In January 1928, following a request made by Dimitris Glinos, Kazantzakis and Istrati addressed a public meeting at the Alhambra Theatre in Athens. Istrati’s speech stirred the audience, which went on to hold a rowdy demonstration after the event, provoking the intervention of the police.

Istrati was threatened with deportation, but was eventually placed under house arrest at G. Nazos’ house in Kifissia. Charges were pressed against Kazantzakis and Glinos for fomenting the demonstration, but when the case came to trial a few months later, Glinos stood alone in the dock, since Kazantzakis was in Kiev; the court cleared both men.