Testimony of a Nea Smyrni arrestee at GADA: «We'll rape even your puppy.»

Kidnapped by hooded policemen, tortured for hours in her custody GADA, and merciless psychological warfare, denounces the 21-year-old Aris Papazacharoudakis, who states that the Michalis Chrysochoidis has sole responsibility for anything that happens from now on to him or his co-defendant who was remanded in custody on charges of attempted murder of a police officer without, as he says, the indictment can be supported.

- You were among those arrested and brought before the investigating magistrate last Saturday and were released on parole. You were initially facing the charge of attempted murder of a police officer, but you did not have to plead to it as you were eventually acquitted. When and where were you arrested?;

I was arrested the day after the events in Nea Smyrni, a few meters from the building that hosted the meeting of the Masovka Anarchist Collective, of which I am a member. I had participated in the protest against police brutality, there is no evidence to incriminate me for anything or link me to the event. It was about 7.30pm and I was going to take a taxi home before the curfew measures took effect. Initially a motorbike stopped in front of me with two people wearing hoods, I showed my ID, within seconds a car with no plates pulled up next to me and while it was in motion I was thrown under the bonnet.

They handcuffed me behind my back, put a hood over my head and put me in the car with punches and kicks. Until that moment I didn't know if I was dealing with cops or mobsters. As it turned out, maybe it was better to deal with mobsters. I could see through the hood, but I was getting hit whenever I lifted my head. At one point I heard a radio but not from the car and I realized the car had an escort of other motorcycles. Before my own abduction I had been informed of the disappearance of my best friend, my brother's friend, who was taken into custody on a flimsy charge.

- What do you know about your friend's arrest?;

It happened under his house but while he was at work. He works as a delivery boy and while he was delivering food, he was literally kidnapped. Because he was late coming home, his family was contacted from work and for a long time we feared he was a victim of a car accident. Especially since his mother called the GADA, she was assured that her son was not in custody and the family made a missing person's report to the police station. How could they have known that they were the ones who had made him disappear?

- Were you led to the GATE?;

Yes, in the basement of the GADA. To the right and left I could see that dozens of police officers were lined up. They took me out and started beating me, threw me in the elevator and said «we'll even rape your puppy». They asked me how old I was and when I answered 21, they said «you have strong legs for 21» and beat me there. They put me in a room.

I continued to be tied back and hooded, like a prisoner of war. I don't know how many people passed through this office, probably the whole police force was going up and down to beat me up. Others beat me without speaking, others swore at me, repeatedly asked me to say which team I was a fan of. I explained to them - «explained» is a way of saying, in the state I was in - that I was neither a fan nor a hooligan, and I got the answer: «Screw you, you're going to say a team.’ At some point the lights went out and then the only light I could see was when the door swung open for someone to come in and hit me. For five minutes they let me catch my breath. Then the desks would bang and I could hear the sounds of tools and zippers and people asking me, »Are you ready?« I would answer no, it was like a virtual execution environment. One man violently slammed my face into the desk.

- These conditions of psychological and physical torture that you describe, how long did they last?;

There was no part of my body that was not beaten for eight hours. I concluded that I was on the 13th floor when at some point I was taken down the stairs to the lower floor and I could see a logo that said IABC. I was now on the 12th floor and the first round had just ended.

The second one started by showing me a window and saying: «If you want to be redeemed, no one will stop you. Otherwise, four days from now you will go to jail for attempted murder of a police officer and there you will have the opportunity to count the number of likes on your posts.».

- Which post were you referring to?;

I had commented on Facebook -still posted it- that these are funny Cloozo's making mafioso accusations, referring to the arrest of the young man who lost his wallet, whom I don't know personally. They kept asking me for names, anybody's names, telling me to give political militants. I said I didn't know and was elbowed in the spine. I thought I was going to be paralyzed. I tried and wished I would pass out so they would take me to the hospital or die.

I lost consciousness, fell off the chair and was lifted up and pulled out of the handcuffs. Suddenly someone pulled my hood off. I said «I don't feel well» and they said «why don't you feel well? Did you hurt yourself somewhere?» I was then asked to sign for my arrest and I have to acknowledge that the confiscated items were all I had on me, nothing more. I didn't want to give fingerprints for fear of some trumped up charge afterwards and when I brought up the case of Erianna, I was told «don't watch too much Netflix». Eventually they took my fingerprints by force and against my consent. I was then taken to a cell on the seventh floor.

- Were there any other arrestees on the seventh floor?;

I was alone in the cell at first, but I called out my friend's name and he responded. Then we were put in the same cell in a different status from the others, we were in complete isolation. No water or toilet. The only help was from the guys arrested in Nea Smyrna, they put water bottles on the bars for us. This we drank and then there we peed.

We were lying on the concrete, no mattress, no blanket, nothing. For two days we had no access to the toilet. We were not allowed to talk to a lawyer, at one point we were allowed to contact our families for 30 seconds and were shown the stick to know what to expect if we went over the half-minute time limit. Even at the Evelides, our lawyer was standing next to our lawyer, the counter-terrorism team.

- Did you ask to go to a hospital or did you report to the investigating officer what you are complaining about?;

I refused to seek medical treatment for reasons of dignity. The interrogator could see the marks on my face. My friend and I are political prisoners and that is exactly why he was taken into custody. The conversations they are relying on only prove our illegal surveillance. Even today I fear for my life and his. I declare publicly that whatever happens to us, the sole responsibility for it will be borne by ’Mr Michael of the New Republic’, as I used to hear some people on the 12th floor addressing him when they spoke to him personally on the phone.