GOOD CHAP ON TRIAL

Simon Chapman, the British protester royally stictched up by Greek police after anti-EU protests in 2003, is about to once again appear in a Greek court as he appeals an eight year sentence for rioting and possessing explosives.

Simon was arrested along with six others following an immigration solidarity demo the day before the EU summit. Video and photo evidence showed how police put molotov cocktails in black bags then strapped them to him as he lay bleeding on the ground, after a police beating (see SchNEWS 413). After a 56-day hunger strike by the inmates and an international solidarity campaign brought Greece a wave of negative publicity at the blatant fit up, the seven were released later that year.

However, once the media storm had blown out, and with no sense of the shame in again ignoring the irrefutable evidence against their version of events, the Greek authorities revived the case and re-instated the charges. In 2008 Simon was sentenced to eight and a half years in his absence for rioting, and the construction, possession and use of explosives. Some of the others were either found not guilty, or guilty of lesser non-imprisonable charges, but some received 5 years.

The appeal against the convictions and ludicrously inflated sentences, which begins today (24th) will see Simon stand trial again alongside three other defendants.

* Contact email: thessalonikisolidarity@gmail.com