Showing posts with label Tasos Theofilou. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tasos Theofilou. Show all posts

Tuesday 30 April 2019

The Judiciary Doesn't Know The Meaning Of Justice.

        The judiciary is the machine that fastens the chains fashioned by the state for its own protection. Its purpose is set in stone, nothing to do with compassion, humanity, or human dignity, it is ruthless in its pursuit of defending the state and its powerful and wealthy masters. It is devoid of justice and is relentless in its drive to protect the establishment and all the unearned privileges that are heaped on its masters. The judiciary is the state's most powerful weapon against freedom and justice.

Following Extract from Roar Magazine.

       After spending five years behind bars as a political prisoner, Greek anarchist communist Tasos Theofilou reflects on life in prison and prison’s role in society.
Open Letter on the Commencement of the Trial at the Court of Appeal

November 2, 2016
        On November 21, after a nine-month postponement, my trial commences at the Court of Appeal. It’s been two years since the completion of my trial at the Court of First Instance, when I was sentenced to twenty-five years imprisonment for the charges of common complicity to homicide and robbery in connection with the events on Paros Island on August 10, 2012. I was acquitted of participation in the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire as well as of direct perpetration of homicide by a majority opinion.
      It was a political (not judicial) compromise, resulting from a conflict between the manipulation of the case by the police in cooperation with the mainstream media during the first days after my arrest, the lack of any evidence, the solidarity expressed by the community, and the reaction of independent media.
      From this emerged the temporary Solomonic solution of my partial acquittal of the charges, deferring the prospect of a conclusive decision until a trial at the Court of Appeal. There was an appeal initiated by myself, in which I upheld a full acquittal of all charges. There was also an appeal initiated by a gentleman called Δράκος [Dragon] — a public prosecutor whose surname obviously adds further symbolism to the witch-hunt orchestrated by the Anti-Terrorist Unit. Eventually, the division of opinion between the presiding judge, Mr. Hatziathanasiou — who voted for conviction on all charges — and the two other members of the court — who chose the more moderate option that eventually prevailed — made room for further manipulation. Mr. Δράκος, it would seem, felt that twenty-five years of imprisonment based on no evidence is not enough and went on to turn my trial at the Court of Appeal into a repetition of the initial trial. His appeal opened up the possibility of me not being fully acquitted or even facing a sentence harsher than life imprisonment. I believe that the event of my arrest, its manipulation by the mainstream media, my detention and initial conviction high-lighted certain issues that do not have to do with me personally.
    Rather, they bear a wider social and political importance. It is a manifestation of how a ruthless police state attempts to solidify the most extremist doctrines of judicial repression: from the medieval nature of my public castigation and the attempt to squeeze premodern criminal stereotypes into a fabricated pro-file; to the criminalization of friendship, comradeship or social relationships; as well as the use of supernatural or pseudoscientific evidence such as the notorious DNA on a hat, which forms the basis of this otherwise tragic story.
[…]
       My arrest is part of a crusade against the anarchist movement, launched and orchestrated by the law-and-order milieu: journalists, the Anti-Terrorist Unit, prosecution investigators, and wannabe Supreme Court judges. It is a crusade that dates back to 2009, when the dismantling of Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire was put forward as a pretext. A “vacancy” arose from the case of Nea Smyrni back in 2010. 1 A vacancy that the Anti-Terrorist Unit thought I “rightfully deserved,” when in August 2012 a citizen was fatally injured in his attempt to prevent the escape of the robbers of Alpha Bank in Naousa of Paros Island. They based my “informed appointment” on an actual meeting I’d had back then [in 2010] with my friend and comrade Kostas Sakkas at an eatery in the neighborhood of Kallithea, as well as on an imaginary meeting with the then [in 2010] unknown to me but now comrade, friend and co-prisoner, Giorgos Karagiannides. It was a golden opportunity to slander the anarchist movement by profiling it as a mob of ruthless and bloodthirsty individuals.
       It took the mobilization of all the mainstream media outlets broadcasting my arrest exclusively, striving to make the scenario appear plausible for a few days. For an entire week they presented me as a ruthless murderer. Photos of me went viral on the Internet while my commission to the courts on Loukareos and Evelpidon Streets, respectively, were broadcast live on all TV channels. In the name of law and order, judges, the media, and the police violated my rights and disgraced the famed presumption of innocence in every possible way. The media-cannibalism I was subjected to breached the aesthetic limits of the postmodern Dark Age we now find ourselves in.
      Of course, it was not just the authority of the media that pursued my conviction by means of abusing even my written works and my private life, cramming criminal stereotypes into my fabricated profile (especially that of the paranoid murderer); jurisdiction followed suit as well. It’s precisely the enforcement of media authority, after all, that made the lack of any evidence appear insignificant. Even the provocative statement at court: “Who knows, perhaps this man was not at the robbery,” which came from the then-commissioner of the Anti-Terrorist Unit, Mr. Hardalias, was thought of as less of a scandal and more of a statement that shouldn’t be noted in the minutes. It is a scandal because it was not just a statement that came out of his mouth spontaneously. It was a display of the power of a man and the service he represents in the space and time of a public trial.
       It is a scandal because he chose this arrogant way to manifest the absolute power that his service enjoys. He actually implied with cynicism: “I don’t care if he was or wasn’t at the robbery. I don’t care about minor issues like evidence. I have my reasons to want him in prison. And he shall be in prison.” This development came as no surprise given that the suppression of the anarchist movement had been assigned to the Anti-Terrorist Unit as its sole and exclusive responsibility.
    The Anti-Terrorist Unit is a police service that enjoys provocatively preferential treatment by the media, to the degree that crime news informs case files and is considered valid evidence of guilt. Of course, we shouldn’t have expected much more from the presiding judge, Mr. Hatziathanasiou, whose argument for my conviction on all charges went as far as to include the fact that I tend to use an electric razor — not a blade — during the freezing winter in Korydallos prison (meaning that, since one perpetrator appears to have no facial hair on the pictures taken by CCTV cameras and since he’s disguised, then it must certainly be me!). He also felt the need to include that I haven’t served in the Army and that I haven’t read Genet’s books.
     Needless to say he concurred with the draftsman of my criminal indictment, that my collection of fiction stories, Παρανουαρικό [Paranoir], as well as the crime reportage found in tabloid press of the poorest quality, such as Proto Thema, should be considered valid documents substantiating my guilt. Likewise, we shouldn’t be taken aback by the prosecutor, Mrs. Oikonomou’s, attitude. She simply thought it was . . . appropriate or even in line with her responsibilities perhaps, to nap during most of the proceedings. It came as no surprise that she ended up reciting the document of my indictment when she was called to declaim her proposal.
      These were, more or less, the conditions of my trial at the Court of First Instance. The political circumstances had placed the anti-terrorism witch-hunt at the top of the previous far-right government’s agenda. The Minister of Justice and former public prosecutor, Mr. Athanasiou, announced his intentions to introduce high-security prisons for terrorists within the first one hundred days of his appointment. The Anti-Terrorist Unit arrested Kostas Sakkas every other day with silly pretenses, forcing him to become a fugitive.
[…]
      I see my legal battle against all charges at the Court of Appeal as part of a wider battle against a ruthless police state, against judicial repression and its extremist doctrines. It is a bizarre existential battle in which adjudicators and prosecutors are parts of a single body — that of jurisdiction.
      As I did at the Court of First Instance, I would like to highlight yet again that I don’t pledge innocence and I will not plead with any judge to believe me. I am not innocent. In the class war, I’ve chosen a side. I stand with the underprivileged and the suppressed, the marginalized and the prosecuted, the transgressors and the accursed. I decided to take political action in the anarchist movement with the admittedly ambitious goal to strike down the social, political, and economic foundations of capitalism and its state. However, I denied, I deny and will deny again all the accusations of the actions they’ve charged me with. I never was a member of the Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire, I didn’t participate in this robbery and, above all, I never killed and wouldn’t have ever been capable of killing an unarmed citizen for any reason or under any circumstances.

For anarchy, for communism,
Tasos Theofilou

Saturday 25 August 2018

Their Fabrication Falls Down.

 
       Even their judicial bosses couldn't accept the lies and fabrication of the prosecution. Despite several attempts to get the courts to accept their frame-up of anarchist Tasos Theofilou, he is now free. Tasos has faced the wrath and savage intimidation of the Greek judicial system since 2012. They sank their rancid teeth into him and they refused to let go. However determination and solidarity have eventually won through. No doubt the lying puppets of the state will be smarting from this, and will be looking at ways and means of "getting their man", they are the brutal and devious masters of illusion and fabrication. Watch your back Tasos.
This from Act For Freedom Now:
 Greece – Anarchist Tasos Theofilou is free from all charges
Prosecutor’s claim was rejected.
Following the 1333/2018 order of the Supreme Court charges against
Tasos Theofilou were rejected.
We remind that Tasos Theofilou had been acquitted of all charges at
the second grade trial, but the vice prosecutor of the Supreme Court
had made appeal.
anarhija.info
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Tuesday 8 May 2018

The Myth Of The Legal Society.

       I repost the following extract from a previous post taken from The Invisible Ground. I think it is obviously very relevant to the following case of Tasos Theofilou, in Greece. Though I'm sure if you look you will find these sort of duplicitous standards working in states across the globe as they struggle to keep their tenuous hold on power.


The myth of the Legal Society
        There are many myths that are crucial in upholding behaviors that ensure the public’s continued participation in, and identification with the nation state. Few of these myths are as pernicious as that of the Legal Society; the notion that the actions of the state are bound by a code of laws, and not simply motivated by the state’s desires.
     State atrocities committed through the police and military throughout history and in recent memory have proven the ideal of the free and legal society is a myth.
       How many lived through the evictions of Oceti Sakowin and Sacred Stone Camp? How many more watched via livestream? How many injustices must we witness before we admit that the state is limited in action only by its own ability, and driven only by its own desire!
       It doesn’t matter if we believe our actions will be considered “legal”. When the state feels threatened, legality becomes difficult to define.
The state persecution of Tasos Theofilou, from Act For Freedom Now:

How many times does a person have to be retried? – Athens,Greece

        As many times as it takes the “anti-terrorist” brigade to declare them guilty.
        On March 27, 2018, the deputy attorney of the Supreme Court and the former supervising prosecutor of the “anti-terrorist” brigade appealed to the Supreme Court against the acquittal by the five members (of department A) of the Criminal Court of Appeal of Athens, which declared the innocence our comrade’s innocence.
May 11, the E department of the Supreme Court will consider this appeal. If it is accepted, Tasos Theofilou will return to prison with the initial charges against him (which could even lead to life imprisonment) pending the completion of a new trial at the Court of Appeals, once again with a different set of judges.
       Tasos Theofilou was arrested in August 2012, a few days after a robbery at the Alpha Bank on the island of Paros, during which a driver taxi was mortally wounded while attempting to prevent the thieves from escaping.
          “Following rushed procedures” Tasos Theofilou was described by the anti-terrorist brigade as well as by the media as the thief in a cowboy hat who allegedly killed the 53-year-old taxi driver. In July 2017, the decision of the five members of the Court of Appeal seemed not to obey the orders of the “anti-terrorist” brigade and media because they acquitted him of all charges against him.
          On Friday May 11, they will consider whether the acquittal of the Court of Appeals will be final or whether the comrade will be once again be dragged into another trial on the basis of the following accusations: participation and belonging to the CCF, participation and involvement in terrorist groups, attempted manslaughter, intentional homicide. May 11 will not be the end of the story. It is rather the beginning of a new undeclared, yet very real, period of hostage-taking of our comrade until the decision of the Supreme Court is finally announced, which could take from a few weeks to several months.
           Although the legal proceedings of Tasos Theofilou might appear as the manifestation of personal revenge, this is not the case. This is a political accusation related to the repressive restriction of the anarchist movement, the wider combative movement and our class in its entirety.
         This is directly related to recent developments in the cases of other comrades, who were sentenced to severe prison sentences based on Article 187A of the Penal Code and the article on individual terrorism, as well as the coming trials of comrades, apolitical prisoners and those close to them as in the case of Distomo, which was blithely elevated to the rank of “terrorism” under cover of the case of a revolutionary struggle. That is part of the same repressive plan against any active individual or someone in any way related to the anarchist movement; of the anarchist Marios Seisidis, who was sentenced to 36 years’ imprisonment only because of a DNA report of an expert, to the outrageous convictions of Irianna and Perikilis based on their social relations coupled with samples of questionable genetic material.
           The broad solidarity movement that surrounds the comrade’s affair and which greatly contributed to his acquittal, was a bulwark against the laws of terror and the falsification of DNA samples by the police. Of course, this could not remain unanswered by the “anti-terrorist” brigade and their political chiefs, namely the SYRIZA government, who have faithfully defended both Article 187A and the uncontrollable use of DNA samples by the police since they began exercising their functions. In revenge they are now trying to take him away, and we will oppose them once again.
In solidarity with anarchist Tasos Theofilou
It’s time to get rid of their terror laws!
Organization and struggle for the social revolution.
Demonstration: Saturday 5/5, at 13h, Thiseio (subway station)
Gathering: 11/5, at 9 am, Court of Appeal (avenue Alexandras)
Groups and comrades
 
Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk

Tuesday 21 February 2017

Whose Law And Order?

        Everybody should be aware of the vindictiveness of the state and its so called "law and order" system. Through the propaganda spewed out by the babbling brook of bullshit, our mainstream media, this piece of state apparatus is pedalled as there to protect the citizens. When in fact it is there to control the citizens, and protect the wealth and power of the parasites who exploit the citizens, the corporate robber barons, who have their hands on the power levers in our society. Hence those who seek to change the system and shift the power and wealth to the people, are seen as the greatest threat to those in power. So it is not surprising that across the world anarchists are targeted and treated  to the blunt end of the state's brutality. This is intended to stamp out resistance to their  corporate plundering, and to intimidate others from following that path to change and justice. Though this takes place across the world, the various states have their own particular methods, and it will take various degrees of brutality, depending on their perceived threat, but all will have the same aim in mind, keep the wealthy and power where it is, and keep control of the citizens. 
       The case of anarchist Tasos Theofilou is not unique, but it does show how the state's protectors will target someone and then fabricate evidence around them to silence them, and remove them from circulation, useing this to try to intimidate others. Solidarity and vigilance are our winning weapons.


Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Sunday 25 October 2015

It Also Got Dark Inside---




        A call for solidarity on behalf of anarchist prisoner Tasos Theofilou asking for funds for his legal fees through the purchase of sound track. Enjoy the track and if you you can, download for what you want to pay. 

       Tasos is currently in prison, after being sentenced on the basis of forged and nonexistent evidence. He was convicted just because he’s an anarchist. He was convicted because he didn’t lose his smile even when the court of first instance announced his sentence.
        “I have committed the offence that encompasses all offences. In the class war, I chose to side with those who have been treated unjustly.” (Tasos Theofilou, February 2014)
        “I am an anarchist communist. I cherish life as much as I love freedom. Let’s fight to tear down the prisons that bury thousands of living persons inside them. Let’s fight for the vision of social liberation. Let’s fight for the liberation of our class from the power of the Capital.” (Tasos Theofilou, September 2012)
       Electric Litany covered the Apostolos Kaldaras song “Night has fallen with no moon (Nychtose choris feggari)” with its original lyrics (before the 1947 censorship) as a gesture of solidarity with anarchist communist Tasos Theofilou, imprisoned in Greece.
         This release (recorded in London during September 2015) has the sole purpose of raising funds to support the case of Tasos Theofilou. You can purchase the track by donating an amount of your choosing through PayPal. Contact email: londanfund15 (at) gmail.com
       All proceeds will go to cover the legal costs of the case, which will be tried at the appellate level. 
via ASF LDN – Anarchists in Solidarity (original description in Greek):


“Night has fallen with no moon, it also got dark inside Yedi,*
and yet, one palikari is unable to fall asleep.
      Who knows what he’s waiting for from evening till morning
at the narrow window that illuminates the cell…
     The door opens, the door closes, but it’s double-locked with key.
What has he done, why was the fellow thrown into prison?”
      * in reference to the notorious Yedi Kule prison in Thessaloniki, Greece (The banner viewed at minute 2:46 reads: “We are all guilty”)
        With those who put up strong resistance for all of us;
with those we will always stand in solidarity.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk


Thursday 22 October 2015

The House Of The Dead.

       No matter what label they stick on it, prison is torture, call it reforming, rehabilitation, restraining, it matters not, it is still torture of the human spirit. In such unnatural conditions, the human spirit becomes deformed, relationships often descend to a lower level, a more brutal level, and survival takes on a different shape under the ever present shadow of violence. 
Tasos Theofilou is an anarchist, imprisoned by the Greek state in 2013 and who subsequently went on hunger strike.
Extract from the recent publication of Tasos Theofilou book:
32 Steps or reports from the house of the dead:

Introduction note:
Prison is not only incarceration, pan optic surveillance, sensory
deprivation and the always present violence from above or from bellow.
Prison is not only the constant addiction to the sound of a heavy door
locking and unlocking. It is not only the endless rock of the yard. It
not only the use of smack to oppress any intention of revolting against
the brutality. It is not only the extreme poverty of the lumpen
proletariat, as well as the ostentatious wealth of illegal capitalism,
which exist to remind that class stratification is not absent even from
the basements of society.
Prison is also an entire civilization which emerges from the depths of
the soul of the damned. It is the dark matter of crime that is
transmuted into life: “And among the dead walls life develops and wild
weeds grow drenched in sorrow and intensity and injustice and waiting.
But they emerge, they grow out of cement. People try to remain alive,
and some succeed. An entire civilization is developed, a brutal
reflection and condensation of society, brutal without pretexts.
However, an entire civilization in the fringes of society and under the
most sharp corner of the heel of authority”.
Tasos Theofilou describes sides of this small universe, the underground
culture of the prisoners, which might begin from the improvised
practical art and reaches the humorous, self-sarcasm and imaginative
word moulding. He himself experiences not only the brutality of
incarceration, but also the arbitrariness of an entire
journalist-police-judicial complex which used even his pulp short
stories as “unshakeable” proof of guilt for bank expropriation. He found
himself in the surreal position of being an anarchist-communist and
being accused as a member of a nihilist organization, the conspiracy
cells of fire. His own political identity was considered an unshakeable
presumption of guilt…
The literary and political stylus of Tasos Theofilou does not only
observe the life in prison, it does not only describe the Kafkaesque
universe of oppression, but dissects the contemporary dystopia of the
state of emergency. The literary and political stylus of Tasos Theofilou
fulfills a higher political duty, beyond the analysis and interpretation
of modern brutality. The resistance of human dignity until the
definitive end of this brutality.
Tasos Theofilou texts can also found on the blog Postscripts of a
Fabrication (astop.espivblogs.net). The books Paranoir and Goodbye
Batman are also published (in greek), by Asymmetric Threat publications.
From:halastor.blogspot.gr
Translated by BoubourAs /Act for freedom now!

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk