Anarchist demonstration in Athens: Hundreds remember Kyriakos Xymitiris

It is surprisingly quiet in Athens' Syntagma Square, directly in front of today's parliament. Despite the almost 250 anarchists who joined the call to commemorate the late anarchist Kyriakos Xymitiris. The 37-year-old was killed in an explosion in an apartment in the Ampelokipi district on October 31, 2024.

"Kyriakos is alive! Freedom for Marianna and Dimitra!" is heard across the square, which has been cordoned off by the police. In the weeks after Xymitiris' death, a number of arrests took place, including of the well-known Greek anarchist Nikos Romanos, a close friend of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, who was murdered by a police officer in 2008. The anniversary of his death has since become a central date for protests against police violence and state repression. Romanos and two other defendants were acquitted in April 2026 after 17 months in custody - but two other anarchists were sentenced to long prison sentences, Dimitra Z. to eight years and Marianna M. to 19 years.

Marianna M., Xymitiris' partner, who was also in the apartment when the explosion occurred in 2024, was seriously injured and taken to an Athens women's prison after a two-week stay in the intensive care unit. Like Dimitra Z., she is accused of belonging to a terrorist organization, of producing, possessing and using explosive material and of possessing other weapons. According to the indictment, the defendants M. and Z. planned attacks on state facilities together with Xymitiris. Z. is said to have ensured that the couple could use the apartment. However, the prosecution did not name a specific alleged target of the attack.

The verdict is not yet final; the two defendants have appealed, but have been in the Thebes women's prison, an hour north of Athens, since the first verdict. Despite Marianna M.'s state of health as a result of the explosion, the appeal's effect of suspending imprisonment was rejected. The verdicts and high sentences are controversial among the Greek public. Supporters believed the convictions were politically motivated, based on the pursuit of ideas rather than solid evidence.

Xymitiris was no stranger to the left-wing scene, especially the large autonomous ones. For years he has been active in solidarity initiatives for prisoners, in the anti-imperialist and internationalist movements, in demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine, in squats or in actions to defend the Athens district of Exarchia.

It is not disputed that he planned an attack on a government building with explosives that he was killed while making. Rather, it is placed within a revolutionary tradition: “This peace of the blood-soaked Mediterranean, filled with the corpses of migrants shot by the coast guard in the name of “Fortress Europe”; the racist pogroms and the global rise of the far right; "The imperialist wars and genocides" should be fought, it says in the demo call. For its supporters, Xymitiris has continued the "deeply anchored tradition of fighting against the state and capital by all means".

However, the anarchists in Syntagma Square on Saturday were content with mere commemoration. For about half an hour they faced armored riot police with gas masks on, who prevented them from marching while sightseeing buses passed between them. The participants then ended the demonstration peacefully. However, the specially hired photographer was temporarily arrested by the police, which is why the article is only illustrated with a cell phone photo.