Dozens members of extreme-right Golden Dawn and religious organisations attempted to storm a theater in Athens on Thursday evening to stop the premiere of Terence Nally’s play “Corpus Christi”. Riot police was deployed outside the theater “Chytirio” in Iera Odos Avenue in the east of Athens, teargas was fired and some protesters were detained. Among the crowd were two MPs from Golden Dawn. One of them even freed a detainee and took him out from the police bus.
The some 100 protesters had gathered outside the theater chanting slogans that the play is a blasphemy. They tried to interrupt the play and break through the riot policemen deployed outside the building. As they wouldn’t step back, the police made limited use of tear gas. However they tried again to enter the theater and threw yogurt at the entrance.
As police chased the protesters in the surrounding streets , four people were detained.
And then the unprecedented happened: Christos Pappas, Golden Dawn MP, rushed to the police bus and freed an older man. Right there in front of the policemen’s eyes who refrained from stopping this incredible incident. Pappas grabbed the man from the arm and the two left , while the police was just looking passively.
Video:
embedded by Embedded Video
YouTube Direkt
When Newsit reporter asked the head of the deployed policemen how comes the MP freed a detainee, he replied that ‘detentions are virtual’.
Reporter Beaten
At the same time, somewhere near and away from the cameras, a reporter from Lifo-Magazine was beaten by the protesters.
Manolis Vamvounis described minute by minute in a convulsive way via his twitter account (see a text description here)how he was humiliated by the religious fanatics and was attacked by GD-members, while the police was standing by doing nothing. The injured man sought shelter to a friend’s home and wrote that he was afraid to file a lawsuit to police. Then one of of the men who punched him was a “well known GD-MP”, Manolis claimed without making public his name.
The man, who was scared to death, had deleted his profile on Facebook out of fear, he wrote.
Reactions
Despite the ugly incidents, the actors decided to continue and four MPs from opposition party SYRIZA and coalition government partner Democratic Left rushed to show solidarity and attend the performance. Nikos Bistis (SYRIZA) called the incidents “A shame for the democracy” while Tasiopoulos demanded the intervention of prosecutor.
Outside the GD-MPs were shouting that they want to attend too.
Video: GD MP & protesters outside the theater
embedded by Embedded Video
YouTube Direkt
On Thurday morning, religious organizations had submitted a request for the performance to be cancelled, a request that was rejected by an Athens court.
Corpus Christi is a passion play by Terrence McNally dramatizing the story of Jesus and the Apostles. Written in 1997 and first staged in New York in 1998, it depicts Jesus and the Apostles as gay men living in modern-day Texas. The play was condemned by the Catholic League as blasphemy and sacrilege. Terence Nally had even received death threats.
The premiere was scheduled for Octber 4th but due to protests by GD and religious fanatics it was postponed for today evening.
+++ Meanwhile there is video showing GD-MP Panagiotaros (the one who asked data about foreign infants in nurseries) in a xenophobic and homophobic delirium. There is a translation, but you shouldn’t read if you may get offended.
PS No reaction by the Minister of Citizen Protection or Justice or Culture or any other official so far.
If it wasn’t KTG blog, I would have thought this happened in Libya, Iran etc as seems like the same type of mentality. I don’t agree with the play but who are we to regulate people’s beliefs
the rise of the Golden Dawn in Greece is really worrying, thank you for keeping us informed. Have you seen this story in the Guardian?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/11/greek-police-protester-human-shield
yes, but unfortunetely had no time to report about it.
Silly Greeks Worry about your economy first! LOL!
This is yet again a perfect example of how misguided fanatics are being used by the likes of GD to create mayhem and havoc on completely false grounds and pretenses.
Neither the play, nor their protests have anything to do with blasphemy. I doubt if any them actually know what blasphemy means. If they did, they would not make such fools of themselves.
This is in fact the second time that GD deliberately confuses sacrilege with blasphemy, to serve their own unsavoury purposes.
These people are not complaining about blasphemy. They are complaining about somebody having ideas different from theirs.
And meanwhile they have given the best possible publicity to the very play the wanted to stop…
All I´ve to say is that there is scientific empirical evidence that homophobia can result from the suppression of same-sex desire. Greetings to Panagiotaros and his macho “mates”!
They want empty islands to reward Turkey for Syria and for their paedophile rings as well as ‘drilling for oil’
Dimitris T, Athens
Reactions of religious groups ans censorsip of the art in Greece has a long history before the rise of Golden Dawn. Sorry this link is in greek.
http://www.lifo.gr/team/readersdigest/33057
For decades this marginally lawfull group took 0.1- 0.2% in the elections, but with strong connections in Police and Army. This mentality still exists and resists in a -minority though- part of greek society. As o 41 y. o. doctor and gay, I don’t feel safe. No recognition of gay rights exists in Greece and mainly this performance was condemned by the church because they think that they present Jesus as gay, which is not true.
Finally the first performance was given on Friday 12th under strict protection by the police but it was the last, since performers’ lives are constantly threaten by GD and they eventually gave up.
http://www.lifo.gr/now/culture/17702
I am writing this not to urge a reaction to kick Greece out of the EU, but to ask and cry for rise of information and close follow – up of what is happening nowadays in Greece.
Dimitris, that’s why we try to do here. to tell those outside Greece, what’s really going on here.
thanks for sharing …