GREECE LIGHTNING

This is truly incredible. Courtesy of the ever-wonderful David Stein.

Hunger strike ends as Greek government caves
> Thursday, November 20 2008 @ 11:36 PM CST
> Contributed by: WorkerFreedom
>
> After 18 days 7,000 prisoners in greece stop their hunger strike after the
> ministry of justice concedes to a series of their demands, promising to
> release half the country's prison population by April 2009.
>
> On Thursday the 20th of November more than 7,000 hunger strikers in greek
> prisons demanding a comprehensive 45-point program of prison reform have
> decided to stop their hunger strike, already on its 18th day, after the
> Ministry of Justice responded to their struggle and to the widening
> solidarity movement which in the last weeks has held several mass protest
> marches in the greek cities by declaring that by next April the number of
> prisoners in greek jails will be reduced to 6.815 from the present 12.315,
> thus effectively releasing half of the country's prison population.
>
>
>
> The Ministry's declaration in detail states that:
>
> 1) All persons convicted to a sentence up to five years for any offense
> including drug related crimes can tranform their sentence into a monetary
> penalty. This will not be allowed in the case the jury decides that the
> payment is not enough to deter the convict from commiting punishable acts
> in the future.
> 2) The minimum sum for tranforming one day of prison sentence to monetary
> penanlty is reduced from 10 euros to 3, with the provision of being
> reduced to 1 euro by decision of the jury.
> 3) All people who have served 1/5 of their prison sentence for 2 year
> sentences and 1/3 for sentences longer than 2 years are to be released,
> with no exceptions.
> 4) The minimum limit of served sentence is reduced to 3/5 for conditional
> release and for convicts for drug related crimes. Those condemned under
> conditions of law Ν. 3459/2006 (articles 23 και
> 23Α) are excepmpted.
> 5) The maximum limit of pre-trial impironment is reduced from 18 to 12
> months, with the excemption of crimes puniched by liife or 20year
> sentence.
> 6) The annual time of days-off prison is increased by one day. Tougher
> conditions for days-off are limited for those convicted for drug related
> crimes under Ν. 3459/2006.
> 7) Disciplinary penalties are to be integrated.
> 8) Integration after 4 years into national law of the European Council
> decision of drug trafficking (2004/757).
> 9) Expansion of implementation of conditional release of convicts
> suffering from AIDS, kidney failure, persistent TB, and tetraplegics.
> What the Ministry failed to answer with regard to the prisoners' demands
> include:
> 1) Monetary exchange of prison sentences longer than 5 years, especially
> for 6.700 prisoners presently convicted for non-criminal offenses.
> 2) Abolition of juvenile prisons
> 3) Abolition of accumulative disciplinary penalties
> 4) Abolition of 18 months pre-trial imprisonment for a large number of
> offenses.
> 5) Satisfactory expansion of days off, despite the fact that the
> application of present liberties has been tested as succesfull during the
> last 18 years.
> 6) Immediate improvement of relocation conditions of convicts
> 7) Holding a meeting between the minister of justice and the prisoners'
> committee
>
> Thus in a press release, the Prisoners' Commitee announced that:
>
> "The amendment submitted to the Parliament by the Ministry of Justice
> tackles but a few of our demands. The minister ought to materialize his
> promises for the immediate release of the suggested number of prisoners
> announced, and at the same time implement concrete measures regarding the
> totality of our demands. We the prisoners treat this amendment as a first
> step, a result of our struggle and of the solidarity shown by society. Yet
> it fails to covers us, it fails to solve our problems. With our struggle,
> we have first of all fought for our dignity. And this dignity we cannot
> offer as a present to no minister, to no screw. We shall tolerate no
> arbitrary acts, no vengeful relocation, no terrorizing disciplinary act.
> We are standing and we shall stay standing. We demand form the Parliament
> to move towards a complete abolition of the limit of 4/5 of served
> sentence, the abolition of accumulated time for disciplinary penalties,
> and the expansion of beneficial arrangements regardi
> ng days-off, and conditional releases for all categories of prisoners.
> Moreover, we demand the immediate legislation on the presently vague
> promises of the minister of justice regarding the improvement of prison
> conditions (abolition of juvenile prisons, foundation of therapeutic
> centers for drug dependents, implementation of social labour in exchange
> for prison sentence, upgrading of hospital care of prisoners,
> incorporation of european legislation favorable to the prisoners in the
> greek law etc.). Finally, we offer our thanks to the solidarity movement,
> to every component, party, medium, and militant who stood by us with all
> and any means of his or her choice, and we declare that our struggle
> against these human refuse dumps and for the victory of all our demands
> continues".
> Prisoners' Committee 20/11/08.