The judicial council has finally decided to consider the legal amendment enacted by Minister of Justice Nicos Paraskevopoulos and granted a conditional release for the 26 year-old hunger striker. The ruling came 20 days after the submission of her appeal and on the 19th day of Evi's hunger strike. The previous six appeals made by Evi were rejected by the same council, which conveys a strong political message, as members of the fascist Golden Dawn were being released with no restrictions during the same time period.
The restrictive terms prohibit Evi from leaving the country or communicating with other individuals facing similar charges. She must also register with a local police department three times a month.
The hunger strike caused Evi's health to deteriorate within a short amount of time. Evi has been hospitalized in Nikaia General Hospital since Monday following two episodes of severe hypoglycaemic shocks which, along with other symptoms such as acute appendicitis, were a major source of concern for doctors. Doctors had warned that the young woman would be facing life-threatening conditions had she carried-on with the hunger strike. Evi will remain hospitalized until she reaches full recovery and according to mainstream media she will be removed from the ward assigned to prisoners.
Based on the nature of the restrictive conditions she is now prevented from having any kind of contact with her partner, Gerasimos Tsakalos, who remains in Korydallos prison. Gerasimos was also on hunger strike for 19 days in order to show his support and solidarity with the brave and fair struggle of his wife.
(via BlackCat)
The hours in the room of the hospital where I am imprisoned pass slowly and I feel my body growing wearier day by day...more so as I hear the results of medical examinations that are continuously getting worse.
Yesterday afternoon for 2 hours this declining course of my body stopped, when all the comrades who were gathered under my window filled me with strength.
With freedom in our sights, let's move forward guided by dignity.
Until victory...
PS1: A warm embrace to my hunger striking partner Gerasimos Tsakolos standing in solidarity by my side.
PS2: I send greetings to all of the solidarity movements that have done so much here in Greece and overseas. Comrades you give me strength.
PS3: Fighting greetings to all the prisoners in this country that have disturbed the miserable daily routine to stand in solidarity and fight with me.
Evi Statiri
Nikaia General Hospital
18th day of hunger strike
(via Athens IMC)
Photo: Anarchists gathering in solidarity outside the 'prisoner's room' of Nikaia General Hospital where Evi Statiti is currently imprisoned.
It’s been 7 months since the imprisonment of my companion Evi Statiri in the cells of democracy. The only ‘offence’ she ever committed is her personal relationship with me. At the same time, my mother Athena Tsakalou lives as an exile on Salamis Island by decision of the judicial junta.
It’s been 7 months since the Power’s experimentations that have widened the circle of repression against friends and relatives of political prisoners, aiming to disseminate fear among people who stand in solidarity with the latter, and to impose a peculiar quarantine regime on captive urban guerrillas. Through the criminalisation of family-friendly relationships, the Power seeks to amputate every bond of solidarity that permeates the prison walls and fuels the struggle for freedom. Right at this moment, the endurances of our own world — a world that has never learned to bow its head — are being put to the test by the police-judiciary machinery of the Power, who are simultaneously taking the pulse of its reactions. With every step we take backwards, the totalitarianism of the statist beast gains ground.
Fear has expansionist tendencies… If that which is being tested today against political prisoners is not slaughtered at birth, it will spread like a plague, striking everyone who wants to live rebelliously without accepting orders or commanders in his/her life. There are many things that I would like to say but, in such moments, actions speak louder than words. Since September 14th Evi has launched a hunger strike fighting for her liberation. Since September 14th I have stood by her side, just like over recent years she has stood by my side, and I have since that date been on hunger strike myself, despite the contrary opinion of doctors, who have outright disagreed with me because it’s only been a short while since the previous hunger strike in which I participated came to an end. My only request is Evi’s liberation. My hunger strike is the only weapon I now have as a prisoner so as to stand in solidarity with Evi. It is part of a polymorphous solidarity that has already begun to manifest itself across Greece within the space of struggle and anarchy. So, there’s really no need to lose focus of the very purpose of the struggle for Evi’s liberation by making mention of my hunger strike or me personally. As I stated before, my hunger strike is my way of declaring myself present at mobilisations of people who stand in solidarity with Evi’s struggle. It is my contribution to solidarity actions that are being accelerated in order to derail — by means of anarchy — the history that we have never recognised as our own as is written by laws, judges, cops and the Power.
That the struggle for Evi’s liberation and for the cessation of prosecution against relatives-friends of political prisoners be the detonator for restarting anarchist offensive, reclaiming the streets, igniting barricades, intensifying desires, waging urban guerrilla warfare, and wagering on total liberation.
IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF EVI STATIRI
‘For, if we don’t die for each other, we are already dead’
LONG LIVE ANARCHY
Gerasimos Tsakalos, member of the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire
*graffiti in photo reads: ‘For, if we don’t die for each other, we are already dead’
[verse adapted from a poem by Tasos Livaditis]
(via Contra Info)
On September 14th Evi Statiri began a hunger strike demanding her release. She held in prison for no incriminating evidence other than being the life partner of our fellow inmate and a member of the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, Gerasimos Tsakolos.
It is not the first time that cops and judges have harrassed and tortured the relatives of prisoners.
There is no worse or more insidious torment than seeing our relatives handcuffed and behind bars in prison.
This is their justice.
We the criminal prisoners serving long sentences in E1 Wing of Domokos prison have decided to abstain from rations until Evi Statiri is released.
Prisoners of E1 Wing, Domokos
(via Athens IMC)
Imprisoned Conspiracy of Cells of Fire member Gerasimos Tsakolos has released a statement announcing that he has been on a hunger strike since the 14th of September to demand the release of his life partner Evi Statiri who has also been on hunger strike since the same date.
"...There are many things I want to say, but in such moments as this, actions speak louder than words. Since September 14th, Evi has been on a hunger strike for her release. Since September 14th I have stood by her just like she has stood by me in recent years having conducted a hunger strike since that day despite the advice of doctors not to do so due to it being too soon since the end of my previous hunger strike. My only request is the release of Evi. A hunger strike is the only weapon available to me as a prisoner to stand in solidarity with Evi."
Full text of the statement (Greek language) is available HERE
September 15th 2015:
It is a longstanding as well as an infamous tactic of the State — particularly of the police-judicial mechanism — to use fabricated charges against relatives so as to hold them hostage and put pressure on fighters and political prisoners. It was done in 2002 [against Angeliki Sotiropoulou, wife of 17N prisoner Dimitris Koufontinas], it was done in 2010 [against Marie Beraha, wife of Revolutionary Struggle prisoner Kostas Gournas], and it was done again in March 2015 [against Evi Statiri, wife of CCF prisoner Gerasimos Tsakalos, but also against Athena Tsakalou, mother of the Tsakalos brothers]. This is because the repressive policy applied against imprisoned members of armed organisations is an ongoing process of political extermination by any means.
After its capitulation on February 20th, the SYRIZA-led government was faced with the first class confrontation — that is, the hunger strike of political prisoners during Spring — and was compelled to vote favorably — among others – on an amendment that theoretically opened the way for the relatives of CCF members to be released. Today, after being refused her liberation six times by judicial councils, Evi Statiri, companion of an imprisoned member of the organisation, is still in prison. Her case is the clearest proof, not only of the acceptance of a state of emergency surrounding the memorandum by the government of the Left, but also of the strict application of a state of exception for political prisoners.
For those in society who had the clarity and determination to approach the ‘no’ vote in the referendum in a class manner and to oppose every memorandum, though without being able to take the next step forward, the question of an alternative way other than the one of delegation or relinquishment, which all the bourgeois parliamentary forces are charting, is more pressing than ever. And this is no other way than struggle and solidarity. Evi’s way…
SOLIDARITY WITH EVI STATIRI
on hunger strike since September 14th 2015
(via contra info)
Since the 14th of September our imprisoned comrade Evi Statiri has been on a hunger strike to demand her immediate release.
Evi is held in prison without any incriminating evidence in existence to support the ridiculous indictment against her.
The real reason behind her prosecution is that she has chosen to be the partner of one of our fellow inmates and member of CCF, Gerasimos Tsakolos.
The targeting of relatives is a vindictive act of power that aims to subjugate and emotionally blackmail prisoners who remain rebellious and dangerous to the orderly functioning of the prison.
The amendment passed by the former Justice minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos turned out to be a scrap of paper that had the sole aim of tricking the hunger strikers who had reached the brink of death. After many months it remains provocatively unapplied.
The struggle to stop the criminalization of relatives and partners of prisoners is a common struggle that affects all detainees. This is why today in a show of solidarity with Evi Statiri we refused to enter our cells at midday.
Freedom to Evi Statiri
- Prisoners from Domokos and Trikala prisons
Note: A similar midday mobilization was initiated by prisoners in A and D wing of Korydallos prison.
(via Athens IMC)
At dawn on Monday 14.09.15 we attacked with paint the freshly painted Volos courthouse as a minimum gesture of solidarity with Evi Statiri who was commencing a hunger strike to demand her release. Evi is the life partner of a member of the Revolutionary Organization Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, Gerasimos Tsakolos and was detained without any evidence of involvement in the organization in an attempt to criminalize the relatives and personal relationships of political prisoners.
For the same case, exile status was imposed on Athena Tsakalou, mother of Christos and Gerasimos Tsakalos (she has been banned from leaving Salamis).
Freedom to Evi Statiri!
Immediate removal of the restrictive conditions against Athena Tsakalou!
Solidarity Initiative "Echoes of Prison"
(via Athens IMC)
