- Source: Rouvikonas
Rouvikonas (Rubicon, Greek: Ρουβίκωνας) is an activist anarchist collective in Athens, Greece. It was formed in 2013 amid the Greek financial crisis and has since undertaken more than 50 actions. Rouvikonas is based in the central Athenian district of Exarcheia, a neighborhood traditionally accommodating of artists, anarchists and anti-authoritarians.
Most of the group's actions have been of low significance against high-profile targets, such as throwing paint, smashing window fronts, attacking ATMs and occupying monuments of significance. Rouvikonas has at times effectively acted as a vigilante group, targeting employers and individuals accused of exploitative behavior, such as unfairly withholding wages, accepting bribes, sexual harassment, and unjust firings. Rouvikonas' actions have also included organizing of free common meals and the operation of a volunteer mobile firefighting brigade.
As of 2018, police sources estimated approximately the group had 120–150 members. Its mode of action and open membership is in contrast with previous anarchist groups that operated by use of indiscriminate violence. Rouvikonas is part of the platformist Anarchist Federation, along with other anarchist collectives of Greece.
On the 18th of May 2024 a leading member of the group was arrested (Giorgos Kalaitzidis) and charged with threatening to incite criminal activity through social media, on whch he posted: "All embassies and all houses of ambassadors will be targets; all touristic areas will become places of operation".
References
Sources
Chatzistavrou, Filippa (2018). Blockmans, Steven; Russack, Sophia (eds.). Direct Democracy in the EU: The Myth of a Citizens' (PDF). London: Rowman & Littlefield International. ISBN 978-1-78660-997-7.
"How a group of Athens troublemakers goes unpunished - Licensed anarchy?". The Economist. 2018-11-08. Retrieved 2018-12-19.
Clapp, Alexander (2018-01-26). "Never Mind the Troika, Here's Rouvikonas". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2018-12-19.
External links
Official Website (in Greek)