#rbnews weekly bulletin 06-12 July 2013

The text companion to this week's #rbnews international show is now online. You can read it after the jump.

#rbnews international show 13 July 2013: reactions to the case of Kostas Sakkas

For this week's #rbnews international show, we asked netizens from Greece and abroad to send in their reactions to the case of Kostas Sakkas, who was released on Thursday 11 June after 951 days in prison without a trial and 38 days of hunger strike.

Many thanks to all those who sent in a short sound clip, and apologies to those whose clips we couldn't broadcast due to a lack of time.

You can listen to the podcast, as usual, after the jump.

Police attack on a demonstration for K. Sakkas (and my arrest for a video) - by @_giant_

By @_giant_, re-posted from Omnia TV and translated from Greek by @potmos

On Wednesday, July 10, a demo near the Acropolis was arranged in order to inform people about Kostas Sakkas’s hunger strike.

During the march, in which were about 150 people, slogans were written and leaflets were distributed, mostly in English, since the place is mostly a tourist destination.

When the march was stopped from continuing towards the Acropolis by police forces, it went on to Thissio through the pedestrian road, without an incident.

After a while, under the pretext that slogans were being written on walls, the march was attacked by a motorbike-mounted police force (DELTA), and arrests were made.

People protested the arrests and were attacked with flash-bang and teargas grenades.

#rbnews weekly show 06 July 2013 - The failure(s) of democracy in Greece

This week on the #rbnews international show, we asked lawyer Crystali Bourcha from the Movement for the Liberties and Democratic Rights of our Times (Greek acronym KEDDE) and journalist Mariniki Alevizopoulou from Unfollow Magazine to comment on the items that we included in our news bulletin of the week, which all seem to point towards the failure of democracy in Greece.

You can listen to the podcast and read the news bulletin after the jump.
The interviews were taken by phone. We apologize for the poor quality of the sound, especially in the case of our interview with Crystali Bourcha. For some unexplainable reason, the recording device was particularly intent to add parasites to her speech. 

#rbnews weekly bulletin 22-28 June 2013

The text companion to this week's #rbnews international show is now online. You can read it after the jump.

Kostas Sakkas: Three years on remand in order to… make an example

Translation of Katerina Kati’s article for The Editors’ Νewspaper, 03 June 2013

Re-posted from eagainst.com

He has been on remand for 3 years and was prosecuted twice for the same offence, despite the fact that his name doesn't even appear in the case file.

The maximum time he should spend on remand expires tomorrow; and he chose this date to start a hunger strike, clarifying that “this is not an act of desperation, but rather to keep up the fight.”

#rbnews weekly bulletin 25-31 May 2013

Prepared by the #rbnews international team, translated by @IrateGreek

The text companion to this week's #rbnews international show is now online. You can read it after the jump.

Arbitrary detention of a professional photojournalist in Thessaloniki

Posted by @IrateGreek

A photojournalist denounces the police for detaining him while he was doing his job

Dear colleagues,

With this letter I wish to report an incident that happened to me on May 17th, around 2:20pm on Tsimiski street, near Aristotelous square (Thessaloniki).

As an Associated Press photojournalist in Thessaloniki, I was informed by a colleague that a homeless man was sleeping on a bench in Tsimiski street with a guitar  by his side (just outside the "Folli Follie" shop). Luckily I was at a nearby cafe so I got there in a few minutes.

Initiative against the detention hellholes of Piraeus

Source: Anti-Nazi Initiative of Piraeus

Posted by @csyllas, translated from Greek by @anarresti


After the petition below was approved by the 16 May 2013 plenary of the Council of  Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) in the framework of a discussion on the subject of human rights,  it was decided to set up a team of European lawyers which will visit the  police departments where immigrants and refugees are being held under appalling conditions.

The petition, which was drafted by a group of lawyers and citizens from Piraeus and approved by the Board of Directors of the Piraeus Bar Association, is yet another enlightening testimony on the State's arbitrary treatment of foreign immigrants.

#rbnews weekly bulletin 20-26 April 2013

The text companion to this week's #rbnews international show is now online. You can read it after the jump.

#rbnews international show 09 February 2013: Police brutality in Greece

This week on #rbnews international, given the abundant news related to arrests and torture by the Greek police, we discussed the issue of police brutality in Greece with Maro Savvopoulou, the press officer from the Greek chapter of Amnesty International. Amnesty has recently published a report on this matter and is currently conducting a campaign to push the Greek authorities to investigate these allegations and take appropriate action.

You can follow Amnesty Greece on Twitter @AmnestyGreece.

You can listen to the podcast after the jump.

#rbnews international weekly bulletin 26 January - 01 February 2013

The text companion to this week's #rbnews international show is online. You can read it after the jump.

Skouries turned into a battlefield

By @Inflammatory_

The forest of Skouries in northern Greece's Halkidiki peninsula turned into a battlefield tonight as local villagers and Syriza leaning protesters clashed with riot police [see update below]. Approximately 2000 demonstrators marched peacefully to Eldorado company’s site over the severe environmental impact from its gold mining operations. Riot police squads had already blocked the way through the entrance and hurled teargas to disperse the crowd. 

#rbnews international show - 06 October 2012

In the second #rbnews English-language show of this season covering the period 30 September-06 October 2012, we discussed the Lagarde list, the new austerity measures, the multiple detentions and arrests by the police and torture cases and upcoming events in Greece, as well as developments with regards to the financial crisis in other European countries. The podcast is available after the jump.

#rbnews international show - 29 September 2012

The English-language news show on radiobubble, hosted this week by @IrateGreek and @Pexlibanis. We discuss

• the anti-austerity demonstration on 26 September and subsequent arrests (guest: Chrysa Petsimeri), 
• the Geron Pastitsios blasphemy arrest, 
• a massive case of money laudering involving several prominent Greek politicians (guest: @Okeanews), 
• news from Belgium and the rest of Europe (guest: @Krotkie).

You can listen to the podcast after the jump. 

Further anti-austerity protests 19 February 2012 (LIVE BLOG)

By @inflammatory_

Approximately 3000 people gathered in front of the parliament this morning to protest against austerity, chanting slogans and singing the national anthem. The demo was called by the two major trade union bodies of Greece, GSEE and ADEDY, that reportedly have plans for a third general strike in a row, on top of a series of events coordinated with unions and artists, that will culminate on February 29th, the European day of action. 
A new demo is scheduled this afternoon in Syntagma sq. from left wing groups, SYRIZA trade unionists' network, primary unions, motorcyclists and Mikis Theodorakis movement. Follow #19fgr and #rbnews hashtags for twitter updates. This post will be updated with pics and info.

21:06 A RECAP OF THE EVENING DEMO' S MAIN HIGHLIGHTS

Demonstrators outside the parliament 19/2/2012 by Alexia B. on facebook

• 60 preventive detentions made by police in central Athens (Ermou St. Exarcheia & Monastiraki) prior to the demo.
• People descended on Syntagma sq. across the street from Parliament, remaining peacefully until 19:40, when riot police tactics aimed -in an obvious manner- at dispersing the crowd.
• To this end, pepper spray and stun grenade use was made, 3 people were detained and one man suffered injuries when hit by riot policeman on the head.
• Journalists were reportedly repelled by police for doing their job when covering the demonstration. One of them working for Ant1 TV was detained.

Detentions follow school students' demo outside the parliament

By @inflammatory_

Around 400 school students staged a protest at 12:00 outside the parliament against educational reforms and the broader socio-political condition in Greece. Pics by @moggoloss

LIVE BLOG on anti-austerity protests: Feb 10-11 & 12

By @inflammatory_ 

FEB 12 TIMELINE

01:00 Recap of the day's main events 

"Greece en rage", might be an accurate description of what happened today.

• Several preventive detentions in Athens took place before even the demo starts. 
• Massive turnout as expected.The crowd was dispersed very early though, around 17:30-18:00 when tensions aroused on the front side of the demo and riot police officers started hurling teargas to repel demonstrators on the lower side of the square.
• The demo was split, but protesters remained en masse in the nearby roads, to avoid clouds of tear gas filling the air...which was literally unbearable. With sheer determination they attempted to get back on the spot but riot squad tactics were aimed at halting the demo. This cat-and-mouse chase kept for 3,5 hours.
• There were reports by journalists of policemen attacking on random people, protesting peacefully.
• Paul Mason, the BBC correspondent was attacked by a bunch of far right protesters as they thought he was German. The worst was prevented thanks to other people's intervention.
• Clashes spread across the city, with banks and retail outlets set on fire. Estimated number of arsoned buildings at 10  45.
• 100 people suffered injuries, while 74 have been arrested and 92 detained.
• In Thessaloniki 28.000 people demonstrated (including PAME members) and clashes broke out between protesters and riot police as well.



Feb 12, 2012 Demonstrators flooding the streets outside the parliament before clashes pic @Jaquou Utopie

LIVE BLOG 24h general strike Feb 7, 2012

By @inflammatory_

14:15 Demonstrators chanting slogans outside the parliament


14:05 Random protesters outside the parliament now, opposite policemen guarding the building amid new austerity talks by greek leaders

About Menacius case

By @inflammatory_

On Dec 6, when demos were held to commemorate Alexis Grigoropoulos, the police reportedly proceeded to 21 arrests and 46 detentions. Among those arrested, was A.D. known as Menacius in the twitter community, who is a member of “A ship to Gaza” movement and an Omnia TV contributor. This fact is of great importance as it concerns a citizen who’s been covering live on Twitter the clashes between police and protesters. Menacius' citizen journalism activity is also evident from an article in Kathimerini newspaper on that topic and from comments his friends and comrades have made. On top of that, the arrest should be seen in the context of heavy policing taking place lately, along with the “zero tolerance” approach that police exercised with preventive detentions and stop-and-search tactics during Dec 6 demos.

Further updates on the issue will be aired on radiobubble web radio, posted on Omnia TV, Parallilografos blog and Athens Indymedia and #freemenacius hashtag on Twitter will keep you in the loop. There has been also a call to the Greek branch of Amnesty International to deal with the issue.