What is repression, how is it used?
Repression is used by the people in charge to suppress (revolutionary) movements. This can happen in several ways, by creating financial problems with huge fines, imprisoning and isolating people to discourage them to take action, and also to discourage other activists by making them fear the consequenes of activism. Repression always hits some people but it is always an attack on everyone, so it is important to stand together and help each other with the concequenes. This is what this group is for.
Who are we?
We are a group of activists who have been active in different political struggles in Greece for the last years and months. We had to face a lot of repression in this time and noticed the lack of a structure that supports people facing repression and raises public awareness. So we decided to get together and start this structure to try and do exactly that.
What do we do?
We provide info-material about various topics, for example what are your rights when you are being held on a police station, what are your rights in prison, what are your rights during a house-raid, what to watch out for when you go to a demonstration etc. We (try to) provide help in single cases, from the moment on when you are taken by the police. For this we work together with a group of solidarity lawyers to help people that are stuck on police stations or stand trial in courts. If wanted, we publish information about cases that almost nobody would know about otherwise to provide a source of information about the ongoing repression. We also help to raise money for paying fines or bails or to organize demonstrations.
Whom is this structure for?
We want to support antifascist, antiracist, anticapitalist, antisexist, squatting and any libertarian movement. Fascists, Nationalists and other idiots: please go die in a fire. Apart from that our work should support people on the move that are currently stuck in Greece with only few or no perspectives and options for their future. People without papers often find themselves being targeted by state repression, may it because they are trying to fight this oppression or that they find themselves in a constant situation of being criminalized and deprived of basic legal and human rights. Cases against refugees and migrants often happen without them being aware of their rights and possibilities, having contacts that will support them in case they get in trouble with the authorities and anybody knowing about it. As a consequence many people disappear, end up in detention centers or prisons or are forced to sign papers they don’t understand. Giving these people the possibility to get support by lawyers and bringing their cases to public attention is also one of the aims of this group.