[P2P-F] Fwd: Denounce severe Greek police attack on US activist & brutal repression of dissent-please sign

Thu Jan 13 03:35:55 CET 2011

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Oppose Greek Police Repression <
opposegreekpolicerepression at occupiedlondon.org>
Date: Thu, Jan 13, 2011 at 3:39 AM
Subject: Denounce severe Greek police attack on US activist & brutal
repression of dissent-please sign
To: opposegreekpolicerepression at occupiedlondon.org

The following statement has already been quickly signed by Noam Chomsky.
Please help show that the international community opposes brutal repression
of public dissent here in Greece, such as the attack on our American
comrade. Please list your faculty and title when signing.

 *Please sign the following statement to call for an investigation and
accountability for the nearly fatal attack on an American writer and
activist by Greek police on November 15th, 2010, during a demonstration in
Athens, and to urge the Greek authorities to prevent further physical
brutality against those expressing dissent during such turbulent times in
Greece. To sign the statement on the online petition, go here*:
 http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/opposegreekpolicerepression/

   * (Please review the attached PDF for photo evidence of the November 15th
Delta police attack and of the gravely injured activist, a mention of
the attack in a report from the European Commission for the Prevention of
Torture, an article concerning the beating and injuries suffered by a major
Greek magazine,  accounts from eye-witnesses of the attack, as well as
background information on the specific role of the Greek Delta police in
political repression.)*

      We, the undersigned, are faculty, students, lawyers, and journalists
from across the
United States and Europe who believe that all people of the world should
have the
rights to express dissenting views and to protest for social change. We have
learned
that the “ Delta” force in Greece denies protestors those rights through
physical brutality
against them. We call for a full investigation and accountability for those
involved in the
latest police violence.

     On November 15th, 2010, during a demonstration called by labor unions
and leftists
groups against the entrance of the IMF into Greece, the Delta police nearly
fatally attacked a member of the international community-a 105 pound female
American writer    and activist who was beaten to unconsciousness with a
blunt object and then kicked and beaten repeatedly in the head, neck and
back, and abdomen. Eyewitnesses report the use of
force by multiple officers during a prolonged time in which the demonstrator
was already
unconscious, laying on the ground and bleeding from the head. Among multiple
injuries,
including blood hemorrhaging, her skull was fractured and she suffers
permanent inner
ear damage.
     This is not the first time that the Delta police have been responsible
for brutal attack on
demonstrations in Athens- indicative cases of penal charges against the
Delta were  brought by the group “ Dikaioma” last week for an attempt by the
Delta to break up a demonstration by an attack against their block during
the general strike on the  15th December 2010.Charges have also been bought
by Professor Aggeliki Koutsoumpou, who was seriously injured when Delta
police officers rammed her with their motorcycles during a demonstration on
the 6th of December 2009.

     The members of the Delta force are able to act with impunity against
demonstrators and
are difficult to identify, having no visible numbers or placards on their
uniforms.

     It is a unacceptable that the Greek government, at a heightened moment
of crisis
and global instability, chooses to turn its police force on legitimate
political speech,
physically attacking and harassing demonstrators.

     We, the undersigned, urge a full disclosure of information regarding
the identity of the
 Delta unit responsible for the excessive attack on the night of the 15th of
November. The
 officers who carried out and commanded these actions must be punished, and
effective
 steps must be taken to end the impunity provided to the Delta force and to
prevent further
 brutality.

     http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/opposegreekpolicerepression/

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