Anti-anarchist pogrom launched by Socialists in Greece

On the early hours of Friday 9 of October, four days after the landslide victory of the Socialists in the greek national elections, and only a day after assuming power, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok) proved its intentions towards the social antagonistic movement that has swept the country since the December Uprising: brutal repression.

Almost one thousand cops of all corpses, riot police, motorised police, secret police and usual uniformed officers swept Exarcheia, the anarchist enclave of the greek capital, at 01.30 am. The mass invasion of the police-free area was orchestrated by the new Minister of Public Order (or as the Socialist newspeak has it Minister of Citizens' Protection) Mr Chrisohoidis, infamous for his unorthodox methods in capturing and interrogating members of the November 17 urban guerrilla group in the summer of 2002 - i.e. torture. On his side the genius of repression has as of yesterday Mr Vougias, a well-known ex extreme-leftist eager to share his knowledge of things revolutionary with the State.

During the invasion, which came only a day after the new PM, Mr Papandreou the 3rd, announced that his government is "antiauthoritarians in power", hundreds of people were stopped and harassed by cops who broke into 26 bars, camped in the liberated park of Navarinou street and generally portrayed a most avenging and brutal attitude towards anyone who just happens to be within the invisible boundaries of the radical area.
Reports claim that several young people were seriously beaten during the operations.

According to the press more than 60 people were detained during the pogrom. Mr Vougias announced that "anomy will be abolished" and connected the invasion with an attack launched the previous morning by more than a dozen activists against banks and a fascist bookshop in the centre of the city as an act of solidarity to the 3 boys arrested under the anti-terrorist law.