The 1929 stock market crash produced an economic crisis that put millions of people in financial straits. The economic collapse meant large-scale job loss, and consequently, misery for millions of families. The situation became the perfect storm for the rise of fascist movements, which came to power in Germany [en] and Italy, and whose sinister effects we all know well.

Plagued by one of the worst economic crises in recent history, fascist parties are once again on the rise in 21st-century Europe. Flourishing parties are preying on the social discontent felt within the quintessential welfare states as citizens are being striped of rights that took generations to win. As stated in the European Antifascist Manifesto [en]:

Extreme right protesters in Spain. Photo taken from Xavier Casals’ blog [es].

By exploiting the fears of the well to do of the risks of a social explosion, the radicalization of middle classes destroyed by the crisis and sweeping austerity measures as well as the despair of marginalized and impoverished unemployed people, extreme right and most of all neo-Nazi and neo-fascist forces are growing everywhere in Europe. They are gaining mass influence in the poorer layers of society turning this influence systematically against traditional and newer scapegoats (immigrants, Muslims, Jews, LGBT, disabled people,…) as well as against left wing organizations and trade unions.

Extreme right political parties have been gradually appearing across Europe in recent years. Belgium's Vlaams Blok, created in the 1970s and previously outlawed, has recently resurfaced as Vlams Belang. France's National Front, founded in 1972, has emerged as the country's most viable third party option in recent presidential elections. In Norway, the Progress Party received more than 22% of the vote in the 2009 elections. Anders Breivik, convicted of the Utoya Island attacks, spent several years climbing the Party's ranks.

In Switzerland, the Swiss People's Party pulled 29% of the votes in the 2007 elections. When the Austrian Freedom Party entered the country's government in 1999, European Union (EU) member states were forced to file sanctions against its neighboring alpine republic. Similar examples can be found in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Holland, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria and Greece, all of which have extreme right parties that hold parliamentary representation.

The percentage of parliamentary representation held by extreme right groups throughout Europe, 2012 (by percentage of votes). Image from Ignacio Martín Granados’ blog.

In other countries, like Spain, such parties have not succeeded in entering the lower houses of government, but they have made their way into other institutions. In the last municipal elections, the Catalonia Platform Party (PxC) secured 67 spots in varying munincipalities within Catalonia. The following video, posted by alpujarradelasierra on YouTube, is from PxC's recent campaign and unequivacally expresses their political stances:

The aforementioned political parties share similar ideological premises. All are profoundly Eurosceptic, hostile towards immigrants and minorities, and purport doctrines of racism and radical nationalism, to name a few. They also support populist rhetoric, proposing simple solutions- which are only simple in appearance- and are often contrary to human rights.

Arguably the most well known Eurosceptic party is the UK Independence Party, UKIP, who according to the blog Territorio Europa [es]- amongst others- promotes the following:

• Withdrawal from the EU and regulate the movement of people and workers.
• Terminate the open border policy and re-establish visa regulated entrances (Europeans to be included).
• Repeal the country's Human Rights Act adopted in 1998 and withdrawal membership to the European Convention on Human Rights
• Dismiss the ability of a UK citizen to appeal to a European or International court in defense of one's rights.

The mass influx of immigrants during the economic boom, which has worsened current employment figures, has spurred ultraright parties’ racism and xenophobia largely directed towards the Muslim community. They have used the emergence of radical Islam in Europe- perceived by many Europeans as a threat to western values- to incite hate and win votes. The blog Territoires de la Memoire [fr] summarizes some of Vlaams Belang's stances:

Anti-Islam protest in front of the European Parliament building in Brussels. Photo from the blog Nueva Europa – Nueva Eurabia [New Europe - New Eurabia]

 […] refuser de reconnaître l’islam comme une religion: «[...] L’islam n’est pas une religion comme le catholicisme, le judaïsme ou l’hindouisme, c’est une religion-droit-culture-civilisation, intrinsèquement ‘intégriste’ [...] ». L’islam est aussi systématiquement infériorisé: c’est «[...] une religion rétrograde [...] », «qui maintien les femmes musulmanes sous un statut de quasi-esclavage », avec des «[...] mentalités aussi primitives que barbares [...]», et des adeptes «[...] fanatiques ignorants et barbares [...] ».

(…) they refuse to recognize Islam as a religion: «(…) Islam isn't a religion like Catholicism, Judaism, or Hinduism, it is a religion-law-culture-civilization that is intrinsically fundamentalist (…)». Islam is also systematically belittling: it is «a retrograde religion (…)», «that keeps Muslim women at a nearly slave-like status» with «(…) mentalities as primitive as they are barbaric (…)» and followers that are «(…) ignorant and barbarian fanatics (…)».

Minorities are also subject to the affronts of these ultraright groups. The Hungarian party Jobbik that made lists of “dangerous” Jews in the country, the animosity showed to Roma by the National Front [fr] in France and the Attack Party in Bulgaria are prime examples of these groups’ ideologies.

Greece's Golden Dawn party is but another example as its activists have been the culprits in a number of recent attacks on migrants workers and whose spokesperson left little doubt on the group's ideological beliefs after attacking two female politicians in a televised debate which was posted to the RussiaToday YouTube channel:

Written by Lourdes Sada · Translated by Anna Williams · View original post [es] · comments (7)
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Supervisors shot and injured dozens of undocumented migrant workers from Bangladesh in the strawberry farms of southwestern Nea Manolada for demanding months of owed wages, the latest incident in a country where antipathy toward immigrants is on the rise.

The horrific show of violence on April 17, 2013 sparked uproar throughout Greece, prompting netizens to launch a boycott of the “blood” strawberries that originate at the scene of the crime.

Following national and international outcry, Greek police arrested three suspects in connection with the shooting, and charged them with attempted murder on April 19, 2013. The country's citizen protection minister promised that none of the victims would be deported from Greece, and the ministry announced that it is considering granting them residency permits on humanitarian grounds.

This grainy mobile phone video, posted on YouTube by Kathimerini journalist Kostas Onisenko, shows the injured migrant workers laying on the ground a few minutes after they were shot:

Racism and ethnic nationalism on the rise in the economically devastated country, with extremists, such as the neo-Nazi “Golden Dawn” party, thriving on racist rhetoric, systematic violations of human rights, and the ill-treatment of immigrants.

Just three days before the Manolada incident, Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Dendias, as well as Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, were criticized in a report issued by the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights for rhetoric stigmatising migrant. Dedalos (@dedalos_gl) commented on Twitter:

@dedalos_gl: What was the greek government's answer to the late report for the human rights in greece #Manolada? #Dendias_resignation

Initially, mainstream TV channels barely — if at all — mentioned events in Manolada. It was Twitter users from Greece and those responding from abroad that drew public attention to the incident, as Craig Wherlock (@teacherdude) pointed out:

@teacherdude: Greek TV news shamed into covering #Manolada shooting. This afternoon, it was 6th item on NET and not reported at all on Star. See my TL

As news of the shooting spread, Twitter erupted in shock and outrage. User @MavriMelani shared a photograph of the wounded workers:

@MavriMelani: Φωτογραφια με τραυματισμενους μεταναστες μετα τη δολοφονικη επιθεση που δέχθηκαν#Manolada

Giorgio (@Zorzinio) commented on the violent scene in the photograph, referencing the bombings that killed three and injured hundreds in Boston that same day:

@Zorzinio: Οταν είδα την φωτο νόμιζα ότι ήταν απο Βοστώνη!! #Manolada #rbnews

Cyberella (@Cyberela) invoked the American far-right white supremacist group the Klu Klux Klan:

@Cyberela: Reviving the KKK at #manolada. Migrants being shot because they demanded their 6 months owed fees. #bloodstrawberries

Questioning how something so terrible could happen, Katerina Kanelidou (@KatKanelidou) wrote:

@KatKanelidou: How do we allow such things to happen? Do we still call ourselves ‘civilized'? #manolada #Greece

Harris (@hchrono) saw the tragedy as a step backwards for Greece:

@hchrono: Slavery and barbarity. Greece welcomes the Middle Ages #manolada

Combining the titles of the famous song by The Beatles and a film about the Cambodian genocide, Bilibidon (@bilibidon) quipped:

@bilibidon: Strawberry Killing Fields Forever… #manolada

Graphic urging a boycott of Manolada, tweeted by @giannisg_

Citizen media boycott

A citizen media campaign [el] was launched to urge consumers and businesses worldwide to boycott the #bloodstrawberries, as protesters are calling them, from the Nea Manolada farm:

@moumouris: #greece #manolada field workers are paid with bullets. don't buy #bloodstrawberries

@IrateGreek: My mum was at the fruit stand in the supermarket. An old man behind her whispered: “Don't buy strawberries.” #manolada #bloodstrawberries

@alepouda: 2 supermarkets in #greece are banning #bloodstrawberries of #manolada after emails send by people http://goo.gl/ax96L #boycott

@myScarletCarpet: Do you like strawberries? What about #BloodStrawberries? http://scarletcarpet.blogspot.com/2013/04/too-many-strawberries-will-kill-you.html …

International response to the campaign prompted an official reaction from the EU Home Affairs Commissioner on Twitter:

@MalmstromEU: Shocking news about shooting of migrant workers in Greece. I expect full investigation by the Greek authorities/CM bbc.co.uk/news/world-eur…

“My little sister is boycotting #bloodstrawberries”. Photo tweeted by Maria Sidiropoulou

A form of modern slavery

Although the severity of the incident is unprecedented, it's not isolated. Efforts have been made in the past to draw the attention of authorities to this form of modern slavery, such as a 2008 investigative report by journalists Dina Daskalopoulou and Makis Nodaros for which an English translation is available here.

There have been similar incidents before in the same area, with scant coverage in mainstream media, as the writer and activist collective The Multicultural Politic wrote:

[...] Activists from Greek Communist Party [initiated] a campaign in 2008 for a daily wage increase from 22 Euros to 25. The workers and campaigners were met with a violent confrontation in which many workers were beaten suffering serious injury. [..] Further investigations by journalists revealed how local municipal officials were selling fake documentation to migrant workers, and police prosecutions meant that employers in the town became very hostile to “Athenian” journalists which might partly explain the limited information that has been reported about the most recent violence.

In August 2012, an Egyptian worker was dragged with a car through the streets of Nea Manolada town, but the incident didn't trigger a closer look at the working and living conditions of farm workers in the area by authorities. One of three foremen awaiting trial for the latest shooting was the suspected perpetrator of the car dragging.

Journalist Yannis Baboulias explained the reasons for the continuing impunity:

The farmers of Manolada, praised many a times for their entrepreneurial spirit from government and media alike, have enjoyed this impunity for years. Nodaros’ report speaks of shacks in which the workers are forced to live and pay rent for to their bosses, illegal supermarkets among them selling expired products at two and three times their price, and a shocking tolerance from the authorities who have done nothing to stop this despite the 150 plus cases on file against them.

@Cyberela: In conclusion it seems that #Greece‘s officials knew about the conditions & celebrated @ European forums the “red gold” innovation #Manolada

At the time of writing this article, a dedicated blog has been set up to promote the boycott call in seven languages [en, de, es, fr, it, pl, pt], and cancellations for standing orders of strawberries from Nea Manolada are continuing.

The incident was storified by journalist Nikos Moumouris and by GV author Asteris Masouras, who contributed to this report, while BeatriceDeDante collected the imagery of the incident.

This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.

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Stories of despair were transmitted through Twitter, when politicians, journalists and anti-racism activists visited a detention facility within the Drapetsona police station in Piraeus city, where more than 100 unauthorized migrants are living in cramped, dark and deplorable conditions.

One detainee said he hadn't seen the sun for months. Another had attempted suicide.

I was part of the group that visited the detention facility outside capital city Athens on April 6, 2013. In this post, I describe the conditions of the migrants through my tweets and include testimonies from other people who also visited the facility or #GreekGuantanamo, as it was referred to on Twitter.

Protest against inhuman immigrant detention conditions in Drapetsona. Photo by author

More than 60,000 migrants have been detained in police stations ever since sweep operations, under the name of “Xenios Zeus” (ironically, the name of the Greek god of hospitality) were initiated in August 2012. Only 4,000 have been formally arrested.

Since the 1990s, Greece has become a popular entry and transit point into the EU, for hundreds of thousands of unauthorized immigrants from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

Anti-immigration, fascist groups, including the neo-Nazi “Golden Dawn” party, have increasingly become vocal in a country with a weakened economy and few jobs. According to some statistics, illegal immigrants currently make up 10% of the Greek population.

For the second time in two months, a delegation visited this particular police station to record the conditions under which unauthorized migrants that fail to meet Greece's legal living  requirements are forced to endure.

Most members of the visiting delegation were motivated by a detailed letter [el] from George Karystinos, a member of the Antifascist Front of Piraeus, who was a part of the first delegation that visited the police station and witnessed the conditions there. What he described was utterly shocking. About 100 migrants were detained in a 70 meter-square space, some of them for more than 9 months.

Some migrants were on hunger strike after a fellow 28-year-old Palestinian detainee, had tried to commit suicide because of the conditions there, and they were allegedly beaten by police officers to end their strike.

During the first visit, one of the detainees started injuring himself in front of the committee as a way to show his despair. George Karystinos writes [el]:

The police department commander announced that the detainee who injured himself, as well as the Palestinian who had tried to commit suicide, would be set free. What was his message? You will have to attempt suicide in order to be released, and if you get lucky, you'll survive in a hospital.

Recent photo from the Drapetsona precinct detention. No windows, no outdoors. Photo posted by @eleniamorgos on Twitter

Our visit coincided with a protest outside the facility. Twitter users present at the protest reported the extensive presence of police forces outside the police station [el]:

@Cyberela: Εχουν κλείσει τα ρολά του ΑΤ. 3 σειρές απο ματ. #greekGuantanamo

I was also outside the police station, about to enter as a member of the committee, and tried to report what was happening on Twitter through my account @WonderMaS:

@WonderMaS: Outside the police station of Drapetsona with the Antifascist Front of Piraeus, Amnesty International, and two members of Parliament, Dritsas and Lafazanis who are just coming out of the police station.

After MP Dritsas, of the Syriza party negotiated the number of people that would be allowed inside, with the precinct commander, we entered and I tweeted:

@WonderMaS: Just came out of police station in Drapetsona, Pireaus. Immigrants there living like animals, eating twice a day, first meal at 16.00 #rbnews

@WonderMaS: One immigrant told me he hasn't seen the sun for months #rbnews

A member of the Antifascist Front of Piraeus tweeted [el]:

@eleniamorgos: Δεν σταματάει η κράτησή τους όταν περάσει ο νόμιμος χρονος, λόγω γραφειοκρατίας του αλλοδαπών

@eleniamorgos: 2. Δεν παρέχεται ιατρική περίθαλψη όταν νοσούν ή κάνουν απεργία πείνας

The precinct chief also made clear that they are trying their best to improve holding conditions, with little or no help from the Ministry. Teseris told us that he has to bring medicine from home to cover the department's deficiencies.

@WonderMaS: commander of police dept, Teseris says this isnt a proper place to detain ppl for months, only for 2-3 days detentions #rbnews

Some of the detainees told me there are no proper health facilities, and sometimes they don't have soap. Others told me that not all police officers are civil to them, even though they don't beat them. Most of them don't have any lawyers or contacts outside, and the ones that do have legal help, told me there hasn't been any progress in their situation.

The majority seemed desperate, and were looking at me as if I were their only hope.

As I tried to have a look inside their cells, I noticed some washing hanging from clotheslines. With all their inconvenient conditions, they still try to keep their prison proper, a fact which only reminded me that these people are coming from homes and families that taught them how to be civilized and cherish dignity. For some maybe their quest for dignity, brought them to these living conditions.

Their attendant psychologist was firm on the desperation these detainees were experiencing:

Abatzidi Dionusia is a psychologist at Drapetsona police dep, said those ppl are desperate

Some of the detainees told the delegates that there was no physical violence; this time, at least, as an activist pointed out [el]:

@Cyberela: Το ότι δεν διαπιστώθηκαν ξυλοδαρμοί στους κρατούμενους στη σημερινή επίσκεψη δεν σημαίνει ότι ξαχάσαμε τους προηγούμενους. #greekGuantanamo

One of the detainees also told us that since the first protest and outside visit, some things had changed, “they fixed our lights, the lamps had been off for days”. Other visitors concurred:

@Cyberela: Δριτσας: οι κινητοποιήσεις έχουν βοηθήσει την κατάσταση των συνθηκών. Οι χώροι αυτοί είναι για κράτηση το πολυ 48ωρου #greekGuantanamo

A few days after the visit, Mr. Dritsas announced [el] a parliamentary inquiry, demanding from the Citizen Protection Minister to call off the “Xenios Zeus” program of immigrant sweeps, that clearly results in a series of human rights violations.

Photographer Stefanos Koufopoulos published a photoset of the Drapetsona protest on the Dromografos blog. Global Voices author Asteris Masouras collaborated in editing this report and curated resources on Storify.

This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.

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@northaura: #xa_advertising is about a twitter movement protest by email in #Greece to push advertisers off ever again supporting pro-neonazi TV shows.

Blogger @ypopto_mousi started a campaign to inform the sponsors [el] of a highly controversial SKAI TV panel featuring four neonazi Golden Dawn MPs, that they are sponsoring hate speech. The blogger is urging netizens to email advertising companies, providing sample emails [el] and addresses of advertising companies, while blogging [el] and posting regular updates on Twitter on the campaign's results under the hashtag #xa_advertising.

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@potmos: Fast and accurate info posted on Athens #Indymedia led to life sentence for cop who murdered 15yo Alex. Grigoropoulos in 2008.

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This year, the Festival's poster and trailer feature a sheep whose blindfold is pulled from over its eyes by the deluge of images from a society in crisis:

Two of those documentaries to be screened this year, “Greedy Profit” by “Yannis Karypidis”, and “Cassandra's Treasure“, by Yorgos Avgeropoulos, focus on the conflict surrounding gold mining in the forest of Skouries in Chalkidiki, and how it affects local communities. Karypidis and Avgeropoulos have collaborated in the past, to produce an award-winning chronicle of the first successful breaching of the naval blockade around Gaza.

Stelios Kouloglou's “Holocaust of memory” traces the enigma around the virulent resurgence of Nazi ideology in a country, like Greece, that suffered so much at the hands of Nazis during World War II.

Not all crisis-themed films are downbeat. “Hardships and Beauties” tells the story of a modern-day Greek cowboy, an empirical philosopher and the owner of one of the biggest farms in south-western Greece, whose road trip into the heartland of Greece becomes a symbolic trip into a country that will never be the same again:

Living in Interesting Times follows four charming people living in a sunny but gloomy Athens. They are confronted by the harsh reality of the crisis; they have to fight for what is their due; they have to come to terms with absurdity

A web cottage industry?

Inside and outside the festival distribution track, documentary film-making in and about Greece in crisis is undergoing a boom, as affordable high definition cameras are becoming ubiquitous, and web-savvy young creatives and journalists -many of them returned from studies abroad- are putting their talents to use, chronicling the plight of their country and its’ people.

The trend started with “Debtocracy“ and “Catastroika“, two web-published, Creative Commons-licensed, crowdfunded documentaries by journalists Aris Hadjistefanou and Katerina Kitidi, which attempted to chart the historical mutation of capitalism into the voracious debt “virus” attacking societies and countries today.

Last year, a group of 14 young photographers pieced together “The Prism“, a compelling, multi-hued, and competently filmed narrative of 27 multimedia stories, which they produced into a 63′ feature film called Krisis.

This year, several independent, web-based, documentary projects have emerged to fill the gap left by shrinking mainstream media coverage of the crisis’ effects on Greek society.

“Debt Management” is a 42′ documentary in English by a group of young artists and scientists, living in Thessaloniki and collaborating for the creation of alternative documentaries, that explores this “symbolic war between people's determination to preserve common values, human conditions, rights and needs, versus an Orwellian financial world”:

The City at a Time of Crisis [..] is a research project that seeks to trace and research the effects of the ongoing financial crisis on urban public spaces in Athens, Greece.  It will comprise a holistic, cross-disciplinary study of changing notions of the ‘public', with urban public spaces as its main research subject extending into areas related to ‘public interest’, ‘public security’, ‘public provision’ and the ‘public good’

Into the Fire [..] is an investigative documentary looking at the situation of refugees and migrants in Greece, in the face of severe austerity measures and rising racism. We spoke with refugees, asylum seekers, immigrants and undocumented in Greece, to try and get an idea of the state of the asylum procedure in this European border country and what it is like to live in constant fear of being attacked – for having the wrong skin colour.

Portraits of Greece in Crisis is an ongoing project of multimedia stories, of people and constitutions that have been significantly affected by the crisis. It is an attempt to approach the greek crisis, as it is depicted in each portrait.

2 artists on a journey all around Greece aim to highlight the personal stories of the people of the land, and focus on the richness of human testimony. The Caravan project will compose a mosaic of images, narratives and documentaries, in order to emphasize a different way of life than the one systematically promoted by the media, and to shed light on a land that continues to create, dream, and proclaim that “Another World Is Here”!

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Martenitsas on a blossoming tree.
Source: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Μάρτης [el], мартеница [bg], мартинка [mk], mărțișor [ru]…however you call it, an ancient tradition [el] with multiple variations that takes place in the Balkans. So, weave your red-and-white threads for protection against the “evil eye” or to welcome Spring!

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@andriotakis: Στο τρέιλερ του #followme οι @jeffjarvis @evgenymorozov @drandakis @vatraxokoritso @Urfurslaag @constantnos @asteris http://youtu.be/5OD_9oZXlH8 

Videographer and author Manolis Andriotakis namechecks Greek tweeps and acclaimed critics he interviewed for his documentary on Twitter, prior to its’ screening at the 15th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.

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“This is the difference…So simple…”.
Photo via Facebook timeline.

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The surrounding forest, which will be destroyed as per 0.4% (according to the company's research), is one of the rarest European primordial forests; moreover there is likely to be significant danger to the health of nearby residents. The company's environmental impact report is deficient [el], according to Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Megali Panagia village, view from Kakkavos Mountain. Photo by author Andreas Kakaris

Financial scandal

The mining rights purchase was orchestrated with the assistance of Greek politicians, some of whom have recently been involved in corruption scandals. Among them are Christos Pachtas [el], the former Deputy Minister of National Economy and now the Mayor of Aristotelis Municipality, and George Papakonstantinou, the former Minister of Finance and Minister of Environment. Greek media magnate George Bobolas also played a key role through his construction company, AKTOR.

Journalist Fotis Kollias summarizes the history of the scandal on his blog in 2011 [el]:

Μια εταιρεία με κυριότερο περιουσιακό στοιχείο τα μεταλλεία Κασσάνδρας, που τα είχε αγοράσει μόλις 11 εκατ. ευρώ παραμονές των εκλογών του 2004 επί Κ. Σημίτη, αποτιμήθηκε 1,8 δισ. ευρώ. [..] Παραχωρήθηκαν έναντι πινακίου φακής στην «Ελληνικός Χρυσός», η οποία μάλιστα απαλλάχθηκε από την υποχρέωση καταβολής φόρου μεταβίβασης

With Kassandra Mines as its main asset, purchased for 11 million euros on the eve of the 2004 national elections under PM Costas Simitis, the company [AKTOR] was valued at 1.8 billion euros. [...] Kassandra Mines were bestowed for a mess of pottage to Hellenic Gold, which was even relieved of transfer tax payment

Even the European Union was embroiled in the controversy. As reported by Mr. Toskas, member of the Struggle Committees Against the Mines, in a documentary by Greek journalist Giorgos Avgeropoulos [el]:

Και όταν η Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση ζήτησε να επιστρέψει η «Ελληνικός Χρυσός» 15,5 εκατομμύρια ευρώ στο ελληνικό δημόσιο, ο τότε Υπουργός Περιβάλλοντος, ο κύριος Παπακωνσταντίνου, προσέφυγε στο Ευρωπαϊκό Δικαστήριο, για να μην πληρώσουν οι ιδιώτες τα 15,5 εκατομμύρια στο κράτος

When the European Union asked Hellenic Gold to return 15.5 million euros to the Greek state, Mr. Papakonstantinou, then the Minister of Environment, appealed to the European Court, so that the private entities involved wouldn't have to pay the 15.5 million to the state

Recently, Hellenic Gold has increased mining activity due to a price hike for the precious mineral, and the resistance by local residents has grown even stronger. The case has grown big nationally and public opinion sides with locals. The same is true in the Greek twittersphere under the hashtag #skouries.

Here are some examples [el]:

@leonidas108: Οι Σκουριές είναι κλασική περίπτωση έμμεσης και παράνομης χρηματοδότησης πολιτικών κομμάτων και προσώπων #skouries

@leonidas108: Skouries is the classical case of indirect and illegal funding of political parties and figures #skouries

@ypopto_mousi: Μην εξοργίζεστε. Η λάσπη και τα “ρεπορταζ” για τις #skouries είναι μέρος αμυντικής στρατηγικής.Τώρα ακολουθούν την ατζέντα δεν την φτιάχνουν.

@ypopto_mousi: Don't become exasperated. Mudslinging and the “reports” on #skouries are part of a defensive strategy. Now, they follow the agenda, they don't make it.

@kkostaskk: Από αυτό το εργοτάξιο ζουν 1200 οικογένειες στη Χαλκιδική. Από αυτό το εργοτάξιο πεθαίνουν όλες οι οικογένειες στη Χαλκιδική. #skouries

@kkostaskk: 1200 families in Chalkidiki live because of the [work in the] mining site. All families in Chalkidiki die because of the mining site. #skouries

@MalliarMargar: Για να καταλάβουμε τι γίνεται,γύρω από τις σκουριές αν πεις ότι είσαι οικολόγος θεωρείται κάτι ανάλογο του παιδεραστή #skouries #propaganda

@MalliarMargar: In order to understand what's going on, if someone declares himself an ecologist while on Skouries area, he is considered something like a pedophile #skouries #propaganda

Arson at the mines

Tensions culminated on Saturday, February 17, when a group of 40 masked people attacked the Skouries gold mine site with molotov cocktails, damaging machinery, containers and vehicles. According to the police, the culprits had left the scene by the time they arrived.

The following videos, leaked by security guards to the media, show what happened.

The videos were edited by the news portal Enikos.gr.

Greek mainstream media reported that unknown people doused security guards in petrol, but this hasn't been confirmed. On the contrary, Polygyros Hospital, where the guards were transferred, said they had only seen abrasions and superficial wounds. But the company didn't only suffer these damages. Its sharemarket value plunged the very same day, as cited by @northaura via the following chart:

Eldorado Gold (principal inv. company at #skouries gold-mine, N. #Greece) down 6% today = 400mil $ Graph:pic.twitter.com/NC64z72L #rbnews

The day after the arson attack, police detained 27 people who were later released. The detentions continued in the following days as well; several local residents were detained singly or in pairs and were subjected to a DNA test. As @freenet eloquently says:

Στις Σκουριές τις τελευταίες μέρες εξελίσσεται εκτεταμένη επιχείρηση συλλογής και φακελώματος DNA κατοίκων #skouries

In Skouries, an extensive operation of residents’ DNA collection and profiling has been taking place during the last days  #skouries

These police tactics have earned intense criticism by citizens and legal experts as a flagrant violation of human rights. Taking DNA samples is not legal without charges. According to the Hellenic Mining Watch blog, which plays a key role in activism and updates on the case, the situation is spinning out of control [el].

@IrateGreek summarizes some typical reports:

#Greece Detainees “disappear” in Halkidiki ie are taken to police in Polygyros & friends/relatives/lawyers can't get info #rbnews #Skouries

Also by @Inflamatory_:

Police cars reportedly outside the cafe where a meeting is held by citizens/groups against gold mining in #skouries @antigoldgreece#rbnews

While @potmos reports that [el]:

Δικηγόροι ενημερώνουν τον κόσμο για τα δικαιώματά τους στο Συντονιστικό στην Ιερισσό. Περιπολίες και προσαγωγές στο χωριό. #skouries #rbnews

Lawyers inform citizens of their rights at Ierissos coordination point. Patrols and detentions in the village. #skouries #rbnews

In an interview in Thessaloniki [el] on Friday, February 22, seven lawyers talked of the “constitutional aberration” in Skouries, referring to the incidents of the previous week.

Independent online news

Proto Thema newspaper headline: “The Gold Nuclei”, Sunday 24.2.2013. Headline insinuates ties with radical anarchist organization “Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei“

While all this happened in Chalkidiki, numerous mainstream Greek media followed a special defensive line in favor of the company. This came as no surprise since Hellenic Gold spends big money on media advertising for positive publicity on its investment. A chief example is a publication by popular newspaper Proto Thema (First Issue), which correlates the actions in Chalkidiki with terrorism.

The residents didn't give up. On Sunday, a peaceful demonstration against the gold mines took place in Megali Panagia, one of the closest villages near Kakkavos Mountain, organized by thousands of local residents, groups, and parties supporting the villagers’ struggle.

The demonstration had the form of a press conference open to anyone interested and succeeded in attendance and dissemination of residents’ message to the public. Unprecedented, though, were the measures taken by Greek Police, sending hundreds of police officers for fear of violent incidents. Police officers kept their distance from the protesters and were reportedly checking license plates. The speakers described the events, the unprecedented security measures and also the course of their litigation with the company. The last to speak were two women who were among the 40 detained [to date], one of whom described her shocking experience [el]:

Η αστυνομία μπαίνει στα σπίτια μας με επιθετική διάθεση και χωρίς κανένα σεβασμό. Προχτές μπήκε ο εισαγγελέας για την προσαγωγή μου με αποτέλεσμα να σοκαριστεί το παιδί μου.

Police entered our houses aggresively and with no respect. The day before yesterday, the prosecutor came in for my detention; as a result my child was scared.

Thousands of residents in a demonstration at Megali Panagia village, 24.2.2013. Photo by author Andreas Kakaris

Citizen journalists were also at the demonstration, which they covered by all means possible, multilingually and with objectivity, taking the place of the traditional media who were conspicuous by their absence. As Professor of Political Economy Nikos Smyrnaios remarked in a his research on coverage of the case on Twitter [el]:

communities formed in Twitter are able to operate autonomously across the news spectrum, from the production of primary news update till fact-checking and news dissemination without any journalist's participation.

All speeches appear in the following video, edited and uploaded by iosifsk on his Youtube channel:

Tension continues to reign in the area. Given the severity of the situation, we will return to the case, should more news emerge.

Spanish group Todos somos griegos (We are all Greeks) made a Storify collection of Greek and other multilingual tweets about the recent events in Skouries. Global Voices author Asteris Masouras also made a Storify collection of these troubled two days’ tweets and contributed to the creation of this article.

Written by Andreas Kakaris · Translated by Veroniki Krikoni · View original post [el] · comments (7)
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Anti-fascist protesters: “Proud of the past that actually happened.” Photo by V. Dzambaski (CC NC-SA)

In December 2012, the veterans’ organization [mk] was thrown out of their premises through a controversial court order, with the help from an out-of-town security agency [mk], after a local one failed [mk] to deal with the old fighters.

The city government tried to stop the February 16 protest [mk] by denying permission to use the public square. They claimed other events were scheduled in the area at the designated time, but refused to specify. The protesters decided to march anyway, continuing the tradition of the original February march, commenced against the will of the then-authorities.

Keeping the memories alive. Photo by V. Dzambaski (CC NC-SA)

On the day of the protest, it was the only event there. Instead of covering the protest, the major pro-government media, such as SITEL TV, propagated the government's communiqué [mk] that announced their respect for the heritage of the World War II.

Media expert Roberto Belicanec wrote [mk; Wikipedia links added]:

1. No news whatsoever about what happened on the square.

2. The image of the monument to Čento, instead of the images of the event. Čento, because he is selected by the ruling party to demonstrate some meager connection to National Liberation War. Čento – abused for ideological whitewash of NLW, because he was not a communist, but participated in the [communist-led] movement.

3. A government spokesman in fact explained that “we witness that we have invested in creation of cultural heritage, to mark this important period of our history, including building of monuments such as to Metodija Andonov Čento, to the participants of ASNOM, and others.” Besides the oxymoronic aspect of “creating cultural heritage,” this phrase also reveals ideological operation of reshaping history and erasing all that does not fit within their worldview. And again, Čento, of course. His murder was not enough, now every opportunity is used for his symbolical killings. Furthermore, the ASNOM monument in the memorial park dedicated to the Women Fighters, a place massacred with new monuments, its original function devastated, was erected only as a counterweight for the monument of the historical VMRO, in order to arrogantly present the current political party with the same name as a continuity of the Macedonian struggle. If they could, they would have circumvented ASNOM too.

4. In the end – “The Government of the Republic of Macedonia,” underscored Gjorgjiev, “has no participation nor contact within the framework of the court case led by the Veterans’ Association with another veterans’ association.” One more frame – rule of law in the form of “I act dumb, and you act as if you believe me.”

According to the latest U.S. State Department report on Human Rights Practices, the most important human rights problem in Macedonia “was the government’s failure to fully respect the rule of law, which was reflected in its interference in the judiciary and the media, selective prosecution of political opponents of the country’s leaders, and significant levels of government corruption and police impunity.”

A view of the protest from the stage, with aged veterans in the front row. Photo by V. Dzambaski (CC NC-SA)

Photo galleries of the February March 2013 were also published by Okno and A1on [mk].

Written by Filip Stojanovski · comments (1)
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