Nationwide prisoners' struggle in Greece

Libcom.org Dec 3 2010

A call for solidarity by the Initiative for the Rights of Prisoners for
the prisoners in Greek jails who are having a co-ordinated nationwide
protest since Monday. Included are the demands of the prisoners.

Since Monday 29th November the prisoners in Greek jails have begun an
abstention from prison catering, which is to escalate into a hunger
strike, as a protest against the political indifference that they are
experiencing. The prisoners, with a press release of the co-ordinating
bodies of all the prisons-hellholes in the country, submit their demands
(analytically in the enclosed list) for decongestion of the prisons,
improvement in the conditions, real justice, less imprisonment:
Demands:
1. To stop the abuse of pre-trial detention.
2. Reduction of the statutory upper limits to continuous imprisonment
3. Abolition of devastating sentences and wider application of the measure
of probation/remission and conditional release
4. Legislation setting the upper time limit of the statute of limitation
for disciplinary sentences at 6 months – for these not to be used as
restraining factor for conditional release.
5. The abolition of the anti-terrorism law and the special terms of
detention for political prisoners
6. Abolition of under age prisons and the establishment of structures of
protection for underage offenders [translators' note: we are unsure of the
meaning 'ανοιχτών
δομών
προστασίας']
7. Immediate release of prisoners with special needs and those who suffer
from chronic serious illnesses
8. Immigrant prisoners: (a)immediate and unconditional practice of their
right to serve their sentence in their country of origin (b) immediate
release of all those who are held for judicial or administrative
deportation, c) immediate trying of all trials of greeks and immigrants in
all degrees
9. Leave of absence: (a) granting of leaves of absence with the same
preconditions for all, no to the unequal and discriminatory treatment, no
to arbitrary rejections of applications. (b) increase in the duration of
leave in all cases. c) granting of leaves at the 1/5th [of the sentence]
for all offences and for all prisoners, including those who are serving
sentences for drugs.
10. Improvement in conditions of imprisonment: (a) the right to dignity,
health, education, communication, development of personality, free speech,
exercise (b) the right to work, immediate opportunity of employment for
those who wish to do so, without restrictions due to disciplinary measures
c) increase of jobs and increase in the percentage accounted for the days
worked [which is subtracted from the sentence] (d) application of measures
alternative to imprisonment – expansion of the institution of rural
prisons to include female prisoners (e) banning of physical examinations,
especially vaginal and anal, (f) improvement of the conditions within
holding areas, of transfers and of means of transport.
11. Abolition of monetary sentences (fines).
The Initiative for the Rights of Prisoners stands in solidarity with the
just struggle of the prisoners and makes a call for individuals,
collectives and organizations to an open meeting to coordinate our actions
for the organisation of acts of solidarity for the prisoners' struggle.
Saturday 4th December, 8 pm, Social Center – Meeting-place of Immigrants
Ermou 23 & Venizelou, Thessaloniki
Initiative for the Rights of Prisoners, Thessaloniki
www.keli.gr

Dec 4 2010 00:37
#1
dinosavros

According to the Initiative's post today 8,800 prisoners (out of a total
of 12,622) are participating in the abstention from prison catering in 25
of the 33 jails in the country.


Dec 4 2010 14:35
#2
dinosavros

http://clandestinenglish.wordpress.com/2010/12/04/riot-at-the-fylakion-detention-centre-evros-greece/

4 December. Last Tuesday, a riot broke out, one of the most serious to
date, at the detention centre at Fylakion in the Evros region, near the
town of Orestiada and the FRONTEX headquarters at the Greco-Turkish
border. According to the policemen guarding the centre, the sans papiers
immigrants short-circuited the electricity network causing a blackout,
blocked the sewer system causing the overflow of waste and caused minor
damages to the centre’s building.

Special police forces were called in from Orestiada and the sans papiers
welcomed them by throwing chlorine detergent at them. They had been
supplied bottles of chlorine so that they keep the prison clean by
themselves, since no cleaning service is provided for the 3-year old
detention centre, where up to 1000 refugees, including families with small
children, are being held in a building designed to temporarily host 350
people at a time – with bad water, few toilets, no showers, and no medical
or legal help.

During the riot, four sans papiers are said to have escaped.

Dec 4 2010 14:37
#3
dinosavros

A 38 year old prisoner has died at Korydallos prison in Greece. Cause of
death is still not known but he was reportedly on hunger strike.