Επιστολή του Έλληνα που συνάντησε τον Βάσκο μέσα στο ψυχιατρείο στις 17/2/2009

ΣΑΣ ΠΑΡΟΥΣΙΑΖΩ ΤΟ ΒΙΝΤΕΟ ΜΕ ΤΗΝ ΕΠΙΣΚΕΨΗ ΤΩΝ ΕΛΛΗΝΩΝ ΣΤΗΝ ΚΛΙΝΙΚΗ ΤΩΝ ΣΚΟΠΙΩΝ.

ΕΠΙΣΗΣ ΣΑΣ ΠΑΡΟΥΣΙΑΖΩ ΤΗΝ ΠΕΡΙΠΕΤΕΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΕΛΛΗΝΑ ΠΟΥ ΣΥΝΑΝΤΗΣΕ ΤΟ ΒΑΣΚΟ ΜΕΣΑ ΣΤΟ ΨΥΧΙΑΤΡΕΙΟ ΤΩΝ ΣΚΟΠΙΩΝ ΜΙΑ ΜΕΡΑ ΠΡΙΝ ΤΗΝ ΑΦΙΞΗ ΤΗΣ ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΗΣ ΤΗΣ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΚΗΣ ΑΝΑΓΕΝΝΗΣΗΣ.

ΜΑΣ ΤΑ ΔΙΗΓΕΙΤΑΙ ΟΛΑ Ο ΙΔΙΟΣ ΜΕΣΑ ΑΠΟ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΤΟΥ ΣΤΟ ΔΙΑΔΙΚΤΥΟ.

Ο ΕΛΛΗΝΑΣ ΑΥΤΟΣ ΓΝΩΡΙΖΕ ΤΟΝ ΒΑΣΚΟ ΜΟΝΟ ΜΕΣΑ ΑΠΟ FORUM ΤΟΥ ΔΙΑΔΙΚΤΥΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΚΑΤΑΦΕΡΕ ΝΑ ΕΙΣΕΛΘΕΙ ΣΤΟ ΨΥΧΙΑΤΡΕΙΟ ΚΑΙ ΝΑ ΜΙΛΗΣΕΙ ΜΑΖΙ ΤΟΥ.

ΜΙΛΗΣΕ ΓΙΑ ΛΙΓΗ ΩΡΑ ΜΑΖΙ ΤΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΜΕΤΑΞΥ ΤΩΝ ΑΛΛΩΝ Ο ΒΑΣΚΟ ΤΟΥ ΕΙΠΕ ΟΤΙ ΤΙΣ ΠΡΩΤΕΣ ΜΕΡΕΣ ΤΟΝ ΕΙΧΑΝ ΔΕΜΕΝΟ ΚΑΙ ΤΟΥ ΕΔΙΝΑΝ ΦΑΡΜΑΚΑ. ΕΠΙΣΗΣ Ο ΒΑΣΚΟ ΤΟΥ ΕΔΩΣΕ ΚΑΙ ΕΝΑ ΣΗΜΕΙΩΜΑ ΓΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΟΙΚΟΓΕΝΕΙΑ ΤΟΥ.

ΟΙ ΥΠΕΥΘΥΝΟΙ ΤΟΥ ΨΥΧΙΑΤΡΕΙΟΥ ΕΠΕΤΡΕΨΑΝ ΣΤΟΝ ΕΛΛΗΝΑ ΝΑ ΕΙΣΕΛΘΕΙ ΜΕΣΑ ΣΕ ΑΥΤΟ, ΟΜΩΣ ΟΠΩΣ ΘΑ ΔΙΑΒΑΣΕΤΕ, ΤΗΝ ΕΠΟΜΕΝΗ ΜΕΡΑ ΠΟΥ ΠΡΟΣΠΑΘΗΣΕ ΝΑ ΞΑΝΑΜΠΕΙ ΣΤΟ ΨΥΧΙΑΤΡΕΙΟ, ΤΟΥ ΕΙΠΑΝ (Η ΚΥΡΙΑ ΠΟΥ ΥΠΟΔΕΧΕΤΑΙ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΙΣΟΔΟ ΤΗΣ ΚΛΙΝΙΚΗΣ ΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΗ) ΝΑ ΜΗΝ ΠΕΙ ΟΤΙ ΣΥΝΑΝΤΗΣΕ ΤΟΝ ΒΑΣΚΟ ΚΑΙ ΟΤΙ ΦΥΣΙΚΑ ΑΥΤΗ ΤΗΝ ΦΟΡΑ ΔΕΝ ΕΙΧΕ ΤΗΝ ΑΔΕΙΑ ΝΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΕΙ.

ΤΟΥ ΕΙΠΕ ΟΤΙ ΓΙΑ ΤΟ ΚΑΛΟ ΤΟΥ ΒΑΣΚΟ, ΔΕΝ ΠΡΕΠΕΙ ΝΑ ΠΕΙ ΟΤΙ ΤΟΝ ΣΥΝΑΝΤΗΣΕ...

ΑΚΟΛΟΥΘΕΙ Η ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΑΥΤΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΘΑΡΡΑΛΕΟΥ ΣΥΜΠΑΤΡΙΩΤΗ ΜΑΣ:


Re-edited (22/2/09)

This my story of the mission to Skopje.

When Vasili went 'missing', there were quite a few of us who knew him through the forums, that got worried. A mass email frenzy was almost immediately unleashed, informing all sorts of international organizations, the media ets. His 'hard' line, against his government practices, his active presence, made most of us suspect, that his arrest could have 'hidden' political motives.

After a couple of weeks, a 'delegation' was put together with the purpose of visiting Vasko.In fact, I called in to volunteer as soon as I heard about it. After few days though, I started seeing the 'political' dimension the issue was gaining, and it started to dawn on me that the nature of the visit, with media and politicians, was not such a good idea after all. Getting up there in FYROM before them, was now imperative.

The only thing that was any good about the 'fuss' around Vasko, was that the Skopjans knew that we knew. His 'safety' was thus partly guaranteed. Having read all those strange stories about that clinic, one could understandably not leave much room for optimism.

Avoiding attention, checking if Vasili was really in the clinic and for what reasons, informing him of what was going on, and ultimately getting him out of there had now become 'the mission'. On Sunday night, I found out that the Greek 'delegation' was due to Skopje on Wednesday. Time was now pressing. I had 1 day to find Vasili, one day of an advantage. I took the car and headed for Skopje the next day. Arrived in the hospital, Tuesday, at 6 in the evening, At the door, the taxi driver who drove me to the address, acted as my interpreter. (5 euro can get you far with a taxi man)

At the door, there seemed to be no problems. Only the unusual nature of my visit, being a foreigner, was a bit of a surprise to them. I was led to the building were Vasili was staying. I arrived at the door and rang the bell. A doctor opened the door. He spoke no English. This was the hard part, cause now, having never met Vasili face to face, I knew he would not recognize me. It was the make or brake situation. As he approached, he was asked by the doctor If he knew me. He said that he did not. From AMAC, MOTW..(This are the forums of witch we know each other with call signs) To my relief, his expression changed. He told the doctors that he knew me. We asked to stay private.

It seemed that there was no special directive preventing visitors from visiting Vasili. I will list a few things witch are worth mentioning, and do not infringe on his privacy.

-HE WAS ARRESTED BY THE POLICE.
-HIS COMPUTER GOT TAKEN BY THE POLICE! (RAISES QUESTION MARKS)
-HE WAS TIED AND DRUGGED FOR THE FIRST FEW DAYS..
-AFTER INFORMING HIM OF ALL DEVELOPMENTS, OF WICH HE HAD HEARD NONE, I LET HIM KNOW THAT SOME OF THE FYROM MEDIA ACCUSED HIM OF BEING A SKITSOFRENIC.

The various names he used, etc. He told me that this was just not the case, that this was not true. In a pang of conspiracy theorizing, we assumed that this was just sheer table talk 'propaganda', that was suitable for discrediting his political views.

As for the reasons he was in there, he spoke of some party. I did not persist in finding out the reason. One may have issues witch he does not want the public to know.One has to respect that.
-He did not wish any publicity and media on the issue, due to the harmful consequences this would have on him and his family. We tried to contact his relatives through my phone, (patients were not allowed to use the clinic phone), but were not able to get in touch with them.On a piece of paper, he wrote me down his parents contact info, so that I would try again when I got out.

-HE ASKED ME TO EXPRESS TO ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAD HELPED IN ANY WAY, HIS GRATITUDE FOR SHOWING SUCH AN INTEREST. (THAT WAS ACTUALLY THE FIRST THING HE SAID)

At one point, he added: This is surreal..

After leaving the hospital an, I tried to get in touch with his family, but unfortunately, was unable to locate and inform them of the issues. The next day, Wednesday, I went to the hospital again, trying to make it there before the delegation arrived. This time, the picture was a bit different.. The guard at the entrance, asked for my id, and after making a phone call, he told me that I had to go see the director. I was led to the directors office by a guard, and there, in the office, 2 people were w8ting for me. Pavlina Vaskova, and a man who did not speak English.They were polite, and the conversation was.. revealing.. The man with gray hair,the alleged Director, sat besides me, and Mrs Vaskova sat on the heads desk. She began by asking me in a formal manner, ''What is your purpose in visiting Vasili?''. I answered that I was his 'friend', and that I had seen him the previous day, and that he was expecting me. (I only know Vasko from from MOTW, but I guess this was a bit difficult to explain...) She replied that there has been an issue, and that it was impossible to see Vassili that day. I told her that I was leaving later in the evening, but she kept saying that seeing him that day was not possible. By that time, knowing I was Greek, they had their reasons for being paranoid. Paranoid for what? I ask..

She then explained that a Greek delegation was at the border, with cameras ets, coming to see Vasily. Then she stressed out with some emphasis:

"FOR HIS OWN GOOD, AND DUE TO THE SITUATION, YOU MUST BE CAREFUL NOT SAY TO ANYBODY THAT YOU SAW HIM YESTERDAY"

She repeated this 3 times during our conversation. I could not help but wonder, why would they want to withhold the fact that he was there.. Up to that point, they did not know that I knew about the delegation. For them, having shown up again, I had now become a liability. In a final attempt to get through, I kept claiming that I was leaving the country that day, and that I just wanted to say a final goodbye. Their position would not budge. We shook hands with the gray haired man who spoke no English and I left the office. I did not leave the Hospital, I w8ted outside for the delegation.

Soon enough, media vehicles and reporters started gathering. This was getting interesting.. I spoke with some local reporters, and they told me they were about to take a statement from the director, and that a Greek delegation was arriving soon. We w8ted, and after some time, the blue bus arrived. The Greeks were here.. All the reporters were now taking pictures, and the media frenzy was evident. Diplomatic situations were about to unfold.

The visit, should have maybe been less formal, but there was no reason, not to let at least 1 person, with no cameras ets, to get in and speak to him. After all, many people have been genuinely worried! Mrs Pavlova then came all smiling, and recited her pre-scheduled diplomatic lines, argued at first that it was hard to know if a man with this name was there, due to the large number of patients the hospital had at the time, and other such avoiding stuff. After getting nowhere, the game ended in a stale mate, and the 2 sides went back their ways..

Now, that was the day I met Mr Houhoulis!! Without him, the next moves would not have been possible!! Houhoulis decided to stay behind and not leave with the delegation bus. We met this pleasant Albanian taxi driver, who with money of course, lead the way to all the remaining paces we needed to go. The next day, we tried to locate his family again, but, as we found out, the media (FYROM Media) had already got to them, and it was more than evident,that they were now avoiding phones and publicity.. Unfortunately, an uncomfortable situation for the family was unfolding.

We went to the family house, but found nobody. Left a note, with our contact details. The next day We decided to go to the hospital for a final attempt to see him. Once again, we were taken to the directors office, were Vaskova was w8ting. This time, she was on the attack. She told me that I had lied to her, and that Vasko did not want to see anybody and especially me, she said pointing her finger.. Vaskova kept accusing me that I lied to her on various occasions, that I was with the press ets. I accused her instead for not letting us see him, for lying to the press by withholding the fact that he was there, and for asking me to hide that information myself..

Arguments and accusations came and went, and then Houhoulis suddenly said: 'If Vasily does not want to see him, he said, then he can see me...'
Vaskova was now fuming.. She said Ok, and asked for Petros passport. She also asked and wrote down, the name of the Albanian taxi driver that was with us, and the type of car he was driving. She left the room, we were left waiting.. A woman brought us coffee. It was there that I started to worry, that they will be calling the police, and that trouble was maybe on the way. After 20 minutes, Vaskova walked in with a piece of paper in her hand.

'Ok', she said, here is a written statement from Vasili: In short, it went something like this: ''Due to the circumstances, I, Vasili Gligorov, refuse to see anybody until I get out.''

I asked to see the paper myself, for I had the paper in witch Vasko had written me the contact details for his family,. In that way, I would be able to compare the handwriting. Vaskova refused by saying that I would film the paper!! Something witch was totally ridiculous, since I had brought no camera with me, and as if I would have done any such thing in front of her..It was more than obvious that they were trying to get rid of us . They first made sure though, that they knew exactly who we were.

And then came the best part:
She told us that the guard on the main door said that I tried to bribe him, and that he was filling a law suit with the police!! What a load of bullshit! East block ex-communist mentality at a petty shade, came out clear there. Think about it, instead of letting visitors see a patient, they were now blackmailing us..Think about it..

We got up and left..

Before heading off towards the border, a final move had to be made:
The Red Cross. Initially, we entered another building, thinking it was the Red Cross, but it looked like a public health care department. When we asked were the red cross department was, a man, around his 50's asked us were we were from. When we said Greece, he took us aside and told us, that he knew why we were there, and that we should be careful. I felt I was in a movie or something.. After telling us some weird enigmatic stuff, he pointed us to the direction of the Red Cross building. Entering the building, for the first time, I felt I was somewere civilized. The building was clean, people spoke proper English, looked educated, and they showed genuine interest in what we had to report. The only Europe I probably ever saw in FYROM! (Besides the Pizza and Wine restaurant)

That done, we decided to leave the country. There was nothing else we could do, except perhaps a good meal. The last nigh in the hotel, I was at the bar and was talking about stuff with a nice guy from FYROM. I asked him what was that fuss about with that clinic and the Greeks.. His friend, sitting besides me on the bar, said:

"THIS GUY IS GOING TO GET KILLED.."

Anyway, we left and headed for the border in heavy snow conditions. Reaching the border of FYROM and Greek Macedonia, the snow stopped.
In the Greek Macedonia, the fogy horizon was gone.. Having passed the border, literally 3 minutes latter, Houhoulis phone rang, and we were informed that Vaskos family had filled a law suit for my arrest, for disturbing the peace on their privacy...

I can not begin to imagine how much harassment they must have got from the media.. In any case, I have no intention in going back in that country.. Enouph of Alexandrovski and Phillipovsky statues and the other comic illusions of the type...

All I wanted now, was just to drive down to Thessaloniki, through the plains of Μακεδονία, back to Athens. To drive on a proper road, feeling once again, for the first time after 3 days, free..