HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- http://indymedia.org:8081//front.php3?article_id=206758
On July 17, the Athens IMC website featured a report on "17 of November" (17N), a 27 year old organization dating from the Papadapoulos dictatorship. Arrests of alleged 17N members earlier in the summer was greeted by the Greek and international mass media as a "huge success" of the Greek police and government, while the U.S. linked the actions to the "war on terrorism" as the group is listed on U.S. and Greek terrorist watch lists. Following the first arrests, state and corporate media in Greece created a climate of general fear and hysteria, as most of the 17N members remained at large. 'Journalists' spread unfounded rumors, persons were interrogated on television, and Greek society entered a state of general hysteria. Greece's "anti-terrorist summer" eventually resulted in the general political targeting of leftist political activists. By the end of September, Indymedia Athens was among the groups targeted in the witch-hunt climate, with establishment journalists contending that the "site is supporting the terrorists; therefore it must be shut down and those responsible for it arrested." Soon later, there was an attempt by the head of the Department of Cyber Crime of the Greek national police to infiltrate the editorial group of the Athens IMC. Athens Indymedia, however, has also seen support in favor of freedom of speech. The Athens IMC editorial collective has issued a statement, also available in Italian and Portuguese. On Tuesday, October 1st, a peaceful demonstration against this government repression and media hysteria was held in Athens, with more than 2,500 persons participating. The state and media reacted negatively, however, as a procurator has already ordered a prosecution, claiming that there were persons attending who shouted slogans for the "17th of November", whilst the mass media described the demonstration as a "gathering of a bunch of supporters of the 17th of November." Complete report follows: http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=31276
Summary: After the arrest of 17 alleged members of the 17N group, the greek state has claimed that it has achieved a huge blow to "terrorism" in this country. But the real terror was just about to begin.. Article: The arrests of the alleged 17N group members during this last summer, was greeted by the Greek and international mass media as a "huge success" of the Greek police and government against "terrorism". The U.S. State Department itself gave its congratulations to the Greek Government, linking this arrests with the "global war against terrorism" that was launched by Pr.Bush more than a year ago. The State-media power complex could not miss this favorable situation, and grasped the opportunity: from the days following the first arrests, the Mass Media created a climate of general fear and hysteria amongst Greek society, since most of the 17N members were still at large. "Journalists" were free to spread any kind of rumors, which were kindly provided by the police, about persons suspected of belonging to the group. Acting as police investigators, the "stars" of Greek TV were interrogating people in their news shows, asking them information about suspects and the ones arrested. The whole Greek society was asked to snitch on their neighbors, through calling a police hotline telephone number, in case anybody noticed something "suspicious". They had managed to impose a terror hysteria on the whole of Greek society... After the police has claimed to have arrested all the members of the "core" of the 17N group, the joint State-Media operation entered a new stage. The focus was turned to people "supporting" the group, and to other - less "famous" - urban guerilla groups. Having achieved the social consent for "rooting out terrorism" they started to move against particular people and whole political tendencies of the far-left and anarchism. The witch-hunt had begun... From the first days of this new anti-terror era that Greek society is still living, there where people determined to defend civil liberties and political expression and ideals against this head-on state and media attack. The most active have been the "Network in the defense of Political and Social Rights" and the "Coalition against State Terrorism". This groups have defended, politically and legally, many leftists and anarchists that were accused of terrorism during the last many years, which are called in Greece the "usual suspects". All of them have been declared innocent from the Greek Justice, during the last 25 years.. These two groups were almost the only voice in Greek society asking for fair trials of the alleged 17N members, speaking against the violation of the arrestees civil rights during their arrests and their conditions of custody (all are held separately in very small prison cells, resembling Turkey's "white cells", they are facing problems communicating with their lawyers etc.). They were also the only groups to claim that November 17 groups motives were political - and not commonly criminal as the State and Media say - even though they strongly disagree with the group's tactics. The lawyers of the alleged leader and sub-leader of the group, also belong to the Network in the defense of Political and Social Rights. In early September, Avraam Lesperoglou, an old-time "usual suspect" was brought under trial again, for a charge of which he had already been declared innocent. After a week-long trial, in which many legal procedures were violated, the court failed to declare him guilty: the jury, common members of the Greek society, all voted for his innocence. See more on the Leseroglou case. It was a big blow to the State-Media antiterrorism complex. After that, some TV channels and newspapers started to openly accuse the
Network in the defense of Political and Social Rights , which has supported
Lesperoglou with all its strength, of being the "political section" of the 17N
group, calling it the "Sinn Fein" or "Batatsuna" of Greece. Ioanna
Kurtovik, member of the Network and lawyer of the so-called sub-leader of the
17N group, has been brutally and ruthlessly attacked by the Media in every way.
They even implied that she was having a sexual affair with her client.. Other
progressive people were also attacked in the same personal manner.
Now, in the climax of the media attack - the real terror attack - everyone
that speaks in the defense of civil liberties and political expression in Greece
is accused of being a terrorist. This is also the case with Indymedia Athens,
which some journalists call the "site of the terrorists" and demand from the
police to shut us down. Through displaying certain comments and posts from the
newswire in their news shows, the say that we promote violence against
journalists. Their latest "discovery" were photos of an action where people were
throwing ..yogurt on portraits of the worse "journalists" of greek tv. They
portray humorous photomontages as death threats against journalists. They even
search for hidden comments, which are threatening for journalists, that we hide
in 5', and present them as the "main theme of discussion in Indymedia
today".
But they won't put us down. Yesterday more than 2500 people took part
in an angry - but peaceful - demonstration against State and Media terrorism.
The Media had been cultivating a climate of war for this demo: "There will be
blood on the streets!", "Arrest them all!", "The shameful demo", they said! And
even when they saw that there was no "blood" , just slogans, the public
prosecutor charged "everyone who might be responsible" for shouting these
slogans!
A part of Greece is returning to the years of the military dictatorship.
But another part is not willing to let that happen. We need the support of
people from all over the world, not only for Indymedia Athens, but against the
terror that has spread in Greek Society. Not of the same severeness, but of the
same origin as in Euskal herria, Guandanamo, in the U.S., in Iraq the following
months. In these truly dark days, the only weapon we possess
is
SOLIDARITY. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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