For the trial with the hunter in Evia – A victory dedicated to comrade Lary
On November 28, 2024, the case with the hunter in Evia was tried on charges of robbery and theft. The prosecutor’s original proposal included the penalties of unlawful violence and vigilante justice. The final decision of the court announced by the president after a half-hour recess was acquittal of all charges, with the prosecutor himself stating that the charges were not arising from anywhere.
The lawyer appointed by the hunting club disappeared like lightning with the announcement of the decision, ashamed and with his face on the floor, as I was informed by comrades who were there since I personally did not even have time to notice when his seat went empty. Likewise, the hunter and his wife who had been roaring two days before – as she did this time on hearing the prosecutor’s proposal on the sentences – left the courtroom rapidly, so that I only had time to see their backs and unfortunately not their faces.
Be that as it may, what is certain is that it is not the court decision that gives this incident its just or unjust character. Preventing a killer from killing either a human or a non-human animal is just at its core, self-evident and non-negotiable. Nevertheless, there is now a precedent and I urge the people of the struggle not to let it go unheeded. Hunters continue to kill non-human animals and they will not stop on their own unless we stop them. We must never stop trusting our source instinct for immediate and direct action as it is only by doing so that this world is changed. Whether in or out of the courts, the fight for total liberation never stops.
A huge thank you to all the comrades who stood by my side all over the years and supported in any way they could each and every one of them both me and this case and its political opening, contributing to the spread of anti-hunting, anti-speciesist and total liberation discourse and struggle on the occasion of this trial.
This court victory is dedicated to my comrade and original attorney Lary, without whom the outcome of this trial would certainly not have been the same. He was there in my first phone call from the detention centre in Istiaia where I was completely disoriented and lost, in the formation of the defence line already on the phone, in the first pleas to the investigating judge and the prosecutor in Chalkida. He stood as a comrade defending with his lawyer identity an intense situation in the prosecutor’s office at the moment when the control was lost and we were shouting at her, risking pre-trial detention. He was there, in the preparations before every trial for 5 whole years, in the irregular phone calls in the midst of pressing moments, like a guardian angel at rallies and marches in the street, outside the Petrou Ralli hellhouse and elsewhere, where he never missed an opportunity to remind me that I have a court and I have to be careful. He was there to support both with his words and with an open hug when circumstances got tough. Always available whether in his office, in a hangout or squat, or on the street, wherever I might just happen to run into him, and he was always eager to discuss the case. He was there even when he was absent from court in adjournments due to health issues, on the phone ready to reassure, advise, guide, support in any way. And as he was there then so he was there now. His words – etched in my mind. His advice along with new guidelines – my guide in the court room. He was there and even though he wasn’t there. He was always there and without him nothing would be the same now.
LARY THANASIS ARMAOS PRESENT THROUGH OUR STRUGGLES.
FIGHT UNTIL THE DESTRUCTION OF EVERY CELL AND EVERY CAGE
UNTIL THE TOTAL LIBERATION
Dimitra
Athens, 01/12/2024
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Actforfree note: Larry was an anarchist and active movement lawyer based in Athens, Greece.