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Free political prisoner Thodoris Iliopoulos! Information picket at the Greek Consulate.
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Date:
Monday, August 24, 2009
Time:
10:00 AM
-
2:00 PM
Event Type:
Protest
Organizer/Author:
Autonomist
Email:
Location Details:
Greek Consulate 2441 Gough St. Between Vallejo and Broadway. San Francisco
SOLIDARITY INITIATIVE FOR GREEK POLITICAL PRISONER THODORIS ILIOPOULOS.
CALL-OUT FOR INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION FOR THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF THODORIS ILIOPOULOS, ON HUNGER STRIKE SINCE JULY 10.
On December 6th 2008 an Athens policeman, in cold blood, shot dead a 15 year old child, Alexis Grigoropoulos. Almost immediately, spontaneous protests and riots spread across Greece.
Thodoros Iliopoulos is an anarchist and the last prisoner of December’s revolt still in pre-trial detention. He has been in prison since December 18th and is one of two prisoners of the revolt to be denied bail – still. On July 9 the court of appeals made explicit, in rejecting Iliopoulos’ application, that it did so on the grounds that Iliopoulos is an anarchist and therefore a “danger for democracy”. The following day, Thodoris went on hunger strike.
Monday, August 24th will be his 45th day on hunger strike. He has lost more than 20% of his original body weight. His requests to be transfered from prison to a hospital have been ignored. His life is in danger.
He is not a flight risk. He is not a terrorist. There is evidence of judicial misconduct in his arraignment process. His father has Alzheimer's disease, and he has an 83 year old mother whom he cares for. In his interviews, he speaks about getting married and raising a family when he is released.
In the struggle for his defense and his release, our support is Thodoris’ breath.
Let’s get his voice heard across the world!
---
Here in San Francisco we will be picketing in front of the Greek Consul during their business hours. We will hand out interviews with Thodoris and information about his situation. Please come out and show your support!
Call the Greek consul in SF and let them know that you are concerned about this man's human rights:
(415) 775-2102
Online petition:
http://petitiononline.com/tokeli41/
CALL-OUT FOR INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION FOR THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF THODORIS ILIOPOULOS, ON HUNGER STRIKE SINCE JULY 10.
On December 6th 2008 an Athens policeman, in cold blood, shot dead a 15 year old child, Alexis Grigoropoulos. Almost immediately, spontaneous protests and riots spread across Greece.
Thodoros Iliopoulos is an anarchist and the last prisoner of December’s revolt still in pre-trial detention. He has been in prison since December 18th and is one of two prisoners of the revolt to be denied bail – still. On July 9 the court of appeals made explicit, in rejecting Iliopoulos’ application, that it did so on the grounds that Iliopoulos is an anarchist and therefore a “danger for democracy”. The following day, Thodoris went on hunger strike.
Monday, August 24th will be his 45th day on hunger strike. He has lost more than 20% of his original body weight. His requests to be transfered from prison to a hospital have been ignored. His life is in danger.
He is not a flight risk. He is not a terrorist. There is evidence of judicial misconduct in his arraignment process. His father has Alzheimer's disease, and he has an 83 year old mother whom he cares for. In his interviews, he speaks about getting married and raising a family when he is released.
In the struggle for his defense and his release, our support is Thodoris’ breath.
Let’s get his voice heard across the world!
---
Here in San Francisco we will be picketing in front of the Greek Consul during their business hours. We will hand out interviews with Thodoris and information about his situation. Please come out and show your support!
Call the Greek consul in SF and let them know that you are concerned about this man's human rights:
(415) 775-2102
Online petition:
http://petitiononline.com/tokeli41/
For more information:
http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/tag/tho...
Added to the calendar on Wed, Aug 19, 2009 3:48PM
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Thanks for the info. However, this article doesn't help readers figure out what happened. What was he accused of? What was the judicial misconduct? Sounds like he's getting railroaded, but it's hard to figure out why they are blaming him and what he supposedly "did".
Sorry about that, I figured interested people could track down the relevant details on the Occupied London Blog.
Thodoris was arrested with some friends on December 18th, in the vicinity of one of the riots in Athens. He doesn't deny being present at the riot, but says he was there in solidarity with the uprising and not as a participant in the property destruction. During his arrest several squads of police chased he and his friends and put the boots to him. He is accused of throwing molotov cocktails. At his arraignment, the judge asked two of the riot police who arrested him, who are the only witnesses to the alleged molotov throwing, if they could identify the person who they arrested. The police said yes. The judge pointed to Thodoris and asked "is this him?". The police then said "yes, thats him". No line up, no other witnesses, just the word of two cops who conveniently had their quarry pointed out to them.
The main issue is the excessively long pre-trial detainment. They have held him this long without bail because he is an anarchist. He began his hunger strike the day after he was informed that he would be facing another six months of pre-trial detainment. That would be over a year in prison, a sentence imposed without the benefit of a jury trial, because of the alleged public danger created by his political views. In a free society, there should not be such a thing as indefinite detainment.
This protest is calling upon the Greek government to grant Thodoris bail immediately, place him in a hospital to recover from his hunger strike, and allow him to care for his aging parents while awaiting trial.
Thodoris was arrested with some friends on December 18th, in the vicinity of one of the riots in Athens. He doesn't deny being present at the riot, but says he was there in solidarity with the uprising and not as a participant in the property destruction. During his arrest several squads of police chased he and his friends and put the boots to him. He is accused of throwing molotov cocktails. At his arraignment, the judge asked two of the riot police who arrested him, who are the only witnesses to the alleged molotov throwing, if they could identify the person who they arrested. The police said yes. The judge pointed to Thodoris and asked "is this him?". The police then said "yes, thats him". No line up, no other witnesses, just the word of two cops who conveniently had their quarry pointed out to them.
The main issue is the excessively long pre-trial detainment. They have held him this long without bail because he is an anarchist. He began his hunger strike the day after he was informed that he would be facing another six months of pre-trial detainment. That would be over a year in prison, a sentence imposed without the benefit of a jury trial, because of the alleged public danger created by his political views. In a free society, there should not be such a thing as indefinite detainment.
This protest is calling upon the Greek government to grant Thodoris bail immediately, place him in a hospital to recover from his hunger strike, and allow him to care for his aging parents while awaiting trial.
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