‘Drop all charges against protesters’

IAC/FIST letter to Greek gov't:

22 Dec, 2008

In coordination with worldwide protests in solidarity with the people of Greece, activists delivered a protest letter to the Greek Consul General in New York on Dec. 18, from which we print excerpts:

Here in the U.S. the specter of police brutality is all too familiar and for every case that makes national attention there are hundreds more that aren't reported. The International Action Center and the youth group Fight Imperialism, Stand Together [FIST] have both shown solidarity with the families and victims of police brutality and have helped mobilize for rallies and protests against police brutality. So we understand very well the sentiments of the people of Greece who have taken to the streets in mass numbers in response to the police killing of Alexandros Andreas Grigoropoulos.

The protests and rebellions that have erupted around the country in Greece are about more than just the fatal shooting of unarmed 15-year-old Alexi Grigoropoulos. They are because of the actions of the conservative government of the New Democracy under Kostas Karamanlis, which include increasing the powers of police forces in the country for surveillance, for the use of weapons and for expanding the reach of the secret services.

Also, like many governments that support the rich, super-rich and employers, the government of Greece is heaping the burden of the general economic crisis on the backs of the workers and youth. Poverty and unemployment are increasing in Greece as they are around the world.

It is these things that have led to the uprisings, the general strike, the protests and mass sentiment of the people of Greece. We support their actions and call on the government of Greece to not only fully prosecute the cop killers of Alexandros Andreas Grigoropoulos, but to stop the attacks against protesters and to release without charges all who have been detained and to observe the right of people to express their dissent.

We stand with the people of Greece and the demands they have raised for economic justice and against the brutal actions of the state forces.