romanos
This is an attempt to provide information and context for those outside Greece concerning the recent state abduction of anarchist Nikos Romanos.
On 31 October, 2024, an explosion in the Athens neighborhood of Ampelokopoi killed the comrade Kyriakos X and severely injured the comrade Marianna M.
They were both in an apartment where an explosive device detonated, knocking out one wall of the building. The state claims they were planning to detonate a bomb elsewhere and that it exploded prematurely. Both Kyriakos and Marianna are anarchists, respected participants in the movement.
The press in Greece is owned by a handful of old families who control most of the remaining greek assets– those that haven’t been sold off to foreign investors. The Greek mainstream media exists to disseminate state narratives, and it immediately began slandering the victims of the explosion as well as engaging in wild speculation– such as that the israeli embassy was the intended target. Whether or not that’s true, it is true that israeli mossad agents came to assist the Greek police in their investigations. Since the explosion, the state has made additional arrests of people it claims are somehow connected to the apartment and its lease, sublease, etc.
As the Greek press promoted the propaganda of the state, there commenced activity in some cowardly corners of the left to distinguish the more “guilty” of those accused from the others. This is the question of who to tar with the labels of “anarchist” and “terrorist” — thereby assumed to deserve repression– vs. who is really “innocent.”
The anarchist movement itself, both in Greece and internationally, has rejected such division and remained strong in solidarity despite a chilling increase in repression. There were multiple support gatherings outside the hospital where Marianna was held under guard and when, shortly after her second surgery, she was transferred to Korydallos prison, comrades also gathered there. Kyriakos has been honored with actions, banners, marches, events and memorials, and will remain a beloved comrade forevermore. There has been no “disavowal,” no step back.
Since the tragedy in Ampelokopoi state repression against those suspected of being “anarchists” has become more aggressive, although this is consistent with an ongoing trend since the pandemic. What we have seen now are not new tactics but an increase in frequency: police actions such as stopping and searching people around the neighborhood Exarcheia, early-morning “preventative detention” of targeted individuals (people considered politically prominent) on the days of demonstrations and marches, and an increase in surveillance of those the greek state has a grudge against, including by parking unmarked cars with surveillance equipment in front of their homes.
Few people in the anarchist movement here have been under as heavy surveillance, long-term, as the comrade Nikos Romanos. He was a friend of the anarchist Alexis Grigoropolous, and witnessed Alexis’ murder by police on 6 December 2008. Since that time Nikos has been arrested many times and accused of many crimes, along with false accusations of involvement with the direct action group Conspiracy of Cells of Fire. Continue reading “Realities Behind the Arrest of Nikos Romanos”
Chile: Molotovs Against Police in Memory of Kyriakos X. and Kevin Garrido and in Solidarity with Marianna M.
As part of the call for a Black November in memory of comrade Kevin Garrido, a group of young anarcho-nihilists set up barricades and clashed with police near a secondary school in Chile during the first weeks of November. At the scene they threw molotovs for black memory, in solidarity with the prisoners of social war, in solidarity with the comrades of “INBA”, who were hit by fire while making Molotov cocktails in the toilets of a secondary school in Santiago, Chile. Also, among the molotovs thrown there is a call for solidarity with comrade Marianna M. and in memory of comrade Kyriakos Xymitiris.
The propaganda read:
“MEMORY AND REVENGE FOR OUR DEAD!
Black November for Kevin Garrido
Down with the cages of civilized society
Free our imprisoned comrades in Chile and the world, Joaquín García, the prisoners of the July 6 case, Monica and Francisco, Aldo and Lukas, Ayekan and every prisoner of war, in the streets!
Solidarity with the comrades of INBA, action and mutual aid!
Solidarity and action with comrade Marianna M. who is hospitalized in Athens.
Kevin Garrido, Kyriakos Xymitiris and each of our dead present!”
(Information and photos were collected from social networks)
UK: From London to Athens Solidarity to the Political Prisoners Marianna, Dimitra, Dimitris, Hands Off Romanos, Fallen Anarchist Kyriakos Forever Alive
SOLIDARITY FROM LONDON
On October 31, anarchist comrade Kyriakos X. is killed by a bomb explosion while handling it in an apartment in Athens. The explosion seriously injures anarchist comrade Marianna M., who, along with other anarchist comrades, faces prosecution under charges of forming and participating in a terrorist organization.
On November 18, comrade Nikos Romanos is also arrested in connection with the same events. Nikos Romanos held his friend and comrade Alexis Grigoropoulos in his arms as he took his final breath on December 6, 2008, assassinated by the bullet of a special state officer.
In the years that followed, the Greek anti-terrorist agency repeatedly targeted Nikos and other anarchists, imprisoning them with fabricated evidence in an effort to suppress the blooming anti-authoritarian social movements. Nikos Romanos spent years as a political prisoner, held hostage by the state, before being released in recent years.
NO ONE ALONE / NO ONE IN THE HANDS OF THE STATE
THE REBELLION OF THE EXPLOITED IS NEVER TERRORISM
FROM LONDON TO ATHENS, SOLIDARITY TO NIKOS, MARIANNA, DIMITRA, DIMITRIS AND ALL OTHER PRISONERS OF THE STATE AROUND THE WORLD
FALLEN ANARCHIST KYRIAKOS LIVES FOREVER IN OUR STRUGGLES
Athens, Greece: Claim of responsibility for the incendiary attack on the NTUA rectorate
Power means total denial of freedom. Imposition is the quintessential means used by those who decide to dominate. So we are talking about a world that was built on this fundamental aesthetic choice. This choice of the ruling class calls upon its servants to implement it. The rectorship of NTUA (National Technical University of Athens) is yet another cog in the machine, one of the threads in the institutional fabric of the state, whose ideological role is sterilization, increased productivity, and the creation of an “excellent” specialized worker who only raises their head when it comes to a better career choice. In short, the ideological role of the university in the neoliberal urban state is to present “governance of science” as the only way societies have to organize themselves. The means by which the university fulfills this role is the monopoly on knowledge, or rather the cultivation of the illusion that it indeed monopolizes knowledge.
In reality, the excellence of NTUA lies in master’s programs in collaboration with TERNA, research on military drones, a close collaboration with police for evictions and arrests, targeting, prosecutions, and the imposition of fines on students. The latest chronological reference point, and after failing to achieve their goal with the successive eviction operations in 2023-24, is the issuance of an ultimatum for all occupied spaces on 31/10/2024. The state and social cannibals rush to stifle any attempt to build an alternative to the prevailing social decay by evicting spaces and intensifying repression, thinking they are terrorizing us. But we do not bow our heads, because we know we are right. The early manifestations of this counter-proposal are the squats, and as long as you do not let us build our own reality, we will destroy yours. After all, the goal is not to build on the existing foundations, but on their ruins. However, destruction does not come on its own.
Fire has always been a weapon of society. So we take responsibility for the incendiary attack on the administration building of NTUA in Zografou, on Friday 08/11/2014.
HONOR FOREVER TO THE ANARCHIST FIGHTER KYRIAKOS XYMITIRIS
SOLIDARITY WITH THE INJURED COMRADE MARIANNA M. AND
TO THE PERSECUTED COMRADES D.Z. AND D.
SOLIDARITY WITH COMRADE K.K. FOR THE CASE IN MESSOLONGHIOU
Incendiaries
Via: Blessed Is The Flame
Source: athens.indymedia
[URGENT] Athens, Greece: Anarchist Comrade Nikos Romanos arrested by anti-terrorist cops
Word comes to us from comrades in Greece that anarchist comrade Nikos Romanos has been arrested by anti-terrorist cops during an operation today in Athens and has been taken to the GADA (Athens Central Police Headquarters). All we know so far is that he has been arrested in connection with the same case involving the explosion at an apartment in the neighborhood of Ampelokipoi in Athens on 31st October.
Strength and complicity comrade, you will not be left alone!
DN Collective
[URGENT] Call for a solidarity gathering at GADA, 9pm
We are calling for a solidarity gathering with the 31-year-old detainee today at 9 PM, at GADA.
NO ONE ALONE/NO ONE IN THE HANDS OF THE STATE
SOLIDARITY WITH THE IMPRISONED COMRADES MARIANNA, DIMITRA, AND DIMITRIS
KYRIAKOS XYMITIRIS ONE OF US A COMRADE FOREVER ON THE STREETS OF FIRE
SOLIDARITY IS OUR WEAPON
Assembly of Solidarity with imprisoned, fugitive, and persecuted fighters
Source: athens.indymedia
Athens, Greece: [URGENT] Transfer of comrade Marianna to Korydallos – Call for gathering in Korydallos
The anarchist comrade Marianna, just one day after her second consecutive surgery and while remaining hospitalized as a multiple trauma patient for 15 days at Evangelismos Hospital, was transferred to Korydallos on Friday morning.
The pressures from the scum of the anti-terrorism unit, who operate in perfect collaboration with the investigator handling the case, resulted in the comrade being discharged and taken to the women’s prisons of Korydallos, where there isn’t even a hospital and thus no possibility to provide her with the appropriate care for her injuries.
We make it clear in all directions, whatever happens to our comrade, it will have consequences and will not go unanswered.
We call for a solidarity gathering for our imprisoned comrades Marianna M. D.Z. and D., on Monday, November 18 at 18:30, at Korydallos Prison, with a pre-gathering at the Korydallos Town Hall.
SOLIDARITY WITH THE IMPRISONED COMRADES MARIANNA, DIMITRA, AND DIMITRIS
HANDS OFF THE INJURED ANARCHIST COMRADE MARIANNA
KYRIAKOS XYMITIRIS ONE OF US A COMRADE FOREVER ON THE STREETS OF FIRE
Assembly of Solidarity with Prisoners, Fugitives and Persecuted Fighters
Source: athens.indymedia
[16/11] CALL FOR AN INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION AND IN MEMORY OF ANARCHIST COMRADE KYRIAKOS XIMITIRIS
We call all comrades around the world for an international day of action and in memory of the dead anarchist fighter and dear comrade Kyriakos Ximitiris (16 November).
We invite comrades from abroad to send texts that they would like for us to read at the political event in memory of comrade Kyriakos that will take place on the same day, in Athens.
October 31 forever engraved in the hearts of every fighter. With anger and determination we stand next to our comrades
On 31/10/24, after a device explosion in an apartment in Ampelokipoi, our anarchist comrade Kyriakos Xymitiris fell in the battle for social and class liberation, while our anarchist comrade Marianna M., who was also in the apartment, ended up with multiple injuries and until now she is currently being treated and guarded at the Evangelismos Hospital. At the same time, two more people are arrested and taken to the investigator, with the comrade Dimitris and the anarchist comrade Dimitra being detained.
Anarchist comrade Marianna M. is being guarded in the hospital of Evangelismos, with all the repressive apparatus and the counter-terrorism agency aiming to extract the testimony of the comrade. We have not forgotten cases of torture of comrades who were captured and guarded in nursing institutions and suffered physical abuse through medical enforcement practices, with their physical, emotional and mental state being exploited. Such impositions of state power are clearly torture.
No thought should pass through their minds for further police pressure or continuation of the (pre)investigation process on the severely injured comrade Marianna, while she is hospitalized and called upon to manage the emotional, spiritual and political load after the explosion. Her interrogation is torture and all kinds of participants in it are torturers of state power. The administration and staff of Evangelism bear the primary responsibility for anything that happens to our comrade. Any member of the medical community who acquiesces or simply remains silent in such a process will be complicit in the intended state violence and attempted torture of comrade Marianna. State violence has been perpetrated on our comrade with counter-terrorist bastards fingerprinting her, while she was under the care of medical personnel, without having escaped danger, and without her consent, since she was unconscious. Continue reading “[16/11] CALL FOR AN INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION AND IN MEMORY OF ANARCHIST COMRADE KYRIAKOS XIMITIRIS”
Missolonghi, Greece: Explosive Attack on Police Interrogation Van by Anarchists
Explosive Attack on Police Interrogation Van
The mire of defeatism and misery sucks us in deeper and deeper as we remain passive in the face of repression, terrorism and death sown by States.
The dystopian present is methodically growing, two more people are added to the long list of dead in the police hellholes. 37-year-old Mohammed Kamran Asik, having been transferred to 5 different police stations while he was missing, was eventually found dead at Agios Panteleimonas AT (cop station), in a room without cameras, with strong signs of torture. Mia Harizul, 29, was found hanged at AT Omonia (cop station) in a detention facility without cameras with 11 other detainees present. It is clear that these are murders, with their expected cover-ups by regime snitches at the same time as the government under the auspices of law and order, but also in order to safeguard its vomitic international relations with genocidal States, is forcing its dogs to suppress any kind of resistance. This tactic is proven in practice, when on 7/10 the pro-Palestine march heading to the Israeli embassy is brutally attacked by cops, people are arrested and charged with felonies.
Murders of immigrants, files on activists, threats, beatings of students inside their university, arrests, indictments, torture… These are some of the things we have seen lately.
In the early morning of Friday 11/10, an explosive device was placed in a police interrogation van, with the explosion mainly causing damage to the front of the vehicle. Unfortunately, the response of the fire brigade was immediate and it did not have time to burn to the ground. It is important here to mention the bullying of local uniformed lackeys towards young (when it takes them that is…) under the pretext of standard control. Such situations also command the responsibility that each one has to counterattack.
It is a necessity to live with our heads held high, for the fear to change sides To assert our denial, stubbornly… for everything to come to a head.
A raised fist for those who chose the path of fire, resistance and violent counterattack in the world of the dominant.
UNDIVIDED STRENGTH TO THOSE ARRESTED FROM THE MARCH ON 7/10
SOLIDARITY WITH OCCUPATIONS AND STRUGGLE STRUCTURES
POLICE SCUMBAGS, EVERYTHING WILL BE ANSWERED
NOTHING IS FINISHED EVERYTHING CONTINUES
Source: athens.indymedia
Via & Translated by Act for freedom now!
Poster for Kyriakos, Marianna, Dimitra and all comrades affected by the explosion in Athens 31.10.24
“…for I obeyed only my heart, which was torn by the suffering of all proletarians, the unfortunate, the hunted and the enslaved outcasts ” Germaine Berton*
These are the moments when big words seem inappropriate and presumptuous, when life in all its intensity makes us realize how short our path can be. When we speak up at such a moment, we hope to offer empathy, solidarity, perhaps a little solace to those who want it.
It is these moments that make us painfully aware that the life we have chosen is not only intense, exhausting, dangerous and at the same time beautiful, but also very fleeting. When a person with revolutionary ideas dies fighting for them, it is important to take a moment. We do not believe in necessities, collateral damage or martyrdom. As anarchists, we fight for life, even if we realize that in this world it is reserved for a few to be allowed to live a dignified life. That is also why we fight.
The confrontation with power often seems so abstract to us in everyday life, even if it has an impact in the smallest actions and moments. Losing a person on the path we have chosen is probably one of the most terrible scenarios imaginable. Our hearts are shaken at the thought of the situation our fellow comrades find themselves in, their pain is unimaginable.
When we look around in the world today, it is not easy to find hope. And yet we want to remember how much beauty there is in the experiences we have had, the struggles we have shared, the new and different relationships we are creating on the path of revolution, of anarchy. It is all these small and big moments that allow us to move forward.
For Kyriakos, who died in an explosion in an apartment in Athens on 31.10.24. You will not be forgotten.
For Marianna, who was injured in the explosion and imprisoned, Stay strong, you are not alone.
For Dimitra and other imprisoned and persecuted comrades, Freedom and luck for you!
Solidarity and complicity!
Anarchists from the north
DN Note
* Germaine Berton, French anarchist who on 22 January 1923, assassinated secretary of Action Française (far right, monarchist and nationalist) and leader of The Camelots du roi (far-right youth organization of Action Française), Marius Plateau, with five revolver shots at the organization’s headquarters. When police arrived, Berton declared she was avenging the assassination of Jean Jaurès (socialist and anti-miltarist assassinated by a nationalist), Miguel Almereyda’s mysterious death (socialist and antimiltarist journalist who died in a prison cell), and France’s occupation of the Ruhr.
For my comrade Kyriakos X.
Goodbye comrade,
”You will be ashes, old world.
You’re destined for the path of destruction
And you can’t bend us
By killing our brothers in arms…
And know this
We will come out victorious
And even though our sacrifices
Are heavy”
Nazim Hikmet
Belatedly, I would like to write a few words about my comrade and companion for the past 6 years of my life, K. Xymitiris, who passed away in an apartment on Arkadias Street.
Together we struggled and shaped our opinions on anything that troubled us. I grew up with him, on a journey of discovering my combative identity. And Kyriakos was always by my side, not in front or in the back, but next to me. Holding my hand, supporting me, with his smile and his perspicacity. Always giving the correct answers while we were all mincing our words, clearing the landscape while we were all feeling lost. With a well-developed sense of solidarity, he always stood on the side of anyone who needed it, regardless of repression, being targeted, and his own comfort. Always first in all the struggles: against repression, gentrification, the labour sweatshops, colonialism, patriarchy, prisons. Indispensable as a comrade and as a friend, wherever he stood he filled the space with his modesty and militancy.
By advocating for unity in the struggle for the revolutionary cause, for confrontation, militancy and counter-attack, always with respect for those next to him, he made space where others suffocated. So he lived, at least by my side, militant and persistent, hopeful and smiling. Ready for everything, taking risks big and small, he gave his daily life to the struggle without a second thought.
Always by our side
to me, to his friends and his comrades, to anyone who needed him for the smallest or the biggest matter.
Always by our sideto take on the most tedious, the most risky role.Always by our side to hold our hand, to accompany us, to open the way.
Always by the sideof the migrant, the abused, the worker, the prisoner.
And always by my sideto support me, to help me, to listen to me, to struggle together with me, to hug me by pushing away the fear, to encourage me by pushing away the second thoughts, to fill the days and nights with comradeship and combativeness.
COMRADE KYRIAKOSNone of the goodbyes are enough. None of the texts can describe the pain of your loss. On 31/10 I was left half, on a path where I wanted you by my side. On 31/10 I lost that smile that only you knew how to evoke. On 31/10 I lost the hopefulness that only you could transmit to me. But on 31/10 I also made a promise to you, to me, to us and to so many others, that you would not be forgotten. On 31/10 I stayed behind to speak about you, about the struggle you gave and about those you did not manage to give. On 31/10 I raised up my fist and with my bloody mouth I vowed to STRUGGLE. On 31/10 I raised my fist and in the rubble of Arcadia Street I said KYRIAKOS XYMITIRIS, ALWAYS PRESENT!
”Our most beautiful days we haven’t seen yet.
And the most beautiful words I wanted to tell you
I haven’t said yet…”
Nazim Hikmet
With unconditional love
your comrade
Marianna M.
Source: athens.indymedia