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Anarchist Legal Struggles in Cyprus

"Anarchy Greece" anarchy writes:

Here is the English translation of a leaflet which was handed out to
tourists as they came off their planes at Larnaca airport last night. To
send wherever you like!

WELCOME TO CYPRUS!

Before you begin your holiday basking on the beaches of this
beautiful island, we invite you to read the following:

The Cypriot State, while calling itself democratic, tries in every way
to obstruct and prevent each and every kind of social struggle and the
very act of doubting the State itself.

At this moment anarchist comrade George Karakasian has been a hostage
in the hands of this State since 27/08/02. The only 'crime' our comrade
has committed is that he contested not only the existence of the State
but also its logic of passivity, wage slavery, or 'enclosure' within
the artificial needs required for the preservance and survival not only
of the Cypriot State but of every other State and authority in general.



Last April, a period characterised by the massive and continuous
massacre of the Palestinian people by the Zionist murderers, George
Karakasian could not remain passive. Ignoring the lifestyle that wants
people to stay closed within a personal deadloc in any way be 'judged'
by so-called 'bourgeois legality' - but because we want to show the
dirt, hypocrysy and everything else that the word 'justice', the candy
they hold in their mouths every day, stands for. So in order to to
destroy the illusions which the law serves to foster:

Charge (1): 'Causing serious physical injury to a police officer': If
the symbolic grasp (showing up the hateful the role of the police
present) of the hat of a cop who later talked in front of the cameras
can be called 'serious physical injury', then what can we call the
capturing of the comrade by these cops, his being dragged inside the
home of the Israeli ambassador and continually beaten all over his body
by five of them shouting at him 'fuck your anarchy'. They also injured
his ear by pulling his earring. The extent of his injuries was such that
he was taken to hospital. The democratic procedure did not stop there.
When George Karakasian returned to the hospital next day to take his
case card this had accidentally disappeared. We have already clarified
that we did not present the charges in order to justify them. The
dignified attitude our comrade held in the court (something seen for the
first time in Cyprus) and the fact that he did not ask for it to show
him any clemency, shows exactly what are the feelings of anarchists for
so-called 'bourgeois justice' are.



We as comrades of anarchist George Karakasian feel sorrow of course for
the fact that he is imprisoned by the detestable Cyprus State, but at
the same time we have the joy of knowing that our comrade remains strong
and knows the impact his acts will have in the future in the
revolutionary movement of the island and in future struggles generally.
Our solidarity until the day of the sentence (4/09/02 but which will
also continue later) will take those dimensions it has to, in order that
all those who express the misery of power understand that the attack
they have started against anarchists and all those in struggle will not
remain unanswered.

FREEDOM TO ANARCHIST COMRADE GEORGE KARAKASIAN.

SOLIDARITY TO ANARCHIST SOTIRI MARANGO WHO WILL BE JUDGED
FOR THE SAME CASE 19/09/02

ANARCHIST GROUP OF CYPRUS

For communication: exegersi2002