Second announcement of the occupied St.Mark Basilica
On Monday 30/3/2015 , as we go through the 29th day of the hunger strike of the political prisoners , we decided to occupy St.Mark’s Basilica . This move is not the peak of our actions of solidarity but it is a means for/ towards the massification and coordination of the greek solidarity movement , which includes other occupied public buildings all over Greece . We also hope this move will prompt other comrades across Greece to perform counterpart actions in other cities .
Today’s greek goverment , consisting of SYRIZA and ANEL, chooses to step in the shoes of its predecessors. The struggles for the people’s rights that seemed to be their main and most important policies and opposition tactics have long been forgotten and replaced by the european-friendly policies they so heartily opposed to a few months earlier. In other words this is the period when the neoliberal – “left-wing” party of Syriza becomes the state. From our point of view, we never doubted that, poverty, unemployment and the constast devaluation of our lives will keep rising . The FRONTEX barrier on the borders will not fall, the immigrants’ concentration camps , even with “enhanced conditions” won’t close.
Now let us take a flashback as far as issues like the prisons, the political prisoners, the anti-terror laws and the covered-characteristics-law go. These laws have been passed in the last fifteen years , based on English (Thatcher period laws) and American suppression standards , and target not only militant guerillas but also the broader revolutionary and struggling groups of society . It is worth mentioning that the minister of the justice department of today , had in the past (2001) denied to vote for the first anti-terror law , as he did in 2004 when the second anti-terror law was passed , in 2009 when the covered-characteristics-law was passed and of course when the last far-right goverment of Samaras and Venizelos passed the law for the maximum security (type gamma) prisons . SYRIZA didn’t of course miss the chance to demostrate its hypocritical humanitarian and “revolutionary” policies quite recently when the anarchist Nikos Romanos was on hunger strike demanding his right to education . A struggle whose purpose ,when it comes to SYRIZA , was no other than votes .
As far as we are concerned , our all time slogan “Down with the state” pretty much sums up that we are not under the delusion that any goverment , no matter what promises it gives , will essentially help the oppressed . After all , no authoritarian system can ever be overthrown peacefully with elections , but instead with the constant stuggle of the revolutionary parts of society .
During the greatest struggle of political prisoners in the history of Greece , today’s goverment unfolds another aspect of its suppresive policies . For starters the issue has been unprecedentelly silenced . At the same time , the prisoners are treated like lesser human beings , being put in a state of isolation , with constant transfers from the prisons to the hospitals , and even being denied minimum communication with their relatives . Combined with the inhuman conditions at the prison hospitals , this is an obvious attempt to break the hunger strikers’ spirit .
To make things clear , we are not willing to take any steps backwards , but instead we intend to intensify our actions with solidarity to the political prisoners , with offensive moves against the goverment and the state , and this goes for every day that passes and the health of the strikers’ becomes more critical . We do not intend to leave our comrades’ fates to the hands of the state , and the determined and coordinated struggle both from inside and outside the prisons , is the only way the hunger strikers’ demands will be met ! The fight goes on !
Until every prison is demolished !
Anarchists from Heraklion, Crete
