Posts Tagged with ‘policing’
-
Greek Police: A Job Well Done?
05 Feb 2013
On Saturday, 2nd February, the English language version of "Η Καθημερινη", the most popular daily newspaper in Athens, carried an editorial praising the Hellenic Police force. The article states... ..the police force has stepped up to the plate and shown that it is capable of doing its job properly despite …
-
A Campaign against “Lawlessness”
11 Jan 2013
Earlier this week, the mayor of Athens announced a crackdown on "lawlessness". On Wednesday, a successful re-occupation of Villa Amalias was evicted within half an hour as police poured chemical weapons into the building, then raided an hour and a half later, arresting the 93 who were in the building. …
-
Are you a potential prostitute?
09 Jan 2013
Well, are you? Not sure? Well - now you can check. Some nice kind people have set up a website where people can report "potential prostitutes". No I'm not linking, but it ain't hard to find. The premise of the site is that people feel "threatened" by online prostitutes. …
-
Blackwater: First Iraq, then Afghanistan …now Greece.
01 Jan 2013
Blackwater is notorious. A private mercenary army, it first came to public attention in 2003 two years after it was founded after the US government contracted it to provide military support for the war in Iraq. Innumerable scandals followed. And now the Greek Government has enlisted its services for domestic …
-
Villa Amalias: A flashpoint in the Greek Struggle
01 Jan 2013
Villa Amalias is one of Athens oldest squats. On the 20th December, allegedly under direction from Samaras, the Greek Prime Minister, Nikos Dendias, Minister for Public Order, instructed the squat to be raided. Eight people - six Greek and two Germans - were arrested during the operation while others who had …
-
Update from Greece
24 Dec 2012
The image of Greece that many people have - of whitewashed villas with blue trim, looking out onto onto an endless expanse of sea, of little tavernas, olive groves and elderly Greek grandmothers informed by a million holiday brochures and postcards, has been taken over of late with images of …
-
The Fascist Infiltration of Greek Civil Society
14 Dec 2012
Security, nutrition, healthcare and education are fundamentals of a functioning society. As Greece struggles on with the troika imposed austerity, with little end in sight, all of the above are breaking down. Society is become more violent and lawless, hospitals struggle on without access to basic medical supplies, schools have …
-
For Bread, Education and Freedom
18 Nov 2012
Autumn 1973 saw two major events take place in the Mediterranean. In October, the Sinai Peninsula was recaptured by Egypt from Israel who had occupied it in June 1967, delivering the first major defeat to Israel's imperial ambitions, inadvertently creating the enclave of Gaza; while in November 73, the Junta which had …
-
Chrysi Avgi: Attacks in Agios Panteleimon
04 Nov 2012
On the 31st of October, a barber on Achernon Street in the Agios Panteleimon area of Athens was attacked by one of his neighbours after a prior racist attack, reports vary as whether this was identified as a specifically chrysi avgi (Golden Dawn) action or general casual racism of the type …
-
Chrysi Avgi and the Police
03 Nov 2012
The attacks by Christi Avgi (Golden Dawn), on migrants occur every day. Every single day in Athens, there are violent attacks on migrants, many which require emergency treatment and hospitalisation, some which require ongoing treatment. There are also ongoing attacks on local shops and businesses, particularly those which are …
-
Running Risks and Risking Remonstrations
21 Oct 2012
As I have written before, Athens is like a city under occupation. People go about their ordinary everyday life, drinking coffee in cafes, walking the streets and doing all the ordinary, normal things, that ordinary, normal people do, while at the same time, police stop people in the streets demanding …
-
The Situation of the Migrants
14 Oct 2012
Greece has become an important entry point into Fortress Europe for many people fleeing the physical and economic violence that festers within their home countries, fuelled in many cases by the policies of the EU and its constituent members, yet the situation for migrants within Athens is dire with police …
-
Operation Sapphire: spectacularly missing the point
11 Oct 2012
Operation Sapphire, the specialist unit at the Met designed to cover up prosecute sexual offenses, has been dogged with controversy this year, since it emerged that officers were systematically covering up sex crimes and refusing to investigate, while sexual predators within the force have targetted vulnerable women who have approached …
-
Rape, Regret and Rosie Dodd
20 Sep 2012
Rape has been in the news of late recently quite a bit: genuine rape, real rape, legitimate rape, forced rape, rape of an unwilling victim, it would seem that every politician on both sides of the atlantic these days wants to make a public statement simultaneously telling people how terrible …
-
Fascism has returned to Europe
12 Aug 2012
On the 4th August, 1936, the Metaxis regime seized control of Greece. With the backing of the King, General Metaxis declared a state of emergency and instigated martial law. During the regime 15,000 people were gaoled, and torture was feature of imprisonment. On the 4th August, 2012 the Greek authorities …
-
Glasgow’s Ongoing Tradition of Protest
08 Aug 2012
Glasgow has a long tradition of struggle, probably the most notable among the cities that currently comprise the UK state. From the Act of Union in 1707, when people attacked the provost's home, after he refused to allow anti-Union messages to be read, stormed the council chambers and were stopped …
-
Cameron in Glasgow: Tactical Lessons
04 Aug 2012
This is a guest post written by one of the anti-Cameron protestors at the event on 31st July, who is unwilling to identify themselves fearing harassment. It has been published with minor formatting changes. Introduction For background to this event and other policing in Glasgow, see these two articles: ‘Cameron's …
-
Glasgow’s Total Policing
01 Aug 2012
After the debacle of the refugee demo earlier this month which generated a pile of complaints about the heavy handed and racist policing of a planned rally in support of refugees moved on so that a public square could be given over to fascists and has necessitated an internal inquiry, …
-
The Policing of Rape
30 Jun 2012
Anyone reading the Guardian's aricle today on the scale of sexual abuse by police officers may be given the impression that the policing of rape isn't very well done. On the contrary, rape is policed very well. We can't tolerate rape in this society - so we don't. We …
-
Athens: Policing
05 May 2012
Just as in the UK, in Athens there are different levels of police. Police that may be seen in UK include your ordinary copper, those dressed in protective clothing as may be seen at a high level demonstration, and riot police deployed in significant disturbances. Armed police in the form …
-
Athens: Visible Poverty; Visible Repression; Visible Resistance
30 Apr 2012
Having only arrived in Athens last night, I haven't had much of a chance to explore, but you don't have to go far to realise that this isn't your average European country. From the moment you step out at Syntagma Square station, the poverty can be seen. Homeless men with …
-
Greece: Teetering on a Precipice
13 Feb 2012
Last night, while hundreds of thousands took to the Athens streets in protest, the Greek parliament approved yet another austerity bill. No one has any illusions that these measures or the loan extensions granted the EU will grant on the back of them will have any positive effect on the …
-
The Honeytrap of the Worker Bees
22 Dec 2011
This week, the Guardian broke the news that eight women are planning to sue the Met over relationships that they had with undercover police officers. Over a course of 23 years from 1987 to 2010, men sent by the police to infiltrate protest groups have initiated sexual relationships with female …
-
Prisons, Policing & Privatisation
25 Oct 2011
In the aftermath of the UK Riots, questions were asked over the planned cuts to the police service, with Boris Johnstone speaking against the party line asking that the planned cuts were rethought, while the Government insisted that there would be no backing down. Cuts to the police service tend …
-
Policing & Justice in the Context of Uprisings
14 Aug 2011
The events of the weekend in London shows the level of anger present in local communities in the capital of the UK. Riots unseen since the early 1980s have raged for two days across a seven mile stretch of North London. This occurs in the context of uprisings across Europe, …