By the "ABRAHAM LESPEROGLOU
SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE"
Athens, 20-10-2000

Abraham Lesperoglou was sentenced to seventeen years imprisonment in his trial by Jury, for attempted homicide of the policeman G. Psaroudakis. A very heavy sentence, if one contemplates that the sentence foreseen for such an offence is 10-20 years. And, even worse, it was an exemplary penalty, "dictated", since out of the 7 judges, 3 asked for his acquittal, and yet, the penalty imposed did not to the least take into account this marginal minority in favour of acquittal.
Now Lesperoglou is confronted with the last -and major- trial, after having collected in a period of 10 months since his arrest, 24 years of imprisonment (3,5 for forgery, 3,5 for draft evasion and 17 for attempted homicide). This major trial, which is expected in the coming months, has the same bill of indictment as George Balafas, i.e. (murder of public prosecutor Theofanopoulos, armed robbery of the security money transport in supermarket Sklavenitis in Galatsi and murder of the two guards, murder of the three policemen in Gyzi in the fight where Christos Tsoutsouvis was killed).
It is obvious that Abraham Lesperoglou is in an extremely difficult position. In all his trials he was confronted with unique hardness and bias, perfectly natural, if we take into account on the one side the long standing picture of "terrorist" created by the persecution authorities, exploiting his fleeing from justice and silence, and on the other hand the interest displayed for him by both the Americans and the local professional persecutors of "terrorism". The same or worse is expected in his incoming trial, as, according to indictment, its content is exclusively the armed actions of the organisation "Antistate struggle".
Is, therefore, Abraham Lesperoglou doomed to live inside jail for the rest of his life? And is it given that the movement of solidarity to the political prisoners will come accross its first crushing defeat? NO, we reply categorically. According to all legal presumptions and opinions of distinguished jurists, the conviction for attempted homicide will be statute barred on October 24/2000, and only by the usual judicial arbitrariness, indeed multiplied, can the statute bar be evaded. If the latter does happen and if we succeed an acquittal in the incoming major trial for the cases of the "Antistate Struggle" -in the indictment bill of which there is not a single incriminating element for Lesperoglou- then he will be out of jail immediately after his appeals for forgery and draft evasion, that is in 2-3 years maximim.
This estimate is not designed to boost the morale of Lesperoglou and his solidaires, neither does it underestimate the negative conjuncture cultivated by the Greek-american "counterterrotism" cooperation and the incoming vote of a "counterterrorism" law. We also know quite well the mechanism of direct and indirect pressures aiming -by the persecutors of terrorism- at succeeding the wished for judicial verdicts. But we insist: Even in this difficult period, there are possibilities for specific victories. Very few of us believed the possibility of acquittal of A. Lesperoglou in the trial of October 4 and many were those who considered us naïve, stuck to the bourgeois legalism or hostages of our long time counterposition with the persecution authorities. Nevertheless, the marginal decision of the trial proved that everything was - and still is - possible. The "4 to 3" vote of November the 12, showed that ruptures can be found in the repression structure, that people who do not yield do exist, and above all that the appropriate political-legal and organisational preparation can bring concrete results.
The Left, parliamentary and extraparliamentary, in the first period after the arrest of Lesperoglou was bewildered in front of this case. This was a natural reaction after his 17year fleeing and silence, but also in view of the complex character of the case just tried. Something similar was observed during the first period after the arrest of Georges Balafas. Nevertheless, after the setting up of the Solidarity Committee and the publication of the first texts of Lesperoglou himself, the "ice started to melt" and, as a result, when reaching the trial there was satisfactory political and organisational support, given the period we are going through. Up to now, the whole anarchist-antiauthoritarian stratum, the majority of the organisations of the extraparliamentary Left -with the exception of the New Left Current (NAR) which has kept some distance- and the party of Synaspismos have expressed themselves in favour of Abraham Lesperoglou, with different characteristics and tempo, while the Communist Party, which avoided to be present in the trial, through its daily paper "Rizospastis" covered the case in a very satisfactory way.
Today we are at a new phase. Certainly the solidarity movement -much more, of course, Lesperoglou himself- are confronted with a long sentence, but has managed to demystify to a great extent the picture of "terrorist" and to link the case of Lesperoglou with broader questions of democratic rights, starting from the incubated "counterterrorism" law and leading up to the effort for taming sections of the workers and the youth. The incoming trial is by its nature a good ground for further politicisation of the solidarity campaign and for the broadening of the spectrum of the participants.
We certainly are not sure what the conclusion of this project will be. But we do believe in the possibility of a positive outcome. And the knowledge of the political possibility can give the moral necessity (we are in any case at the side of Lesperoglou because he is one of us, he is "on our side"), the opportunity to transform to social activity. Let's dare, since we are no rich with victories or people, or with the joy we'll feel when shattering the bug power and the beastly ignorance of the adversary…

By the ABRAHAM LESPEROGLOU
SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE
Athens, 20-10-2000