“The discovery—if we can even call it that—of dubious ‘evidence’ (a partial fingerprint) on movable objects was sufficient for the Anti-Terrorism Department and the government to implicate Nikos Romanos in the Ampelokipi case, potentially leading to his detention,” OKDE stated.

“These practices are hardly surprising, especially with the infamous Chrysochoidis at the helm of the Ministry of Citizen Protection—a ministry more accurately described as one of repression. Such methods are intrinsic to the operation of state mechanisms, particularly in a period characterised by rampant impunity for the wealthy and powerful, their servants, and their enforcers,” the statement continued.

OKDE further criticised the government’s actions, citing a long list of grievances:

  • Prosecutions targeting union organisers, labour rights defenders, and young activists.
  • Court rulings consistently branding strikes as “illegal” or “abusive.”
  • Aggressive home repossessions reminiscent of unlawful black market practices.
  • Cover-ups of state killings by the police, both in public and within police stations.
  • Concealment of the Tempe train tragedy and a series of scandals, including surveillance abuses.
  • Revelations of collusion between the so-called “Greek mafia” and state mechanisms, highlighting the inseparability of legal and illegal operations within the bourgeois state.

“In a period of intensifying government crisis, with the potential for workers and youth to mobilise in struggle, Mitsotakis’ shadowy administration is resorting to the well-worn narrative of the ‘fight against terrorism,’” OKDE stated. “Their aim is to distract public attention with a fresh wave of repression and fabricated culprits, seeking to obscure the memory of the youth uprising of December 2008—when a teenage Nikos Romanos witnessed his friend, Alexis Grigoropoulos, fall dead from the bullets of police special guards.”

OKDE called for solidarity with Romanos, who has faced state brutality in the past. “This latest attempt at political persecution will fail. The struggles of workers and youth in the streets will shatter the anti-terrorist campaign of the flailing Mitsotakis government and hasten its downfall,” the statement concluded.

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