Athens, Greece: For the 7th time in 7 protests in solidarity to the hunger striker Dimitris Koufodinas, scores of riot policemen tried to spread fear and terror amongst those that dared to raise their voices and their feasts in the air to protest the prisoner’s imminent death, but people stood their ground, as you may see in the video. If Dimitris Koufodinas (on strike since January 8, 2021) dies it will be the first prisoner on hunger strike to die in the European Union, since the death of Bobby Sands on May 5, 1981, in Northern Ireland, under the Margaret Thatcher regime. Dimitris Koufodinas, now 63 years old, is on hunger strike for the last 50 days and has begun a thirst strike too since 23 February. His death is considered imminent. His current demand is to be transferred to Korydallos prison, as well as, an end to these arbitrary interventions against him. Even after 50 days without food and 3 without water, the greek government refuses his right to equal treatment. People that dared to protest in Athens today, 26 February 2021, were, once again, forcefully attacked by scores of policemen for no reason, just for protesting. This is the 7th time in the last few weeks that protests for Koufodinas in Athens city centre have been heavily attacked by riot cops. - The rise of right wing fascism within the greek government - Even by the elastic standards of what was used to be known as a parliamentary democracy in Greece, the right-wing regime that governs Greece has gradually turned in just one year and half in power into a neofascist state. While Athens is still on lockdown for the last 4 months, the right-wing government of “New Democracy” has used this time to act like a mafia organisation, settling scores with its perceived enemies, the greek people, human rights and freedoms. In a violent legislative crescendo, the government has managed to establish a junta-like police State, using the pandemic lockdown as a period to quash rights and freedoms with no resistance by the people, (since the right to protest has been indefinitely revoked), that no other greek government even thought to destroy since the military junta regime was overturned in Greece back in 1974. From establishing police stations inside the greek universities to the banning of gatherings and protests above a certain number of people and the ban on the freedom of journalists to move freely and report the news, and their plan to criminalize anti-establishment speech and lyrics in songs and art, the ironically self-proclaimed “New Democracy” governing party has decided that hiring thousands of new policemen as the answer to everything, even the pandemic. Amongst the government’s enemies and its settling of scores is political prisoner Dimitris Koufodinas, serving 11 times life sentence plus 25 years, convicted as a member of the “Revolutionary Organization November 17th” (17N). 17N was active in Greece from 1975 to 2002, when it was dismantled after a failed attack. In 1989, the politician Pavlos Bakogiannis, the current Prime Minister’s brother-in-law and father of the present-day mayor of Athens, fell victim to the group. During the trial of 17N, Dimitris Koufodinas assumed political responsibility for the actions of the guerrilla group and his general stance during the court proceedings have earned him respect amongst some parts of the greek public, a fact that the current prime minister, the mayor of Athens and the American embassy cannot accept. So they constantly use their power to violate the founding idea that “justice is the same for all” or that “democracy does not seek revenge”, thus, treating him more like a hostage rather than a prisoner, constantly changing legal rules just to take their revenge. As a result, Koufodinas has gone for the 5th time in 18 years on a hunger strike to be treated as a prisoner and not like a political prisoner, that according to the greek law does not exist as a prisoner’s classification. And yet political prisoners do exist and the whole legal system has changed to treat them differently, (because admitting so would mean that your legal system is not democratic). Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the president of the current governing party, “New Democracy”, had publicly promised that if he came to power, he would exclude Koufontinas from the right to prison leaves and the right to serve his sentence in agricultural prisons. On December 23rd, 2020, Koufodinas was suddenly transferred from the agricultural prison to Domokos, in a manner that resembles kidnapping (without prior notice, without having time to pack his belongings or saying goodbye to his family). His transfer violated even the provisions of the aforementioned law, enacted to suit his specific case. According to this law he should have been returned to Korydallos prison, where he had been held for the previous 16 years, a prison near his family’s residence.
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