Hearing of 30/4/14
The trial began with the antiterrorist unit’s documents being read, in which at some point it was clearly stated that no DNA of comrade G. Sarafoudis
was found!
After it was the turn of the father of G.Sarafoudis to testify in defence of his son. Athanasios Sarafoudis, who was for years a trade unionist in the locality of Kavala (a city in northern Greece), answered calmly to all the provocative questions raised by the deputy judge. Among the many things he said, he mentioned that his family is a democratic family, that his children were raised with ethical values and that they were taught to always stand in solidarity with people’s struggles. He also stated that in past decades it was the communists that were targeted by the State and now it’s the anarchists. When questions were raised related to the accusations concerning his son, he said that his son has nothing to do with the accusations because if he had any relation to them he would be straight with it and claim responsibility for his actions.
After it was the turn of Grigoris Sarafoudis to be examined. Grigoris Read out a written statement:
“I want to clarify that this text, which has to do with my position concerning the given charges and also with my perception of reality, is not in any way some kind of “defence plea” because there is nothing to “plead” for inside a courtroom.
I deny all the parts of the indictment, including that accusing me of participation in and belonging to the CCF and participation in the ATE Bank robbery in Purgetos. I have never participated in the CCF and have stated this from the start. The DAEEB (antiterrorist unit of Greece), hand in hand with the judicial authorities, have adjusted this specific charge in order to extend it to a number of anarchists arrested recently, based on special law 187A which aims at the manipulation and homogenization of the various tendencies of anarchists under the umbrella of the political positions and acts of this specific organization. Personally I will not analyze my political arguments with CCF here because I believe that the courtroom is not the right place for this to happen.
About DNA, which appears to be the only evidence against me in the Purgetos robbery, all I have to say is that your procedures do not allow re-examination of the sample, contributing to the “sacralization” of the expertise report of the crime investigation labratories, giving them the title of “infallible”. I also want to add that I believe that scientifically shown DNA, even if we were talking about a finding that really existed, does not confirm any actual physical presence. Also, its well known how easy it is for it to be transferred or intercepted.
At this point I will say how I see the reality that we all are experiencing generally. What I can say for sure is that the last decade, specifically the period from 2008 onwards, has been characterized by intense changes in the political/economic scenery aimed solely at maintaining the crime called global capitalism.
For this to happen, using the notorious economic crisis as an excuse, an international geopolitical game was set up aiming to profit from the biggest part of society’s population, leading it with mathematical accuracy to further exploitation at all levels. More specifically, the State mechanism has cast aside its democratic mask to reveal an experienced totalitarian regime, and to keep its power is obeying orders from global criminal organisations (EU, ESF, IMF) and starting a frontal attack on all levels -labour, education, health, taxation- passing directly to the violation of rights won in the past with bloody struggles. With the assistance of its whole arsenal of legal instruments, it continues its post-junta excessive borrowing from the same criminal organisms, looking to “cover up” the government robberies and also to recapitalize, with elusive numbers for an average person, the domestic banking system, thus protecting the fundamental infrastructure of capitalism. The total weight of this over-excessive borrowing, as well as the refinancing of those common loansharks, is putting the debt not only on the population of society but also on the its future generations. Thus, as a consequence of the above, social agitation has emerged from the rudimentary social cohesion of the past, and at this point the repressive forces, along with the judicial authorities, are playing a crucial role, ready to crush any obstacle or any kind of resistance they meet, including direct or indirect violence with all means necessary.
To summarize, we are experiencing the intensification of a social-class war where on the one side we have a State mechanism full of corruption hand in hand with the legislatory authorities and of course with the biggest part of the media, wanting to maintain the economy and, consequently, the profits of the local and international elite, whatever the cost and sacrifice, turning labour into slavery, bringing misery to human existence and perpetuating the oppression of society in exchange for profit. At the same time the police-judiciary complex is showing its presence, adopting the dogma of zero tolerance, ready to provide the necessary protection to its supervisors as it has always done and to repress any elaboration that threatens their plans. On the other side, we have those social elaborations among people who are questioning the superpowers of the State machinery, refusing to accept the future they are being forced to live in and so they are reacting and resisting on a personal and collective level, creating in the present unmediated radical struggles heading towards their emancipation from subordination and exploitation.
In my opinion, the most vibrant part of the resistance against this totalitarianism and the bleak future it commands, is the anarchist/antiauthoritarian movement. Operating only with horizontal structures and defying civil legitimacy, without any kind of hierarchy, it manages to mix different perceptions, practices and personal choices, supporting consistently the political argument as inseparable from action, actively participating with the diverse struggles against any kind of authority in an ongoing revolutionary procedure. Thus, I, having rejected the dominant value “code” that promotes cannibalistic competition, selfishness and racism, stand against every institution that reproduces authority, be it political or economic, aimed at manipulation, exploitation, the restriction of human freedom in a determined context, vindicating the oppression of humans and nature by humans.
Every hostility of the civil State, of the procedures, stereotypes and rotten values it tried to impose on me, has marked my self-overcoming, my mental strengthening and my bearing along the path of mutiny and insurrection. So, step by step, words such as dignity, solidarity, equality, comradeship and freedom, stopped being simple words and took shape inside me, permeating my inner self and the relationships with those around me, making me not wait for tomorrow, but think, act and live today. Thus, today with a flame in my heart and my gaze fixed firmly in the sky, I feel more sure than ever about everything I’ve chosen to be in my life and I declare to you that I’m an unrepentant anarchist against what you represent and protect. To finish, I want to say that it was my personal choice to be present at this “terror”-trial and it is my personal choice to not open any dialogue or answer any questions.
The trial will continue on the 3rd of June with the prosecutor’s proposal for sentences.
http://actforfree.nostate.net/?p=16941#more-16941