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Greek photographer arrested in London

The Greek photographer Pericles Antoniou from Athens Greece, was arrested in London England during the Greek Orthodox Easter for taking photographs of a girl in the London Metro.Mr. Antoniou, who has a 25-year experience in artistic photography, was sent to jail, shoeless and was not allowed to communicate with any of his family; he is expected on a hearing soon this month.Mr. Antoniou is also a member of Greek Caravan of Solidarity, which was featured in www.tvxs.grAs he claims in his letter to the Greek Ambassador in England, he was visiting London England due to the Greek Easter seasons, and as a “tourist” he took his camera and rushed to the streets of the British capital city seeking themes to shoot. While on the subway, the mother of a child complained about the fact that he was taking photos of her underage daughter. Mr. Antoniou apologised to the mother and erased all photos which depicted her daughter. However, the father of the youngster was not satisfied with this, and on the next train station asked for the help of police officers, who arrested the Greek visitor.”They arrested me and locked me up on the cell of the local Police Station, they deprived of every rights I had; they neither allow my wife to visit me on the cell nor my 14 year old son and his friends; and I was under a strict solitary confinement during the night. After taking all my personal belongings: my watch, my shoes, and my cell phone, they finally seized my camera”, Mr. Antoniou explains.The next day, Good Friday, the Greek photographer was brought on court where he was told that he is accused under the Public Order Act 1986 (sections 5,1 and of Act 6) because he might have caused “public harassment, alarm or distress”. The 53 year old man confirmed that he did not have anything to do with all these. The hearing is on 18th May.Below is the statement letter of Mr. Pericles Antoniou who sent a copy also to the Ambassador of Britain in Greece.”Dear Mr Ambassador,I was in London during the Greek Orthodox Easter Vacations with my family and friends and I m writing this letter to impeach what has happened to me asking you, after you have confirmed all these, to make the necessary procedures so as to stop my humiliation and to restore my reputation. Above all, I would like to ask you that no other incidents happen in the future, because I think they have no place in today’s society, and especially among ourselves as citizens in the European Union.My name is Pericles Antoniou, I am 53 years old and my hobby is Photography during the past 25 years.On Thursday 17th April 2009, around 11:30 am, on the Jubillee line of London Metro, I was heading towards Modern Tate Gallery to visit the photo exhibition of the Russian photographer and painter Rochenko. On route and being fascinated by the fabulous themes, as I was starting taking photographs on the Metro of the people being present there, a lady complained about the fact that I was taking photos of her daughter. I apologized immediately, as the ethics and common practice of photographers dictates, I showed the lady the photos I had taken of her daughter, and I erased every photo which contained her. Thinking that the whole situation was over, an unknown man claiming to be the father of the child, followed me to the exit and approached some policemen, who were asked to arrest me.From this point onwards everything was like a nightmare: they arrested me, the locked me up in a cell, they deprived me of every rights I had while being in custody, they did not allow me to communicate with anyone, they neither allow my wife to visit me nor my 14 year old son or any of my friends, they kept me isolated and barred knowing that I would not escape in any way, they took all my personal belongings such as my wristwatch, they took my shoes off and kept my camera. I was not even accused of anything formally and my relatives did not even know any of this. I, also, note that not even the Greek authorities in the UK know anything about this incident at that time, and they have been informed about it from my relatives.Finally, after having been kept in custody on Thursday, they brought me to court on Friday handcuffed, and I was told that I am accused according to the 1986 Act 5, section 1 and 6 that I “might have caused fear and stress to the people around me”. Naturally, I pled innocent and there was a recess until the 18th of May 2009, where, as I have been told, I have to be present because I will be condemned as guilty in absentia.Result: Our family holidays were ruined. We are suffering a post-trauma effect from all this happened to us, i.e. financial loss and expenses. My obligation to visit London once again and to pay for my own expenses, for accommodation and for lawyer fees. Also, I have to oblige the people who witnessed the incident to attend the court, as I have been advised to bring them with me so as not to be condemned. Nevertheless, I am deprived of my camera due to the fact that was confiscated by the police, and so I am not able to create. Finally, I have to take 4 days off my job in order to be present at court from 14 until 15th of May 2009.Most important is that both my family I feel humiliated from all this incident, and we feel insecure and afraid that we will not be through this soon enough because of the red tape that’s been going on.I fear that I am in the middle of a case – as if it was written by Kafka himself for his novels - as a plain citizen, who is accused of exposing his artistic sensitivity, against a huge governmental mechanism trying to weave an absurd accusation against me. All this for a simple photo shoot taken place in public places having stated to the police from the very beginning that I did not have the intention to cause any harm, I did not cause any harm eventually, and that the photos I have taken did not cause any ill comments or any form of damage to anyone.I trust that, apart from my ruined holidays, the expenses which I have suffered to pay, and my family’s and friends’ mental anguish, what has troubled me the most is that the police tried to humiliate me in any way. Yet, the abovementioned things I have suffered ever since I was taken to the police station were the worst things in my life and will follow me for the rest of my life.I wonder why did you have to protest strongly to the Greek authorities and media, when British tourists were arrested for taking photos of airplanes years ago, while there was a sign that prohibited taking photos on that particular place?(Let it be known, that I would be on the British citizens’ side because I had sensed that they were on foreign ground without knowing our sensitive issues about national air space! I repeat, though, that they were taking photos next to the sign which prohibited taking of photos and later they posted their photos!)Also, why did you protest for the arrest of British citizens on Greek islands, under the influence of alcohol when they swear at people, beat up people and generally behave rudely to everyone? What is the Greek police behaviour to all this? Did they lock them up in cells and humiliate them, as I have suffered recently because I happened to take photos in public place(!!!) ?It is inconceivable for one to think, in the country where Bill Brandt, Marτin Parr, Killip were born and their works are based on street photography, that I had to be humiliated and accused of taking photos (!!!) while being in the Metro – subway. It is noted that in the National Portrait Gallery there is a photo exhibition currently which is about photos taken of people in streets!!!And all this happening to a modern and civilized country with multicultural issues and if anything else, it’s one of my favourite destinations for my holidays.I am writing this letter, reserving the right for any further action taken to protect my dignity and rights, expecting your intervention against the British authorities so that this outrageous case put to an end, let alone that it does not give credit to the British Police. Above all, it is necessary to put a stop on such incidents which degrade the notion of fair justice from your country, which is supposed to respect the rights of citizens as well as the artistic expressions.I intend to notify this letter to the Greek media and also I intend to inform the European, the Greek and the British Ombudsman; also I am going to repost this letter to the Greek, European and International Artistic Photographers Associations.Pericles Antoniou,April 21st 2009. “

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