Anarchists clash with police during "No Border action" in Vena, Greece.

international | eu | news report

Thursday September 01, 2005 19:15

by libertarian

Anarchists clash with police during "No Border action" in Vena, Greece.

Anarchists clash with police during "No Border action" in Vena, Greece.

A series of demonstrations in the cities of Xanthi and Komotini, followed by a march towards the "refugees’ reception center" near the border in Vena, took place in the context of the "Actions against the Borders». Police tried to prevent the protesters from entering the detention center and as result a violent clash broke out, the protesters managed to push the police away, sending a few of them to the local hospital with minor injuries and finally entered the center. The so called “refugee reception center” is actually a prison camp were illegal aliens are imprisoned until they are finally deported back to their countries were some of them may be facing long time imprisonment or execution (e.g. Kurds going back to Turkey). This facility is supposed to house 100 refugees but up to 1000 have been stacked up in there at times. There is no medical staff present and the living conditions are a disgrace to humanity, making it obvious why the authorities didn’t want anyone entering. The group that managed to enter wrote down the names of the refugees, in order to submit asylum requests on behalf of them, while video-taping and photographing the state of the place and the poor living conditions of the refugees.

Following is a link to a video with some of the clashes.

http://athens.indymedia.org/media_file.php?id=190&type=video

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eye witness report

by sdb

Fri Sep 02, 2005 11:56

28th August 2005
NO BORDERS ACTION

On Saturday, August 27th there was a demonstration
planned in Komotini to raise awareness about No
Borders, and against the deportation of refugees and
detention centers, such as the one in Venna. The
demonstration had about 200 people and we marched the
streets of Komotini, including the area where the
Turkish minority and gypsies live. During the
demonstration, leaflets were handed out and texts were
read in Turkish.

After the demonstration in Komotini, we travelled to
the detention centre in Venna. It was a small
detention centre where hardly a hundred people can be
kept but it is known that in the past up to a thousand
people were kept at one time there.

There were farms nearby and a garage but nothing else.
Police in full riot gear were blocking the road
leading to the detention center. The No Border block
was well prepared to demand the entrance to the
building with any means necessary. After a clash with
the riot police, the block managed to push the police
line back and reach the entrance of the detention
center. We need to emphasize that during the fight a
policeman fell in the ground, panicked, drew his
pistol and shot in the air. After the dynamic
intervention of the protestors, the police was forced
to allow a few of us to enter the building.

Inside the camp, there was a small medical room, an
office for the police and the main section where the
prisoners are kept and we were not allowed to see the
conditions inside the prison. We were taken to the
office and three people, one Afghani and two
Palestinian were brought out. Unfortunately they did
not understand Greek or much English but we spoke in
English. We told them they had a right to political
asylum and they must ask for it. Some people inside
were there for up to 3 months but had no contact with
lawyers. They said they might be moved to Athens but
were uncertain of their future. They have not made
demand for political asylum yet and can still be
deported.

Names and nationalities of all 17 people held at the
detention centre:
1. Basak Hasan Iraq
2. Dilsat Hasan //
3. Halim Sunaban Mauritania
4. Ama Ali //
5. Ahmed Ali Palestine
6. Amin Aisa //
7. Halil Darou //
8. Jahangir Harmany Afghanistan
9. Vosar Mohamed //
10. Karmal Ibrahim //
11. Ples Virgiliu Moldavia
12. Burduh Constantin //
13. Ohrilov Elena //
14. Zop Ilivana //
15. Verdes Maria //
16. Chirita Mariana //
17. Zacon Tatiana //

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Anarchists clash with police during "No Border action" in Vena, Greece.

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