Belarus: Antifascist given 6 year sentence for fighting Neo-Nazis

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From ABC Belarus

Vlad Lenko is an anti-fascist from Ivatsevichy. On December 27, 2014 he was arrested for a fight with neo-nazis, which occurred on the 23rd of December of the same year. He is charged under Art. 339.2 (hooliganism of the group of people) and 147.2 (causing grievous bodily harm). The court sentenced Vlad to a six-year period of imprisonment in a maximum security colony. It is necessary to collect a large sum to appeal the verdict, as well as to pay the victim a compensation ordered by a court in the amount of 1000 euro. There is the hope to reduce the period by half. Please, everyone, do not stay on the sidelines, help our mate in a difficult moment, only together we can help him. Also Vlad needs moral support, and later we’ll publish a postal address of the correctional institution.

Fundraising WebMoney:
$ Z418615316084
€ E146518161935
Paypal: belarus_abc@riseup.net

‘Prison As Political Battleground’ by John Bowden, radical long-term prisoner

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Either as a political issue or personal experience prison repression isn’t something the radical left in Britain is particularly familiar with or much inclined to mobilise against. Prison remains largely a working class experience targeted against the poorest and most marginalised of that class. However in a society increasingly polarised and divided between rich and poor in a political climate of growing repression and authoritarianism prisons are being refashioned more and more into instruments of political as well as social control. This will eventually find reflection in the nature and composition of the prisoner population as political activists increasingly supplement the imprisoned poor.

What should characterise the behaviour and attitude of imprisoned political activists towards the prison system? How should those imprisoned for political offences against the system in the “free world” behave and respond once incarcerated in the Belly of the Beast, the steel and concrete innards of the state?

In Britain imprisoned political activists tend to view their time behind bars as a period of uneventful neutrality, as a passive killing of time before returning to the “real” struggle beyond the walls and fences that temporarily enclose them. Of course in places like Northern Ireland where conflict and repression was woven into the fabric of people’s lives prisons were not just a commonly experienced reality but also important political battle grounds in the struggle for freedom and liberation. For Irish Republican prisoners their confinement within the notorious H Blocks did not mean the termination of their struggle for Irish national liberation but rather an intensification of that struggle to the extent where their lives were sometimes sacrificed through hunger strikes. Like imprisoned revolutionaries in fascist states throughout the world Irish Republican prisoners responded to prison repression just as they had responded to repression in the broader society, by resisting and fighting back. They believed it their political duty as revolutionaries to respond to repression with political integrity and defiance, no matter what the inevitable personal consequences.

In Britain, however, most of those imprisoned for political offences, including “terrorist” activity, tend to conform to prison life and acquiesce to the authority of those enforcing their imprisonment. The spread of what the government and media have described as “Islamic radicalisation” within British prisons has not been accompanied by a serious destabilisation of prison regimes or increased collective unrest within prisons; on the contrary, solidarity and collective resistance amongst prisoners has significantly diminished over the last 10 to 15 years, suggesting almost an inverse relationship between the alleged “radicalisation” of prisoners and their propensity and inclination to collectively resist and fight back. Whilst it is undoubtedly true that the spread of Islamic beliefs amongst young black prisoners, in particular, has been considerable over the last decade it would seem that this “radicalisation” has been more of a personally transformative experience than a collective commitment to organising and resisting prison repression, unlike, for example, in U.S. prisons during the 1960s and 70s when Nation of Islam or Black Muslim prisoners organised and fought back against the prison system. Significantly, a hero and source of inspiration for prominent black power prisoners in the U.S. during the 1960s was Sergey Nechayev, a 19th century Russian anarchist and author of “Catechism of a Revolutionary”, who believed that once politically conscious the revolutionary had an absolute duty to commit and if necessary sacrifice ones entire life to the struggle. Nechayev, imprisoned by the Russian tsarist regime for “terrorist activities”, would eventually die chained to the wall of his cell in the notorious fortress of St Peter and Paul in Moscow.

In a more modern context possibly social class itself is a significant determinate in how those imprisoned for political activity respond to that imprisonment. IRA prisoners and militant black prisoners in the U.S. were generally from poor working class origins and places where police harassment and brutality was a common experience, alongside an intimate knowledge of places of incarceration, often from an early age. In prison such activists naturally bonded with ordinary working class “offenders” and shared with them a common life experience of poverty and repression; prison was simply another front of struggle as far as these imprisoned revolutionaries were concerned. For the political activist from, say, a more middle-class social background prison is much more a completely alien experience and a place largely populated by those from the other side of the track and with whom they share absolutely no personal or cultural affinity or experience whatsoever. The relationship of the imprisoned usually white middle-class activists with those who wield absolute power in jails, the guards and senior managers, also tends to be significantly different from how most working class prisoners relate to those enforcing their imprisonment. In prison to resist and fight back inevitably is to invite even greater repression and pain, and yet amongst many working class prisoners there exists an almost instinctive propensity to fight and challenge the absolute authority of their jailers. On the other hand, for those originally radicalised by revolutionary theory, as opposed to personal experience, and thrust suddenly into an enclosed world of sharp edged repression where the power of those enforcing it seems unassailable and resistance to it pointless, the priority becomes one of adjusting to the prevailing reality and doing whatever is required to get oneself through the experience as quickly and painlessly as possible before returning to the real struggle outside. It obviously makes no tactical common sense to confront a manifestation of institutionalised state violence from a position and condition of total disempowerment. From such a perspective prison is not a place of struggle but simply a place to quietly sit out one’s time and put on the psychological blinkers. Some not accustomed to the reality of prison are badly traumatised by it and the first real experience of naked repression; an academic understanding and knowledge of repression is no preparation for a direct personal experience of it. For the “lumpen-proletariat” however and the politically conscious of them, prison repression is a familiar experience and like oppressed people everywhere their response to it is characterised by resilience and fortitude.

Beyond the walls of the micro-fascist society of prison the illusion of “freedom and democracy” is being increasingly replaced with the reality of a class divided society no longer mediated by consensual rights and liberties – authoritarianism and coercion are the weapons increasingly used to maintain order. In such a political climate more and more activists and libertarians will experience and suffer imprisonment, and more will have to learn that prison is simply another front in their struggle.

John Bowden – September 2015
HMP Barlinnie

Swedish Animal Liberation Prisoner Karl Häggroth Has Been Released

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From Earth First! Newswire

animal liberationKarl is a vegan straight edge and an anti-racist activist arrested in June of 2014 for animal rights actions directed against fur farming in Sweden. He was sentenced to 2.5 years, and was released on September 25, 2015.

Swedish animal liberation activists Ebba Olausson and Richard Klilnsmeister were also arrested and imprisoned for related charges, and were released on June 15 and June 17, 2015, respectively.

The Free the Swedish Animal Rights Prisoners Facebook page still has support t-shirts available for sale. The money will go to local animal liberation organizing in Sweden.

 

Urgent Action Needed Now: Don’t Let CCA Censor Eric King’s Mail!

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 From: https://supportericking.wordpress.com/2015/09/24/urgent-action-needed-now-dont-let-cca-censor-eric-kings-mail/

political-prisoner-554x455

As folks know, Eric’s mail is being censored and political letters and
literature are being rejected. It is important to keep the pressure on
CCA Leavenworth to stop censoring Eric’s mail.

According to Warden Isaac Johnston, it is up to the guards to use
discretion in deciding which groups can be labeled as hate groups and
have their correspondence rejected. This means that mailroom employees
can use their own political ideology to decide what mail to allow and
what to block.

Unfortunately, due to CCA being a for-profit contractor, they are not
held by the same rules as state and federal prisons. Yet there is a very
short list of regulations that CCA has to follow in regards to mail and
one is that both incoming and outgoing mail must be held for no longer
than 24 hours.

Since being incarcerated, Eric has had both incoming and outgoing mail
held for way longer than is dictated according to the “Performance-Based
Detention Standards.” On September 15th, for example, the mailroom gave
Eric a large batch of mail that had been held for well over 24 hours.

If you write Eric, you can help by taking action in the following ways:

1) When you get mail from Eric, please check both the date the letter
was written and the postmark on the letter. If there is more than a
24-hour difference, please email us at erickingsupportcrew(a)riseup.net
with either a photo or quick note of the date on the letter and the
postmark date. This can help Eric document these violations and allow
him to file grievances for them as they occur.

2) Next, please take a second to let the staff at CCA Leavenworth and
CCA corporate know that they are violating the “Performance-Based
Detention Standards.”

a. Warden Isaac Johnston: 913.680.6801
b. Assistant to the Warden: 913.680.6804
c. Mailroom (ask for the manager of the mailroom): 913.680.6808
d. Call CCA Corporate and let them know what CCA Leavenworth is up to:
1.800.624.2931

Feel free to leave a message if they do not answer. If you feel
comfortable and want to have a conversation, you can even leave a
call-back number.

In your message, state how long Eric’s outgoing letter was held before
being sent to you. Inform them that “Performance-Based Detention
Standard” number (G.3.5) says, “Excluding weekends and holidays or
emergency situations, incoming and outgoing letters are held for no more
than 24-hour hold.”

Help us tell CCA that we won’t stand for Eric’s incoming mail being
censored based on his political ideology or for him to be targeted by
his mail being held for more than 24 hours.

Lastly, we want to remind folks that Eric being pre-trial puts him in an
especially sensitive position. Any piece of literature he receives,
whether it is rejected or not, may be used against him come sentencing.

Love and Solidarity

EK Defense Committee

Free the Lovebank 5

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About the Lovebank 5

Five Activists who had occupied Liverpool’s old Bank of England building to provide shelter and feed the city’s homeless people have been jailed for almost 3 months each. They were sentenced on Thursday 17th September 2015 at Liverpool Crown Court.

The Love Activists moved into the unoccupied building in the middle of April 2015 to set up a support centre for Liverpool’s homeless people, incorporating places to sleep, an advice centre and a street kitchen, from where they were evicted in the early hours of 12 May and the homeless activists arrested. The defendants were charged in relation to the occupation of the old bank building in Castle Street, Liverpool city centre, as part of a protest over lack of support for the homeless and government austerity.

LoveBank5Final

Write to them

Three of the five defendants are under 21 and have been sent to Young Offenders Institutions, notoriously violent & challenging environments. All of them need your support throughout their sentences & beyond, as they continue to resist homelessness & injustice.

Write to them:

John Hall A8155DN
HMP Liverpool
68 Hornby Road
Merseyside
L9 3DF

John Rice A8157DN
HMP Liverpool
68 Hornby Road
Merseyside
L9 3DF

James Allanson A8147DN
HMP Altcourse
Brookfield Drive
Liverpool
L9 7LH

James C Jones (Jay) A8149DN
HMP Altcourse
Brookfield Drive
Liverpool
L9 7LH

Chelsea Stafford A8215DN (NOW RELEASED ON APPEAL)
HMP/YOI Styal
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 4HR

What to send them:

  • Nice letters, funny postcards, pictures, printed articles
  • Stamps, envelopes & writing paper
  • Zines or Books
  • Postal orders (Made out to ‘The Governor’ and crossed – we recommend writing the prison number of the prisoner on the back)

What More You Can Do

  • heaertDo a noise demo at their prisons
  • Organise a fundraiser, action or demo in their name
  • Keep struggling against homelessness and all forms of domination

Contact the Support Group

Email: info@lovebank5.noflag.org.uk

Interview with Michael Kimble, anarchist prisoner from Alabama

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Michael Kimble is an anarchist prisoner currently doing a life sentence (of which he has served 30) in Holman Prison, Alabama. You can read more of Michael’s writings on his blog, Anarchy Live!

See here for how to write to and support Michael.

From Anarchy Live!:

Could you tell us a little about yourself?

There’s not much to say about myself, there’s nothing unique about me or my situation. I’m a proud Black gay anarchist that sincerely wants to bring about radical change, and when I say radical, I mean extreme and I don’t think nothing can be more extreme than the total destruction of this social order, system of domination or whatever you want to call it.

What was life like growing up in Alabama? What sorts of obstacles and struggles did you have to face?

My life in Alabama, at least the early years of my existence, was beautiful. I was born and raised in the Black community of Birmingham, Alabama called Powderly (Westside) and it was rural, dirt roads, hogs, etc. At about 7 years of age our house burned to the ground and we relocated to another neighborhood on the Westside called Westend. It was considered a middle-class neighborhood. We owned two houses in this neighborhood. Both of my parents worked. But little did I know, being so young, that my parents were having problems in their marriage and financially. Eventually, my parents divorced and we lost the homes. Me, my sister, and three brothers moved with our mother to the Southside for about three years and then to the Northside to the housing projects. This is when I began to have social problems. I was ostracized by the kids in the projects, but never being a wimp, I never allowed anyone to beat me up without fighting back. After the kids learned that I would fight back I was accepted as a peer. That was my biggest obstacle, being accepted or fitting in. In the projects there was a lot of gay (drag queens) people in my peers’ family, so it was nothing unusual. The thing was, would you fight. Outside was different.

Could you talk a bit about why you got locked up in the late ’80s?

I got locked up in 1986 for the murder of a white guy that wanted to do harm to me and a friend who was out one night walking. We had our arms around each other and this guy started fucking with us, calling us fags, niggers, and all kinds of disrespectful, homophobic and racist shit. When he attacked after confronting him, I pulled a pistol I had on me and shot him. The media tried to turn it into a racially motivated murder and all kinds of things. I really didn’t know any of this until I had a chance to view my Pre-sentence Investigation Report (PSI) and this was after I had already been in prison awhile. I took the case to trial and received a life sentence and here I am 29 years later, still in prison because of a homophobic racist. I have no regrets about it.

You’ve talked before about your political development while in prison – from communism to anarchy. Could you tell us about how that happened? Were there experiences, events, relationships, or writings that pushed you in the direction of anti-authoritarian action?

Yeah, I became a communist in my early years as I’ve said before, because it spoke to the oppression of Black, gay, poor people and of course prisoners, and espoused the idea of creating a world free of these oppressions. I became a part of the New Afrikan Independence Movement (NAIM) which was very vocal at the time and it seemed that all the warriors from the Black Liberation Movement was part of the NAIM. And they were active in the prisons as far as legal (lawsuits, letter, phone campaigns, education) support and visiting prisoners. And of course, they participated in cultural programs as well in the prisons here in Alabama. Also around this time the ABCs had begun to be visible through their support of “political prisoners/prisoners of war” from the previous decades’ movements (BLA, BPP, UFF, anti-imperialists, WUO, etc)1 , so I started receiving literature and newspapers (The Blast, Love & Rage, Bulldozer, Fifth Estate, etc.) and started to learn about anarchism and it resonated with me. Shit, I was against authority, against oppression and started to see the contradictions between statehood (government) and freedom. Anarchism was/is talking about doing away with all this, and putting into practice now and not waiting on the future. And I’ve been a staunch anarchist since.

Does being gay affect your ability to organize and struggle collectively in prison?

No doubt. First, you have to understand the mindset of prison, which isn’t much different than on the outside, just smaller. On the one hand, you have the belief that being gay equals weakness, then on the other you have guys putting up a front as being very macho as a form of defense in a world of predators and/or you have guys that are political that are coming from a religio-culturalnationalist orientation. These last guys mentioned are the guys most likely you’ll be interacting with doing any organizing. And many of them are gang members and are what is called O.G.s (Original Gangstas), gang members who are not as active in gang culture as when they were younger but still has a connection to it and are looked up to by younger gang members. All the stigmas on the outside are magnified, but one can still work with most of these guys if one has built a reputation as being one who will stand up and not take shit from anyone, pigs or prisoners, and sincere about what they say they are about. They know, they live around you daily for years. But again, it’s a struggle in and of itself just getting past all the psychological bullshit floating around in these guys’ head. You know, they’ve been told for years that something is wrong with being gay, non-conforming to traditional gender roles. So, being gay kind of blunts your voice and efforts. But as an anarchist, I rage on because of my own self-interest in bringing about disorder on the inside and contributing to the total annihilation of prisons and the system that birthed them.

What was it like being a revolutionary prisoner in the ‘90s, when much of the anti-imperialist movement had fallen apart and the anarchist struggle was only beginning to pull itself out of its multi-decade lull in the US?

To tell you the truth, I was so caught up in battle in these prisons I was not really focused on the outside happenings. I was preoccupied with trying to build on the inside. Of course, we were reaching out and felt the decline, but people were still trying to interact with us. I wasn’t expecting too much out of the burgeoning anarchist movement since it was obvious that it was in its infancy.

Have you noticed any changes in the methods and forms of anarchist prison solidarity since you got locked up?

My experience with anarchist on the outside was not been that extensive, but from what I’ve observed, has been anarchist groups such as the ABCF which was most active around prisons, has been material and emotional support mainly for those of the old, established movements, organizations of decades past, whom they classify as political prisoners/POWs. That has changed to a large degree, now you have anarchists who are into the material, emotional support, but also demos, attacks against prisons, etc. That’s something I never saw in the 1990s in the U.S. It’s about becoming accomplices now.

You’ve expressed criticisms of the Political Prisoner/Prisoner of War (PP/ POW) concept before. Can you elaborate on why you oppose the label and your experiences with the concept and its proponents?

First, the concept being used by most groups is based on the United Nations (UN) definition of who and what constitutes a PP/POW, so definitely I have a problem with that. As a matter of fact, I reject it. The UN is just another state institution based on domination and control of populations. Then the concept as practiced is elitist, discriminatory, and creates celebrities, and really just legitimizes the state and its legal system. The U.S. has over 2 million bodies in its warehouses, but only about 100 are considered PP/POWs by the groups. It’s a joke. It overlooks the men and women who are fighting in these prisons and suffering because of it. Oh, I’ve had debates about all this with anarchists. It caused our correspondence to end. I get a headache talking about it just as I do religion. Recent anarchist struggles have had prison as a central focus, both because of the state’s targeting of anarchists and because of anarchists taking offensive action against prison society.

Are there actions or struggles that have been inspiring to you recently?

The support and solidarity that was shown and given to the Free Alabama Movement (F.A.M.) here by anarchists who put on demos around the country, the June 11th events, the solidarity I’ve been given in the last year or so, and the actions carried in solidarity with prisoners and against prison society around the world, the banner drops, the weekly noise demos in California at the jail is all inspiring. I’ll just be glad when I see that kind of constant stuff going on here in Alabama.

What are your feelings on the recent anti-police struggles occurring in the U.S.?

I’m loving the anti-police demos, rebellions. I was listening to the radio a few nights ago when it came across the air that two pigs had been shot in Ferguson. I was so excited that I didn’t even go to sleep that night. I’m glad that young, Black people in Ferguson hadn’t allowed these race pimps to extinguish their righteous anger and desire to fight, and inflict retribution on the pigs. I’m thinking that we will see more of these attacks in the near future, because the pigs are not stopping murdering Black folks. What choice to we have other than to fight back? That’s two actions of retribution. NY action and the Ferguson action. There’s more I’m sure I haven’t heard of.

In some of your writings, you express an opposition to civilization. Could you talk about that and how it differs from a critique of the state and capital alone?

I don’t think one can separate a critique of the state and capital from a critique of civilization. Civilization gave birth to the state and capital, which brought all kinds of oppressions and tools to manage that oppression such as surveillance, greed, domination, and all the other shitty things people find logic in doing to each other and the environment. Civilization is explained away by capital as being advancements in efficiency and quality of life, but remember the life expectancy of a Black male in the U.S. is about 25 years. He is expected to be dead or in prison by 25 years of age. Civilization has caused a disconnect between people and the earth. Civilization has given birth to all kinds of diseases; drugs that don’t cure anything but have you buying them to “manage” the disease, feed their greed; pollution; patriarchy; racism; prisons; etc. Civilization is the root cause of the misery which we term oppression and must be dismantled, ruthlessly and utterly destroyed.

How can anarchists build stronger relationships with comrades on the inside?

Through interaction, listening, becoming accomplices, treating prisoners as equals and not romanticizing prisoners’ situations. There’s nothing noble about being in prison. Just showing revolutionary solidarity and all that entails. I keep saying this and will continue to do so: people need to check out Os Cangaceiros, you know, the group in France during the 70s, 80s, 90s, to see how one form of solidarity looks.

What would you like to see from U.S. anarchist struggle in the coming years?

I’d like to see anarchists becoming more active through building genuine comradeship, friendships with those of us inside and see more attacks against prisons, companies, institutions that erect, sustain, and profit off of people being kidnapped and held in prison. Also I think it’s time for anarchists to start building something for those anarchists that are leaving the prisons through parole, End of Sentence (E.O.S.), or otherwise. Some of us will be needing housing, clothes, etc. once out. You know, something we can plug into. Most times we have to apply at a halfway house and that’s a whole new problem because all the ones I know of are religious oriented and require one to participate in religious shit.

Struggle in Alabama prisons is heating up. What’s going on there currently?

Well, we just had a national call-in day for the distribution of condoms since STDs seem to be a major problem among prisoners. Then on March 1, 2015, the F.A.M. called for a work strike (shutdown). It lasted 3 days and only at prison (St. Clair). I’m kind of pissed about that. Why only 3 days? It was supposed to be indefinitely. I started a hunger strike on the 2nd of March to show my solidarity and didn’t get word that it was over until like the 9th or 10th. The explanation I’m getting for the shortness of it all is that this was a test run to show guys what to expect. Shit, we (Holman and St. Clair) just had a shutdown in January of 2014 and it lasted 15 days, so the guys know what to expect. But again, I wasn’t there so I don’t know, but I suspect that some “reasonable” and “responsible” prisoners talked “sense” into the rebels’ heads and squashed it.

Here at Holman in the lockup unit guys are protesting the replacing of hot meals with sack lunches if you have your tray slot open. So, there’s been a lot of urine and feces thrown, and fires burning. The pigs have backed off of that for now, but we’re waiting to see what’s next. I’ve come off of my hunger strike.

Anything else?

Yeah, I think as we see more struggle on the outside the more you’ll see shit popping off on the inside. Anarchists have to be ready for this and need to be thinking about what they are willing to contribute to the destruction of the state by attacking prisons. Let me back up to the second question you asked. Don’t get me wrong, there was grave injustices inflicted against me while growing up in Alabama. There was certain sections I wouldn’t go through because most likely I would be arrested, simply for being a Black person. Even in the 1980s there was what was called “Jew Town,” a street of stores that still had “Whites Only” signs in the store windows. But I felt safe in my hood. Plus, I really didn’t have any reason to go to these place that was antagonistic towards people of color. But you know what, when I was about 12 or 13 years old a whole bunch of us kids used to go bike riding through these racist neighborhoods and not one of these bigots said anything. Oh yeah, they gave us these nasty looks, but shit, we didn’t give a fuck. We were bad asses and did basically whatever.

Now, being gay was something else. I was fucked with through ridicule by friends and family, but it wasn’t like it was with race antagonisms. Although it was accepted by the folks in my hood to be gay, right next door in the other hoods was different. People ridiculed, harassed, and even beat up those that they saw as gay. I’ve been called many names and had a lot of fights growing up. But you know, I got locked up so young and this was not my first time being locked up. I had been going through the juvenile system for quite a while. So, I was saved from a lot of the stuff on the streets. Yeah, jail saved me from the streets, but not from all the shit that goes on against gay folk while locked up. I never had witnessed a rape, but I have witnessed cruelty. You know, as kids we look for all kinds of reasons to put other kids down. We look for differences and along with the prejudices society has put in our head, it’s not hard for us to find. This world is so sick that if it doesn’t understand it, can’t control it, it tries to destroy it. And kids are being taught this at home, church, school, just about everywhere they turn. No wonder there’s such a high rate of teenage suicide.

Freedom for Jus, Hambach Forest defender held captive in Germany

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The background to this case is the resistance to a large scale coal mining operation involving the complete clearcut of the ancient Hambacher Forest in Rhineland, Germany. Occupations in the forest have been ongoing since 2012 to prevent the destruction of the land.

From Hambach Forest blog:

7 weeks ago our comrade Jus got taken from us at the eviction of Remi’s Tower, a huge barricade build in honour of Remi Fraisse, who got killed by the freakin cops.

The first 3 weeks Jus was on hunger strike and as a reaction to that the cops told him he did not have a lawyer registered (which he had) and put him in a isolation cell, where it is hard to sleep cus they check every 15 minutes if your not dead yet by turning the lights on and off. All the letters he receives now get checked and it takes about 2 to 4 weeks for them to get to him. He is in prison for 6 weeks and was only had two visits. It is extremely difficult to arrange visits, because there has to be a interpreter at all times, and they want audio visual surveillance. Also his phone privileges are restricted to only his lawyer (even though everyone else can call whoever the fuck they want) and even about that they are being assholes.

All of that for allegedly breaking a bulldozer window, he has never touched a single individual. These charges would seldomly result into imprisonment before trial, and almost never result into such extreme measures, unless of course cooperate climate and Eco-extreme energy criminals like RWE are involved.

Now off his hunger strike, and still in fucking isolation, Jus is not permitted to join any group activities since he is considered a ‘violent offender’. He is awaiting trail, they especially kept him for not having a permanent address, even though he has one, they still do not want to let him go. We want our comrade back!

Statement from Jus out of jail:

‘As i sit, work out, and read in my cell, from one side echoes the yell of ‘sieg heil’, and ‘fuck the forest’ and threads of violence, as on the other side half of the wing erupts in ISIS related chants and slogans. A good illustration of how right wing and fundamentalist extremism is silently tolerated and even endorsed by the state, while all who appose the special interest of capitalist machine of greed and destruction, find them selfs confined and isolated . After regaining my health, following of 22 days of hunger strike, i am planning 3 prison resistance projects and i will keep you all updated.’

We would like to ask everyone to support Jus, in his struggle in jail.

You can do a couple of things:

Write him! He really likes to read and can read English and Polish. Books and magazines are not allowed, but a article on a piece of paper, or a chapter of a book is. Write him about the squat you live in, a workshop you been to, send pictures, make a drawing!

For someone so involved in environmental struggles its really hard to be cut off from news sources that you would normally have access to. So keep him updated of what is going on, to show that people care, and are still fighting the machine.

Dariusz (Jus) Brzeski 3236156
JVA Köln
Rochusstr. 350
50827 Köln

Do a solidarity action and make pictures, you can send them to: hambacherforst@riseup.net
or leave comments on our blog: hambachforest.blogsport.de

Tell the story, get involved, make a poster, visit Hambach Forst, organize benefit gig, everything helps.

We will try to keep everyone updated, also on Jus his prison resistance projects, for more info you can call the meadow phone: 0157 – 54 136 100

Burn all prisons, freedom for Jus, freedom for all prisoners!

Update Sept. 10:

The appeal against detention was rejected… Jus has to stay in prison. The court hearing is now scheduled for 2 October. Because of the appeal against detention his lawyer will now go to the District Court in Cologne. He calls the processing times and the long waits unbearable.

Office protest targets prison project

admin prison industrial complex

Campaigners inspired by a Reclaim the Fields action camp demonstrated their opposition to the building of a new mega-prison near Wrexham with a visit to a company involved.

outside the offices
outside the offices

We paid a visit to the Gloucestershire offices of Precast Erections Ltd, the company supplying concrete blocks used to build the prison.

“Prisons are part of the problem.” said Olly Torcada. “They are abusive places used by the state to control and threaten us.”

“We need justice processes based on strong, vibrant communities,” said Frieda Evans, “not more prisons which harm and destroy our communities.”

The event was part of a series of prison-related actions, which included solidarity noise demos at 3 different prisons, and a blockade of the prison construction site itself.

Notes

[1] It is estimated that the proposed new prison will cost £250m. It will hold more than 2100 prisoners and be the largest prison in the UK and the second largest in Europe.

[2] Reclaim the Fields is a constellation of people and collective projects willing to go back to the land and reassume the control over food production. The organisation held an action camp at Borras Community Protection Camp entitled ‘Build Gardens Not Prisons’ in solidarity with local anti-fracking campaigns, with workshops on a range of topics linking access to land, prison abolition and opposition to fracking.