Dear Dr. Matsas,
This is just a note to express solidarity with you in the face of your unjust prosecution for anti-Nazi, anti-fascist advocacy, and to thank you for the actions you have taken that led to the prosecution.
Those actions, far from being criminal, are in fact the fulfillment of a moral duty to humanity that lies on all of us when confronted with Nazism and fascism in our midst.
At a more formal level, the actions themselves, as simple advocacy, are not criminal, merely an expression of ideas that is the right of every human being. The charges of defamation, inciting violence and disturbing the peace are all false and ridiculous. How can it be defamation to agree with Golden Dawn when they say themselves that they support Nazism? Calling on the public to "fight" fascism is a widely used metaphor, that no more incites violence than if I were to urge my neighbors to fight heart disease, cancer, or illiteracy, or any number of evils in the world. Is the Greek government really against fighting evil? And unless Greece is a totalitarian society, neither a call to turn out to protest, nor an actual protest itself, constitutes disturbing the peace.
Combined with the vicious anti-Semitic attacks upon you by Golden Dawn, attacks which in fact fit the charges against you much more closely than your own actions, it seems probable that the choice to prosecute you is also motivated by anti-Semitism, when one considers that the dozens of other persons against whom Golden Dawn also complained who did similar similar things are not being prosecuted. Or perhaps it it an attack on intellectuals and academics, since the other person prosecuted is the former rector of the National Technical University. In any case, clearly the prosecution is selective and politically motivated.
It is a shameful reflection on the Greek government that this prosecution is happening at all. One hopes the court will recognize the injustice.
The dim silver lining for me personally in the situation is that I have learned of your intellectual work, which sounds fascinating; I intend to read your writings.
Finally, I must thank you for working with others to make your prosecution an occasion to rally forces across the globe to oppose recrudescent Nazism and to oppose governments that prosecute individuals for advocacy and for anti-fascist activity. I have signed the EEK petition and will be making your case known to friends and comrades in the United States, particularly in my home in Portland, Oregon on the U.S. west coast. We must hold the line and push back.
Yours with great admiration,
Chris Lowe
7314 SE Cesar E Chavez Blvd
Portland, OR 97202
USA
This is just a note to express solidarity with you in the face of your unjust prosecution for anti-Nazi, anti-fascist advocacy, and to thank you for the actions you have taken that led to the prosecution.
Those actions, far from being criminal, are in fact the fulfillment of a moral duty to humanity that lies on all of us when confronted with Nazism and fascism in our midst.
At a more formal level, the actions themselves, as simple advocacy, are not criminal, merely an expression of ideas that is the right of every human being. The charges of defamation, inciting violence and disturbing the peace are all false and ridiculous. How can it be defamation to agree with Golden Dawn when they say themselves that they support Nazism? Calling on the public to "fight" fascism is a widely used metaphor, that no more incites violence than if I were to urge my neighbors to fight heart disease, cancer, or illiteracy, or any number of evils in the world. Is the Greek government really against fighting evil? And unless Greece is a totalitarian society, neither a call to turn out to protest, nor an actual protest itself, constitutes disturbing the peace.
Combined with the vicious anti-Semitic attacks upon you by Golden Dawn, attacks which in fact fit the charges against you much more closely than your own actions, it seems probable that the choice to prosecute you is also motivated by anti-Semitism, when one considers that the dozens of other persons against whom Golden Dawn also complained who did similar similar things are not being prosecuted. Or perhaps it it an attack on intellectuals and academics, since the other person prosecuted is the former rector of the National Technical University. In any case, clearly the prosecution is selective and politically motivated.
It is a shameful reflection on the Greek government that this prosecution is happening at all. One hopes the court will recognize the injustice.
The dim silver lining for me personally in the situation is that I have learned of your intellectual work, which sounds fascinating; I intend to read your writings.
Finally, I must thank you for working with others to make your prosecution an occasion to rally forces across the globe to oppose recrudescent Nazism and to oppose governments that prosecute individuals for advocacy and for anti-fascist activity. I have signed the EEK petition and will be making your case known to friends and comrades in the United States, particularly in my home in Portland, Oregon on the U.S. west coast. We must hold the line and push back.
Yours with great admiration,
Chris Lowe
7314 SE Cesar E Chavez Blvd
Portland, OR 97202
USA
