BY GEORGES MEHRABIAN
ATHENS, Greece - "David Fazlul, president of the Bangladesh
Cultural Association in Greece and member of the executive
committee of the Network for the Social Support of Refugees
and Immigrants, has been in custody on frame-up charges since
July 20, 1999," said Samsideen Iddrisu, president of the
Greek branch of the Migrants Forum of the European Union and
vice president of SOS Racism in Greece.
"On June 28 Fazlul was called in to meet with the immigration police. Fazlul was asked to provide information implicating compatriots on arranged marriages between illegal immigrants and Greeks. In exchange he would be guaranteed permanent residence," explained Iddrisu. "Fazlul refused and asked for his lawyer. He was verbally abused and then slapped around. The cop said that he could have him vanish from Greece.
"We held a meeting with the minister of public order, Mr. Michalis Chrisohoidis, and reported the events to him. He said he would investigate and subsequently Nanis [the cop] was put on suspension," continued Iddrisu. "On July 12 Fazlul was arrested in front of the offices of the Immigrants Network, and on July 20 he was put in preventive custody pending a trial.
He has since been transferred to a prison in Trikala [central Greece] far away from Athens. The charges against Fazlul are conspiracy to arrange illegal marriages and being the middle man in arranging the marriages of 23 people. The only evidence is the signed statement in Greek of another Bangladeshi detainee who could not even read what he signed.
"At his first hearing before the magistrate the political character of the case became more clear," Iddrisu added. "The magistrate's comments centered on David's activities, claiming that there is no racism in Greece and therefore how could anyone claim to be involved in antiracist activities."
At a press conference on Fazlul's case held on August 6, one of his attorneys, Yianna Kourtovic, stated, "This whole case is really about the criminalization of migrants and the antiracism movement that David represents." Kourtovic is a well known political rights lawyer. Among those present at the press conference were Iddrisu; Sati Lila Hues, a member of the Bangladesh Cultural Association; Stella Alfieri, a member of parliament from the Coalition of the Left; and Leon Avdis, the Communist Party candidate for mayor of Athens in the last elections.
"The government is currently carrying out a massive campaign of arrests and deportations of immigrants," Iddrisu told this correspondent. "Migrants are being rounded up and detained even in stadiums. Cops dressed in commando outfits are boarding public buses and trains and asking you if you are Greek. If not you must disembark and you are detained in the barren sun until you can prove your legality. They have announced that by the end of the summer they will deport upwards of 200,000 people."
Several organizations have launched a campaign to win Fazlul's release. According to Iddrisu, 18 immigrant rights organizations signed a letter to the minister of justice demanding that the charges be dropped. The press conference publicizing the case was covered by at least three daily papers. The organizers are also asking members of parliament and political parties and organizations to write letters of protest, demanding his immediate release with all charges being dropped.
The letters should be addressed to Evangelos Yannopoulos, Minister of Justice. They should be faxed to The Network for the Social Support of Refugees and Immigrants, fax # 30 1 38 40 390.