Arrest of Turkish revolutionaries by Greek police
We share hereby an article by Yeni Demokrasi we received:
On December 11, around noon, the Greek police raided a shop in Athens where Partizan readers worked.
The Greek Communist Party (m-l) and Partizan stated in a statement about this attack: ‘We will continue to increase the fears of the reactionary classes’. The following information was released about this attack, which the Greek police denied with the words ‘no arrests’:
During this search, which took place without an official warrant, without justification and without the supervision of the public prosecutor, the police carried out an unauthorised house search. In the course of this, a Partizan employee was subjected to verbal and physical assault. At the same time, the police visited other businesses in the neighbourhood and identified themselves as an ‘anti-terrorism’ unit, without, however, giving a reason for the searches and attacks. During the search, the police arrested two customers, one Greek and one Turkish, and another Turkish immigrant who came outside the restaurant and was watching the search, as well as a Partizan reader. No telephone calls or contact with a lawyer were allowed. During the search, two cameras belonging to the restaurant were destroyed and confiscated.
During the entire arrest procedure, the lawyers’ requests for information were not answered by the police. Despite repeated searches, the police even denied that such an arrest and search had taken place. During the proceedings, no information could be obtained as where the detainees had been brought, and the unlawful assaults at the police station continued. The arrested Partizan reader was forced to undergo an inhuman search, and when he refused, he was handcuffed behind his back and tortured. Furthermore, DNA samples and fingerprints were taken from all those arrested without any legal basis. After hours of custody, the detainees were released by the police without the search being justified, without lawyers being informed and without an official investigation being initiated.
At the same time as the Greek police were carrying out these attacks, the media reported on a ‘major operation against the Turkish mafia in Athens and Thessaloniki’. It seems that the Greek police are trying to conduct a provocation by targeting Turkish revolutionaries at the same time.
A joint statement by the Communist Party of Greece (m-l) and Partisan provided information about the raid. The statement ended with the words: ‘The Greek police are using the activities of Turkish gangs, which are reflected in public opinion, to attack revolutionary communists. But despite all the attacks, we will not give up our duty to lead the joint struggle of the peoples against the Greek and Turkish reactionary ruling classes. We will continue to stand in solidarity with the Greek people’s liberation struggle against the oppression and attacks of the Greek state and support them. We know very well that these repressions and attacks are fueled by the class hostility of the reactionary system against revolutionaries and communists, and we will continue to instil fear into the reactionary classes’.
Yeni Demokrasi; 16th of December 2024
