On Thursday 8th of February, Mahmoud A. was brought for his interrogation with the prosecutor in Kilkis in Northern Greece. He is accused of having organized a demonstration in the refugee camp Idomeni at the Greek-Macedonian Border on 10th of April last year. The prosecutor is trying to hold him accountable for the events of this day, where the Macedonian Military and Greek border police was attacking the protesting refugees and migrants with tear-gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades. He is therefore accused of having spread a leaflet that is calling for the action, suborning people to illegally passing the borders and being a threat for national security.
About 30 activists of different nationalities gathered in front of the court in Kilkis in the early morning hours to wait for the decision of the prosecutor for four hours. After six days of tireless efforts by supporters and the group solidarity lawyers from Thessaloniki and Kilkis, it was decided that Mahmoud will be released from prison without restrictions until his trial will begin. He was joyfully welcomed by his friends and supporters.
Although this decision is a small success, it is not a time to celebrate. The accusations that are brought up against Mahmoud are still a well planned move of the government against refugees that dare to speak out against the mistreatment and cruelty that people forced to migrate have faced in Idomeni and are still facing on a daily base all over Europe. Furthermore it is not clear, which influence this trial will have on Mahmoud’s relocation procedure. No matter the outcome of the trial it is already clear that he will be forced to stay in the trap called Greece like many others for an even longer period of time while having to await his trial. Due to the insufficiency and unwillingness of the Greek and EU administration the implementation of court procedures as well as asylum and relocation applications already force thousands of people to be stuck in a limbo of waiting in unacceptable living conditions.
It is not acceptable that those who are the victims of the EU’s border policy are now held responsible for the violence and cruelty that are needed to implement it.
We will keep updating on the case of Mahmoud A. and are happy to see him free and reunited with his friends again. If you are interested in supporting this campaign and our work, write an email to antirep-thessaloniki@riseup.net. For obvious reasons, we prefer encrypted communication.
WE ARE STANDING AGAINST ALL BORDERS AND THOSE WHO KEEP THEM UP.
NO REPRESSION WILL KEEP US FROM SUPPORTING EVERYONE WHO IS FIGHTING FOR EQUALITY AND LIBERATION!
Correction: As we were told by a careful reader, we messed up the dates of the events (https://linksunten.indymedia.org/en/node/203435#comment-231083). The demonstration we are talking about took place on 10th of April and NOT on 10th of February as said in the article. We are really sorry for this and hope you are taking our exhaustion of the last days in account. Here (http://livetickereidomeni.bordermonitoring.eu/2016/04/10/10-04-2016/) you can find some background information about the incident.