Noise demonstrations outside prisons and targeted attacks across borders highlight Athens flat explosion case

~ Kit Dimou ~

Following November’s international day of action, the “Assembly in memory of Kyriakos Ximitiris and in solidarity with the persecuted comrades in the Ambelokipoi case”, a solidarity structure which emerged in Berlin, called for further international action around the new year.

Ximitiris was killed on October 31 in an explosion in an Athens flat , which authorities attribute to a bomb-making accident, injuring another comrade and leading to a series of arrests.

The days of action kicked off in Athens on December 30 when comrades held a banner in front of the Hellenic Parliament reading “Kyriakos Ximitiris, One of Us, Comrade Forever in the Streets of Fire”, leading to one arrest. In Berlin, on the same day, an unannounced rally took place outside a women’s prison, followed by postering actions around Neukölln.

On the morning of December 31, the two-month anniversary of the explosion, a Siemens car was destroyed in Berlin-Baumschulenweg, against the German and Greek police “working hand in hand to imprison our comrades, to persecute them and to paint a picture of what they call terror”. In Athens, the organisation ‘Cells of Offensive Solidarity’ chose the same day to publish a communique claiming responsibility for a failed attack on the Social Security Organisation on 3 December. This had been dedicated to the memory of Kyriakos, arguing that the failure of the operation was a matter of bad luck which can easily be rectified in future attacks.

Solidarity actions also took place in Bern, Switzerland, where the imprisoned comrade Dimitra had been active in struggles for anarchy, feminism and Palestinian liberation. Her comrades there attacked the Berner Amtshaus with paint, choosing this target because it contains the local courts, prisons and prosecutor’s offices, “precisely these institutions […] that maintain state order here and everywhere”. Additionally, a diplomatic residence in Bern was marked with paint by anarchists in a direct attack on the Greek state and its “henchmen in Switzerland“

Traditional New Year’s Eve noise demonstrations outside prisons were marked this year by banners and slogans related to the Ampelokipoi case. Anarchists in Hamburg held an unannounced demonstration at the Holstenglacis remand prison, where the prisoners applauded and lit fires in their cells. A speech in the memory of Kyriakos was heard in front of the Moabit Prison in Berlin, where it was “clearly said that no one is left alone in the hands of power”. In Paris, anarchists lit fireworks around various prisons and migrant detention centres in rage against the carceral system and international solidarity with the Greek anarchists.

Noise demonstrations also took place outside Korydallos prison in Piraeus, where Marianna, Dimitra, Dimitris, Nikos Romanos and A.K. are being held. The demonstration stopped outside both the men’s and women’s prisons, where banners were hung and the chants from those outside united with the voices of the imprisoned comrades. 

While this marks the end of the international days of action, the authors of the initial call made clear that “building consistent solidarity does not mean to limit our actions to specific days”. Further actions are expected next week, an International Week of Action in solidarity with Pola Roupa and Nikos Maziotis, imprisoned members of the Revolutionary Struggle group, fighting in the courts for their legal right to release.