Greek protesters who peacefully blocked roads, forcing the country's president to flee a military parade last month have been hauled before judges in the northern port city of Thessaloniki. The district attorney has introduced video and photographic evidence gleaned from Facebook, Youtube and other social media sites to convince judges to press charges against 17 defendants.
If the case goes ahead then I have to seriously re-evaluate where and how I take photographs and video since I do not want to be the reason someone is sent to prison for exercising their right to peaceful protest. In addition the possibility that images posted on social media or news sites is now to be used to prosecute people means that those taking part are going to be loathed to have photographers around, making my job even more difficult.
Somehow I doubt if this kitchen is going to receive a Michelin star any time soon but in its way it is a small miracle, just a couple of months ago this was an just another empty room in a gutted building that used to be the Agios Pavlos (St Paul's) hospital in the centre of Greece's second largest city, Thessaloniki. As the country enters it's fifth year of recession and unemployment continues to rocket a growing number of people have been forced onto the streets. While no official figures exist for Thessaloniki, authorities in Athens report that 25,000 people there spend their nights sleeping rough.
However, amidst all the stories of suffering and despair a small group has turned a shell of a building into a viable living space, offering 28 people the chance to get off the streets. When I first entered the building, just days after activists had broken through the chained front doors ( see here www.flickr.com/photos/teacherdudebbq2/6233732675/ ) I thought that they were crazy to even contemplate turning the five story block into a place where people could live. Massive holes in the roof, dozens of missing or smashed windows, entire exterior wall missing meant that even in daytime the place was uncomfortably cold.
Yet, my pessimism has turned out to be misplaced and now where there had been gutted rooms, a kitchen and dinning area have been created, in the upper floors kids from the neighbourhood use the space for band practice and many of the rooms have been turned into dorm style rooms.
However, problems still remain as there have been conflicts between residents over the use of drugs and alcohol leading to at least one eviction. While I was there a window was being replaced after it had been smashed by angry drug user unhappy with fellow residents insistence that drugs had no place in their space.
Over the last week the world's media have been camped out in central Athens following the machinations of Greece's political caste as they vie for power and government positions. Papandreou remains, for the time being, prime minister having survived against the odds a vote of confidence on Friday, a feat that has both mystified observers both domestic and foreign. For the past three days the countries political leaders have been locked in negotiations over what form the so-called government of national unity will take. I thought I'd take the time to try and explain some of the major player involved and why creating a coalition seems to be causing so many problems for Greek politicians.
As we speak Greek prime minister and leader of nominally ( labels such as left and right have no firm meaning in a system that is predicted on gaining and keeping power) socialist PASOK party has agreed, at least in theory to come to an agreement with former room mate and leader of the nominally conservative New Democracy party.
The dilemma Samaras faces is that any co-operation with a figure as despised as Papandreou is disasterous for both New democracy's delicate internal political balance and any future electoral campaigning as his leadership of his party is beset with problems since groups who align themselves with former prime minister Konstandinos Karamanlis are waiting in the wings to mount a leadership challenge.
Also with so little room to manoeuvre New Democracy's claim that they could deal better with the pressure emanating from Berlin and Paris over the nature of austerity measures would be put to the test and most probably be found to be little more than a PR ploy.
On the other hand Giorgos Karatzefris, leader of the far right LAOS party could conceivably be roped into a coalition government,as the party previously voted with PASOK to pass the first round of austerity measures. Although Karatzaferis faces fewer internal challenges (the party, like so many others in Greek political history, is, in essence a vehicle for his personal political ambitions) than Samaras, previous co-operation with PASOK has serious damaged LAOS's claims to be the only true patriotic defenders of the Greek fatherland and cost them poll support.
At the other end of the political spectrum Fotis Kouvelis, the leader of the tiny Democratic Left party has been mooted as possible new leader, presumably resurrecting the policy favoured by medieval French baron in elevating the weakest and least able amongst them to kingship. But once again, any party seen siding with the government is likely to severely punished in the next elections.
The Greek communist party ( KKE) and the reformist socialist SYRIZA coalition party have made it perfectly clear that will not even contemplate taking party in any unity government believing that such a government simply legitimises the deeply unpopular public spending cuts and tax hikes being imposed by Greece's creditors. Instead communist leader Aleka Papariga has called for open defiance to austerity measures and communist affiliated unions are in the forefront of industrial action designed to fight cuts.
Similiarly, Alexis Tsipras's SYRIZA coalition has also rejected any possibility of working with Papandreou's government, instead promoting a campaign of protest and civil disobedience against the austerity package.
What's left is a hodge podge of independent MPs many of them former PASOK members who've been drummed out of the party for failing to follow the party line so chance are they will be less than willing to trust their former colleagues.
However, what last weeks' dramatic developments have shown is that very little is certain in Greek politics and that MP's statement concerning who and what they support are little more than negotiating ploys and cannot be taken at face value. The endless round of horse trading and ever changing political gamesmanship has left many Greeks even more disgusted than ever with the seemingly amoral behaviour of their representatives who seem to consider party political careers a far more worthy use of their time than trying to repair their credibility with voters.
The reality remains that whatever government is formed they will be faced with the same unpalatable choices that forced the prime minister to offer his resignation and the same angry, resentful citizens who believe that they are paying for greed and incompetence of the country's political and economic elites.
The Greek prime minsiter's decisionto hold both a vote of confidence in parliament and a national referendum on lastest austerity measures has taken the world's money markets by storm.
Even within Giorgos Papndreou's own PASOK party the decision has been met with mixed reactions. Whilst cabinet ministers have said they fully support the PM in this, backbenchers are rebelling with some saying they will vote against their own party if a referndum goes ahead, even calling for a government of "national salvation".
Opposition parties have been thrown into confusion by the referendum as well, The main opposition party, New Democracy has come out against it and is calling for elections. many smaller parties on the left are also against it, believing it a PR tactic to divert the public's attention from more important issues.
On the other hand the Greek public have thrown up their hands as far as the current political system is concerned. The nationwide protests and disruption of last Friday's national day parades made that clear to politicians who were booed and in some cases physically attacked by disgruntled voters.
The fact that polls show ever decreasing support for the two main political parties (figures for smaller parties have remained more or less static) shows that whatever the countries leaders may announce they are not in the position to say they speak for anything other than a small minority of the electorate. In such a situation the massive cuts in wages and public services and the prospect of a decades worth of painful austerity continue to have very little public support. Quite the opposite, Greeks across the political spectrum feel betrayed by their leaders and are in mood to go along with more of their follies.
The next crunch point will probably be Friday's vote of confidence which is likely to see the fall of Papandreou's as rebel PASOK MPs vote against their own party. The problem still remains who or what will take their place as no other party has a popular mandate to take over the reins of power and how do politicians campaign for re-election when voters would just as soon lynch them as give them their support?
On the other hand the annual 17th November anniversay of the fall of the Regime of the Colonels is just round the corner and this year a generation of Greeks raised on stories of heroic opposition to a hated regime will once again take to the streets across the country.
It's not often you get to see history made in front of your very eyes, however, that is exactly what I witnessed yesterday during the protests here in Thessaloniki that saw the cancellation of the city's annual military parade and forced the president of Greece to flee the area along with the country's defence minister.
To those unfamiliar with the institution, 28th October is a national holiday in Greece and every year towns and neighbourhoods organise parades to honour those who fell while fighting an Italian invasion in 1940. The celebration is known as No day after the refusal by Athens to allow Mussolini's army to enter Greek territory and is a day loaded with signifigance for many Greeks, akin to Remembrance Day in terms of the hold it has on the national consciousness so the fact that the parade was abandoned and those present refused to let the army march is an unprecedent event. It's almost as if bystanders flooded Whitehall during Remembrance Sunday and forced David Cameron and the rest of the cabinet to flee.
While over the last few years people have started to use 28th October events to air grievances the numbers have been small and many other Greeks have found such incidents an insult to the memory of the war dead. All that changed yesterday to surprise and amazement of most involved. For the country's political leadership it signalled the end of an era when they could command the loyalty (sometimes grudgingly given) of their electorate and showed them definitively that they are no longer welcome in any sphere of public life.
Also for those who organised protests the reaction of the crowds took them by surprise, none expected that ordinary people would react in this way and close down the parade, many of them wandered round with huge smiles on their faces looking somewhat dazed, like kids who've been told in June that Christmas Day has been moved up to today.
The police also were caught on the hop, unsure of how to deal with mass of people that included pensioners, small kids as well as political activists and unruly football fans. Despite being given orders to disperse the crowd by the minister of defence Panagiotis Beglitis, local commanders kept their response low key, realising the use of tear gas and percussion grenades (the usual police respone to mass unrest) could have catastrophic results in such a tense situation. Instead they allowed the protesters through police lines so they could continue their own people's parade that cheered on all non-military units that marched through.
There were some clashes when army reservists taking part in the military parade tried to force their way through leading to fist fights with protesting football fans who lashed back (see video below). Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed on both sides and no one was seriously injured.
When I got on the internet I saw that similiar protests were taking place across the country, even in small towns not noted for their radicalism, in most places the presence of politicians acted as trigger for people to boo, jeer and throw objects.In many cases mayors and MPs had to be hustled away under heavy police guard lest locals let their anger get the better of them.
On the other hand the mainstream Greek media was mixed in its response to the day's events, TV channels such as Skai, Mega and Star filled their screens with indignant politicians and commentators who accused those involved in the protests from being everything from fascist dupes to mindless hooligans.Yet even with this heavy handed orwellian spin doctoring the images that showed town after town demonstrating and the street of Thessaloniki teeming with protesters clashed with the official line which claimed that all of this was the work of a few hundred political malcontents.
It is a sign of how hunkered down the country's political leaders are that they have started believing their own propaganda about protesters being a small group of malavolent trouble makers being used by dark (and always unnamed political forces). On the other hand the sheer scale of the demonstrations has finally woken some up to the fact that that they are loathed and dispised by people from across the political spectrum.
For the more conservative elements Papandreou's acceptance of foreign oversight is nothing less than treason, for those on the left the government has failed to protect the poor and the vulnerable and is happily dismantling what passes for a welfare state in Greece. For nearly everyone the latest austerity measures have hit them hard coming as they do at a time of falling incomes, rising prices and skyrocketing unemployment.
The writing is on the wall for the current political system as it is incapable of producing a credible alternative to the present set up and in such a situation the vacuum that will be created by the fall of the government may lead to turmoil and conflict as groups united only in their common hatred of PASOK clash with each other.
In Athens , Thessaloniki and many other towns and cities acros Greece hundreds of thouands took part in anti - government demonstrations aimed at over turning the latest round of austerity measures which promise to finish off what is left of the economy.
Yesterday between 60 and 80,000 took part in massive anti-austerity protests ahead of a crucual parliamentary vote on laws that will push by employment legislation by decades and cut wages and pensions yet again.
There were extensive clashes between riot police and protesters towards the end of the march as it approached government buildings. Several molotov cocktails were thrown and police made use of tear gas and percussion grenades to break up demonstrations.
Every cloud has a silver lining, Ever since the government decided to go head to head with the country's rubbish collectors refuse has been piling up in the streets, providing rich picking for pensioners and other reduced to scavaging through dumpsters to survive. Yet another achievement that Greek prime minister, Giorgos Papandreou believes that the Greeks should take pride in.
For over 20 months Greece's second largest city has been threatening to close down town's only refugee reception centre. For 20 months the 15 families in residence have survived due to the efforts of local volunteer groups who have been paying for the centre's bills and the families food supply. The Greek ministry of health and the local Thessaloniki city council have refused to support the enterprise even though it was set up by them to deal with Greece's refugee crisis.
However, even that indifference as been replaced by active attempts by the local authorities to evict the familes with no thought given to the future of those people. With the Greek economy in dire straits and the .local police department stepping up harassment of immigrants those inside the reception centre face the prospect of being kicked out into the streets and then with no permanent address, deported.
The residents along with local supporters decided to stage a small protest march fromthe centre to the local ministry building, a move which threw thr riot squad protecting it into action. Immediately the central gates were closed and police took up position in case the eight year olds present made an attmept to topple the government. As a result negotiations between the officers in charge and representative who wanted to present their case to the local politicans had to be conducted through the bars ofthe padlocked gate.
For over 20 months Greece's second largest city has been threatening to close down town's only refugee reception centre. For 20 months the 15 families in residence have survived due to the efforts of local volunteer grouops who have been paying for the centre's bills and the families food supply. The Greek ministry of health and the local Thessalonikicity council have refused to support the enterprise even though it was set up by them to deal with Greece's refugee crisis.
However, even that indifference as been replaced by active attempts by the local authorities to evict the familes with no thought given to the future of those people. With the Greek economy in dire straits and the .local police department stepping up harassment of immigrants those inside the reception centre face the prospect of being kicked out into the streets.
The residents along with local supporters decided to stage a small protest march fromthe centre to the local ministry building, a move which threw thr riot squad protecting it into action. Immediately the central gates were closed and police took up position in case the eight year olds present made an attmept to topple the government. As a result negotiations between the officers in charge and representative who wanted to present their case to the local politicans had to be conducted through the bars ofthe padlocked gate.
Last month 10,000 police officer were on the streets in order to protect the Greek prime minister who addressed the nation during the opening of the annual Thessaloniki Trade Fair. While Giorgos Papandreou announced yet more austerity measures the riot police battled with demonstrators for hours once more turning a Greek city into a warzone.
Yet despite some of the most intense violence the city city has seen since the December 2008 riots which followed the murder of a 15 year old teenager by police in Athens the Greek media mainly ignored the scenes and instead concentrated on the prime minister's speech. Like the politicians they cover Greek journalists live in their own alternative universe where the major scandals go uncovered yet government press statments are repeated ad nauseum.
This used to be the central St Paul (Agios Pavlos) hospital in the centre of Thessaloniki, Closed down years ago it as recently been taken over by activits in order to give shelter to the city's growing number of homeless.
As more and more people are driven out of work and out of the country's health system the idea of a dead hospital is a pretty good allegory of the situtation in Greece.
Greek pensioner going through the garbage outside the central open air market in Thessaloniki looking for leftover baked goods.
Things have so bad here that many of my friends have stoppd listening to the news, they are sick of hearing about yet more job cuts and tax rises and the constant stream of hyperbole and hysteria that Greek media thinks passes for news.
