On Sunday, 6 December, the Greek police arrested a total of 80 left-wing activists in Athens during a ceremony commemorating the murder of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, a 15-year-old student who was killed by the police on December 6 2008.
Those arrested include a large part of the leadership of the SEK (Socialist Workers’ Party) —the promoter of the commemoration— along with dozens of its members, as well as many other activists.
This police intervention must be understood in the context of the fight against the neo-Nazi party, Golden Dawn, recently convicted after a lengthy trial. We should remember that half of the Athens police voted for this party.
Only a few weeks ago, the police tried to carry out a raid on the SEK headquarters, during which they physically assaulted the comrades and pointed their weapons at them.
Among those arrested this Sunday are Petros Konstantinou, Athens councillor and coordinator of the united movement against fascism and racism, KEERFA; Panos Garganas, editor of the newspaper Workers’ Solidarity, who was a witness at the trial and whose publication covered it almost daily; Christos Argyris, of the leadership of ADEDY, the public sector union that is actively involved in KEERFA and which called a general strike for the sentencing of the neonazis; Katerina Thoidou, Nikea councillor and prominent KEERFA activist; and two lawyers in the popular accusation against Golden Dawn; Thanassis Kampagiannis and Kostas Papadakis.
They were accused of failing to comply with the Covid-19 protection measures, but the protest was held with all the necessary measures, while the arrested were locked up with no anti-virus measures at all.
Following strong protests from the unions and the entire left — notably SYRIZA and the Communist Party — all of them were released.
This repression is part of a pattern that is spreading across Europe. We must bear in mind that, in the Spanish State, nine people were sentenced to long prison sentences for promoting the independence of Catalonia. Thousands more people have suffered repression for the same motive, while tens of thousands of people across the state have been condemned under the “gag law”. In France, Macron is preparing a law in the same line and, without waiting for the new law, he is already repressing Muslim individuals and organisations.
An attack on one sector of the left or of the movements is an attack against all of us. We denounce the attack of democratic rights represented by the police intervention in Athens, and we express our solidarity with those arrested.
Marx21
Also signing this call:
Africa Leira Sanmartin, Compostela, Galiza
Ainhoa Kaiero, teacher and Marx21, Lanzarote, Canarias
Alberto Sánchez, antifascist activist, Elda, Alacant
Alejandro García Rodríguez, Marx21, Sevilla
Alejandro R. O., Izquierda Revolucionaria, Sindicato de Estudiantes, Sevilla
Alfons Llopis Martinez, UCFR Barcelona, Amical de les Brigades Internacionals, Barcelona
Alicia López Hernando, Anticapitalistas, El Boalo, Madrid
Alícia Lozano Ferrer, UCFR Sant Joan Despí, Catalunya
Alma Blanco Cazorla, health activist and Marx21, Madrid
Carles Vallejo Calderón, President, Catalan Association of former political prisoners of Francoism, Barcelona
Carlos, Member of the BNG (left coalition for Galician independence), Madrid
CGT Sevilla
Comisión de Trabajadores Condenados, Familiares y Amigos de Las Heras, Las Heras, Santa Cruz, Argentina
CUP Països Catalans
David Karvala, Marx21, activist against fascism and racism, Barcelona
David Minoves Llucià, Centre Internacional Escarré per les Minories Ètniques i les Nacions- CIEMEN, Barcelona
Delia, Gijón, Asturies
Diego Garrido Zújar, Barcelona
Enric Garriga Elies, President, Amical de Mauthausen and other camps [Organisation of families of victims of the Nazi camps], Vilanova i la Geltrú, Catalunya
Eugeni Rodríguez, President, Observatory Against Homophobia, Barcelona
Ferran Chueca Ferré, Treasurer of ANJI [Youth organisation of the Catalan National Assembly]; member of the Sobiranistes d’Esquerres platform, Santa Cristina d’Aro, Catalunya
Francisco, Solidaridad Obrera Union, Alicante
Francisco Cabello García, Sindicato Andaluz de Trabajadoras/es (Andaluz Workers’ Union), Granada
Georgiana Ciupag, UCFR Vilafranca del Penedès, Catalunya
Gerardo Pisarello, MP for Catalunya en Comú, Secretary of the Board of the Spanish Congress, Barcelona
Ignasi Hosta Pascual, Òmnium Cultural, Nou Barris, Barcelona
Inmaculada Rodríguez Villar, Compostela, Galiza
Iolanda Maurici Jareño, UCFR, Ger Association, cultural and sports entity, Sant Pere de Ribes, Catalunya
Isaura Barciela Varela, Compostela, Galiza
Ivan, Mieres, Asturies
Jaime Pastor, political scientist and editor of Viento Sur, Madrid
Jesús Manuel Castillo Segura, Lecturer in Ecology, Universidad de Sevilla, and Marx21, Sevilla
Joan Josep Nuet i Pujals, member of Comunistes de Catalunya, MP in the Spanish Congress, Barcelona
Jónatham F. Moriche, activist and writer, Extremadura, España
Jorge Mancebo Navalón, activist in CridaCR, united movement against racism and fascism, València
José Luis Carretero Miramar, General Secretary, Solidaridad Obrera trade union federation, Madrid
José María Olivar Sánchez, Assembly in Defence of river Tajo, ecologist, Aranjuez
Juan Antonio Gilabert Gil, Marx21 Spanish State, Camas, Andalucía
Kadijatu Dem Njie, activist in Marx21, UCFR and CNAAE, Barcelona
Lola Ferreiro, Compostela, Galiza
Manuel Fernández Suárez, President, Solidaridad Obrera trade union federation, Madrid
Mar Cambrollé Jurado, President, Trans Platform Federation, Spanish state, Sevilla, España
Marc Casanovas, national spokesperson, Intersindical Alternativa de Catalunya union federation, Barcelona
Marcel Mauri, vicepresident and spokesperson of Òmnium Cultural, Badalona, Catalunya
Maria Dantas, MP in the Spanish Congress, Barcelona
Marlene Llorca, Coordinating group, Marx21, Camas, Andalucía
Marta Castro Zaera, Santiago de Compostela
Marta Castillo Segura, Marx21, Sevilla
Mercedes Teixeiro Gato, Mondoñedo, Galiza
Miquel Car, Communication secretary, SOC-SAT (Andaluz Workers’ Union), Almería, Almería, Andalucía
Miquel Ramos, journalist, València
Moisès Rial Medina, CGT Sallent and UCFR Berguedà
Mónica Montero Borrazás, Anova IN, Arteixo, Galiza
Montserrat Sánchez Mancebo, Santiago de Compostela
Natàlia Sànchez Dipp, MP in the Catalan Parliament
Omar Minguillon Garcia, UGT union delegate, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Catalunya
Omar Noumri Coca, Mayor of Castelló de Farfanya (Lleida), Catalunya
Óscar Reina, national spokesperson, Sindicato Andaluz de Trabajadoras/es (Andaluz Workers’ Union)
Oskar Matute, MP for EHBildu in the Spanish Congress
Paquita, Aviles, Asturias
Pere Fernàndez Armengot, Comunistes de Catalunya and UCFR, Barcelona
Roberto Tejera, biologist, manager of social projects, Lanzarote, Canarias
Rosa Santorum Paz, Compostela, Galiza
Rubén, activista in Marx21 and XR, Avilés, Asturies
Salim Benamara, President, Catalan Islamic Cultural Center, Barcelona
Salwa El Gharbi, MP in the Catalan Parliament, Barcelona
Shahzad Akbar, founder and coordinator, Pakistani Taxi Drivers’ Association, Pak Taxi, Santa Coloma De Gramenet, Catalunya
Steven Forti, Lecturer in Contemporary History, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Txell Bragulat, Director of the Arab and Mediterranean Film Festival of Catalonia, Barcelona
Vitoria Pérez, Luou, Teo, Galiza
Xavier Antich Valero, Philosophy lecturer, University of Girona
Xoan Vázquez Arango, Marx21, LGTB activist, Aranjuez
Xulia, Santiago de Compostela
Rosa Quinteiro, Santiago de Compostela
Santiago Amador, biología teacher in Melilla and Marx 21
Josué N. de la Vega M., Bloque Popular, Colima, Mexico
Núria Torras, Catalunya
Julio, SAT trade union, El Ejido
Enver Aznar Méndez, social worker, member of Anticapitalistas, Vilanova i la Geltrú, Catalunya
Bakary Soumbounou, Marx21, Almería
Notes:
- SEK, the Socialist Workers Party, is the sister organization in Greece of Marx21.net
- More images of the event and the arrests: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=ergatiki&set=a.4752221874847997