(from ABC Belarus)
Dzmitry Zvan’ko sentenced to 5 years for a fight with neonazis in Brest was released on parole yesterday. All in all he has spent 3 years in jail.
There are two more convicts in this case – Roman Bogdan and Dzmitry Stsyashenka. Don’t forget them, show your solidarity!
Roman Bogdan
213010 Shklov
p. Molodezhnyj, IK-17, otryad 12
Mogilevskaya obl.
Dzmitry Stsyashenka
213800 Bobruisk,
ul. Sikorskogo 1a, IK-2, otryad 14
Mogilevskaya obl.
On Friday 27.5. 2016 in Pankrác remand prison anarchist Martin Ignačák accused of terrorism went on hunger strike. He did this because on 29.4.2016 the City court in Prague ruled in favour of his release from remand and the state’s attorney appealed this decision to the High court in Prague. On friday 27.5. 2016 the High court in Prague extended the remand. Therefore the anarchist has decided to protest by going on hunger strike and has stopped taking in nutrition and liquids. This type of hunger strike threatens the life of the hunger striker after a week.
During the year long investigation of the preparation of a supposed terrorist attack the imprisoned anarchist has exhausted all legal options, to achieve objective procedure of the respective organs active in the criminal proceedings. None of them were taken into account. This is why he now chose this radical form of expression, to draw attention to this manipulated police case. ” I consider the approach of the
investigators and the police to be very problematic, it is a threat to the freedom of every human being, a threat to freedom of speech, a threat to activism that tries to lead to a better world , and this doesn’t just involve anarchists.”
Martin is being prosecuted in the so called Fénix case from April 2015, in which altogether 5 people were accused of the preparation and the failure to notify of a terrorist attack on a train. Martin is the only one who has been in remand prison this whole time and his detention has now been extended after the intervention of the state’s attorney. As a reason for the extension of remand the state’s attorney used the testimony of a police agent who infiltrated the anarchist movement in 2014. From his testimony the state’s attorney drew the conclusion that
Martin might attempt to escape to Spain. Another reason, according to him, was that Martin ” is connected to the so called Síť revolučních buněk/ The Network of Revolutionary Cells (SRB) and therefore also to similar organizations abroad.” The police spoke about SRB when they began Fénix and provided information to the media. ” Any connections between the 5 attacks ascribed to SRB and all the detained and accused
have been refuted. The investigators themselves have ruled it out” says Martin.
At the moment Martin is the second longest detained prisoner in the Pankrác remand prison. For 13 months he lives there under conditions, that negatively affect his psychological and physical state. For example he has been refused food free of animal products, which means he practically doesn’t have access to hot food. Friends, who have come to visit him have been mentioned by name in the indictment. Police from the Department for combating organized crime have started to collect information on Martin’s sister, only because she tries to support her brother in whichever way she can.
For Martin parole would mean that after 13 long months he would again see his friends, family, nature, that he wouldn’t be exposed to emotional deprivation and physical hardship.
Update Sunday, May 29th: Martin’s sister Pavla B. joined her brother in the protest and this morning she has started hunger strike herself as well.
For more information follow antifenix.noblogs.org
Join Bristol ABC and friends from 5-7pm on the 27th of May at Hydra Bookshop, Old Market, BS2 0EZ for our semi-regular letter writing night; get your questions about writing to prisoners answered, learn about class struggle prisoners and anti-prison struggles across the world, and maybe get a pen-pal of your own!
Here’s an excerpt from a letter of thanks we received after sending out 10 or so cards at the Anarchist Bookfair to show you how much this communication means to those who are locked up:
“Thank you so much for your wonderful card of solidarity and support that really lifted my spirits and diminished considerably the feeling of isolation that my current very difficult situation creates. […] I really was grateful to receive your card and it really did raise my morale and reassure me that I’m not completely alone”
-John Bowden
It has been just over a year since the police operation ‘Fenix’ became known to the people of Czech Republic. Just over 1 Year since the 1st arrests were made, of which Martin still remains on remand in custodial prison as a result of what appears to be entrapment. People are still being bullied, pursued and repressed on a daily basis. On 26 & 27 April was the first trial since the repression began (to our knowledge). The case of Igor Shevstov, who was accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at
the house of defense minister Stropnický, and for filming somebody graffiti the prison. He was looking at 15 years imprisonment, on top of the 3 months already served in custodial prison (remand), where he was kept under maximum security for part of the time. (read more under the Igor tab on antifenix.noblogs.org)
The Court room held the first major public display of this farce, also known as Fenix.
The trial was held in a small room, accessible to 18 people only, the majority of which were journalists. This did not prevent supporters of Igor gathering in the corridor and outside the courthouse.
After the charges were read out, the damning evidence came out. Of all the digital and printed evidence the police collected in this investigation, the judge pulled out a photo which was found on Igor’s mobile phone, a picture of his foot on a doormat of the USA flag. When questioned about why he saved this picture, Igor replied “I thought it was funny”. At this point it became clear that the prosecution were going to prey on Igor’s Russian origins as a motive for the alleged Molotov attack on the Stropnický house. – To explain, Stropnickys undying love for the west makes him a target for any Russian! In this case, Russian translates as Pro-Putin/anti-west. Igor was portrayed in the media as a crazy Russian nationalist after his arrest. The great
contradiction here is that in Russia Igor was prosecuted for unannounced demonstrations against the Russian occupation of the Crimea and against Putin’s imperialist government. And as he explained in his closing speech, simply being Russian does not automatically make you pro-Russian/some kind of Russian nationalist.
The next laugh in the courtroom was the judges interest in Igor’s
tattoos, namely the ACAB on his neck. The room erupted in laughter at his explanation. It wasn’t the last time the judge had to settle the crowds laughter.
It came as no surprise, but it still bites. The contradiction. One rule for Igor, another for Stropnicky. Like many anarchists before, Igor was forbidden to use any political argument in his defense. When Stropnický took to the stand, he completely utilized his freedom, with a mixture of politics, fear and slander, he created a monster out of Igor, exclaiming
that since the defendant moved to the Czech Republic he felt a great radicalization of society, with increased hatred from the left and the right. He referred to the alleged Molotov attack as an assassination (the media’s sensationalized term for this case) and basically said Igor’s presence in the country attributed to the rise of so called Rightist, Leftist and fundamentalist extremism. Stropnický was also the only person in the court room to openly claim to know how to make a Molotov cocktail, as learnt from an anarchist website, he described why the bottle did not ignite correctly and went on to say that his house would have been burnt to ashes in seconds had the molotovs been a success. Interesting.
What else.
Martin Stropnický and His wife Veronika Stropnická spoke of how the attack was clearly aiming for their daughters room, as though anarchists make a habit of attacking children. It is worth noting at this point that a collage containing photos of the daughters with black crosses over their faces came to the family. The family for some reason don’t think that the photos and the attack are connected. Police said they actually had some person, which was saying, that he had experience making Molotov cocktails and working for the Bernard beer company (Molotov cocktails were made out of Bernard bottles). And it was the
person, who was sending letters to Stropnicky. Police then said that this person is not suspicious and sent him to the psychiatric hospital.
The prosecution’s main evidence was the alleged scent match between Igor and the Molotov bottles. The defense requested an expert from the scientific sector on odor to testify, since this kind of evidence is seen as untrustworthy, this request was however rejected by the judge.
In defense.
Interestingly, it is facebook which was used in Igor’s defense. At the time of the attack, Igor was using facebook to communicate with his partner while being in the student club. The judge claimed that the conversations were untrustworthy and doubted the claim, since the Facebook ID is not identical to Igor’s name, and therefore it could be anybody writing there. However, to use this against Igor the prosecution should collect data, logs, and match it against Igor’s personal style of
communication, like an old fashioned handwriting test perhaps. This of course did not happen.
The Graffiti.
The prison officer brought forward the bill to repair the graffitied external prison walls.
The graffiti apparently appeared because Igor was filming it.
The invoice was 6267Kč (approx €230). 3 points worth noting, first, the purchase of materials to repair the graffiti sprayed in May 2015 took place in March 2015, secondly it was necessary to reimburse several prisoners for 96 hours of work repairing an 8.5 m2 wall. And finally the inscription “Free Nationalists” which had been there long before the event, was also cleaned and pegged on Igor’s Bill. However, the court said that Igor does not have to pay this, because there were some mistakes in the prison’s protocols about damage, they shit their own bureaucracy.
The Verdict.
13.00, 27 April 2016 the verdict was announced. The Court ruled that Igor Shevstov was not to blame for the attack on the Minister of Defense’s house. However the judge stressed that its not because it was proved that he didn’t do it, but because unfortunately they failed to prove that he did do it!
The second paragraph of the indictment; assistance in the offense of the destruction of foreign affairs (filming the graffiti). Igor was found guilty and sentenced to deportation form Czech Republic for two years, and that he must leave within 20 days. However He will appeal the decision, so he doesn’t have to leave. For now.
The camera was also forfeited to the state.
The Explanation.
The camera operator was clearly looking right and left, and thus
physically assisting the accomplices who sprayed the graffiti.
As well as, psychologically supporting “accomplices”, which means
putting up slogans in support of the people inside the prison.
Igor supposedly has no ties in Czech, no facilities or a proper visa and so the punishment of expulsion was seen as the most appropriate. The Judge failed to mention the three months Igor already spent in jail for no reason, the fact that he lost his student visa because of it, and the numerous friends he has in Czech Republic. Igor has asked for a work visa, which is giving him the right to stay in Czech until the state will most probably refuse it.
The judgment is clearly influenced by political opinion. Being exiled for two years (in Russia!) for filming somebody graffiti and for not respecting local democracy, was the best way to get rid of Igor.
The Judge did not take into account the fact that Igor had already spent three months in remand prison, for no reason, without being able to contact his loved ones.
One does not have to be an anarchist to understand why Igor dislikes “our” democracy. Just as we do not have to be from Russia to dislike the democratic states. And it is not because we want Putin’s dictatorship, (how the police, courts and the media seem to see it), but because it is still based on a regime of inequality and exclusion held by institutions and the market.
Igor himself said after the verdict that “the whole process is just politicized and the state is a dehumanized bureaucratic machine, not able to perceive real people’s bounds and interests”. This received an agreeing applause, after which the judge said that it is really the last time, otherwise she will expel the whole back row.
For more information, check antifenix.noblogs.org
From croceneranarchica. Translated by act for freedom now.
On 28th April 2015 the carabinieri R.O.S. dei carabinieri , on order of prosecutor Federico Manotti, searched a comrade from Genoa and put him under investigation for ‘publicly instigating to commit acts of terrorism and publicly defending a crime of terrorism […]’, referring to a piece of writing, ‘To those who don’t dissociate themselves’, published on various sites of the movement and signed by a comrade, a piece in response to ‘The dot on the i’, a text that circulated in the internet shortly after the kneecapping of the managing director of Ansaldo Nucleare Adinolfi.
(via contra-info)
A small chronology of the riots spreading the Belgian prisons, where guards are on strike for more than two weeks now…
On Monday 25th of April, the prison guards of all prisons in the French speaking parts of Belgium went on strike, in total 21 prisons. The prisoners are confined in their cells. All activities, like the walk, shower, visit, legal counsel, are cancelled. The police took over the control of the prisons to assure security.
After one week of guards on strike, and with conditions rapidly deteriorating inside, incidents start to spread in many prisons. In some prisons, the situation could be called catastrophic. Prisoners only receive food once a day, didn’t go out of their cells in more than ten days, hygienic conditions are terrible with infections and diseases spreading.
May 3. In the prison of Tournai, tensions rise and prisoners start to destroy cells.
May 3, during the night. Prisoners of Huy burned mattresses and destroyed some cells. Federal police intervenes in the prison to restore order.
May 4. Prisoners of Huy light fires all over the prison, break the doors of their cells, destroy parts of the prison infrastructure and flood a whole section of the prison. Federal police invades the prison during the night.
May 4. Prisoners of Nivelles destroy cells and throw burning objects out of the cells. More than 40 prisoners of Nivelles go on collective hunger strike.
May 4, during the night. Prisoners in Arlon light fires. The firemen, protected by Federal Police, have to intervene two times during the night.
May 5. Prisoners in Jamioulx start to riot. They break down cells, attack some security personnel still working the prison and light fires. Outside of the prison, tens of persons gather in solidarity with the prisoners.
May 7. In the prison of Merksplas (in the Flemish speaking part of Belgium, where guards are not on strike), a huge revolt takes places. 200 prisoners refuse to go back to their cells after the walk and rise up. They smash everything they can, some guards are locked in by the fighting prisoners. Walls are teared down, fences destroyed, infrastructure broken, about 150 cells are totally destroyed. Important fires are lit at several points of the prison. One prisoner manages to escape in the chaos, but is arrested a bit later in the surroundings of the prison. Police intervenes with huge forces, but prisoners fight back for hours during the night. Only in the early morning, around 6 ‘o clock, the police manages to break the uprising. More than 100 prisoners are transferred to other prisons. Testimonies speak of the largest uprising in a Belgian prison.
May 8, during the night. Prisoners who were transferred from the partly destroyed prison of Merksplas, start to make troubles in the prison of Antwerp.
May 8. In the prison of Lantin, prisoners break open their cells and start to destroy several wings. Fires are lit. Troubles continue also the days after
May 8. In the prison of Andenne, chaos spreads with prisoners breaking out of their cells, destroying what they can and lighting fires, screaming “Freedom, freedom!”. The troubles continue also the next day and night. A short video is publishing online.
May 8. In the prison of Ittre, prisoners got an exceptional walk but refused to go back to their cells after and fought with some guards. Inside of the prison blocks, prison infrastructure gets destroyed by rioting prisoners.
May 9. In the newly built prison of Leuze, prisoners who got an exceptional walk refuse to go back and stay out the whole night. Police then intervenes in the morning to drive them back to their cells.
May 9. The government decides to deploy the army in the prisons. Soldiers, armed with pepper spray and sticks, are deployed in the prisons of Brussels (Forest and Saint-Gilles) and in the prison of Lantin. The prison guards decide to continue their strike. News from inside the walls is getting more and more rare with the State intervening now to block off any communication with the outside.
Critical Mass on 29 April in Minsk ended up with 6 people detained and a
criminal case against one of it’s participants. Dmitry Polienko is
accused of violence against policeman and others charged with minor
offences. The trials for minor offences are schedules for 12 and 16 may.
Dmitry is now in pre-trial prison and requires solidarity from comrades
in form of solidarity actions and money for food parcels. The maximum
penalty for the article he is accussed of is 6 year in prison.
In social networks a flash mob was started
#iamcriticalmass/#якритическаямасса to show solidarity with arrested.
Apart from that you can send us your solidarity actions at
belarus_abc@riseup.net.
You can also donate through paypal with the same address
belarus_abc@riseup.net. Please specify the cause for transfer –
“critical mass”
Till all are free!
ABC-Belarus
May 1st celebrates international workers’ day with rallies, marches and events staged by workers all over the world. Texas prison slaves join this celebration behind prison walls, in recognition that out of the death of plantation slavery in the United States, the 13th Amendment, U.S. Constitution, was enacted in 1865 legislation legalizing slavery “as a punishment for crime”, becoming THE NEW JIM CROW of mass incarceration of the poor, mainly of PEOPLE OF COLOR who are disproportionately represented in the U.S. Prison Industrial Complex, a $2 billion a year industry sustained with forced labor of our nation’s prisoners without due compensation. It is this historical awareness that has become the motor force of prisoners in Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, California, Washington, Oregon, among other states, of prisoners rattling their chains of slavery protesting inhumane prison conditions, institutionalized racism, legalized prison slavery and the repeal of the 13th amendment. The prisoners’ movement for human rights, and for human dignity do not end with admission into the prison system, for whatever reasons landed them in prison in the first place. Workers on the outside must support the just demands of all prisoners in linking these struggles – which are one and the same.
Further, this year also marks the 130th anniversary of the May 4, 1886 rally at Haymarket Square in Chicago, called to protest a police riot the day before. Socialists and anarchists joined hands in protest and were framed up and executed or sentenced to life in prison for the explosion of a police-planted bomb at the May 4th demonstration, to justify a police assault on the protesters and to repress the activists, and destroy their movement by use of extrajudicial means by the police. We celebrate the HAYMARKET SQUARE MARTYRS who were pioneers of the movement for the 8-hour work day, and who stood for workers’ rights.
TODAY, MAY 1, 2016, we urge all INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD to unite and to fight for a shorter work day, for better wages, working conditions and for other workers’ rights, until the ultimate abolition of wage-theft slavery of global capitalism, its imperialism and corporativist fascism, and for the universal emancipation of labor from the chains of capital, and our total social, human liberation as a free people, without capitalist slave masters with the means of production in workers’ total control.
WORKERS’ STRUGGLES, PRISONERS’ STRUGGLES, ONE AND THE SAME!
DEFEND WORKERS’ RIGHTS, PRISONERS’ RIGHTS!
INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE!
BREAK THE CHAINS THAT MAKE US SLAVES!
April 25, 2016
TEXAS PRISON
– by XINACHTLI
(Nahuatl for ‘seed’)
aka: ALVARO LUNA HERNANDEZ, #255735
JAMES V. ALLRED UNIT
SUPERMAX HIGH SECURITY CONTROL UNIT
IOWA PARK, TEXAS
(via Anarchy Live)
On May 1st, 2016, prisoners in Alabama will be staging a workstrike at a number of Alabama prisons (more info via freealabamamovement.com).
My reasons for shutting down is simple, I want to bring as much pain and disorder to the state (ADOC) as I can as an individual in any way that I can. I don’t give a fuck about “changing any laws” because they are the mechanism that is used to keep people from being free. Fuck the law! The only true freedom is when we act outside of the law.
But in the cause of solidarity I’m asking all outside rebels to express their solidarity with the striking prisoners through free direct action. Join us, protest at an Alabama prison, burn some shit down/up, drop some banners, just cause some fucking chaos. Shit is getting real in Alabama prisons, not that it wasn’t already.
It’s going down! Fire to the prisons and the society that creates them, upholds them, and maintains them. Fuck peace! Locking humans in cages is not peace.
In Love & Rage,
Michael