Skouries: from intimidation to terror

For background on the issue of ore mining in Halkidiki, see here and here.  The human rights situation in north-eastern Halkidiki (also spelled Chalkidiki) is still deteriorating since the arson attack on the work site of mining company Hellas Gold in Skouries on 17 February 2013. There have been dozens of random detentions of local residents by the police, without any result so far and most importantly without any charges being pressed against any of the detainees.

The latest – and most shocking – case of detention is a 15-year-old female student from the Ierissos high school, who was summoned today to the regional police HQ in Polygyros for interrogation. The entire village of Ierissos went in an uproar, with church bells ringing and schoolchildren staging a protest in front of the local police station together with their families. The police decision was condemned by the Coordination Committee of Associations in Stagira-Akanthos as well as local attorneys, who specifically denounced the fact that “witnesses” or “detainees” summoned by the police have no access to legal assistance during their interrogation and that the police essentially force them to give a DNA sample, which is illegal as no charges have been pressed against them.

#rbnews international show 23 February 2013: Intimidating residents to mine gold in #Skouries

On 23 February 2013, the #rbnews international show travelled to Halkidiki in Northern Greece, where plans to establish a giant gold and copper mine in the Skouries forest has generated a conflict between the mining company, Hellas Gold, and local communities who fear total destruction of their environment and way of life. You can read background information on the recent developments here and listen to the podcast after the jump.

The arson attack on the Skouries mining site and its aftermath

An arson attack took place on the worksite of mining company Hellas Gold  in the Skouries forest in north-eastern Halkidiki  in the night from 16 to 17 February 2013. An initial report, posted by the pro-mining blog “Citizen of the Aristotelis Municipality”, stated that 50 to 70 individuals wearing full-face hoods and armed with shotguns and petrol bombs entered the site shortly after midnight and set equipments and vehicles on fire. The report further claimed that the assailants immobilized the two security guards who were on the site and held them hostage after dousing them with petrol and threatening to set them on fire. The value of the shares of the majority owner of Hellas Gold, Canadian company Eldorado Gold, dropped by 6% in the Toronto stock exchange following news of the attack.