Nikos Romanos and Iraklis Kostaris have been on hunger
strike since the 28th of October and the 10th of November respectively.
They both demand the right to education, which they earned through
the achievement of satisfactory grades at the Panhellenic University Entry exams,
that they sat along with students from all over the country.
Korydallos Penitentiary, has unlawfully denied to recognise this fundamental
right to them, despite the fact that they are entitled to educational leaves
of absence from prison in order to attend their classes.
The effect of a country leaving the welfare state and restructuring society
based on principles of neoliberal capitalism, is clearly evident in the emergence
of a harsh and vengeful penal system.
Political prisoner Iraklis Kostaris, a former member of the marxist Revolutionary Organization 17N, is one of the two hunger strikers and a final year student at
the Techologial University of Piraeus. Despite receiving leaves of absence
for the past three years, he never violated any of the furlough conditions.
The 47 year old, had to be transferred to the hospital on the 21st of November,
after three weeks of hunger strike, as he was in critical condition.
Today, on his 31st day of hunger strike, it was announced that his application
to be transfered to an open prison was not accepted, but will be re-examined
in two months.
His return to a maximum security cell in Korydallos Penitentiary, the most
notorious prison in the country is worrying, as the medical staff there
are inadequate and the prison hospital, a facility overpopulated
at a rate of 300%, resembles more of a recovery ward due to the lack
of medical equipment.
Nikos Romanos, a 21 year old, would be a freshman in college this year
if the Prison Council did not use this unlawful tactic of depriving him
of educational furloughs.
Nikos was hospitalized on the 24th of November after suffering a severe
hypoglycemic shock. During an interview over the radio, his doctor,
Lina Vergopoulou, stated:
'His condition is not critical just for his health, but for his life....
He could be having a heart or renal failure any day now.
This situation must be made public.'.
The doctor also announced:
'Nikos is determined to take it to the end.
His comrades are very supportive and more people will be joining
the hunger strike on Monday'.
When Nikos was 15, he witnessed the murder of his unarmed friend, also aged 15,
by a police officer in a central location in Athens that sparked an uprising
against the police.
Another prisoner, Yiannis Mihailidis, began a hunger strike on the
17th of November, in solidarity with the two hunger strikers. In an announcement
that was published on AthensIndymedia, he stated:
'The self-destructive act of hunger strike is worth-while for any demand
a prisoner might have, whether it's living conditions, his own dignity, or his freedom.
And in this case my comrade and brother Nikos Romanos put his life on the
line to find channels out of this asphyciating condition of captivity,
so I looked for a way to express my solidarity in actions'. Yiannis was transferred
to the hospital today, as he was diagnosed with bradycardia, a condition where
the heart-rate is too slow and not ennough oxygen is transfered
in the bloodstream.
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