Thessaloniki Hunger Strikers - Legal team press release

[Mark Brown]

Legal team press release is below.
Ok, not a landrights issue, but exceptional posting re: illegal detention of 
our comrades in Greece which is important that we are ALL made aware about , 
in the spirit of comradeship and fraternity..... (Solidarity action on the 
7th  ...keep checking Indymedia for details).
In case people aren't aware of the situation with the 7 imprisoned 
demonstrators, they were all charged with a blanket charge of resisting 
authority, conspiracy to cause criminal damage/carry out a terrorist act, 
even though for one of the 7 - Simon Chapman from the UK - video footage 
that went out on Greek National television on the evening of the protests 
which occurred outside the EU Summit clearly show policemen collecting from 
the street the black bag with seven cocktail Molotov, putting two axes in it 
and putting it to his hand. This evidence, plus photographic and video from 
ET3 evidence showing Simon carrying a blue bag when he was arrested and not 
the black one full of cocktail Molotov which is claimed to be his was not, 
has not so far been allowed to be considered as evidence by judges in the 
Greek courts. Infact, 3 appeals for bail have been turned down, the most 
recent being last week. He could face up to 18 months in prison without 
trial and if found guilty he could receive a sentence of up to 25 years.
see also: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1068650,00.html

M
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Thessaloniki Hunger Strikers - Legal team press release
31.10.2003 11:29

Press release for the hunger strikers



>From LEGAL TEAM 2003
PRESS RELEASE

Wednesday 29/10/2003

Judicial indifference and correctional Middle Ages

Asking for the ending of their pre-arrest, five of the seven imprisoned 
protestors of the rallys against the European Summit last June in 
Thessaloniki continue their hunger strike.

Suleiman Dakduk (Castro) is on the 39th day of his hunger strike, Carlos 
Martin, Fernando Perez and Simon Chapman on the 25th and Spiros Tsitsas on 
the 22nd .

On Monday, Spiros Tsitsas was transferred for a few hours to the hospital to 
be given first aid due to arterial pressure disorders and after suffering 
successive fainting shocks. On the whole, the health situation of the hunger 
strikers is worsening by the day and their permanent transfer to the 
hospital is a matter of days.

The decision for the hunger strike was caused by the attitude of the 
judicial authorities who regard the accused as already guilty, thereby 
grossly violating the principle of “assumed innocence”. Moreover, the 
decision on their pre-imprisonment, as well as the overruling of requests 
for their release, are solely based on a generalizing verdict about their 
“dangerousness” and the possibility of them committing punishable acts if 
released. It is however obvious that what in reality is keeping them 
imprisoned is the already in June apparent need for an “exemplary 
punishment” of the arrested protestors.

Additionally to these tactics, there is also the special status of detention 
the hunger strikers are receiving in the Diavata judicial prison of 
Thessaloniki. Hunger strike, while an unalienable right registered in the 
Penal Code, is considered in Diavata to constitute a disciplinary offense 
with an inofficial penalty of denying the hunger strikers communication with 
their intimate people. This inhuman treatment explicitly constitutes not 
only a violation of one of the most elementary rights of the prisoners, but 
an insult to our legal civilization as a whole.

The Legal Team 2003 calls upon the ones responsible to contemplate the 
weight of their responsibilities as they hold in their hands the lives of 
the hunger strikers and cannot stay deaf to this ultimate call for justice. 
The consequences of the strike could be tragic to the hunger strikers as 
well as for the democratic liberties.

Wednesday 29/10/2003
LEGAL TEAM 2003

e-mail: thessalonikiprisoners at yahoo.com
Homepage: http://www.wombles.org.uk/actions/updateinfo.php

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