Exarchia, Athens, Greece. 2018
WARNING: This chapter has criticisms of police violence and high political content.
POV Aiolos
Aiolos drove the car and did not care much if he was over the speed of the track. It is a good thing that he knew Athens very well and managed to avoid several transit points in order to reach Exarchia, the neighborhood where the protests were taking place. He was clearly getting himself into a certain mess, but he did not care. Confusion was his last name.
Aiolos and Aiolia were born in Thessalonica. Their father died shortly after Olia was born. At his father's funeral, he, at the age of seven, watching his mother cry with little Olia, a few months old, on his lap, heard some uncle whisper in his ear:
- Now you will be the little man of the house. Take good care of your family.
He promised that he would take that promise to life. He would be the man of the house, the example for Aiolia. Thus, he tried his best to be an exemplary student, with good behavior. He started working at a young age to pay his bills and studied as well. In addition, he always fought for the right things, being an honest boy, who did not tolerate injustices in front of him. At school, he defended students who were bullied, was praised by teachers and (unlike Aiolia) behaved well.
The problem is that he just could not get out of the mess.
See, he really tried to avoid the confusions, but they looked like fans chasing his beloved idol. At school, it seemed like he was always at the wrong time and in the wrong place, because he always showed up when someone was being beaten up, a couple fighting or friends arguing. And he, being the person who does not like to see wrong or unfair things happening, was going to try to fix them. And, as peaceful as he was, it has already yielded him some broken teeth or some bruises on various parts of his body.
To make matters worse, he chose to be a lawyer. The profession of conflicts.
And so, he could very well, even within the different areas of law, have chosen a quiet area. Work with investments, capital markets, companies. But no, he decided to risk his ass by advocating for people who were at risk of life, or were being persecuted by governments, refugees, troublemakers. All this for his ideals, to protect those who need it most.
And they did not even pay well, you know.
So, as soon as he finished college, he opened an office with two more classmates, his fighting buddies: Eleni and Maria. The purpose of the office was to protect and provide legal assistance to people who were, in some way, suffering persecution by some politician or the Greek state itself, due to the manifestations that have taken place in the country since the 2008 crisis, which affected Greece a lot, leaving the country in debt. Over time, they extended their clientele to help journalists and persecuted activists, even refugees who wanted shelter in Europe.
The office was doing very, very well, thank you. Only that was the problem. So much with him, so much with the country.
And so, they started to monitor Kanon. He came out of nowhere, with documents proving the involvement of various organizations in oil spills in the Mediterranean, which even included the Graad Foundation. At the time, he did not show his face, which Aiolos thought was very safe. He just released the documents on his social networks and waited for journalists to check if that was just fake news. And he impressed everyone when what he said was true. And, not long ago, he had to reveal his face. Now, he suffers several attacks, both from the traditional press, as well as from political groups that believe that he is a "destroyer of the nation".
Personally, Aiolos doubted this. Kanon was reasonably young to be a political leader (he looked in his thirties), and although his background had nothing to do with politics, he seemed to be someone well-informed. He had a strong political discourse, claimed that the nation's politicians had betrayed Greece and were handing the country over to businessmen who could destroy the planet, causing environmental disasters, all in the name of ambitions.
The only problem is that he was awful with communication. Aiolos followed some of his few interviews, and when upset, Kanon used to be sarcastic and acid. He was not as hot as Aiolia, quite the contrary, but he liked to make fun of people. And that did not help much in his image. Aiolos tried, anyway, to contact the guy, but he was not involved in any organization that Aiolos knew, he did not have many contacts. He had a group of left-wing environmentalists on his side, who bought his fight, but did not appear to be strong in Greece. He was really a spontaneous, spontaneous political leader from the masses.
Aiolos came close to the scene. He parked the car at a more distant point and ran to the point of confrontation between the police and the protesters. Exarchia was a controversial neighborhood in Athens, full of political murals and anarchist shops. Most of the protests took place there, and because they were more ... radical protests, there was always a lot of police and a lot of confrontation.
Perfect place to get customers.
It was not even the first time he was there. Not the second. In college, he had promised that he would not get into trouble. No association, no student union, no representation. At the end of college, he had already passed through the three organizations, had already gone to political acts (many in that specific neighborhood, very frequented by students), had already fought for politics, had already been threatened.
He does not learn.
Amid the smoke and the uproar caused by the confrontation between the police and the protesters, he managed to see Kanon. He had his body on the hood of the car, in which the policeman was pressing him, holding his hands tightly behind his back while trying to handcuff him.
Terrible.
"Hey, good evening, how are you?" Aiolos said to the policeman, in his jovial tone. His partners always joked with him that he would not lose his good humor even if he were arrested. Bad of his sign (that he forgot what it was) "Is there a problem, sir?"
"This man is defying an authority!" the policeman shouted, "he will be taken to the directory for inciting demonstrations and disrespecting a police authority!"
Aiolos's trained and experienced eyes saw a catch: the policeman was taking too long to take Kanon to the directory. Why? Most likely due to the fact that Kanon has public notoriety now. Any act that public opinion considers to be unfair can bring several problems to the police.
"Sir, what happens here is a legitimate demonstration, the protesters are not armed," said Aiolos.
"That man might as well explain it to the police chief, so he doesn't need you to defend him," said the policeman.
"He will need it," said Aiolos, calmly. "And I might as well defend him. I'm a lawyer."
"Are you his lawyer?" Said the policeman.
"Do you have a lawyer representing you, Mr. Kanon?" said Aiolos, turning to Kanon, who was looking at him in fright.
Kanon shook his head.
"Then I can represent him" said Aiolos.
The policeman looked like he was about to lose patience with him. But Aiolos remained calm and steady.
"If you are not his lawyer, you cannot represent him. If you can't represent him, he'll go to the Police Directory on his own."
Aiolos shuddered. He knew what that meant.
In 2008, Greece broke out with demonstrations against the government, as an economic crisis had started in the country (1). Since then, many things have happened, and one of them was the various complaints that were made by various organizations, alleging that their members were persecuted and tortured in various Greek police directories. He himself has taken cases of protesters who were tortured, beaten, and humiliated by police. Many of them even detested him. Disgust for him was on the face of those men and women who claimed to defend society, but Aiolos never witnessed this "defense". You are not human rights defender; you are defending the rights of outlaws. He always heard that when he tried to defend a client.
Aiolos never cared about those comments. A human life is a human life.
To make matters worse, all this happened because it was believed that some members of the Greek police were linked to Dawn Chorus (2), who was persecuting several anti-fascist militants. Kanon could easily be a new victim, and he knew it himself since he shuddered slightly.
"I'm not going to the directory without a lawyer! So Aiolos goes with me! Kanon shouted, feeling the policeman's hands on his back."
"He has no power of attorney saying he represents you. You only go with a lawyer if you have one."
His luck (and Kanon's luck) is that, suddenly, several cell phones aimed at them appeared, and, as it was dark, his flashes were on. Thus, thousands, or even millions of people, would now be watching a policeman try to take not only a protester, but their leader, alone, without the defense of a lawyer, to a police department that has been the subject of numerous controversies in the past years old.
People started to scream. Protesting. They called him a fascist. Traitorous pig. They said they would report him. That everyone would see what he is doing. The policeman noticed. He would not be the hero saving the city from the troublemakers. He would be the villain.
The policeman looked at them and said:
"All right. The two will go to the directory."
"For what reasons?" Asked Aiolos.
"It's just for clarification about what happened" said the policeman, trying to drive Kanon to the car.
"You can let him come in my car," said Aiolos.
He knew that in any situation, the policeman would, at the very least, have spoken some insults to him. But they were in front of cell phone cameras, and cameras could be powerful, when used well.
"All right. One car goes ahead, and another goes after your car."
So Aiolos nodded to Kanon and the two went out to where Aiolos's car was parked.
"I can go on my motorcycle" said Kanon to Aiolos, when they crossed the street "I parked it nearby, I can take it and go."
"It is not recommended" said Aiolos "right now, the police are suspicious of your attitudes. Any activity out of the mix can put you in jail."
They both got in the car, and Aiolos started. He started to follow the police car that headed for the directory, while looking intently, in the rearview mirror, at the police car behind.
"Thanks for helping me" said Kanon "I think I would probably be handcuffed now if it weren't for you."
"Don't thank me yet" said Aiolos "what we are going to try to do is that today, be at most some clarifications, an 'I'm sorry, it was bad' and we are going home. Were you allowed to protest at that location?"
"Yes" said Kanon.
"Nobody has any weapon or something?" Asked Aiolos.
"No, they were pacifist people."
"Excellent. We do not want more incidents than those that may already occur."
"Are you suspicious of me?" said Kanon "you are a complete stranger, appearing out of nowhere offering help, put me in your car together with the police, but are you the one who is suspicious of me?"
Aiolos rubbed his forehead and bangs impatiently. The guy was tough.
"Look Kanon, you are getting very well known on social networks and in the media. But you're without a lawyer, you're an activist for more... controversial and..."
"Leftist. You can say that I'm a leftist. It's not a demon" said Kanon, ironically.
"Where are we going, it is" said Aiolos.
Kanon snorted, impatient.
"Look Kanon, I didn't introduce myself properly. I am Aiolos, and I advocate for humanitarian causes. I provide legal assistance to activists, politicians, militants, organizations, refugees ... My office provides all kinds of assistance to these people."
"Is it expensive?" Asked Kanon.
My God, how could anyone help himself so little?
"I can do a good price for you" said Aiolos "by the way, is that why you didn't look for a lawyer? Because of price?"
"Are you stalking me?"
"I work in the area; I know all the lawyers in the region who work with this and everyone was trying to find you to take your case. Only no one even knew where you lived!"
"I didn't need lawyers!"
"Kanon, you are a public person now. And worse, he is an activist of environmental causes, who is making a lot of controversy in the media! You will need a lawyer day and night on your tail. The police wanted to take you to the police station for no reason! In a country that has been marked by police violence and torture in recent years, in a country that has fascist parties with infiltrators within the police!"
Kanon was quiet.
"I had heard of you" said Kanon "my brother had already found your contact with a colleague and had sent me to call you. I didn't do it due to lack of time. It was a strange coincidence that you were here."
Aiolos sighed.
"You should listen to your brother more often, Kanon" finished.
The two arrived at the police station. Aiolos began to speak:
"If things get too bad, use your right to silence. Remember that we are only here to clarify the protest. More than that, only in court."
"Understood," said Kanon, mechanically.
"You are not a suspect yet Kanon. But you can become one if you are not careful."
"I didn't do anything wrong," said Kanon, calmly.
"You incited an anti-government protest. That is enough."
They both waited in the directory's waiting room. Fifteen minutes after waiting, a call came on Kanon's cell phone, which he grudgingly answered.
"Hi Saga. It's okay Saga. Saga, it was something that got out of control, I had no co... Saga, Saga, listen. Listening. It's OK. It was just the cop who didn't like me. Saga... Wait, how do you know I'm...? No Saga, it's okay, it was just to provide clarification. No Saga, you don't have to come. Saga, no, you are not in a position... Saga, look, listen, I already got a lawyer, and everything will be fine."
Kanon was still fighting with his brother on the phone while he remembered his brother. He decided to look at the messaging app to see if there was anything.
"Little brother [19:57]: r u all right?
You [20:32]: ok, yes, we just had to come to the directory.
Little brother [20:34]: ?
You [20:34]: just to clarify.
You [20:34]: I know some people here; I can get out of these.
You [20:34]: I think I'm going home at 10 pm.
Little brother [20:37]: ok, I'll prepare something for when u arrive"
Aiolos smiled slightly. His brother was very dedicated to those who liked him, and especially to him, Aiolos. He felt that Olia respected him as a father he never had. Aiolos understood that it was a reference for his brother, but sometimes, it could suffocate him. His image always had ups and downs, going to extremes. Not that his brother demanded much of him, but the other relatives always did. He was the saint, the exemplary student, the dedicated brother. But if he made a mistake, however banal it was, he would be tried and slaughtered by family members. This was stifling. In addition, Aiolia needed a figure to be his guide, and he took on the task of being one, but it took its toll. He had to live life on short reins.
It affected him at the university. When he got to graduation, he saw young people being young, carefree, going to parties, living life. He was not used to so much freedom and ended up blocking himself from the world, still living the "right" life that he lived with his family. After all, he was already a "father", even though he was not old enough. He was a symbolic father; he had the head of a father. Even old people's jokes he did. It took a long time for him to understand that there was no need for so much responsibility, Aiolia had already grown up, he was in a different city, he could get out of his bonds a little. And so, he did, and he managed to live a little bit, without so much crisis.
Not everything was horrible, at least. Because Aiolia respected him as a father, they almost never fought. They didn't have those endless brotherhood and pinprick fights like the one Kanon had right now.
"When Saga takes the day to annoy someone, he makes the lives of others a hell" muttered Kanon, hanging up the phone.
A strange sensation ran through his body when he heard the name "Saga". He swore he heard that name somewhere. The sensation was much stronger than that of a simple déjà vu. He must have known the guy in question, he just didn't know where.
"Is your brother worried about you?" Asked Aiolos.
"He's pissed, that's what. As if I was guilty for what happened."
Aiolos laughed. Yeah, if it were Aiolia instead of Kanon, he would be the same way.
In the directory, not much happened at all. It seemed that the police chief was not very interested in the occasion or what had happened. Aiolos was a little surprised, since, due to Kanon being a controversial figure, he thought he would have more work. But he decided not to complain about his luck. He looked at social media and saw that the internet was bubbling up with the videos of that protest in question and deduced that it must have been for that. The Greek police would not want to get in any more trouble for police violence, would they?
They got in the car and did not talk much, soon arriving at the place where Kanon had parked the motorcycle, in the Exarchia neighborhood. Kanon agreed to seek him out when necessary and Aiolos refused payment, since he had not really done much (and no, he wasn't a lawyer who extorted people's money, like the lawyer stereotype that people had).
"See you around," said Kanon, shaking his hand.
"Don't get in so much trouble, Kanon," said Aiolos.
"I say the same for you" laughed Kanon, who put on his helmet, starting the motorcycle, and leaving the parking lot, leaving him alone.
He got home, and saw that Aiolia was waiting for him, watching a series on Netflix, petting the cat, who was sleeping next to him.
"I made some sandwiches and natural juice. It's in the fridge."
"Thanks, Olia."
"How was it?"
"Strangely calm. The cops did not want much conversation. But we have a new customer."
"At least that, right. How lucky is he, huh? No wonder he hasn't died yet."
"Kanon is a very skittish person, but he's going the right way. But I swear I know him from somewhere."
Olia looked at him.
"Do you believe I have the same feeling? I see him at lives on Instagram and keep thinking 'this guy is not a stranger to me'".
"Bizarre, right? He talked about his brother, and I had the same feeling."
"Too strange," smiled Aiolia, "perhaps Athens is too small."
"Or we met in other lives" smiled Aiolos back, thinking about the coincidences of life. If he did not have it at the right time and in the right place, what would happen?
God only knows.
(1) In 2008, there was a severe crisis in Greece, due to a huge public debt that the country had with the European Union. For this, Greece had to adhere to several austerity packages in order to remain in the Eurozone. This revolted the population, as several public policies were affected and harmed the population. To make matters worse, the Greek police were extremely violent, including killing Aléxandros Grigorópulos, a 15-year-old student, in the middle of the political atcs. This has generated a huge scandal and has had much debate about police violence in political acts in Greece since then. In addition, there were complaints by some protesters that they were tortured by the Greek police to reveal information about their organizations.
(2) Here I had to invent a name for the organization, for security reasons. But there are a lot of these organizations around the world, you know. Even there. Or here.