The court against the people that were arrested after the eviction of the squat Albatros on 5th of April has been postponed from the 11th of April to 4th of May 2017. One person that was arrested is still help in prison for not having "legal" papers and it is not clear if he will be released after the trial. Aziz, like thousands of others is held as a political prisoner, as the imprisonment of people without legal papers is a tool of the state used to pressure those imprisoned into leaving "voluntarily" and to scare others from overcoming the roles the system of capital and nation-state has assigned them to. We demand his immediate release and an end to the imprisonment of people forced to migrate.
The residents of Albatros call for solidarity at the court of
Thessaloniki on May 4th. The exact time will be announced later.
Today (21st April 2017) there will be a solidarity party in the
university of Thessaloniki in order to cover the expenses:
https://www.kinimatorama.net/event/81938.
We are still in Thessaloniki and will continue fighting for
freedom of movement and the freedom to choose where and how we
want to live.
The following text is a statement by one of the residents of Albatros.
On Wednesday April 5th our home in Ano Poli was infltrated by a
group of angry humans, united in black Power Ranger costumes. They
forced us with violence to pack up our lives in less than 15 minutes.
What about my plants, my pots and pans, my bed, my woolen blanket, my
coffee maker, my jars with homemade marmalade? The angry humans don't
seem to care. They say they will destroy everything that's left in the
house.
The lock on our door wasn't meant to keep the good
things for our self but to protect our selves from angry humans like
this; humans that choose to protect a system of destruction, where money
is more important than human lives, health and true happiness. This
booklet reveals what really happened behind the
doors of our squat. We are not criminals. What else is the function of a house, than being a home for humans?
An
empty house is a waste of space. And opportunities The house on
Ariadnis 9 was empty for 10 years according to the neighbours. Six dead
cats, layers of dust and dirt: photo albums, chique costumes and many
different working tools that represented the life of a very interesting
character were found in the house..
With respect for him,
his stuff and the history of the house, we cleaned and constructed the
house into a beautiful home. We repaired the roof, replaced broken
windows and rotten foorboards ,build an oven, a shower, a kitchen,
painted the walls, created a garden where now new seeds are growing into
vegetables which we will never eat. After hours of cleaning, arranging
beds and blankets , people from far away places were welcome. From
Morocco, Afghanistan, Syria,
Australia, Pakistan, Germany, Algeria, France, Kurdistan, this house has been a safe home for people from all over the world.
Borders
and passports protect the wealth of Western civilization. Wealth that
is gained through colonization, exploitation through
capitalism and war. Not the people who run away from this are the criminals but those who cause it.
We
live in solidarity with these travellers, refugees, pioneers, our
friends and strangers without papers. We defend their rights, we fight
those who violate it.
The only way of surviving in our
society seems to sacrifce our precious time and skills, our creativity
and passions, for the benefts of authority. In return
for
labour we receive money to swop in our local supermarket for shitty
over-processed food and vegetables with pesticides, for cheese from sad
animals in cages, for H&M clothes made by children on the other side of the planet.
We disagree with this.
We
aim to live a peaceful life without exploiting other living beings.
Therefore we recycle, we revalue materials and food wasted in the
mainstream
society and share instead of accumulate. The big amount of daily waste
of our local supermarket and thursday's “lakhi” is enough to feed
ourselves
and our friends in Ano Poli. In our Free Shop , we exchange clothes and
other treasures that we collect from the garbage in the street. We take
our
sharing policy into the street, by public jam sessions
and the Tsinari Bazaari. With handcuffs, the Angry Humans and their
creepy comrades with covered faces lead us to a white bus that looked
like a vehicle in an Alpachino movie. No wonder our friend acted when he
witnessed us being kidnapped by
a group of criminals. In
their headquarters, we witnessed even more their immorality, lack of
respect, sexism and racist attitude.
A portion of dry potato
fries and cold calamari was our belated breakfast. Nothing compared to
the free diners festas we trow with our friends in Thessaloniki or the
cups of soup served in Idomeni in solidarity with Syrian families and
their children that slept for months in tents in the mud with nightmares
about guns.According to the national news we are the cause of problems
in this refugee border camp. Like in a bad Apocalyptic movie, with
cheezy sound effects, a stressfull female voice, informs the country
about us, dangerous internationals. The thruth is, love can only be a
danger in a society that
opposes it.Our weapons are spoons,
pots, pans, gardening tools, paint, brushes, music instruments, recipes
for delicious vegetarian food.
May our arrest, the eviction of the Albatros, the attack of solidarity, reveal the lack of love of a dangerous system.