Posted by Elias Theodoroupolos, 99GetSmart
On Tuesday evening, for the second time in two weeks, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras invoked emergency civil mobilization orders – which have only been used ten times since the fall of the ruling military junta in 1974 – effectively ending a seven-day dock worker’s strike. Early Wednesday morning, dock workers were forced to end the strike under threat of prison and loss of their jobs.
The workers went on strike over wage cuts and because they have not been paid for six months. The government-of-the-regime says they cannot pay the workers because of the crisis, however, Members of Parliament and Parliament workers enjoy exemption from pay cuts and are paid promptly.
Early Wednesday morning, the notorious rioting Greek police were dispatched in huge numbers at the port of Piraeus in order to keep the strikers away from boats taking on passengers and cargo.
Supporters of striking ferrymen marched through the port of Piraeus, a day after the government threatened arrests and jail time if the dock workers did not get back to work.
The civil servants union ADEDY stated:
“The government must know that the systematic undermining of union and labor laws violate the country’s constitution and international and European agreements that protect workers’ rights.” ADEDY described the measure as an “anti-democratic practice of criminalizing labor and strike action.”
The President of the Panhellenic Commercial Sailors’ Union, Antonis Dalakogoergos said that strong arm tactics by the state will not work:
“If the government thinks that by trying to criminalize our battle through measures of terror – such as issuing an order – it will resolve the issue of the seamen and workers in general, it is fooling itself.
6/2/13 Hundratals strejkande arbetare var fortfarande kvar inne i Pireus hamn i Aten, Grekland, som kontrollerades av ett stort antal polisstyrkor i kravallutrustning. Människor med batonger i hand spärrade av området för att styra polisens rörelser och försvara arbetarna.
6/2/13 Continue the protest of the dock workers of the Piraeus port in Athens, Greece. Hundreds of striking workers are still inside the port, controlled by a large number of police forces in riot gear. A cordon of people with batons in hand controls the movements of the police and defends the workers.
Greek police have already faced accusations of torture following protests.
Greek authorities must investigate accusations of torture after mugshots of four bank-robbery suspects were doctored to remove signs of injury, Amnesty International said today.
On Friday, 1 February the suspects were arrested by the police in relation to allegations of their participation in a bank-robbery in Kozani, in the north of the country.
Police have said the four were injured during their arrest and that only necessary force was used, but family members and lawyers allege that there was no clash, and that the young men were severely beaten in detention.
“We are profoundly concerned about the recurring allegations of torture and ill-treatment by Greek police,” said Marek Marczyński, Deputy Director of the Europe and Central Asia Programme at Amnesty International.
Video and unedited pictures published by media show extensive bruising. However, the police released photographs that had been crudely edited to lighten or erase bruises and cuts.
In one case a suspect’s face in his photograph was unnaturally flattened by the removal of bruising. In another, the photograph was lightened so much that the suspect’s hair turned from brown to blond.
Despite this, the Minister for Public Order said that the editing was necessary to allow for the suspects to be recognized.
“The Greek authorities cannot just Photoshop their problems away. This culture of impunity needs to be stopped,” said Marczyński.
“There has to be an effective, thorough and impartial investigation into allegations of police torture. Such an investigation has to identify those responsible and they should promptly be brought to justice.”
Two of the four detainees are accused of being members of the armed group ‘Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire’.
In October last year 15 anti-fascist demonstrators were allegedly tortured by police following a demonstration.
Investigate Greek Police's Neo-nazist affiliation & Torture practices
We, the citizens of Greece, call for an international investigation that will send to Justice those members of greek police and their elected political supervisors, responsible for: - affiliating with the extremist neo-nazi party "Golden Dawn", becoming communicating vessels, and accepting neo-nazist behavior infiltrating into the police force practices. - covering from greek justice, neo-nazi crimes such as: carrying weapons, call for weapon use, attacking in squads, racist/hate rhetoric and preaching in media and schools, violence upon humans, murder. - exposing greek and immigrant detainees to torture practices, refusing them legal advice, exposing them on public media before prosecution. - ordering the use of warfare heavy lacrimogens, in times of peace, inside residential areas, against children and elder people, provoking severe breath and health conditions. - violating the Greek Constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Art.9), the Fourth Geneva Convention.
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