The Lesvos team of CPT Europe would like to invite you to join a campaign in support of 35 African refugees who were arrested arbitrarily by the Greek police, now known as the “Moria 35.” They will go to trial trial on April 20th, after ten months of being detained.
On 18 July 2017, 35 people were arbitrarily arrested during a violent police raid in Moria, the military-run refugee camp on Lesvos, Greece. That morning a peaceful protest took place in Moria camp, where people demanded to lift the geographical restriction imposed by the EU-Turkey statement, to allow people to travel to mainland Greece, and to denounce the inhumane living conditions in the camp. After some time, there was a confrontation between police forces and a few protesters. An hour after this confrontation had ended, riot police violently raided the African Section of the camp and arrested people at random.
There is substantial evidence of brutal police violence during the raid, the arrests, and in the police station. Many of the people arrested were not even present in Moria camp at the time of the protest. The Moria 35 all face identical criminal charges including arson, resisting arrest, attempted assault, rioting, damage to private property and disturbing the public peace. There seems to be no credible or individual evidence against any of them. 30 people have been detained in prison since 18 July. The other 5 are free under restrictions, and have to stay in Lesvos until the trial.
The criminal trial will be a trial by jury and has been announced for 20th April in Chios. If convicted, they risk up to 10 years in prison and they might get excluded from the right to international protection, resulting in deportation.
FURTHER INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTATION:
The following links provide video evidence and reports documenting the people’s peaceful protest, and the police violence against the African refugees.
- For a video of the peaceful protest, click here.
- For media and Amnesty International reports, click here.
TAKE ACTION:
We would like to invite you to support the Moria 35 before their trial, which will take place on April 20:
- Organize individual or small group actions in front of Greek embassies and offices in your local context: see the bottom of this message for embassy locations in the USA.
- Take pictures individually or with a group at an office or landmark in your city/town, holding a sign expressing solidarity with the Moria 35. Send the picture to us before April 19th, so that we can collect the photos and share with Greek activists for use in any public campaigns that will take place in Greece.
- Tweet using these hash tags: #freethemoria35, #(your organization or city), #ChristianPeacemakerTeams
RESOURCES FOR ACTIONS:
A statement in English from the joint networks on Lesvos island can be found at this link
A toolkit of resources to print for the campaign:
- Banner (English)
- Poster (English)
- A mask representing the Moria 35
- More tools
GREEK EMBASSIES AND OFFICES IN THE USA:
- 650 North St.Clair St., Chicago, Illinois 60611
- 86 Beacon Street, Boston, Ma 02108
- 69 East 79th Street, New York 10075
- 2217 Massachusetts Avenue N.W., Washington DC 20008
- 400 Ν. Τampa Street, Suite 1160, Tampa Florida
- 33602 Tower Place 100, Suite 1670, 3340 Peachtree Rd, NE, Atlanta, GA 30326
- 2401 Fountain View Drive, Ste. 850, Houston, Texas 77057
- 2441 Gough Street, San Francisco, CA 94123
- 12424 Wilshire Blv. Suite 1170, Los Angeles, CA 90025
