FREE THE 7 PRISONERS IN THESSALONIKI
During the events that took place on June the 21st in downtown Thessaloniki in the occasion of the EU summit, the repression forces launched an orchestrated assault against thousands of protestors. This assault was realized in four ways:
A) By intensely showering Egnatia street and the major part of downtown Thessaloniki with such a massive amount of teargas that it would bring tears to the eyes of anyone who walked the area for a period of three days after the events.
B) By massively beating, abusing and humiliating those arrested (more than 100 people were initially caught by the police).
D) By manufacturing the incrimination of those who were finally detained (29 people on Saturday and 2 people on Sunday), where the pre-selection of charges went hand in hand with the pre-selection of so-called ‘evidence’, where that took place on the road or in jail.
D) The legal authorities picked up where the police left and turned the charges from misdemeanors (minor offences) to capital offences overnight. The outcome was that 22 people were released after a bail amount of 1500 was paid, and the remaining 7 were imprisoned. Two of them were transported to the Avlona state prison, while the rest 5 of them remain in Diavata (the place they were originally jailed) in separate wings.
The policy of the state and the political servants of the international capital elite was in line with what was already visible for more than six months now: to create conditions for war, regardless of the circumstances. Thus we witnessed the unfolding of police forces acting as occupation army both in Marmaras (the nearest point to the Porto Carras hotel, where the EU summit was taking place) as well as in Thessaloniki, which was turned to a city “fortified as if it was going to be bombarded by land, air and sea”.
In this atmosphere of terror, the state functioned as its very nature defines it: as a contractor of fear and violence aided as usual by appointed or self-invited subcontractors of the regime that had or were given access to the media, in order to manipulate consciousness and to bring ‘law and order’, or in other words the political silence of the lambs.
Having said that, it is no surprise that anyone who set their foot on Thessaloniki the day after was stunned by the difference between the projected image and the actual reality. After all, it is a known fact that when fabricating the image does not take lying and hiding the meaning of things, it might as well mean resorting to exaggeration and permutation of meanings. And that was something that became obvious no matter which side one chooses to look upon the events that took place on June the 21st.
Against the striking and recorder brutality of the repression forces and legal vengeance, everyone has to stand up to their political choices and take their share of responsibilities.
In regard to the prisoners though, there can only be one choice and responsibility: THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF ALL THE ARESTED.
The resistance movement is also a solidarity movement and will respond to all the stages and all the needs introduced by the prosecution against state hostages. It is worth mentioning at this point, noting of course that we are standing equally by the side of everyone, that two of the most active comrades, the Spanish Carlos Martinez Martin, a member of CNT-AIT, and the Syrian Castro Daikdouk were put under more pressure for their physical and moral extermination, the former because of offensive press publication and the second because of the fact that he is a political immigrant to whom asylum has not been granted.
We are determined not to abandon anyone in the hands of state repression.
We are determined to continue the fight.

DEMONSTRATION ON TUESDAY 8th OF JULY AT 7p.m. at PANEPISTIMIO PROPYLEA

FREE THE 7 STATE HOSTAGES OF THE EU SUMMIT IN THESSALONIKI
RESISTANCE - SOLIDARITY
ANTIATHORITARIAN MOVEMENT SALONIKA 2003
www.resistance2003.gr