Extradited

by Andrew Symeou

  ‘Thelis frappe Andrea? – You want a frappe, Andreas?’ he blurted, grabbing his nose and taking a big sniff.

  ‘Yeah, OK.’

  ‘Pavlo, fiaxe tou filou mas tou Andreas ena cafe! – Pavlos, make our friend Andrew a coffee!’ he demanded to his cellmate. Pavlos stopped playing and acted immediately upon the request.

  ‘Reh Andrea, I am very sick from drugs,’ Apollo said. I didn’t think that he meant actual ‘sickness’, he was probably trying to tell me that he was as high as a kite. The guy was swaying like a tree in the wind; if I pushed him slightly he probably would have fallen off his chair. Pavlos handed me the frappe and they continued to play.

  ‘Min pareis ta zaria grygora – Don’t pick up the dice quickly,’ Apollo said to Pavlos calmly. Pavlos was picking up the dice before Apollo had the chance to see the numbers; his reactions seemed to be very delayed from the drugs. Apollo threw the dice for his next turn and Pavlos picked up the dice too quickly again. Apollo stood up and slammed the backgammon board shut.

  ‘Ti sou eipa reh malaka! – What did I tell you, wanker!’ he thundered. He slid the backgammon board off the table so violently that it smashed against the wall and I flinched. Apollo’s heroin-fuelled outburst left him stumbling forward – catching his balance before he knocked the coffees off the table in front of him.

  ‘Siga reh! – Take it easy, man!’ said Pavlos, who threw his hands up to surrender.

  ‘Siga? – Take it easy?’ asked Apollo.

  I stood up and tried to slide out of the cell before a fight kicked off.

  ‘Katse esi! – You sit!’ roared Apollo while pointing at me with his index finger; his puffy eyes were filled with fire. ‘It’s time to eat,’ he said. Pavlos picked up the backgammon board from the floor and filled it with the plastic pieces. Then we sat around the table and tension resonated in the cell. Three of us sat on the bottom bunks while Apollo ‘the king’ sat on his plastic throne. Their other cellmate served up the chicken and rice stew into four plastic bowls and one was placed in front of me. They had salt, pepper and lemon, Coca-Colas and other fizzy drinks. It was the best meal I’d eaten in half a year. For dessert they snorted long lines of heroin, and again, Apollo tried to persuade me to take some. The only reason he was being nice to me was because he saw me as a young guy in prison, probably with money, going through a tough time. In his eyes, I was a very easy target to become a heroin addict. I was pressured into being there; it wasn’t out of choice. But there was still a part of me that felt like he would protect me if I needed him. I needed to keep him close, but not too close. I was playing with fire.

  9 January 2010, BBC News

  PROTEST STAGED OVER BRITISH STUDENT IN GREEK JAIL

  Supporters of a British student held in Greece on manslaughter charges have protested at London’s Greek embassy.

  Andrew Symeou, 21, is accused of killing Jonathan Hiles, 18, of Cardiff, by punching him in a nightclub on the isle of Zante in 2007.

  Mr Symeou, of Enfield, north London, is in Korydallos Prison in Athens, a jail condemned by Amnesty International.

  His sister Sophie, who led supporters in the protest, said the case against him was ‘riddled with contradictions’.

  About 100 protesters chanted ‘enough is enough’ and ‘justice for Andrew’ outside the embassy in west London.

  They called for an end to his detention, a trial date to be set and an inquiry into allegations of police misconduct.

  Sophie Symeou said, ‘The case against my brother is riddled with contradictions and inconsistencies suggestive of manipulation and in places fabrication of evidence by police officers.

  ‘Andrew has been held in a Greek prison without a trial for nearly six months and has been refused bail twice.

  ‘My brother has suffered for too long and this cannot continue – we are protesting outside the Greek embassy to say enough is enough.’

  Mr Hiles, who was in Britain’s roller-hockey team, died in July 2007 two days after falling off a dance podium in a nightclub.

  Bournemouth University student Mr Symeou has denied killing him, saying that he was not in the club at the time.

  Fair Trials International has said Mr Symeou’s friends claim they were ‘beaten, punched, slapped and threatened’ by police officers in Greece until they gave statements implicating him.

  He was extradited to Greece in July after losing a High Court battle.

  Mr Symeou was held at a detention centre for young people north of Athens until he was transferred to Korydallos Prison.

  Fair Trials International chief executive Jago Russell said, ‘Andrew has already been held for months in a Greek jail without any opportunity to clear his name

  ‘We are urging Greece to bring this family’s unjustified ordeal to an end, to release Andrew on bail and to investigate the serious allegations of police misconduct.’

  Human rights group Amnesty International and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture have repeatedly expressed concern about Korydallos Prison.

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  * * *

  WAITING FOR EXAM RESULTS

  * * *

  Journal extract – Day 176 – 12 January 2010

  It’s a new year now, 2010. I was arrested in 2008 … it’s all taking so long. What a waste of my life. Anyway, things are going to change now, I can feel it. I’m still in prison after six months and it’s painful. I just have to live with the cockroaches a little longer. My ‘symvoulio’, which is like a bail hearing, is on the 15th. I’m praying I get out of here because I can’t take much more. It hasn’t only been 176 days since my extradition, this burden has been eating me alive for over a year and a half – the prison is just a way for them to torture my mind when I’m already dealing with so much. Bastards. I find myself more and more depressed every day. I just want to be an object, have no feeling or emotion without becoming a heroin addict. I can see it’s not hard to fall down that path in prison.

  A lot has happened since I last wrote in my journal. For starters, Vasilis has left. Suddenly the judicial council decided that he could wait for his trial outside – they changed their minds about him being dangerous after eleven months of being in prison. He’s out and I’m so happy for the guy. It’s given me some hope that I may be free next week. I’m trying not to depend on it and just forget about it, but it’s easier said than done. What can I say … I’m prone to bad news now. I just don’t want to feel that pain again when I hear the words I shouldn’t be hearing. It’s the unknown that is the most stressful thing. I will feel better next week regardless of the result. I think I will still be here, but I have hope.

  Anyway, Vasilis is gone and Stelios asked the guards if they could put his friend Thoma into our cell. He is OK, very quiet. He seems like a broken man. I think he used to be an alcoholic because on Christmas when the guards gave us beer he couldn’t drink it. Anyway, this is the first time I’ve been in a cell with no one who speaks English. It’s hard, but good for me to further improve my Greek.

  There’s been shitloads of fights lately, for example the other day Apollo the hitman/pimp/drug dealer and his mates beat the crap out of a gypsy and then they all whipped him with rubber hoses. It doesn’t sound like it would hurt much … but the guy being whipped was covered in blood, dripping from head to toe. He was screaming and screaming. Apollo later told me it was because he owed €500 worth of heroin. It’s obviously not good to get into debt with these people. Luckily I’ve had no trouble with them so far and it’s been a month and a half in Gamma. It would be good to keep Apollo thinking that there is a possibility I could end up one of his top customers for a while, just in case I need his help if anyone starts trouble with me. The worst thing I could do is start to piss him off, then the only guys I would have in prison who are on my side are Stelios, who is a skinny pussy, Thoma, who is broken, and Ashmul, who is … well he’s just a Moushmoullo.

  I’m on the book of Samuel II in the Bible, about a third of the way through. David is now the kin
g – what a guy. Tonight I don’t really want to read. I just can’t wait to be unconscious, but dread waking up here again to the same day.

  Oh yeh, I forgot, there was a protest in London outside the Greek embassy the other day; 140 people turned up – how good is that? It is making me emotional just knowing that so many people back home are fighting for my release. I couldn’t be more grateful. It is so difficult to describe the feeling – when you’re in here you forget that the outside world still exists; the world is still spinning. I wouldn’t have expected that many people. Hopefully it is all helping and makes a difference, but it seems like it’s normal in this country to be in prison for a year, even if you are found innocent in the end.

  Journal extract – Day 177 – 13 January 2009 2010

  I’m not used to writing 2010 yet! To me it still feels like 2008. Time hasn’t moved since I was 19!

  I couldn’t fall asleep last night; cockroaches kept falling on me and I was just stressing out. Again I woke up HERE! I need to stop stressing out and just remember that I will be reading this in twenty years’ time and thinking ‘I have achieved’ – not wishing I could go back to change things … have no regrets.

  They really should let me out of here, it is the correct choice to make. I just want the judicial council hearing on Friday to come and go, hear the words and just carry on regardless of the result.

  I’m still fat and I still smoke. I’ve decided I don’t give a shit any more. I’ve started being lazy and haven’t done press-ups in a week. It’s because of the Xanax; they have started giving them to me during the day now, whereas before it was at night. They make me so lazy.

  Journal extract – Day 178 – 14 January 2010

  The hearing is tomorrow. I’m trying not to think about it too much. But how the fuck do you ‘not think about something’? Attempting to not think about it is technically thinking about it. I probably won’t hear a result for a while anyway. The longer the better; it means they are really contemplating it. It’s stressful because I know I’m going to receive a document in Greek saying either I’m free or not and I won’t understand it. I’m expecting to stay here until trial. Which is OK, I can do it – I’m not a pussy.

  Journal extract – Day 179 – 15 January 200 2010

  I still can’t write ‘2010’ without thinking! Anyway, George Pyromallis (my lawyer) said the hearing went as well as it could today. So in a week, maybe two, I will get a document through saying YES or NO! It’s stressful so I’m just going to assume it’s a NO … but I can’t stop the little bit of hope inside of me saying ‘it has to be a yes’. So I’m in a bit of a muddle. I’m not going to cry if it’s a no at least. Whatever happens is meant to be. George said that the judges were asking for fifty grand bail! What the fuck? Do they think we shit money? Anyway, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but he said they listened to everything and were well aware of the publicity. Imagine if I make bail. Happiness for the first time in almost two years – being a part of my family again. Well I still am a part of them, but just not physically, apart from Tuesdays and Thursdays for half a fucking hour behind a bloody piece of filthy glass. Bullshit. I reckon the odds for freedom are 50/50. Please God, give me a break, I’m a good guy. I’m looking forward to having my life, I can feel it is close.

  Also, Joan Ryan our MP brought up my case yesterday in Parliament defending me, which is very good.

  Joan Ryan explained the ins and outs of the case in the House of Commons. She even stated: ‘There has been a serious abuse of process in the gathering of evidence and the production of written statements, and at worst that evidence has been manipulated and sometimes fabricated to incriminate Andrew falsely.’ She explained that key witnesses contradicted statements that they had signed in Greece, and that there were allegations of police brutality:

  More worrying, though, is that even though the public prosecutor [in Greece] is aware of the allegations, she has so far refused to acknowledge that anything of the sort could possibly have ever happened. In her proposal to the judicial counsel of Zante, without even bothering to have investigated the allegations, which all of us would agree are serious in their own right and clearly relevant to the case against Andrew, she dismisses the allegations out of hand as ‘trite’ and claims that nothing of the kind had occurred … All that he [Andrew] and his family have ever sought is a fair hearing. Andrew has never sought to avoid the opportunity to clear his name; nor has he tried to avoid justice. He has made it clear on countless occasions that he is willing to cooperate with the police. Indeed, his legal team have contacted Scotland Yard and South Wales Police and urged them to investigate. Those are not the actions of someone who is trying to avoid justice … When the rights of one of our citizens are threatened the government has a duty to step in … Today, we reflect not only on the detention of Andrew Symeou, but on the tragic and untimely death of Jonathan Hiles and the suffering that it has brought to his family and friends. Jonathan cannot face a jury; his life was cut short in an act of mindless and senseless violence, but his memory deserves justice, as do his friends and family. They deserve better than this shoddy investigation that is so obviously marred by inconsistencies and anomalies. Another injustice will bring them no comfort. It is in the interest of everyone, Andrew, the family and friends of Jonathan Hiles and the Greek judicial system itself, for this case to be fully and openly investigated. But that will not be possible unless and until the British Government make representations in the clearest possible terms to the Greek authorities to prevent a miscarriage of justice. One young man has lost his life, and I urge the Minister to do everything he can to ensure that we do not ruin the life of another.

  Chris Bryant, the minister of state for Europe, stated that the British government is not able to interfere in the judicial process, but can provide welfare and support via consular staff and take up justified complaints when the treatment of British citizens is not in line with international standards. I gathered that to mean that representatives from the British consulate in Greece would continue to bring me books to read. On a more positive note, he agreed to meet with my family and raise the case with his Greek counterpart – Dimitrios Droutsas.

  Journal extract – Day 180 – 16 January 2010

  I tried ringing the mobile number Vasilis gave to me, but it was turned off. Stelios has his house number so will try that soon. Would be good to chat to him considering we never got to say a proper goodbye. Also, I received a letter from Arnas, so I need to write a letter back; I think that will be my job tomorrow.

  This hope of potential freedom is strange. I was telling Riya today on the phone that it’s like waiting for exam results, only if you fail you have to stay in prison.

  31

  * * *

  A TRANQUIL MISHMASH

  * * *

  After a few slow and monotonous weeks I’d discovered that the judicial council’s decision was to leave me in prison. According to them, I was still ‘dangerous’ and they were afraid that I might ‘re-offend’. I hadn’t even been questioned by police in the investigation, let alone found guilty in a court of law. As much as I’d convinced myself that I was prepared to remain locked up, I couldn’t even bring myself to leave my bunk for two days. Ashmul agreed to collect my food from downstairs for a packet of cigarettes. I didn’t want to walk into the hallway any more; then again, I didn’t want to be in the cell either. Everything was torturing me – the repetition; the violence; the screaming, shouting and wolf-whistling; the lack of privacy; the lack of hygiene; the cockroaches and mice; listening to Stelios moan about the same shit every day; having to constantly keep my guard up – it was exhausting and doing my head in. My depression was getting worse and it felt like I’d been in Korydallos for far longer than it had actually been. The hardest thing was having no idea how long it would be before I could leave – it could’ve been another month, six months, or even a year; who was to know? Even before returning home I’d be sitting in the dock of a high-profile homicide trial in
what could quite possibly be one of the most corrupt countries in Europe. Maybe my life was over? There were too many unknowns and my 21-year-old mind couldn’t deal with them. The word ‘depressed’ isn’t powerful enough to describe how I felt.

  I finally forced myself to go for a walk on the ground floor of the wing. I remember feeling light-headed and weak because I hadn’t moved a muscle in days. Pavlos told me that Apollo needed a favour – I didn’t care about keeping him at arm’s length any more, nothing mattered. The worst thing that could have happened is that someone beat the crap out of me or killed me. In a time of such depression, when it feels like the world is crushing in on you, you don’t think logically and an eternity of nothingness doesn’t even seem that bad any more. I walked in, sat down and sparked up a cigarette. I didn’t even say hello – I remember feeling dazed and in my own world. He showed me a few hits of heroin that were individually wrapped in little bits of folded paper and suggested that I deliver them for him to other cells for a cut of the profit. I told him to deliver them himself, or get someone who needs the money to do it – then I stood up to leave.