‘I was in prison’: anarchist named in investigation into fire that killed three workers

In a letter to Omnia TV, Georgiadis said the still-unidentified sender of the email had placed him outside the Marfin branch on 5 May 2010, when three bank employees were killed in an arson attack.

‘This piece of paper, which is improperly described as a “case file”, would be laughable if two people were not currently being unjustly held in pre-trial detention, with the possibility of a third joining them,’ he wrote.

Georgiadis said the claim demonstrated the lack of credibility of what he described as the third investigation into the fire. He also accused the government of seeking to exploit politically the deaths of the three workers.

Referring sarcastically to the concept of bilocation, he wrote that the email had placed him in two locations simultaneously: outside the bank and inside Korydallos prison, where he was serving a sentence between August 2008 and September 2013.

His letter reads:

‘Anonymous emails and bullets in the back…

‘In paragraph 27 of his Life of Pythagoras, the Neoplatonic philosopher Porphyry claims that Pythagoras was in Metapontum, in Italy, and Tauromenium, in Sicily, on the same day and at the same time, giving public lectures to his students, “although the distance between the two cities is many stadia by both land and sea and the journey takes several days”.

‘This phenomenon is called “bilocation”: the ability to be in two different places at the same time. Until yesterday, I believed Porphyry’s account belonged to the realm of metaphysics, since it does not sit particularly well with the laws of physics.

‘That belief has now been called into question after I read the anonymous email received by the Clouseaus who are “solving” the Marfin arson case for the umpteenth time.

‘Apparently, during the demonstration of 5 May 2010, I was in two places at once: outside Marfin, alongside seven other people named in the email, as one of those who physically carried out the arson attack that killed three employees; and on the first floor of Wing A of Korydallos prison, distributing food as an employee of the prison canteen.

‘Because, unless my memory fails me, I was imprisoned from August 2008 until September 2013. A simple Google search is enough to confirm this…

‘This piece of paper, which is improperly described as a “case file”, would be laughable if two people were not currently being unjustly held in pre-trial detention, with the possibility of a third joining them.

‘This particular detail in the “anonymous” email is indicative of the seriousness, or rather the complete lack of seriousness, of the third “investigation” into the Marfin arson.

‘It is also indicative of the cynicism of the neoliberal, far-right government and of the ruthless scavengers seeking to exploit politically the unjust deaths of the three Marfin workers.

‘On the basis of evidence that amounts to a joke, people are being remanded in custody solely because of their political association with the anarchist and anti-authoritarian movement. At the same time, an attempt is being made to construct a political narrative that criminalises all mass popular resistance to their barbaric policies.

‘Through the communications smokescreen they have created in co-operation with the overwhelming majority of the media, they are trying to conceal their appalling crimes: preparations for war, poverty, soaring prices, police brutality, most recently the killing in Argos, and the dozens of workers killed in employers’ hellholes, most recently in the explosion in Aspropyrgos, which left one person dead and ten others with burns, two of whom are still recovering.

‘We will not allow them to play unopposed. We will not remain silent and inactive amid the fog surrounding us. We will break the monopoly of opinion promoted by the government and the “journalistic” parrots who merely reproduce police leaks and government talking points.

‘We will speak, resist, demonstrate and strike. We will build centres of solidarity.

‘They may draw inspiration from their collaborationist forebears, the rallies and the battalions. They inherited their principles and values from them, while also building their fortunes.

‘We stand against them, inspired by those who smiled before the firing squad: the 200 communists executed at Kaisariani, Efthymia Patsia and Mirka Ginova, Nikos Belogiannis and Nikos Ploumbidis.

‘We are nothing like you. We are two worlds locked in irreconcilable conflict.

‘But no lie survives into old age. And this fabrication will come crashing down…’

Polykarpos Georgiadis

______________________________________________

Are you seeking news from Greece presented from a progressive, non-mainstream perspective? Subscribe monthly or annually to support TPP International in delivering independent reporting in English. Don’t let Greek progressive voices fade.

Make sure to reference “TPP International” and your order number as the reason for payment.