One would think that the place where Aristotle was born would be a hotspot of international tourism, kept open and accessible by the Greek government. But these days, an aura of secrecy and security envelops the great philosopher’s village and the Skouries Forest around it.

The reason is a controversial mining project in the area, operated by the Canadian company Eldorado Gold. Approaching the site is dangerous business: successive Greek governments have deployed a sizeable force of riot police and machine-gun wielding, mask-wearing elite police special forces to the forest. Barbed wire fences wind through the trees. One of Greece’s national newspapers reports that the private security company Blackwater — infamous for its role in the Iraq War — has undertaken to protect the project against incensed locals. Residents that oppose the project have seen their houses set on fire and stores trashed.

In 2013, riot police surrounding the mine beat an elderly local dissident known as Theodoros Karavasilikos. They claimed that the disabled “uncle Theodoros” ran to escape arrest and that he hit them with “his hands and legs.” This May, a Greek court convicted him to an one-year prison sentence for “disrupting traffic,” “disrupting public peace,” and resisting authorities. “I don’t believe you,” said the judge who convicted the old man, despite a medical report showing that Theodoros had sustained a concussion and eye damage during the attack, among other severe injuries.