Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Greece: People's solidarity stops seizure of pensioner’s home by the banks

Protest in Athens in support of pensioner Ioanna Kolovou (Right)
On Monday, November 21, at 5.30 in the morning a bailiff with police forces broke into the house of an elderly woman, a low pensioner in Athens, Greece, in order to evict her and her home to be given to a fund that had bought her debt.

The elderly woman, Ioanna Kolovou, mother of a person with special needs, had a debt from credit cards of 15.000€, which, when she lost her husband, she could not afford its payment and asked for a settlement of the debt. While the bank was delaying the procedures the interests were growing and doubled the debt with the Bank going forward to auctioning her home to a Fund (called "vultures" for taking people’s homes).
 
Yesterday morning, at 5.30 so as to avoid any resistance they broke the door of her home and demanded that the old woman leave immediately, not even allowing her to take her coat.

Immediately people from the neighborhood and cadres of PAME arrived and blocked the procedure. They did not allow for the seizure and transfer of the woman’s belongings and brought the woman back to her home. PAME immediately called for a protest of support and solidarity in front of the apartment with hundreds arriving in short notice.

At the same time PAME called also for protest at the Fund’s offices, only to find out that the Fund is probably a cell company, with no offices in its official address.

The massive protest of the people in front of Ioanna’s home was welcomed by Ioanna herself, who thanked all the people there noting “Thank you all for everything! Solidarity is our weapon! It will always be our weapon!”
 

 
From her house the hundreds of people demonstrated in the area denouncing the Governments’ – Banks’ attempts to steal people’s homes. On behalf of the class unions, the President of the Construction Workers’ Union of Athens noted “This must be our response everywhere. Hands down from people’s homes. Only we the people will save our homes!”

pamehellas.gr