Another day is passing by. In Pagani, the same proscedure as avery day. People inside are waitng, waiting for their release and to continue their lifes.
While cloth donation were distributed, everybody became very excited. People started scrapping for a shoe, a short or a trouser. Local television journalists cover the chaotic philanthropy. A young man behind the bars seems disappointed:
Antira Activists are reporting about a changed atmosphere in the Detention Centre of Pagani. The demands remain the same:
Today local Newspapers reported that the police refuses to continue working in Pagani. Here comes the Daily report from the NoBorder activists on Lesvos.
Today a number of events around Pagani where reported by our NoBorder activists in Lesvos.
Some good news arrived today. During the night, the prisoners opened the locks of the cells. Until now the police did not close them up again. At present there are at least able to move around the detention centre an the prison yard. It was the first time that we saw little children in the prison yard.
The six prisoners who where beaten by the police in Pagani where broad to the police station again, it was the fourth day they hat to spent there, being questioned over and over again. Today they where looked in to a cell for 6 hours, also the one with asthma. A open assembly took place in Mytilini this afternoon. a Press conference on Thursday and a demonstration on Friday are planed to against this Repression towards the refugees
In the afternoon, 90 people where released from pagani and where broad to the harbour. This time every on was able to go on the ship, nobody has to spent the night at the harbour.
Continue reading ‘A little strand of self-organised freedom’
A boat with 18 refugees drowned tonight close to Lesvos, Greece. This is what the Media reports about.
18 refugees crosed the sea between Turkey and Greece with a Boat. The sea was very stormy tonight. The boat crashed against a rock and the boat drowned. Some fisherman rescued them, for eight people the rescue came to late.
Our source in Lesvos reported that some of the survivors are still in the hospital, the minors are accommodated in a Hotel in Mytilini, Lesvos and on Man is in Pagani. 
My name is Arif Khani Soldier. My wife, my daughter and me survived the accident. My family is in the hospital but they brought me here to the prison. I can not see or talk to them.
Some 200 people where released from Pagani today. While those at the harbour are missing their ferry, another revolt started in pagani.
We will give everyday revolt to you to come here!
After yesterdays good news about the release of 100 prisoners, we discovered there is also a bad one. They where brought to the harbour a little to late, as a consequence they missed the ferry and had to spent the night in the harbour. What seemed like a coincidences yesterday was continued today. 200 people where released from the detention center of Pagani. Again to late so they will also have to spent the night outside. The release papers are supossed to legalize them for 30 days, the problem is that most of the papers are predated 10 days. Altogeher it is far away from justice.
Another incredible news has reached us today.
All the witnesses from the police brutality where kindly released today. That implicates that there will be no one left to witness. A coincidence?
There was also another revolt in Pagani. Yesterday one of the cells was on fire, today another cell burned. The underage refugees are very angry. Since along time, no minors where released. One of them was injured during the fire and he was not brought to the doctor.
There is a rumor inside Pagani that it will be closed down on Wednesday, maybe because all of the cells are destroyed.
A few days ago, news arrived about the vice Minister visiting Pagani, describing it with the words “Dantes Inferno”. Today, our faithful source in Mytilini reports about new revolts in the Detention Center of Pagani.
Today the revolts in Pagani started again. After the Vice Minister of internal affairs visited Pagani two days ago, the violent habits returned to Pagani. Prisoners reported about a huge police brutality after the visit. Some of the prisoners where calls out, one after the other, to the prison Jard. There they where badly beaten by the police. The prisoners felt save, telling the vice Minister about there situation, but in the end there where punished for there statements in front of the visitor. A complain against the police was made by the prisoners.
Your faithful chronicler on the island Lesvos told us today:
Yesterday night, the riot cops were beating prisoners since they refused to get back into their cells. The cops also threatened them not to talk about these beatings, or otherwise they would be beaten again.
Today, there was a visit from the newly formed “ministry for the protection of citizens” (the former ministry of public order). So at ten o’clock am, the yard of the prison looked differently altogether. The two broken cars and all the rubbish had been disposed of, three cops in blue uniforms were seen taking pictures (for the white paper?) of under age refugees, which looked funny since the pictures were taken in front of the wall with graffiti.
It is not exactly clear who of the ministry came, it was either the vice minister or the secretary of state. He came with a lot of NGO representatives, journalists, media people, about 30 in total. They were brought to the yard, where a lot of refugees were sitting/standing around, talking to each other, while others were behind bars. One could have the impression that this was a normal situation. But if you know there are at most 10 minutes of yard for a prisoner in one week, you know that it was a fabrication today. However, this was used by many today to be reunited with their other family members (who they usually cannot see at all!).
Check the pictures for example. There is a mother with a newly born baby, another mother with her two young girls, and the husband in front of the cell. He will later go and see his under age sons and to show to the ministerial visit what the situation is like for families: separation. This is not a singular case, mother and daughters separated from the father separated from the sons.
The politician did actually go into each cell and listened to the stories. In the women’s cell, the floor was still wet (like we saw it in summer), due to a leak. The matrasses are wet because of this, and the women and children turn sick. Nothing has changed since our visits during the noborder camp.
At least three men hat bandaged hands. Perhaps it was from the beatings the riot cops gave during the last revolt. All over Greece, bandaged hands are a visible proof that people had “contact” with the ministry for the protection of the citizens.
The prisoners used the visit to roam more freely than normal, and to visit their family members. The slogan of “freedom” was shouted again and again, and you could see hope for change in many faces.
After he had visited the last cell (of the under age prisoners), the politician talked to the media present (TV channels, radio, newspapers). He said that that cell was worse than the Inferno of Dante. That this “detention centre” was unbearable. That it needed to be closed. And that most of the prisoners didn’t want to stay in Greece anyway [so what? if they wanted to, would that be a valid reason to treat them that way?]
Round noon, there was another meeting at the prefecturate with all people involved in Pagani. We’ll find out what was the outcome.
A friend in Lesvos collected the fates of people in Pagani. We document five of them here:
Zaher Hostin has been imprisoned in Pagani four months. He is the longest staying prisoner so far.
Daudze Zohra from Afghanistan, 12 years old, has already received the white paper, however, he has not been released so far. His father is also in Pagani, but they won’t release him either.
Abdula Satari from Afghanisten, his got an injured leg and is in urgent need of medical treatment.
Khan Shzad from Afghanistan has been imprisoned for 26 days. His right hand and arm is red and blue from infections, and he has several injuries. He is also in urgent need of medical treatment.
Husein Hadar was injured during the revolt: the riot cops were beating him, but he was not brought to hospital for treatment.
These are only five stories. This day-to-day brutality needs to stop. Close Pagani, stop detention.
Yesterday we reported about another revolt in Pagani. Today, we hear that it was partly successful:
At 4pm I got a phone call from one of the prisoners saying he was free, that he would go to the harbour totake the ship. When i came to meet him, I saw that 300 people had been set free from Pagani, both families and men. Most could buy tickets themselves and leave with the boat to Athens. Some others stayed behind, looking at the others waving farewell.
Local elderly men were asking what will happen with the ones that have no money for a ticket. The shipping company responsibles were not willing to take the 8 people without tickets. Although normally the tickets should be given from the state and the shipping company makes a big business with the refugees that have to leave the island and are their best clients.
Everyday around 100 new people arrive and hundreds of people are still imprisoned. Pagani is not empty. There is a lot of police inside the courtyard, the prisoners have the right to get out only once a week for 10 minutes and the next revolt is around the corner.
This report about a new revolt just reached us:
Today (19.10.2009) around 3 o’clock pm, prisoners in Pagani set fire to at least two cells. They protest against their continued detention, and especially against the principle that some prisoners are released after a few weeks while other are imprisoned for much longer. They also continue to protest against the unbearable living conditions inside the prison.
They say that right about now, 900 people are imprisoned in Pagani, including youth. There is the case of a young afghan boy of about 12 years who received his release papers while his father is still imprisoned. So he also needs to stay inside. More youth have been spotted amongst the prisoners.
The fire was quite strong, which made a large intervention of the fire brigade necessary. Two refugees fainted, and another six were beaten so badly by the notorious anti-riot police that they need to be admitted to hospital. We’re trying to organise photos documenting this.
At about 6 pm, the fire was out, the injured had been brought to the hospital, and supporters started to arrive. The prisoners were still inside the yard, telling a lot of stories. One of them explained that he had been imprisoned for over four months. Others told that they mothers, wives and sisters had been released earlier and have gonbe to Athens, so they are worried about them being well. It seems that the prisoners will spend the night in the yard.
We also saw two prisoners who had been injured during their flight and who have not received any treatment so far.
Update 1: Another friend wrote to let us know:
After the previous revolt, the police told the prisoners that in any revolt they were going to arrest two prisoners each time. They don’t care if these prisoners have any relation with the revolts or not. And they did it the previous time: they arrested two prisoners in the previous revolt. They kept the one of them for some days in the jail and then they sent him back to Pagani, but until now we don’t know where is the other one. About today’s revolt, I don’t know if they have arrested any people or not yet…
We have an image gallery:
noborder09lesvos clandestina.org schengen visa “dangle” Calais Migrant Solidarity birds of immigrants
