Justice for Jellytot

SA repression

Jellytot is a HS2 campaigner that was sentenced to 268 days in prison last month for breaching a HS2 injunction . He is in HMP Dovegate until 3rd Feb 2023 and is welcoming messages (via an email managed by some friends) and donations to his support campaign.

Email him at justiceforjellytot@protonmail.com.
Donate: https://tinyurl.com/Hs2prisoner

Here is a message to him from inside.

👋Hi everybody,

I’ve just received my first batch of emails (29th sept), thank you for all the love and support that is happening outside!
It’s been a little lonely up to now trying to get phone sorted etc (nothing happens over the weekends and not a lot more seems to happen during the week!)

First two nights were awful with a broken alarm blaring outside every 15 mins and people think it’s fine to wake me up in the night to take my blood pressure. Apart from that all is well. The van taking me from court had no juice so had to be jump started (more time for me to have an emergency final cigarette)
Managed to get my pack of Jellytots into the prison but was told I either had to eat them or they would be throw so I had to scoff the lot while my things were searched. Got my own room (for now) with shower and toilet, TV with Kerrang radio turned all the way up. Lovely view of some trees, plenty of books, puzzles, drawing materials etc.

First meal was instant noodles (my all time favourite) and something I can’t believe I am admitting ….. I have become a tea drinker.
There also seems to be some resident ducks (dunno what they’re in for) I’m starting to think it may just be fine here – I’ve never liked a mattress thicker than an inch anyway.

I’ve read somewhere I’m allowed no more than 5 pieces of fruit in my room at a time but I have 8! HA! And if the staff are reading this don’t worry I’m eating the other 3 now.

That’s all for now thank you for the support, I’ll be out in no time 🖤

ACTION ALERT: Get Samantha to hospital after her heart attack

admin Uncategorized

Please complete the action using this tool: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/action-alert-get-samantha-to-hospital-after-her-heart-attack

Samantha Faulder is a long-term prisoner at HMP Eastwood Park. She recently lost her life-partner, Taylor. 

She has now had a suspected heart attack in prison but has not been taken to hospital. Please contact the prison to demand she is taken to hospital ASAP, her life depends on it.

Sam has had two previous heart attacks in the last 3 years. She uses an angina spray and is awaiting valve replacement surgery. In this recent attack, she had debilitating chest pain, nausea, lost control of her bladder and was unable to move to press her buzzer and call for help. When she was finally found, prison healthcare staff did not call an ambulance. All they did was an ECG and checked her blood pressure. The nurse informed her that HMP Eastwood Park had missed two previous cardiology appointments with the local hospital. They have told Sam she will go for an appointment ‘soon’ in the coming weeks but did not specify when. They did not acknowledge the severity of her symptoms and were dismissive and neglectful. 

An NHS doctor has informed us that it is essential she is taken to hospital ASAP so that they can urgently: 

– identify myocardial ischemia changes to see if they need to start treatment  

– see if there is a troponin rise to know if she actually had a myocardial infarction, which again needs treatment 

She cannot afford to wait for these vital assessments. She deserves equal access to healthcare,the same as anyone else. 

Demand HMP Eastwood Park takes Samantha Faulder to hospital ASAP! No more deaths in prison! 

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Please write to Matt

admin KTB Prisoners, Uncategorized

Matt was sentenced to 5 years in prison after the Kill the Bill demonstration in Bristol in March 2021.

He is struggling at the moment and would appreciate your support! He loves graffiti and street art, true crime books, rave and traveller culture. You can write to him or use emailaprisoner.com or order cards from moonpig.com – beautiful pictures help counter the isolation of imprisonment.

Show him that he is not alone! If you are against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, please support people now imprisoned for fighting back against police violence.

Write to Matt: Matthew O’Neil A1596CT, HMP Guys Marsh, Shaftesbury, Dorset, SP7 0AH

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Prison Poem by Mariella

SA Uncategorized

Mariella is a woman of colour serving 5.5 years for riot after the Kill The Bill demonstration in Bristol in March 2021. Learn more about what happened here.

This is a poem sent to us from prison. Please keep writing and sending her cards to Mariella Gedge-Rogers A8811ET, HMP Eastwood Park, Falfield, Wotton-Under-Edge, GL12 8DB

Long-term prisoner Kevan Thakrar gives his perspective on the barristers’ strike

SA Uncategorized

Kevan made this statement on the ongoing barrister’s strike, from his prison cell in Belmarsh segregation unit:

“Firstly, I should say it is a disgrace that Legal Aid rates are so meagre, especially for new barristers. Only a corrupt capitalist society would think it acceptable to exploit its citizens to the extent that they cannot afford to survive on what they earn, whilst slandering them through the media with propaganda that portrays them as the disgruntled rich.

This said, if criminal barristers had a real belief in defending the innocent from wrongful imprisonment, they would make this strike about a lot more than just their pay-packets and in doing so could draw in the support of wider society.

It has not been the ever-decreasing standards of criminal trials – which have seen the introduction of anonymous witnesses, use of hearsay ‘evidence’, the slander that is bad character evidence, the ability for police and prosecutors to sit as jurors, the permissibility of double jeopardy or the mass use of the Joint Enterprise Doctrine – which has brought them out to protest. The campaigning organisation APPEAL set out 25 vital reforms to the criminal justice system earlier this year. It would not be difficult to adopt these as demands to go along with barristers’ quest for better rates of pay.

Even if it is only to be about money, why not expand the scope to say the fixed fees being raised by 25% is not all they want? They could also fight for an expansion of the groups and situations in which people qualify for legal aid, so that the amount of work available increases as well as the numbers who receive legal representation. This narrow focused approach only exemplifies that criminal defence barristers are part of the apparatus of the state, which enables the function of the injustice system to duly oppress and imprison its population focused mainly upon the marginalised, poor, and those who dare to resist.

It is no surprise that once the accused becomes the convicted, unless you are a rich private paying client, it is practically impossible to get one of these barristers to represent you. Not enough money in it for them; not a care in the world that an innocent person may well have lost their life to imprisonment, even if they are the barrister responsible for the shoddy job that enabled this. They never stepped out over the lack of legal aid for criminal appeals – why bother when the system continues to churn out fresh cases for them to get paid?

So, criminal defence barristers are poorly paid, but when they sell their souls to support a system of oppression they should count themselves fortunate that they are not in the shoes of the millions of their clients who have been let down by the system they are propping up, and wasting years of their lives imprisoned.”

Kevan Thakrar – A4907AE

Segregation Unit

HMP Belmarsh

Western Way

London

SE28 0EB

www.justiceforkevan.org

Kevan can also be contacted via www.emailaprisoner.com

Support Russian anti-war resister Igor Paskar

admin repression, soldarity, World

On June 14 2022, Igor Paskar painted his face in the colors of the Ukrainian flag and threw a Molotov cocktail at the door of the central entrance of the FSB headquarters of Krasnodar region, Russia. With this gesture, he protested against the invasion of Ukraine. Igor did not try to leave afterwards. In his own words, it was a conscious political action.

On the same day Igor Paskar was charged with committing an “act of terrorism” (part 1 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), which provides for a penalty of 10 to 15 years in prison. Igor himself does not consider his action an act of terrorism.

Igor has been held in Krasnodar pre-detention center №5, controlled by the FSB, since his arrest, so his lawyer could not meet with him for a long time.

In August, lawyer Felix Vertegel managed to visit Igor. The human rights workers of the “Zone of Solidarity” project made an agreement with the lawyer about legal assistance to Paskar. Part of the amount required to pay for a lawyer at the stage of the preliminary investigation was allocated by a friendly organization, but still need 140 thousand rubles (~2230 euros), as well as funds to pay for parcels.

Please help pay for a lawyer for Igor Paskar! A lawyer is a protection from the harassment of the security forces and a link with the outside world. At the moment, none of the letters sent have been delivered to Igor.

💳 Collection requisites:

4276 5500 2065 1710 (Sberbank, Zlatislava)

PayPal provided by Anarchist Black Cross of Moscow l: abc-msk@riseup.net
(specify “for Paskar” in the description of the transfer)

✉️ Address for letters to Igor 
Paskar Igor Konstantinovich, born 1976.
22 Krasnoarmeyskaya St., SIZO-5,
350063 Krasnodar Russia

Letters should be in Russian. You may use google translate for example. Note that a number of countries have halted all postal services to Russia, check that services are available in your country. You may
send letters to prisoners via Moscow Anarchist Black Cross e-mail address abc-msk@riseup.net.

Keep up supporting prisoners in Russia

You can find the contact addresses of all prisoners in Russia supported
by us here:
https://wiki.avtonom.org/en/index.php/Category:Currently_imprisoned_in_Russia

 and instructions how to donate here:
https://wiki.avtonom.org/en/index.php/Donate If you want to make a
donation to a particular prisoner or case, please contact us beforehand
to make sure that the supporters of the prisoner or case are currently
gathering donations.


https://avtonom.org/en/news/support-russian-anti-war-resister-igor-paskar

Letter for the International Week of Solidarity With Anarchist Prisoners 2022 by imprisoned anarchist Toby Shone

SA soldarity

From: https://solidarity.international/index.php/2022/08/04/letter-for-the-international-week-of-solidarity-with-anarchist-prisoners-2022-by-imprisoned-anarchist-toby-shone/

“Does this rising generation know that those who inaugurated the 8 hour day were put to death at the command of Capital?”
Lucy Parsons, The Haymarket Martyrs, November 1926

“Although we are not reformists, the struggle to obtain improvements in one’s immediate situation (wages, housing, health, education, occupations etc) sees the anarchists present, but they do not see these struggles as ends in themselves. They push the exploited towards this form of struggle so that they can develop the elements of self-organisation and refusal of the delegate which are indispensable in order to develop direct action at all other levels.”
Alfredo M. Bonanno, What are Anarchists?

Despite being in prison, news occasionally reaches me of the many repressive operations and terrible circumstances that our comrades are confronting. That’s why I am in agreement with the proposal once again put forward by the Anarchist Black Cross for a week of solidarity at the end of August. This date is chosen to mark the State murder of anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti. We cannot give in to resignation or become complacent in these times. It is more important than ever to explain and make accessible the anarchist analysis and to put it into practice immediately.

Anarchism is internationalism, self-management, mutual aid, solidarity, and direct action: incisive, voracious and alive. That’s why our spaces are raided and evicted, our publications seized, our communities hunted, beaten, imprisoned and killed around the world.

During my interrogations, the Counter-Terror cops at one point focused on the International Week of Solidarity with anarchist prisoners, accusing this event of supporting terrorism, glorifying terrorism. That’s because part of their strategy is to try to illegalise the Anarchist Black Cross. Their aim is to destroy all solidarity and counter-information structures which spread information about and provide material support for the legal cases of anarchist comrades who are locked up.

Fast forward to June 11th and I received an unwelcome visit from a cop of the South-West Counter-Terror Unit attached to the National Security Division, accompanied by a probation officer of the same. They informed me that despite being found “Not Guilty” of terrorism charges, I would be released under counter-terror restrictions and monitoring when I am due for conditional liberty in December. These restrictions include demands more far-reaching and draconian than the “Serious Organised Crime Prevention Order” that was defeated in Bristol Crown Court on May 6th. These restrictions are explicitly political and aim to prevent me from attending meetings, going on demonstrations and having contact with my comrades, close ones and the counter-culture. All in the name of “Anti-Extremism”. The regime demands that I am locked up in a secure hostel – a micro open prison which is in a city I have no links with. Not once did these servants mention the reason I am incarcerated because at this point it simply does not matter, as this is a repressive move against the anarchist ideas and nothing more. It is obvious that having failed to obtain the verdict they desired in my trial, having failed to impose the SOCPO, they now try to re-state their case through a manipulation of my licence restrictions. I am to be punished for my anarchist perspectives and the “fact” of their allegations. Their real aim is to return me back to prison as soon as they can under any pretext and open up the anarchist movement to their “anti-extremist, anti-terror” programs. For those arrested in the future on demonstrations or during direct action, this classifcation of “left-wing extremism” can therefore be applied even easier. We live in the times that George Orwell warned us of. The answer to this must come from the revolutionary movement itself, not only in terms of a rejection of this repressive strategy, but also in the acceleration of our techniques and organisation. To finish this dreary and legalistic update about my situation, that is the reason why I support the call by the ABC for the International Solidarity Week and not only. I finish with a promise sent on wings of black to all imprisoned anarchists around the world and to those who are free.

I DO NOT FORGET.

A COMPASSIONATE EMBRACE TO ALL COMRADES IN SPAIN, ITALY, GREECE, IRELAND, FINLAND, SWEDEN, HOLLAND, HUNGARY, FRANCE, PORTUGAL, AUSTRIA, GERMANY, RUSSIA, BELARUS, UKRAINE, CHILE, ARGENTINA, MEXICO, CUBA, BRAZIL, PERU, INDONESIA, PHILIPPINES, HONG KONG, MALAYSIA, THAILAND, MYANMAR, CHINA, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, USA, SYRIA. IRAQ, IRAN, KURDISTAN, TURKEY, EGYPT AND ANTARCTICA. EVERYWHERE ON PLANET EARTH…

You’ll find me there
Where the night cats play
Without masters or slaves
Under starry skies
The sun will rise
“in chaos, there is fertility”
Anais Nin

Toby
27/7/22

Call for International Week of Solidarity with Anarchist Prisoners 2022 // 23 – 30 August

SA prison industrial complex, soldarity, Uncategorized, World

The fact that capitalism does not focus on our needs but on profit, is demonstrated with all its brutality in times of climate crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic and the collapse of socioeconomic systems all around the world. Those who profit from capitalism enrich themselves through times of disaster. But with ongoing crises we are also experiencing a new era of uprisings from below.

Resistance to the war in Ukraine, Sudanese protests against military rule or the social revolt in Chile are some examples that not only show us the possibilities of organizing and collective struggle. They also highlight how important it is for social movements to learn from each other and support each other in these times. Not only outside the walls but also behind them.

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, we’ve seen fierce struggles against imprisonment, reminding us that incarcerated people are the ones most affected when everything goes down. Breakouts from Brazilian and Italian prisons, people in jail setting fire to a prison in Thailand and ongoing hunger strikes like those we see in Greece or in polish refugee detention camps are examples of the courage people in prisons are showing to smash the walls.

In all of these struggles, anarchist ideas and values are the fuel for collective resistance. Unsurprisingly the repression against anarchists is increasing and solidarity is needed more than ever. The capitalist system of domination can function because of the continued isolation between people, endless competition, and overlook our real needs and desires. We need solidarity within our friendships, at work, in the neighborhood, in our communities. Those outside and those inside their walls.

Let’s break out together! That is why we are calling again for International Week of Solidarity with Anarchist Prisoners. Do some action of solidarity! Write letters, organize speeches or film screening, make our comrades visible on the streets with a banner drop or a graffiti and let them show that they are in our hearts and that we are fighting together.

Let’s remember those who fought against this injustice and payed with their lives.
No one is free, till all are free!

If you have any questions or comments, if you would like to send us a picture, a short text, a recording of your event or action, please write to us.