playground4architecture: Ιουνίου 2013

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They Close ERT - They Shut Down Democracy

Solidarity to ERT – Solidarity to the Greek people’s struggle for Democracy

Last Tuesday, late afternoon, the Greek government announced, with one more decree, the complete shutting of the National TV and Radio Broadcaster (ERT) on midnight. Despite the recent governments’ discourse of “success story”, such unprecedented arrogance reveals that Samaras’ administration has been left only with one choice: to take refuge in outlawing strikes, breeching any democratic processes and constitutional law, yet left in Greece, materialising literately the dictatorial regime of Troika in order to implement its austerity measures.

Such authoritative move, which braught up direct memories from the military dictatorship, caused the immediate and mass mobilisation of tens of thousand of the Greek people, dozens trade unions, progressive political parties, local authorities and hundreds social organisations in Greece and among the Greek Diaspora. The headquarters of ERT, as well as its branches around the country, were taken over by its employees, supported by thousands people that gathered outside ERT premises in many cities in Greece, in order to prevent the signal cut and the police intervention.

For the Greek people is crystal clear that it does not defend merely or primarily ERT as such, but they fight for Democracy and Freedom (of speech among others) against the full on process of fascistization of the Greek state and society. The struggle for keeping open ERT, keep its broadcast on the air its only the symbolic embodiment of this struggle.

It is not coincidence that the only party that supported Samaras’ move is Golden Dawn. This unconstitutional move by Samaras, which breeches the EU constitutional framework too, has left exposed his two smaller allies in the government, creating serious cracks in the coalition, with unknown yet results. Thus the conflict around ERT has gone beyond the defense of the public television and its workers’ rights and jobs, to an escalation of the struggle for Real Democracy, and / through the ousting of the dictatorship of Troika, the authoritative governments of memoranda for an end to this “exceptional state of emergency”.

The last four days the Greek people, once more, the have stood resilient in their determination to fight and counter-attack the financial and political dictatorial rule of the Troika’s governments. Thousands gather everyday outside the ERT headquarters in Athens and at its branches in smaller towns, the two main unions in Greece (GSEE and ADEDY) called a one day general strike yesterday (Thursday 14, June) with many dozens thousands turnout, the Journalists Union is calling repetitive one-day strikes allowing only the media that transmit the ERT signal (which the government has cut sending even riot police at the transmission points) to air news-program, dozens of social media and alternative or local radio stations, among which a recently self-managed by its workers radio station in Athens, stream ERT’s signal breaking in practice the silence the government attempted to impose.

The support of the media workers and of the Greek people is such that day by day dozens new media broadcast, and more people tune in, ERT signal. This forced yesterday the finance minister to threaten to remove the license from any media that give air to ERT.

Moreover the international outcry, expressed with many protests outside Greek embassies around the globe and with solidarity messages from many international trade unions and media (such as the BBC, Liberation etc) has caused big trouble and pressure to the Greek government. On the other hand the European governments, while they may have expressed their concerns, they remain silent, supporting Samaras’ motion, as they know that force is the only possible way in order to steal from the Greek people what they want.

This is the time for everyone to show their solidarity to the Greek people. This the time for international action. The Greek people by occupying the garden outside the ERT headquarters, they have also raised their voices and banners of solidarity to the uprising of the Turkish people in Gezi park, Taxim square and everywhere in our neighboring country. As the struggle is going on and the trembling government tries to regain the initiative, we intensify our struggle as ext Monday the leaders of the coalition parties will meet in order to find a way out of their turmoil. This is the time for everyone in Greece and abroad to intensify the pressure in order to destabilise the Troika regime and overthrow its government.

The Greek people are really indebted for the solidarity they have received so far. And we also know that this is a common struggle with the rest people in the European and global South, in the periphery and the metropolis, a struggle that we must fight and win together.

We look forward for your actions of solidarity.

Solidarity for All

from the ERT headquarters

Friday 14 June

international@solidarity4all.gr

PS: See following links for your information.

http://greekleftreview.wordpress.com/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/12/ert-greek-state-broadcaster-cultural-calamity?commentpage=2

video from the strike in defence of ERT:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SvfyJDJYtpU

sign your solidarity here:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Stop_the_shutdown_of_Public_Television_in_Greece/?kDOMNab