Letter from imprisoned general strike demonstrator in Greece, Marios Z.

Libcom.org Mar 19 2010

A letter from Koridalos prisons in Athens by 28 year old protester arrested and remanded for his participation in the general strike march of March 11.

Marios Z. is a 28 year-old man working as a swimming instructor to children. H was arrested and beaten by cops during the MArch 11 general strike protest march in Athens. In his backpack he carried a bathing robe, swimming suits, hair shampoo etc, because after the demo he was heading to his work. Pigs testifying in court have claimed these were in fact molotov cocktail material with which he attacked them right before his arrest. A statement opposed by eye-witnesses testimonies and plenty of photo material, let alone common sense. Marios is currently remanded and will remain imprisoned for up to 18 months pending his trial according to the greek legislation. His case has caused quite a clamor even in bourgeois media and popular TV news shows. For more info on the case see http://freemariosz.wordpress.com/

From Sector A of Korydallos' prison
19.03.2010

On Thursday 11 of March, I was arrested by the police forces of repression. Any sense of freedom and the right to demonstrate was cancelled in a stroke with rage and violence by a fully-armed riot policeman (MAT), since he was the freedom to do so. The occasion of my arrest was participating in a demonstration to defend the rights of the working -or not- citizens, having a weird haircut and a backpack. The real reason was to set an example.

During the military junta, they used to tear with whips the faces of the young students in and out of the Law School. In our days, with the same barbarity, the "socialist" government, using all means at its disposal tears and stigmatizes the lives of toiling people, those that suffer and those that resist and are not afraid to merely exist, with the violence of economic and terroristic policies.

The political responsibility of my irrational arrest must be claimed by the State. The massive political reaction expressed through this wave of protests, proves that society resists. And this is even more important for me, since I have consciously selected to remain unintegrated [i.e. not belonging to a party etc]. The State demands our inexistance and has a dread of our existance.

It isn't just my remand case, but all the well-known cases of police perjury and frame-ups, that bring out and prove the State's attempt to terrorize and intimidate whoever stands by his/her rights, to discourage any others that dare to support them, setting up docile societies that won't protest nor assert their rights.

I am thankfull to all those fighting for my release either from the very beginning, or joining in during the fight, from a sincere concern, away from any political and party interests, either by means I agree with or not, since I don't think what is sensible to do now is to discuss the various ways to manifest our solidarity, but to sit the State itself in judgement for its practices.

Freedom to all prisoners, to all fighters for the liberation of all prisoners and of the spirit. A slogan from the GADA (Athenian Police Headquarters) prisons, written on the yellow walls, next to prisoners forgotten for days and nights in awful conditions:
"Golden cage or humid cage, makes little difference to the bird".

Marios Z.

PS. "Of all the things which wisdom provides for the all-round happiness of life, by far the greatest is the possession of friends" - Epicurus