That these women were addicts at a particularly advanced stage, that many of them were homeless or temporarily staying at cheap hotels around Omonia Square, only worsened a tragedy caused by the government, at the time still under PASOK. The star of the show was then Health Minister Andreas Loverdos, who made the following bold statement on 30 April 2012: “A part of the problem is illegal immigration and undeclared prostitution. Greek family men go to whorehouses and then carry the disease into their homes”. A few months earlier, he had already declared: “HIV-positive prostitutes need to be expelled, in order to stop posing a threat to Greek families”.69 Once again, the political message was heard by the totality of the repressive mechanism. A “sanitary provision order” instituted by Loverdos70 was carried out by doctors of the Centre for the Control and Prevention of Diseases. Police forces started conducting preventive control sweeps on the street, rounding up women and compelling them to allow HIV tests directly in the police station. Those who tested positive were sent to the Department of Human Traicking, Hellenic Police Subdivision Against Organized Crime, which is responsible for implementing the law on prostitution. Then they were led before the prosecutor. A prompt order by the prosecutor called for the disclosure online of mug shots, identities and private medical data – that is, their seropositivity – and initiated criminal prosecution against the women. Prosecutions went forward against a total of 29 drug-addicted HIV-positive women. They were considered to be prostitutes and charged with the felony of grievous and intended bodily injury. The women were accused of practicing prostitution without taking protective measures, despite having full knowledge of their seropositivity,with the intent to propagate the virus and causing serious illness to their clients. Ater their statements, 16 were detained at Korydallos Prison. Let it be noted that these women were brought before court with medical masks on their faces, in order to complete the image of panic, ignorance and brutal racism of the society at large and its authorities. But the minister had not foreseen that those thus deemed “unclean” would not prove to be illegal immigrants. On the contrary, almost all of the women now stigmatized were Greek citizens. The judges that handled the cases, whether at the stage of investigation or at the stage of ruling, did not follow a consistent pattern. Some of the women were detained for six months or more (up to one year), while others were released at the beginning of the process, under the restriction that they enter a rehab program. The charges against a number of the women were turned into misdimeanours (hazardous bodily injury) during pre-trial proceedings, while others were put on trial on felony charges. 69. 70. See http://www.imerisia.gr/article.asp?catid=26510&subid=2&pubid=112787093. This is the Sanitary Provision No. 39a/2012 on the “containment of the propagation of infectious diseases” issued on April 1st, 2012 by A. Loverdos, later abolished by former Deputy Minister of Health F. Skopouli and reinstated by current Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis. On issues of constitutionality and the general problems posed by this provision, see, among others, Mallios (www.hlhr.gr). MAPPING ULTRA-RIGHT EXTREMISM, XENOPHOBIA AND RACISM WITHIN THE GREEK STATE APPARATUS | 59