UPDATE: The four Afghan asylum-seekers were sentenced to 10 years in prison in Greece.
Four young Afghan asylum seekers were tried in Greece on Friday on charges of starting the devastating fires that burned down Europe’s largest migrant camp last year.
Moria camp on the Aegean island of Lesbos housed more than 10,000 people before being destroyed by two fires in September 2020.
The four Afghans, who are on trial on the neighbouring island of Chios, are charged with arson causing risk to human life and belonging to a criminal group.
Migrants flee from the Moria refugee camp during a second fire, on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece, on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. Photo: AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris.
A legal source told AFP the four could face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty on both counts. No media were allowed to enter the courtroom due to coronavirus precautions.
Two other young Afghans were jailed in a prison near Athens for five years for the same case in March.
Defense lawyers for Afghans appearing on Friday argued that their clients had not received a fair trial.
They say three of them had documents showing they were under 18 at the time of their arrest, but were not recognized as minors by the Greek state.
The trial is based largely on the testimony of another Afghan asylum seeker who identified the six as the perpetrators.
Defense lawyers said the witness was not in court on Friday and did not appear at trial last March because he could not be located.
Stand by Me Lesvos, a refugee advocacy group, said the whole camp was on fire [Manolis Lagoutaris/AFP]
The defendants say they were targeted by the witness, a Pashtun ethnic group, as all six are Hazaras, a minority long persecuted in Afghanistan.
The other prosecution witnesses are police officers, firefighters called to the scene in September 2020 and staff from the European Asylum Service and non-governmental groups working in the camp.
The EU has allocated 276 million euros ($ 336 million) to build a new permanent camp on Lesvos and for similar facilities on the islands of Chios, Samos, Kos and Leros.
Stefanos Tsitsipas became the first Greek player to reach a Grand Slam final on Friday when he defeated Germany’s Alexander Zverev in a bruising five-setter at the French Open, admitting the experience had left him exhausted but proud.
Fifth-seeded Tsitsipas won 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3 and will now play world number one Novak Djokovic in the championship match.
“All I can think of is my roots, a small place outside Athens where I dreamed to play on the big stage at the French Open,” a tearful Tsitsipas said on making his first final at the majors.
“It was nerve-wracking, so intense, I stayed alive. I went out there and fought. This win means a lot, it’s the most important one of my career so far.”
Tsitsipas had led by two sets before Zverev levelled up the match to force a decider. This resulted in the Greek, who has reached the semi-finals twice at the Australian Open (2019, 2021), refocusing again, as he saved three break points from 0/40 at the start of the fifth. Tsitsipas believed this was a crucial moment in the clash.
“I was trying to be in a good relationship with myself and get encouraged and push forward for something good to happen. I knew I was not done at that point, I had more to give. I was playing much better. All I had to do was put in the concentration,” Tsitsipas said.
“I’m someone who fights. I was not willing to give up yet. I think I did few things right that worked in my favour. I was still alive. I was still able to come back to the match. It was a breath of fresh air, that first game. I felt revitalized,” Tsitsipas admitted.
The 22-year-old has now recorded a Tour-leading 39 wins this year and is excited to be in Sunday’s final at a tournament which means a great deal to him.
“I’m looking forward to leaving my entire body on the court in the final… I’m looking forward to bring my game to kind of challenge myself to step it up.”
Two years after her first main stage directing credit for State Theatre Company South Australia, with the End of The Rainbow, Elena Carapetis returns to Adelaide’s Royalty Theatre to direct Melanie Tait’s affectionate Australian comedy, The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race.
Inspired by real life events, the story is about five women who chew through questions about fairness, opportunity, gender equity and stand up for their principles.
Why is this production timely and how has Carapetis’ Greek and Cypriot background influenced the elements of this play and the complexity of the characters? Elena gives us the answers.
Photo: FB/Stage Theatre Company South Australia
Q:What are the key messages of this production and how are they relevant to what is currently unfolding around the world?
A: The most obvious theme is around gender equality. The premise of the play is there is a potato race that happens every year and Penny Anderson, who grew up in Appleton, comes back as an adult to find out the men’s prize money is $1000 and the women’s is $200. Understandably, she calls out how unfair this is, and a big, hilarious culture war follows.
At the heart of the play is the notion of how we communicate with each other as a community and as a family, so that we are heard and so everybody gets the same chance to be respected.
I feel like at this time in history with so much happening on social media, we have almost lost the skill of nuanced and rigorous discourse. Melanie Tait has written a fantastic play because there are lots of different points of view about the world in it, but she doesn’t smash us over the head with one point of view.
Photo: FB/Stage Theatre Company South Australia
She allows people to say, ‘well this is the reason why I feel this way’. And I wish the world was a little more like this.
Yes, the town of Appleton is flawed and filled with people who could do better, but at the end of the day they do strive to do better, and they lead with love. It’s been a joy to work on and although it traverses some important issues we need to look at as a community, as a country and as a society, it has a massive heart and I think it will bring the audience immense joy. It’s also incredibly funny.
I want the audience to feel like they’re visiting this fictional town of Appleton and having a little holiday, like they are a fly-on-the-wall watching life unfold in this vibrant community.
Q:In the play, Penny, the central character, wants to smash through a glass ceiling. Has your own migrant background and the support of strong women in your life influenced the elements of this play in any way?
A: The women who came before me in my family did not have the opportunities, education or agency I do. They were all incredibly smart, strong and resilient.
My great-grandmother raised four children on her own when her husband died – she was only 22. She became an entrepreneur of sorts in her village – she bought things in bulk and divided them into individual saleable items and earned a living.
Photo: FB/Stage Theatre Company South Australia
She had no schooling, she had no safety net, she had no privilege. If she was around today, I’m sure she’d have been the CEO of a company. So of course, I feel a connection to all my yiayias, my aunties and my mother.
I always want to honour them in the work that I do – they sacrificed a great deal so I could have the freedoms I have now. I seek to make creative choices that centre the experience and voices of women, I want to lift the veil on how much women edit themselves, how they are programmed to play small and nice.
I try to make choices that open the hearts of people watching and make them appreciate all the quiet ways the women around them make their lives better. I strive to do all the things my ancestors never got to do and to say the things they never got to say.
Photo: FB/Stage Theatre Company South Australia
Q: What is your message to the women out there who are taking action to win their own races?
A: To remember that your ancestors didn’t get you all the way here for you to play small.
And that it’s ok to get angry sometimes, in fact, it’s often the most appropriate response because it’s the part of you that loves you speaking up and telling you where your boundaries are.
Women and girls are spectacular – and we have the power to change the rules so they serve us all.
NSW Labor leader Chris Minns has revealed his opposition frontbench, elevating five new members to a shadow cabinet in a reshuffle some MPs have described as a genuine attempt to heal the party.
Former leader Jodi McKay was offered a frontbench portfolio by Mr Minns, but turned it down. Mr Minns’ recent leadership rival Michael Daley was promoted to shadow attorney-general, while newly-appointed deputy leader Prue Car will hold on to the education portfolio.
The line-up promotes five MPs to the frontbench for the first time, including Anoulack Chanthivong, Steve Kamper, Rose Jackson, Courtney Houssos and Tim Crakanthorp.
Sophie Cotsis remains Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations and Work, Health and Safety.
“I have given our new team a challenge – let’s show the people of NSW what is possible in this State. Let’s be positive and optimistic,” NSW Labor Leader, Chris Minns, said in a statement.
Following on from last week’s column on what makes us Greek, I would like to present my view. What is the point of considering oneself Greek if you can’t speak the language?
It is a unique, beautiful, lyrical language that opens your mind and fills your heart with treasures you can never imagine unless you can understand it.
It isn’t the same reading Modern Greek literature in translation. One could say it isn’t the same reading Homer in Modern Greek instead of Classical Greek but remember there is only one Greek language from antiquity to today. It is one of the oldest living languages and has evolved from the lyric language of Homer to the beautiful language it is today. So even if you read Homer in Modern Greek, it is still beautiful.
Though many poets have been translated to English, very successfully, such as the poetry of Constantine Cavafy, it is always better in the original.
Speaking of Constantine Cavafy, he was a Greek born in Egypt who spent time in England and yet he wrote in Greek and became of Greece’s most celebrated poets and one of the top selling poets worldwide. Another interesting fact is that he only visited Greece twice in all his life and for a total period of one month.
Therefore, you see, you do not need to be born in Greece to be Greek. You need to practice ‘the art of being Greek’. That intellectual spark that can start a fire within you, a great love of the language that can lead to so much more.
A deeper understanding of philosophy, religion, the arts, science, even life itself.
Most European languages have borrowed heavily from Greek but Greek has also gobbled up many ancient dialects, many languages that do not exist anymore.
*Eleni Elefterias-Kostakidis is a teacher of Modern Greek and University lecturer.
George Sourrys can’t help but let a laugh escape when I ask him how long it took to write his latest novel The Synchronicity of Ulysses.
“I decided around [2003] that I wanted to write the book. I probably even came up with the title back then. I just didn’t know what I was going to write. I didn’t have the wisdom to be able to write it. I’ve done a whole lot of searching since then.”
“You can say I’ve been working on it for 18 years but the actual writing was more like six-to-seven years.”
Sourrys is a writer, investor, and commercial model, but wants to be best known as a philosopher, he tells me. Or rather, a “backyard philosopher,” in his words.
“I remember I went and saw a guidance counselor who said, ‘Oh, don’t do philosophy. You’ll never get a job out of that,” he says.
George Sourrys grew up in the “outback desert climate” of Mount Isa, north-west of Queensland, and says he wasn’t out-and-proud about being half-Kytherian in “the middle of nowhere”.
George Sourrys released his debut novel in March (Left) (Source: StarNow) (Right: Sourced via Instagram @georgesourrys)
“As a child, for some reason, I just wanted to be like everyone else and be Australian, even though I was born in Australia,” he says.
“It took me a while to realise the power that comes with being Greek.”
Sourrys later moved with his family to attend boarding school in Brisbane but it wasn’t until a trip to Greece when he was 16, and later 28, that he began embracing his heritage.
“I felt myself to be, at that time, a kind of searcher of secrete knowledge,” he says.
Just like the ancient Greek philosophers, I felt like I had a kinship with them.”
It’s hard not to notice the parallels between Sourrys and Ulysses, the protagonist in his novel: both are wisdom seekers inspired by the philosophers of ancient Greece.
“There are definitely elements of myself in quite a few of the characters.”
“[Ulysses’] journey is similar to my journey,” of course without the “fantastical” aspects, Sourrys says, but it’s his philosophies that form the basis of his novel.
“That’s my lesson in the book: the world is an amazing place… all the beauty you’re looking for is all around you, you just have to open your eyes to it.”
The Synchronicity of Ulysses is available in book stores and online.
House prices rose 2.2 per cent in May and more than 10 per cent since the pandemic hit, the latest CoreLogic data shows.
The news isn’t all positive, UBS chief economist George Tharenou warns, expecting that macro-prudential regulation will be in place by October to eventually slow the boom down.
“We expect the boom to continue until there is a policy response, which we still think is most likely to be macro-prudential tightening, rather than RBA rate hikes or federal government policy/tax changes (in contrast to New Zealand),” he wrote.
He adds that the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) will be watching closely for any signs of deteriorating credit quality, including a rise in mortgages and debt-to-income ratio lending examples, as the market booms.
His analysis followed CoreLogic’s data this week, adding that the market is on track to hit 15 per cent annual growth within “a matter of months”.
Effie Zahos, Canstar money expert, urges borrowers to refinance their loans before interest rates rise as variable and short-term fixed mortgage rates remain at or near record lows.
Effie Zahos is a money expert at Canstar (Source: Ovations!)
“Focus on knocking off your home loan debt before 2024, when the Reserve Bank has said it’s likely to increase the cash rate for the first time in 11 and a half years.”
Canstar estimates Australian homeowners could slash over $15 billion from their annual interest bills if they all refinanced.
“The dilemma for mortgage holders is not so much trying to secure a cheap rate but more so paying off as much as they can now to secure themselves a buffer before rates do go up,” Zahos says.
Greek mythology courses for diasporic preschoolers and young adults have been added to the StaEllinika app in a joint educational initiative from the Greek government.
Preschoolers and young adults are set to climb one step higher up Mount Olympus with the interactive and story-driven courses.
“Sta Ellinika offers a bridge for young Greeks in the diaspora to reach the roots of their cultural heritage,” says the Greek secretary general for Greeks abroad, Ioannis Chrysoulakis.
Around 30 thousand people have so far signed up to StaEllinika – the Greek Foreign Ministry’s app designed to universalize Greek language and mythology for Greek and English-speaking Greek diaspora.
The initiative is brought by a collaboration between the Simon Frasier University in Canada and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America to universalise Greek language and culture courses.
Poseidon, Zeus and more feature in the Greek Foreign Ministry’s StaEllinika app.
Dr. Dimitris Krallis, from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies, put the initiative in motion to provide a fun break away from the modern world to visit the ancient world.
“The next generation of the Greek diaspora will be provided with the necessary tools to keep the Greek language, culture and history alive and thriving, as a result of the collaboration with our long-time partners at the Greek Government and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, and with the support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation,” Krallis says.
Dr. Anastasios Koularmanis, from the education department of the Greek Archdiocese of America, notes the role Greek mythology plays in helping children develop critical thinking skills and creativity.
“The stories we learn as children shape our minds by instilling values and morals, while also helping us learn how to communicate with one another,” she says.
“Staellinika’s mythology courses combine playfulness with an exceptional learning experience, appealing to both children and adults alike.”
‘Gigantes’ beans get their name from, well, being gigantic. Gigantes Plaki are not only a comfort food but a superfood.
These flat, white beans are high in dietary fiber and protein, as well as a good source of vitamin A. The Greek Herald gives the recipe to the staple Greek cuisine just in time for the winter rush.
Ingredients:
200g Gigantes dried beans (or dried butter beans, or quite frankly any dried white beans will do)
1 carrot diced
1 stick celery diced
1 small red onion finely chopped
1 small leek finely chopped
1 clove garlic minced
2 tbsp olive oil
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
Giant Greek beans. Photo: Larderlove.com.
Method:
1. Place dried beans in a pan and cover with cold water and leave to soak overnight.
2. Rinse the beans and place them in a pan and cover with water and bring to a boil then simmer for an hour at least, you want them tender.
3. Drain and reserve a cup of the cooking liquid
4. Heat oil in a frying pan and saute the onion, celery, and carrot for 5 minutes then add dried herbs and the garlic for 1 minute, set aside till beans are ready
5. Pour the beans into an ovenproof dish and add all the other ingredients plus the saved cooking water
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees (Celsius) for 30 minutes.
Note that as these are dried beans you will have to soak them overnight.
Rigas Feraios was a Modern Greek writer, political theorist, and rebel. Rigas Feraios is honored as a Greek national hero as a victim of the Balkan rebellion against the Ottomans and a pioneer of the Greek War of Independence.
Early life:
Antonios Kyriazis (“Rigas”) was born in 1757 to a rich family in the village of Velestino, Thessaly, Greece (then part of the Ottoman Empire), near ancient Pherae. He was given the nickname Pheraeos or Feraios from the ancient Greek city of “Pherae”, this nickname was given to him by others, and he does not appear to have used this name himself.
During his early life, Rigas achieved and experienced many amazing things, including living in a monastic community in Mount Athos, working in Constantinople, and studying in Bucharest. Among his worldly journies Rigas learnt of the French revolution and believed that something similar could happen in the Balkans. This inspired Rigas to travel to Vienna in 1792. At that time, Vienna was the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, his trip was as part of an effort to seek help and support from French general Napoleon Bonaparte.
During his time in the city, he operated a Greek-language daily newspaper called Efimeris (i.e. Daily), as the city of Vienna had a large Greek community. He published a suggested political map of Great Greece, this map included Constantinople and many other areas as part of Great Greece even if Greeks were in the minority in those areas.
Statue of Rigas Feraios in Athens, Greece (Left) (Source: sansimera.gr), Feraios by German painter Peter von Hess (Right) (Source: Wikipedia)
Greek Revolution:
Rigas started his campaign for Revolution by printing brochures and flyers based on the ideology of the French Revolution, such as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the New Political Constitution of the Inhabitants of Rumeli, Asia Minor, the Aegean Islands, and the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. These brochures were planned to be given to the public to spark a Pan-Balkan revolt against the Ottomans
Rigas did speak with Commander Napoleon Bonaparte and tried to gain the commander’s trust and loyalty. One notable thing Rigas did was send Napoleon some tobacco made from the root of a Bay Laurel retrieved from a destroyed temple of Apollo. In addition, to help from the French, Rigas aimed for help from Italy and set out for Venice to see the general of the Army of Italy. On his way to Venice, he was tricked by a Greek merchant named Demetrios Oikonomos Kozanites, a Greek merchant. Rigas had his documents taken and was detained by Austrian police in Trieste (Austria was an ally of the Ottoman empire and they were concerned the French Revolution might incite similar violence in its land). Rigos and his companions were handed over to the Ottoman governor of Belgrade, where they were imprisoned and tortured.
During his transfer from Belgrade to Constantinople, Rigas and his five associates were murdered, to avoid the possibility of being rescued by Osman Pazvantoglu, a friend of Rigas. The remains of bodies were dumped into the Danube. Rigas Feraios’s final words were believed to be, “I have sown a bountiful seed; the hour is approaching when my nation will enjoy its wonderful fruits.”
