11. Violence 78 On April 14, 2011, the cell of the minors once again turned into a place of police violence: »Yesterday we protested against the condition in our cell, the sewage water, the clogged toilet, and we asked to see the director. After a while, some police officers came and asked us to choose four re- »They beat us because they were afraid somebody would try to escape.« M.S., F.S. and M.I., from Iran232 ■ Another case of arbitrary punishment occurred in Fylakio. 30 to 40 days after their arrest, M.S. and F.S. were transferred from Fylakio to Venna. They both claimed asylum in Venna and were then transferred back to Fylakio. Allegedly, in mid-December 2010, cell one was protesting against the arbitrariness of the terms of detention. Some refugees were shouting: »freedom, freedom«, while others were putting fire on their clothes. They requested to speak to the prison director. He came and they asked him why they are kept for such a long period in detention. He only replied: »I don’t know!« Then the police pulled the total of 80 persons out into the yard, where they were ordered to sit in the snow next to the rubbish bins at the side of the building. Six to seven persons were pulled out, the ones that the police identified as having protested loudly inside the cell (among whom M.I.). The police officers beat them in front of the others to set an example. That was around 2 p.m. After beating them in front of their fellow inmates, the unlucky chosen were brought to a corridor next to the phone cells where they were beaten again, this time even more brutally. One of the refugees, who understood some Greek, heard the officers saying: »Take them to the back to beat them more.« They beat them with globs on arms, legs and their heads. Then they were brought back to their cell. In the night, around 10 p.m., all of the detainees in the cell were again taken out into the yard. It was very cold. The police searched them one by one. They had to stand to the wall. Then most of them were brought back to the cell. Some of those who speak English were brought into another room. They were interrogated. The police asked them if there was somebody who wanted to escape. »They beat us because they were afraid somebody would try to escape.« F.S. was among those who were interrogated.233 232 M.S., M.I. and F.S. from Iran; December 20, 2010 – Fylakio 233 M.S., M.I. and F.S. from Iran; December 20, 2010 – Fylakio 234 O.M. (16) and F.M. (16) from Afghanistan; April 15, 2011 – Fylakio presentatives who would talk about our problems with the director. Two hours later they returned, injured. They told us that the police took them out into the yard, next to the parking lot, and beat them up.«234 »I tried to escape because I could not stay there any longer.« I.M., from Algeria235 ■ I.M. was arrested on December 14, 2010, and sent to Soufli detention centre. He was suffering from the detention conditions and was constantly afraid since he did not know how long he would stay there, nor what would happen to him. »I had no place to sleep, so I bought one for 20 euro from another detainee. Today, everybody is sick because of the food. The toilet is clogged. I haven’t had a shower in 25 days«. After one month and a half of detention under appalling conditions, on February 3, 2011, I.M. attempted to escape together with eight Algerians and twelve Moroccans. »I tried to escape because I could not stay there any longer. I was in a group of three. It was a spontaneous decision to run away. But they caught us. We were running in the dark, in the mud. Ten police officers arrested us and then started beating us up. Then they took us back to police of Soufli and beat us again and again. Some of us in the cell had broken arms and broken noses, but we were not allowed to see a doctor.« Allegedly, they all tried to escape when the police took five detainees out of the cell in order to take their fingerprints. Meanwhile the detainees were suffering from the inhuman detention conditions and specifically from overcrowding. At that time 140 people where being detained in Soufli, but some days before they were more than 170. Another detainee236, who witnessed the »punishment« of the escapees, told us: »They kept some of them in the yard, and some others were taken to the prison’s hallway. They had to stay there until the next day. The guards were insulting them. Every time a guard passed by, he would kick and beat them. Some of them were wet and full of mud. They beat them up a lot, some of them got broken arms and legs. After that, nobody was allowed to use the phone anymore«. They were all brought to court and charged with absconding. Most of them have been transferred to prisons. 235 I.M. from Algeria; February 28, 2011 – Soufli 236 H.H. from Iran; May 7, 2011 – Athens