Hunger strike of 4,000 prisoners enters 4th day over ΄fascist legislation΄

“For the 18th of June prisoners in all of the prisons have begun abstaining from mealtimes in an act of protest against the fascist draft legislation forming ‘Type C’ prisons and to defend the right of furlough and sentence suspensions.

But the minister and the government remain indifferent.

They did not respond at all to our fair demands and provocatively want to pass the bill in the summer in order to avoid protests.

Against the legislation which condemns us to remain prisoners for the rest of our lives without rights or hope, we are putting our bodies and souls as a shield. It is all we have left.

From the 23rd of June we are beginning a MASS HUNGER STRIKE in all prisons. We are fighting for our rights and in order to remain HUMAN and not human shadows locked away and forgotten in despair.”

So read the statement issued on behalf of the prisoners who launched the hunger strike to demand, “The withdrawal of the fascist legislation for Type C prisons. We say no to a Greek Guantanamo, to a prison within a prison, without furlough, without visitation rights, with no tomorrow. “

Critics have called the creation of maximum security ‘Type C’ prisons and wings provided for by the bill, a gross violation of prisoner rights. It is also seen as an attempt by the Justice Minister Haralambos Athanasiou to give himself sweeping new powers over prisoners and the prison system under a heavy handed ‘zero tolerance’ approach.

New maximum security ‘Type C’ prisons provided for by the legislation are scheduled to be built, while wings of existing prisons will also be modified to Type C maximum security areas. Prisoners sent to these facilities will be imprisoned under far more restrictive conditions than are currently in place. Aside from having no right to furlough, prisoners will also have severely curtailed visitation rights and little or no access to paid work, education programs, exercise etc. They will effectively be kept in isolation and subject to intolerable living conditions for up to ten years.

Many disparate critics have stated that with the new maximum security facilities, the ministry is rendering the prison system vindictive, as opposed to correctional.

Furthermore the legislation will effectively make the ministry, as opposed to the courts, the ultimate arbiter of what constitutes a ‘dangerous criminal’. According to the bill, individuals will be automatically sent to the Type C prisons if they are accused or convicted of certain classes of crime – eg murder, robbery with grievous bodily harm, terrorism, attacks on workers of the state (which could be a rock through a politician’s window) etc. – irrespective of the circumstances of the crime and of the sentence passed by the court during trial. Prisoners can also be sent to the maximum security facilities if they are deemed to be a ‘danger’ to lower security facilities by prosecutors, with the minister able to make ultimate decisions in difficult cases.

“This draft legislation does not only intend to isolate the ‘dangerous’ inmates… It also targets social protest that is ‘dangerous’ for those in power. For whoever dares resist, a hellhole will await where on entering he/she ‘will abandon all hope.’ We call on all to unite our voices, our forces and solidarity, To give hope a name,” writes the Initiative for Solidarity with the Prisoners about the legislation.

Aside from the inmates and their supporters, the bill has been condemned by a number of political parties. SYRIZA has demanded that the government withdraw the bill which it says provides for the creation of ‘modern hellholes’ where inmates will be denied even basic rights, when according to the law the only right a prisoner should be denied is his or her freedom. Also opposed to the bill are KKE, and the Democratic Left, while right wing opposition party Independent Greeks supports the bill. For its part coalition partner PASOK has expressed reservations with the MP K. Triantafyllos, on introducing the bill, stating that the nature of the crime alone cannot be the basis for holding a prisoner under special restrictive conditions.

It is reminded that parliament is currently in its summer session meaning that bills are voted on by a proportional grouping of 100 MPs as opposed to the full complement of 300. It is expected that this will help the government avoid defections and pass unpopular bills. It is also worth noting that passage of the bill is not one of the country’s pressing Memorandum commitments, leading many to accuse the government of exploiting the current situation in order to pass the draconian new reforms of the prison system.

Those opposed to the bill include those working on the front lines in prisons, with correctional workers critical of the legislation. Antonios Aravantinos, a member of the board of the Confederation of Correctional Workers was quoted as having said (link in Greek), “the crucial issue is the furloughs for prisoners. But together with that, every fundamental principle is being levelled which is at the heart, at least in theory, of correctional legislation and directs it towards the fair and equal treatment of prisoners with the provision of opportunities for social rehabilitation. From now on it will be as if we will be basing our action on vindictiveness and that choice is an unacceptable institutional extreme which will breed only high tensions, combativeness and enmity in prisons.”