After publishing Close Supervision Centres – Torture Units in the UK in April 2012, we received correspondence from people that had been held in CSCs or who had known family or friends who are or have been. A year on and conditions in the CSCs are no better. This is a brief follow up to serve as an accompanying publication to the original, keeping information coming out about what is going on…

With letters from inside the CSC system and articles and responses from people that have been struggling against this ugly regime, this follow up publication updates news of the continuing struggle and provides up to date addresses to contact the contributors.

Download screen version here: CSC Follow Up Screen

Download print version here: CSC Follow Up Single Page for Print

via Earth First! Journal

Please write letters to indigenous political prisoner Oso Blanco to remind prison staff that his ailing liver requires continued attention, and that we haven’t forgotten about him!

Oso Blanco, who is currently serving 80 years in prison for robbing banks for money to support the Zapatista Rebellion, recently developed a cancer in his liver and required letters to be written demanding treatment. The letters were effective in calling the attention of the prison staff to Oso’s condition and granting him medical treatment. Now, we have received a request for more letters to be written to urge for the doctor’s  recommendations to be followed up on.

A message from Flint Gray of osoblanco.org said:

‘We are calling for everyone to write Oso Blanco a get well card anytime the first week of August (1st-7th). This helps a few ways:

• Raises Oso’s spirit
• Shows prison staff we haven’t forgotten about him not receiving proper medical tests for his ailing liver
• Will hopefully STOP the prison from holding mail from Oso which has happened since our call-in/letter campaign
• And most importantly, we need to make sure Oso (& the staff) hears the doc’s recommendations….

Soooo, get a card or better yet make one and write whatever you want on it – what you did today, draw a picture or just sign your name – but please please please also include something along these lines:

“It is my hope that you receive an an alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) blood test that helps to screen for liver cancer risk and a Hepatitis C viral load (quantitative) blood test that lets us know how much actual virus is in your body. I also hope you get an adequate ultrasound of your liver and can see the results.”‘

Please write to Oso Blanco at:

via Autonomous Action/Moscow ABC

27th of June 2013, arrest of Irina was prolonged until 2nd of October. She was arrested 2nd of July 2012, so now Irina has already spent more than one year in prison without a court! Arrest of Irina was prolonged due to dubious claims of her alleged “victims” that they still have not acquintanced themselves with the results of the investigation.

Irina is accused of having taken part to an armed assault against a Nazi concert in Moscow club “Barrikada” the day she was arrested. She has been charged with three felonies, including “hooliganism, committed by a group and with a preliminary intent” and “involving minors to a felony hate crime”, as one of the persons arrested with her was 17 years old at the moment of the arrest.

Irina was arrested just few days after her graduation from the Journalist Faculty of the Moscow State University. She needs a medical care for her hand, as she was stabbed by Nazis during a fight in 1st of May of 2011, but in remand prison she may not receive proper medical care.

During the remand court session of 27th of June, Irina was strong and showed that system is not about to crush her.  She is also not in a need of material support. However moral support is necessary, full year of remand prison is hard for anyone and  during the investigation she has been betrayed by some of her former comrades.

You may write to Irina to address:

Irina Antonovna Lipskaya, k. 308
SIZO-6 “Pechatniki”
ul. Shosseynaya 92
109383 Moscow Russia

But note that letters in English are seldom accepted in Russian prisons, so if you do not have a chance to write in Russiam (i.e. by using simply phrases and translating them by google translation program), just send photos and postcards.

The last years of the Blair government saw a concerted attack on civil liberties and freedoms associated with political activism through increased legislation designed to criminalise protest. The police received greater powers to allow them to target activists and the lengths of sentences imposed by courts have swiftly grown.

In April 2012 I finished a three year sentence for my support of actions against the violent tyranny that is vivisection. Since my sentence finished I have been doing a small amount of work on some of the most extreme and fanatical, yet virtually undocumented, repression that is being used against activists: the legislation that is applied to them once they are released from prison. Without any professional legal advice, qualifications in Law or an understanding of the Orwellian jargon institutions like the Probation Trust use, not to mention
their secretive nature, this this has proved somewhat difficult. Here, I am attempting to cast a light on the way political prisoners are treated when they are released from gaol. This is based on personal experience of that of myself and other people sharing similar predicaments, as well as the wider context of the treatment of prisoners in general by the Criminal Justice System.Read More

Too Many Prisons Not Enough Justice!!

Please download it here in Word: INTERNATIONAL PRISONER LIST july 2013

Please download it here in Open Office: INTERNATIONAL PRISONER LIST july 2013

Please download it here as a PDF: INTERNATIONAL PRISONER LIST july 2013

Who is Alexei Gaskarov?

Alexei Gaskarov, a Russian social activist and economist, was arrested in Moscow on April 27, 2013. Gaskarov first became known to the broader public both in Russia and abroad in 2010, as one of the “Khimki hostages,” when he was arrested the day after a grassroots protest action in the Moscow suburb of Khimki, apparently because of his role as a spokesman for the anti-fascist and environmental movements. After three months in a pretrial detention facility and a triumphant acquittal on all charges, Gaskarov did not give up his activism. On the contrary, he became even more involved in numerous campaigns and causes. Having gained fame as an anti-fascist, Gaskarov has over the past two years become a visible young public figure thanks to his energy, intelligence,
passion, and commitment.

Gaskarov has invested a great deal of time and energy in seeing that his hometown of Zhukovsky, in the Moscow Region, develops in a way that is responsive to the needs of ordinary citizens. To this end, he has continued the work he began during the campaigns to defend the Khimki and Tsagovsky forests by fostering grassroots civic groups and an independent discussion club. In March 2013, Gaskarov was elected to the alternative People’s Council of Zhukovsky, thus receiving recognition from other residents of the town for his efforts.

Gaskarov has constantly sought out other forums for articulating his position. He has worked as a journalist and analyst with the Institute for Collective Action, acted as a spokesperson for the anti-fascist movement, joined the self-governing Autonomous Action network, and been involved in coordinating the environmental movement. Since December 2011, he has been actively engaged in the anti-Putin protest moment, appearing regularly in the media and at rallies and public discussions. In October 2012, he was elected to the Coordinating Council of the Russian opposition, where he has consistently pursued a grassroots social movement agenda.

Center “E,” the notorious “anti-extremist” division of the Russian police created under President Medvedev, cannot forgive Gaskarov for his pivotal role in social movements. After Gaskarov was acquitted of all charges in the Khimki case, the police have subjected him to constant pressure, including several attempted provocations. This time round, police have charged Gaskarov with involvement in “rioting” on May 6, 2012, at a permitted opposition march and rally on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow the day before Putin’s inauguration. Apparently, the police are hoping this high-profile case will end in a long prison sentence for
Gaskarov.

Why have Alexei Gaskarov and dozens of other innocent people been arrested?

On May 6, 2012, special riot police and other police officers used violence against demonstrators in Moscow in a deliberate attempt to provoke them, thus clearly violating the freedom of public assembly. An April 22, 2013, public hearing on this incident established the police’s culpability and numerous violations of the law they committed on May 6 on the basis of over six hundred independent eyewitness testimonies and analysis of a large number of photos and videos.

The Russian authorities, however, continue to refuse to open an investigation into the actions of the police. On the contrary, the Russian Federal Investigative Committee has increasingly been used as a tool to intimidate people involved in the grassroots protest movement. The regime’s fabricated case against protesters and bystanders was launched on May 27, 2012, when the first suspect, eighteen-year-old Alexandra Dukhanina, was arrested. Since then, police have arrested
another twenty-seven people in the case, seemingly without rhyme or reason. The arrestees include students, businesspeople, scientists, activists, pensioners, and ordinary citizens.

Alexei Gaskarov is the latest person to be arrested in the case. On May 6, 2012, he was at the Bolotnaya Square rally, where he was injured: a policeman threw him to the ground and then kicked him in the face. Gaskarov was forced to seek medical attention (he was given several stitches), after which he filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office. But as with other instances of police violence on May 6, 2012, the authorities have not followed up on Gaskarov’s complaint.

Nearly a year after the so-called investigation of the May 6 “riots” was launched, a pattern has emerged in the way police, prosecutors, and the courts are railroading the arrestees in the Bolotnaya Square case. All the accused are immediately placed in police custody for two months, after which the courts prolong this pretrial detention several times. The presiding judges make these rulings without taking the arguments of defense lawyers into account and ignoring the obviously falsified evidence presented by prosecutors and investigators. Several of the detainees have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were not in Moscow on May 6, 2012. Despite this, they were also remanded to police custody.

There is a little doubt that the authorities will use this same set of tactics in Alexei Gaskarov’s case unless we take decisive action to show our solidarity with him. At least several dozen other people who were at the rally on May 6, 2012, are likewise threatened with imminent arrest and prosecution. On its web site, the Investigative Committee has announced it will continue to work to “identify any and all persons involved in the riots.” But it is in our power to stop this political crackdown.

International Solidarity Action Week, June 17–23, 2013

International solidarity has repeatedly proven to be effective even in the most difficult cases. Thanks to your support the “Khimki hostages” were released in October 2010. This was a genuine victory for the international solidarity campaign. Since that time, a number of other Russian grassroots activists have been persecuted, leading in some cases to countermeasures on the part of organizations and governments. For example, Russian officials guilty of massive corruption and other criminal acts have been banned from entering certain countries. Your support is now especially vital for the dozens of people who have been thrown in jail by the Investigative Committee or whom it intends to
arrest on trumped-up charges. Your vocal and visible involvement is essential, because it shows the Russian police and authorities their crimes will not go unnoticed.

June 18 is Alexei Gaskarov’s birthday. An illegitimate, lawless court has ruled that he will spend the day in jail. We must act to secure his release and that of the dozens of other innocent prisoners in this fabricated case. The advocacy group gaskarov.infohas declared the week of June 17–23 an international solidarity action week. Join us and together we will oppose lawlessness and political persecution in Russia.How can you help?

1. Use whatever means you have at your disposal to spread this call for
solidarity and information about the case of Gaskarov and the other May
6 prisoners. Demand their immediate release. Raise your voice against
political arrests and oppressive police tactics in Russia.

2. Sign the online petition that will be sent to the Investigative
Committee and the Prosecutor’s Office:
www.change.org/petitions/free-alexei-ga…

3. Carry out your own solidarity actions. You can hold pickets and protest demonstrations at the Russian embassies and consulates in your city. You can check the cultural events calendar where you live for events involving Russia and hold protest actions at these events. You can hold rallies, happenings, art actions, and solidarity sit-ins. You can appeal to the authorities in your country and to international authorities, asking them to intervene on behalf of Alexei Gaskarov and the other prisoners of May 6.

Tell us about your solidarity actions and events by sending descriptions, photos, and videos to this address: gaskarov.info@gmail.com.

4. Write letters to the Russian authorities in support of Alexei Gaskarov and the other May 6 prisoners, demanding their immediate release, the dismissal of all charges against them, and a thorough investigation of the actions of the police against peaceful demonstrators on May 6, 2012, in Moscow.

Send your letters to the following addresses:

– Moscow City Prosecutor’s Office
ul. Novokuznetskaya, 27
115184 Moscow
Russian Federation
Online message center
Fax: +7 (495) 951-5040

– Central Investigation Department of the Russian Federal Investigative
Committee for Moscow
ul. Arbat, 16/2, str. 1
19002 Moscow
Russian Federation
Online message center
Fax (after 16:00 CET): +7 (495) 691-6315

– Russian Federal Investigative Committee
Tekhnichesky pereulok, 2
105005 Moscow
Russian Federation
Online message center
Fax: +7 (499) 265-9077
Telephone: +7 (495) 986-7710

– Russian Federal Prosecutor General’s Office
ul. Bolshaya Dmitrovka, 15a
GSP-3 125993 Moscow
Russian Federation
Fax: +7 (495) 692-1725

– Russian Federal Human Rights Ombudsman
ul. Myasnitskaya, 47
101000 Moscow
Russian Federation
Facebook Wall

Please send a copy of your letters to our address: gaskarov.info@gmail.com.

5. Send messages of support to Alexei Gaskarov at gaskarov.info@gmail.com. We’ll translate them into Russian, pass them on to Alexei, and also publish them on our website, gaskarov.info.

6. You can financially support our public campaign on behalf of Alexei Gaskarov and the other May 6 prisoners and contribute to their legal defense fund. Send your donations to a PayPal account dmitry.cw@gmail.com.

7. If you’re an artist, make a graphic work in solidarity with Alexei Gaskarov and send it to gaskarov.info@gmail.com: it will be published on our web sitegaskarov.info. The most eye-catching works will be printed on stickers and pasted up all over Moscow (with you credited as the contributing artist). If you’re a journalist or writer, send us articles and blog posts you’ve written and published about Alexei Gaskarov and the political crackdown in Russia. If you do other work that can help inform people about Alexei Gaskarov, write to us at gaskarov.info@gmail.com.

Thank you for your solidarity! Watch for campaign news and updates (in
Russian and several other languages) on our webs site, gaskarov.info.

BGSG presents a solidarity event to raise awareness and funds in an attempt to support social struggles and social movements in Greece: Saturday 8 June from 8pm to late, £5 on the door. At the ECC, Kilburn St (off Easton Rd), Bristol, BS5 6AW.

Room 1 Bands – Spanner (militant ska punk), These Creeps (hardcoreska),
Cydernide (street punk), Fuzia (BalkanKlesmerSka)
Room 2 DJ’s – Spacedocker; C.C.B; Oliffka aka Toxic Olive; The Porg;
Ambisinister; Mad Masks – playing jungle, breakcore, hardtek, hardcore,
mash up
Plus…Barmy Cabaret & stalls

In Greece a social and ideological war is being conducted, with global consequences for the current economic and political governance model. The state has pulled off the mask of neo-liberalism. Now It Nazi salutes and cannibalizes; it attacks basic social and labor rights, represses violently any form of resistance, as only these totalitarian methods will guarantee its survival. Currently the anti-authoritarian community receives regular brutal attacks from both the State and Fascists.

Anarchists are portrayed as terrorists, many of whom face heavy prison penalties. Their spaces are being violently evicted and their infrastructures and means of communication; (printing presses, radio stations) destroyed. Social centres within neighbourhoods with many immigrants, act as bulwarks against the Neo-Nazi’s and their murderous practices, where reactionaries are motivated by a fascist paramilitary organization / political party which holds 18 parliamentary seats – Golden Dawn.

In the last year, numerous squats have been evicted and sealed; some people have been deported, while others are being held in custody. More than 260 people detained by the repressive forces of state and capitalism, and more than 150 of those arrested are facing trial. Additionally fascist arson attacks on autonomous spaces have increased rapidly. In Greece a social experiment is being conducted by the bloodthirsty architects of power. If the resistance movement there is defeated, the success of the experiment will bring the global totalitarian dystopia disturbingly closer for us all.

SOLIDARITY AGAINST THE AUTHORITARIANISM AND DEPRIVATION THAT CAPITALISM HAS IMPOSED ON GREECE!
SOLIDARITY WITH SOCIAL FIGHTERS, SQUATS, AND AUTONOMOUS SPACES!

BGSG – we are a small group of people organizing solidarity events to raise awareness and funds in an attempt to support social struggles and social movements in Greece. Up coming big event on at the Easton Community Centre on June the 8th! Bands, DJ’s and performances! All profits go towards Greek autonomous spaces, that have lately been hammered by police/neo-fascist attacks! All welcome, all more than welcome to get involved! We need ideas, energy, people to do stuff on the nite etc.get in touch if u wanna b part of it.
Whoever wants to get involved please contact us at: bgsg@safe-mail.net

Info & news from Greece:
blog.occupiedlondon.org – news from the Greek streets
libcom.org/tags/greece – news, analysis and blogs from Greece
en.contrainfo.espiv.net/tag/greece – resistance and solidarity reports from Greece and across Europe
clandestinenglish.wordpress.com – migration and struggle in Greece
(Greek original at www.clandestina.org/)
borderlinereports.net – independent journalism from Greece on a variety of topics, includes in-depth reports, including a recent one on the Viome factory occupation.