Tension before start of Alexandros Grigoropoulos' assassins trial

Libcom.org Jan 16 2010

Tension is high across Greece, in the days before the start of Alexandros
Grigoropoulos assassins murders. Besides the intensifying winter urban
guerrilla offensive in Athens, farmers are gradually blocking the entire
national highway network, while the assassinated boy's mother accuses the
judicial authorities of both turning a blind eye both clues regarding the
murder and inhibiting the proper course of the trial by transferring it in
a remote mountain town.

The authorities had hoped that the postponing of Alexandros Grigoropoulos
assassins' trial would reduce the tension surrounding it. Initially the
trial was to be held in Athens and on the 15th of December 2009. However
the authorities -claiming fear of more civil unrest- have decided to move
the trial to Amfissa, a remote mountain town, for January 20th 2010. This
has caused the outrage of the killed boys' mother who applied twice
against the move of the trial outside Athens and was rebuked twice by the
judicial authorities. In a last move of contempt towards the state's
maneuvers, the mother has published an open letter to the judges, which,
besides pointing out that the accused are "subjects of privileged
treatment", notes that:

"a) the persecution describes the malice of the accused as "possible"
although it was immediate first order malice, as a result the judges'
decision is preempted

b) both the interrogation and the judicial order does not take into
account the possibility of the intended malicious murder of yet another
person, the pupil N.P. who has declared that Ep. Korkoneas [Alexandros'
murderer] "shot against him". Lets not forget that there were two shots

c) The second bullet was never sought at all by the authorities

d) The trial has been moved to Amfissa, without waiting the decision of
the European Court of Human Rights to which I have taken recourse. The
choice of Amfissa creates huge questions since:

e) substantial witnesses have not been called by the persecuting authority

f) the police-conduct files of the accused [policemen] has not been
sought, so as to see if there are disciplinary rulings against them in the
past, and to evaluate their personality".

In the countdown to the trial, the authorities, obviously embarrassed by
the revelations of the mother, have been plagued by a climate of rising
tension that hardly resembles their desired state of "silence, order, and
security".

Farmers mobilisation has been intensifying by the day, with defense
lawyers of the Grigoropoulos family, pointing out that it is doubtful that
road access to Amfissa would be even open at the time of the trial. The
farmers (who come under different unions) have already set up 7 blockades
on the national highway system hampering cross-country traffic, in some
places to a complete standstill. And this is only the start, a warning
move in anticipation of the real thing starting on Monday when tractors
are expected to be brought out in a massive "dynamic mobilisation".

In Athens itself labour issues are not calm either. After a month of
strike the workers of Elite, the country's second biggest shoe producing
industry have stepped up their struggle by occupying the company's main
factory in Athens. The workers are demanding immediate payment of salaries
since November and transparency over the fate of the company (which
despite rising profits is threatening them with closure, in order to move
the capital towards its retail branch). The workers who marched at the
midst of last week from their factory to the Ministry of Labour are
demonstrating an impressive organisational and struggle cohesion which has
won the solidarity of locals. The closure of the factory would jeopardise
the employment of 2,000 more workers in enterprises dependent on the
industry. Mr Lomberdos, the Minister of Labour, has ominously declared
that he expects overall unemployment in the country to rise from 450,000
to 1,000,000 people within 2010 - a 20% of the working force (not
including in the stats as unemployed the students and men performing their
military service).

Finally, the intensification of what looks like a winter offensive by the
urban guerrillas in Athens is yet another headache for the authorities. On
Friday night, just before the clock stroke midnight, a medium-force bomb
blew the ground floor of the Ministry of Press (aka General Secretariat of
Information in socialist newspeak). The bomb which did not cause any human
injuries due to its being pre-announced to the press, destroyed large part
of the premises as well as several parked cars and two fast-food shops
which had been also evacuated. At the time of writing no communique has
been published claiming responsibility for the attack that comes less than
a week after the bomb in the greek parliament's front yard.