We are two political prisoners, members of the armed anarchist organization Revolutionary Struggle, which acted between 2003 and 2017 and claimed 18 actions-attacks against objectives of the political and economic regime, of the State and capital. The Revolutionary Struggle claimed the responsibility for actions and armed attacks against the Ministries of Finance and Labor, the Athens Stock Exchange, the Bank of Greece and the Office of the International Monetary Fund, banks, police stations and riot police. It also assumed responsibility for an attack against a Minister of Public Order and for the attack with anti-tank rocket against the American embassy in Athens; the comrade Pοla Roupa also tried to expropriate a helicopter in 2016 to help comrade Maziotis (in addition to other prisoners) escape from prison to continue the action of the Revolutionary Struggle.
During our action we lost a comrade, Lambros Fountas, killed on March 10, 2010 in a confrontation with the police during a preparatory action of the organization.
At that time, the Revolutionary Struggle had begun to act against the global financial crisis and the imposition of loan contracts for Greece. Since the first arrests in 2010, we have assumed political responsibility for our participation in the Revolutionary Struggle and we have defended our actions and all the actions of the organization in public and in all the trials against our organization. We have defended the policy of the armed revolutionary action against the State and capital. We have defended the objective of the social revolution to overthrow the economic-political system of power and replace it with a social organization without classes based on a confederation of communities (communes).
In the course of our action, we have been subject to two rewards. The first time was in 2007, when the US Department of State set a reward of 1,000,000 dollars for the members of Revolutionary Struggle and a reward of 800,000 euros from the Greek State immediately after the organization attacked the US Embassy in Athens with an anti-tank missile. The second time was in 2014, when the Greek state set a reward for us two personally of 1,000,000 euros each. The reward was placed on our heads when we were in the “illegality” in which we were after our release in 2011, after the 18 months of preventive detention expired without having been prosecuted (according to the Greek Constitution, no one can remain in Preventive imprisonment more than 18 months). The price was set after the 2014 attack made by the Revolutionary Struggle with a car full of 75 kilos of explosives in the Bank of Greece in Athens, where the IMF office was located. This action was an answer to loan agreements that the Greek State has implemented since 2010 under the pressure of supranational institutions: European Central Bank, European Commission, International Monetary Fund (Troika). This attack was carried out under the name of Revolutionary Struggle-Comando Lambros Fountas, an action for which, when we were detained, we were sentenced to life imprisonment, a sentence that was revoked by the Court of Appeal.
After eight long trials (4 first instance trials and 4 appeal trials) and for the 18 actions of the Revolutionary Struggle, we were sentenced to many tens of years, which accumulated and became 20 years.
But in addition to our conviction, we also face another more hateful dimension of state repression, when the Greek state put our own son at the point of sight of the prison war. In 2012, we entered “in clandestinity” before the end of the first trial against the Revolutionary Struggle (2011-’13) where we were sentenced in rebellion to 50 years.
Our son was with us all these years until the comrade was arrested in January 2017 (when the comrade Nikos Maziotis had already been arrested in July 2014). When the comrade was arrested, instead of giving our son to our relatives, police, by order of the prosecutor, transferred him to a closed psychiatric pavilion, under police surveillance and without visits during the first days. The objective of the Greek State was to exert maximum pressure on us and on the basis of breaking the paternal and maternal relationship we have with our child, so they have taken away the rights of maternity and paternity from the first moment that the comrade Pola Roupa was arrested, citing our actions and our convictions. This unprecedented event has raised a very negative social impression and after a few days of hunger and thirst strike we made and the mobilizations of our comrades, the Greek state finally gave our son to our relatives.
We are already in prison, one of us for more than 10 years and his comrade for almost 8 years, with the right to request probation to 3/5 of penalty, that is, 12 years, which may include an additional period to work in prison.
Comrade Maziotis has already reached this limit with a job for more than a year. But the Probation Commission has denied parole at least twice, and ignored his third request. In addition to the 20-year sentence, we have been sentenced even with very draconian fines. Recently, these “accounts” of the state have come to light, including the costs of the courts (8 courts in total) and the fines and procedural expenses of the military courts of comrade Nikos Masiotis due to his total refusal to enlist when he was 18 and called to serve in the military. In total, the amount of these debts amounts to 70,000 euros.
Comrades, we have dedicated our life to the fight against the State and Capital, to the struggle for the revolution and we have paid and continue paying a very high price – as we expected – when we made our decisions.
The difficulties caused by a long-lasting detention, as in our case, not only affect the people who suffer, but also their family environment, especially if they are minors and the elderly. These difficulties were and are the most important to us. Especially now, when a relative faces serious health problems. In particular, the mother of the companion Roupa and grandmother of our son, who has the custody of our son, is an older person with very serious health problems. Thanks to you and the sister of Comrade Roupa, also responsible, our son was not admitted to an institution and is growing in a stable and safe environment. Financial aid to deal with our serious health problems and support our family members is the most important thing for us at this time.
* We consider it necessary to raise 3.000 euros to overcome the immediate financial difficulties of our family
Pola Roupa, 3rd section of Thiva Women’s Prison (Greece)
Nikos Maziotis, fourth pavilion, Domokou prison
The political prisoners of the Revolutionary Struggle.
This is the link of Financial support (firefund):
Fundraising for P. Roupa, N. Maziotis -members of the Revolutionary Struggle- and their family
Source: Publicacion Refractario