The father of Nikos Romanos arrived at the Prime Ministerial mansion at 11am, as was scheduled, in order to meet with the Prime Minister.
He emerged less than an hour later with little to say to the waiting journalists other than that no solution had been found to the problem.
Following the meeting, at which the Justice Minister Charalambos Athansiou was also present, Giorgos Romanos said that no commitments had been made.
“As a father I want a solution to the issue. A large part of society knows what is right. My child is in critical condition. The chances of his death are increasing with whatever that means for the government.”
The development, while disappointing, is not altogether surprising. The meeting with the Prime Minister came about following a request from Romanos’s parents.
However yesterday in their respective speeches during the parliamentary debate over the 2015 budget, both the Prime Minister and the Justice Minister referred to the Romanos case and made clear that they were unlikely to alter their positions.
The Justice Minister, Charalambos Athanasiou called on Romanos to end his hunger strike. He had said, “I hope that whatever his goals for the future, whatever he desires to do in his life, hating the state, hating the system, hating me, for him to realize that he can only do all that alive and healthy. For that I hope from the bottom of my heart for him to reconsider his decision and stop the hunger strike.”
At the same time the Justice Minister reiterated his position that there was nothing he could do as it would be inappropriate for the political leadership to interfere in the independent judiciary. He said that given that Romanos was wanted on other charges, there was little chance of him being granted educational leave.
“Not because the government wants it, not because Athanasiou wants it, but because that’s what the law states,” he said. Romanos's supporters believe that the government is targeting Romanos over his political beliefs.
For his part Antonis Samaras reacted angrily to the opposition leader’s claim that the government ‘roars like a lion in the face of a 20 year old hunger striker but bows its head to the troika in a reference to Nikos Romanos.”
In reponse Mr Samaras said, ““You have praised a hunger striker but you forgot that this young man has been sentenced to 15 year imprisonment for robbery using a Kalashnikov.”
Nikos Romanos himself had also come out against his parents request to meet with the Prime Minister, saying that Samaras already 'knew of and applauded' the situation.
Nikos Romanos was a childhood friend of Alexis Grigoropoulos and with him on the night 6 years ago when he was murdered by a policeman on the streets of the bohemian neighborhood of Exarhia in a killing that sparked a wave of riots throughout Greece. He is currently in prison serving a 15 year sentence for armed robbery and on hunger strike in protest of a decision to deny him leave from prison to attend a university course after he gained a place following a prison education program.
Romanos hunger strike is in its 29th day. His lawyer has also stated that Romanos would begin a thirst strike if a legal change is passed providing for inmates to conduct distance learning courses. He has stated that he does not want to become an excuse for the government to further curtail the rights to education of other prisoners. The relevant legislation is due to be submitted to parliament tomorrow.
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