Eight years sentence for Dimitra Z; Nikos Romanos and two others acquitted

~ Cristina Sykes ~

Eighteen months after an explosion in Athens claimed the life of anarchist Kyriakos Xymitiris, his partner Marianna Manoura was on Friday (24 April) sentenced to 19 years in prison on explosives and terrorism charges. Marianna’s friend Dimitra Zarafeta, who gave her the key to the flat where the explosion occurred, was sentenced to 8 years. Anarchist Nikos Romanos was acquitted along with Dimitra’s partner Dimitris and a third man identified as Argyris K.

Outside the Athens Court of Appeals, serious tensions arose between solidarity supporters and the heavily armed police, who used stun grenades, chemical weapons and extensive violence. Video footage showed officers throwing a young girl on her back onto a marble slab, which hit her neck.

Marianna, who had been injured in the explosion, assumed political responsibility for the case throughout the proceedings, and stated that none of her co-defendants had anything to do with the events. She chose to vindicate the legacy of Xymitiris in the struggle against inequality, saying: “I could very easily say that he gave me a bag, I went there, he told me ‘sit in the other room’ I sat down and that was it. Okay. My priority is not my personal security but the fight for a better world and an unyielding stance in the face of repression. I have already paid the price anyway, and it is not measured in years in prison”. She thanked Kyriakos “for the six years with him, in which I understood the importance of companionship. Together we dreamed with our eyes open of a better world, together we fought for it. A part of me, perhaps the biggest, died next to him, a part of him lives with me”.

Dimitra Z had given Marianna the keys to the flat in the Ampelokipi neighbourhood thinking the purpose was to host friends from abroad. Her speculative inclusion in an “organisation” with Marianna and Kyriakos allowed the state to bring terrorism charges under the vague and controversial section 187A of the Greek penal code. According to Dimitra’s attorney Annie Paparrousou, “it is the first time that sentences have been imposed for a terrorist organisation that has no name and has not undertaken terrorist acts. This is a clear conviction because of a mindset, which would not have been possible if there were no unconstitutional Article 187A”.

Dimitra said to the court that the prosecution, “instead of relying on the lack of real evidence, chose to support the charges with associations, interpretations and politically charged constructions”. She said the charges “function as an warning to anyone who thinks of going outside the boundaries of civil legality, anyone who struggles, anyone who stands and defends their political identity” and that her conviction would “criminalise political ideology, relationships, and solidarity”.

Nikos Romanos, a well-known Greek anarchist arrested several weeks after the explosion, was acquitted due to the weakness of the fingerprint report tying him and Argyris K. to a wrapped gun found at the scene.

Since the explosion and ensuing arrests, actions, assemblies and demonstrations in memory of Xymitiris and in solidarity with the imprisoned comrades have taken place across Europe, and more are expected to follow the verdict.