Matrozou 45 re-occupiers sentenced to 77 months together while 79 defenders of the Prosfygika community go on trial today
~ Kit Dimou ~
In Athens, the trial continues today of 79 defenders of the Prosfygika community who resisted a police raid in 2022. On Tuesday, four participants in the re-occupation of the Matrozou squat in 2020 were sentenced to 77 months in prison between them.
The Prosfygika community is an occupied neighbourhood in the heart of Athens with over 400 residents. The area was invaded on 22 November 2022 by anti-terror units, who arrested anarchist Kostas Dimalexis in connection with an arson attack by an anarchist group in July 2022; while Kostas was eventually found not guilty and released after a year of prison, his 79 comrades who participated in the defence of Prosfygika against the raid face heavy charges, including breach of the peace, assault on police officers, carrying offensive weapons, and illegal possession and use of pyrotechnics.
On Tuesday, the iconic Matrozou 45 reoccupation case reached its conclusion. The four comrades who participated were found guilty and sentenced to 77 months in prison in total; they are currently on parole until appeal. The attempted reoccupation on 11 January 2020 involved two of the three squats operated by the Koukaki Squat Community. This was an initiative resisting the far-reaching gentrification and touristification of this traditionally proletarian neighbourhood. Along with the Panaitoliou squat, it had been evicted a month earlier. This was part of the provocative ultimatum announced by the right-wing New Democracy government, demanding all illegally occupied spaces in Greece to be abandoned by 6 December 2019, the anniversary of the police murder of Alexis Grigoropoulos in 2008 which sparked a historic uprising in the city.
The re-occupation failed, as crowds outside the squats were brutally attacked by police and driven out of the neighbourhood in an operation that lasted several hours. The comrades inside defended themselves tooth and nail, leading to six police injuries, but were ultimately arrested.
As opposed to those involved in the Panaitoliou reoccupation, who were unanimously found not guilty, the Matrozou comrades were treated exceedingly harshly by the court. While initially only facing misdemeanour charges, the charges against them were upgraded to felonies after public expressions of outrage by Prime Minister Mitsotakis, government ministers and the Police Union. At trial, no extenuating circumstances were taken into account. Even the prosecutor’s recommendation that the accused only serve half their prison time was not accepted by the president of the court.
The trials are taking place against the background of recent evictions and re-occupations of famous squats — Evangelismos and Kasteli hill in Crete, and Ano-Kato in Athens. In the Athens Polytechnic, another ultimatum is currently threatening three long-standing occupations on campus with eviction.
