Early 2009 saw many protests in Bristol against the Israeli bombing of Gaza. In London there were a number of large angry marches opposing the bombing of families in Gaza. Some of those protesters are now facing heavy prison sentence. This report from NoMoreIsolation:
93 ARRESTED, 73 CHARGED, 10 JAILED SO FARRead More
(Update: some direct action solidarity took place in Bristol late on 23 Feburary. A communique posted on the Bristol Indymedia newswire claimed an attack on the Royal Bank of Scotland in central Bristol).
Opposition to the winter olympics on stolen native land continues, across Canada and internationally, despite heavy policing and arrests.
Bristol protest photo
There is a report of the 17 February protest in Bristol here.Read More
Yesterday 17 February saw a small low key protest in Bristol, organised in solidarity with the anti-olympic protests in and around Vancouver in the Canadian state of British Columbia. The protest was called after Bristol ABC hosted a cafe and info night at Kebele social centre on Sunday 14 February, which focused on the attacks on the rights of indigenous (native) peoples in Canada, and the ongoing theft of their lands – which has been going on for over 500 years.
The promotion and organisation of the winter olympics in Vancouver has stimulated growing resistance from a broad coalition of communities and campaign groups, that has received an increasingly sympathetic hearing amongst the wider population as the massive costs of the olympics has become clearer, and the information known about the environmental impact has become more detailed – for example in excess of 100,000 trees have now been felled to accommodate the olympics. The Canadian government faces growing anger in relation to the olympics, and the economic mess Canada is currently in. No surprise then that at the end of December 2009, the Candian PM suspended Parliament until early March 2010, in a move that also put an embarassing inquiry into Canada’s complicity with the treatment of detainees in Afghanistan onto the backburner. The olympics and democracy? Yeah right!Read More
(Update: From Russia With Love – the fundraiser enabled some £300 to be sent to comrades in Russia, who have sent a big ‘thank you’ in return. Details at Bristol Antifa).
Recent years have seen a rise in right-wing nationalism in Russia. Dire economic problems alongside a lessening of Russian influence on world affairs has led many of its politicians and industrialists to foster nationalism as a way of diverting the anger of workers and land workers down a path that will not threaten their power. Unsurprisingly there has been a growth of racist and fascist groups, including a growing and violent skinhead/hooligan culture, that take their anger out on vulnerable groups in society.Read More
Dear anti-prison blog readers,
our Latin American pages are in the process of being updated. We’re translating new articles and information on anti-prison struggles and anarchist/activist prisoners. Keep in mind that most of the links are in Spanish only, and most of the prisoners can’t write in English. A short file on common greetings and phrases to write on cards is on its way…in the meantime, have a look at the page! Comments and suggestions welcome.
Saludos rebeldes
The Bristol EDO Decommissioner Elijah Smith has been moved from HMP Lewes to another prison. No reasons are known for the move, so it seems likely that its just down to the pure bloody-mindedness of the British state in dealing with a political prisoner.
Elijah was transferred to Elmley Prison in Kent around Friday 22nd January and will probably remain there until March we understand. Letters of support remain really important as he’s likely to have less visitors now he’s been moved away from Brighton. Solidarity as ever remains vital for political prisoners.
Elijah Smith, VP 7551, HMP Elmley (Sheppey Cluster), Church Rd, Eastchurch, Sheerness, Kent, ME12 4DZ.
For those who can visit, times are 2pm-4.15pm daily, book a visit on 01795882272. HMP Elmley visiting info
See the support campaign website
You don’t hear much about Greece in the news these days, just the odd snippet buried away on the inside pages of the ‘serious’ newspapers, or perhaps on their on-line business/economic sections. If you check those then you may be aware that the Greek economy is in such a mess they may be kicked out of the eurozone, which is one reason the euro has dropped so much in value these last few weeks.
You may be aware of a degree of unrest amongst the workers, faced by severe austerity measures proposed by the ‘socialist’ government. You probably wont have heard about the massive mobilisations by farmers that have brought much of the country to a halt and closed its borders to the north. You almost certainly wont have heard about the trial of the killer cops that was due to start this week. Thats the cops who shot to death the 15 year old kid, that started the insurrection on 6 December 2008, that led to 17 days rioting across much of the country, and led to the ongoing low-level insurrection happening ever since.Read More
We are a prisoner support group, and that includes people on remand. Its fairly slow, unglamorous work, but it has to be done (so come on down!). In an ideal world, the one that will exist shortly after the social revolution, there will be no political & radical prisoners who need our support.
Until then we think its a good idea for people to do their best to not end up arrested by the police, and sent to prison. Which means people need to prepare a bit before going off on protests and actions! This following guide is an updated version from December 2009, published on the Manchester EF website:Read More
Marco Camenisch, 58 years old this Thursday, has spent 20 of the last 30 years in prison for his political actions, and has at least another 8 years to do. For the 10 years he was not in prison, he lived on the run, clandestinely, in Italy, Switzerland and elsewhere. Recently, in late December, he participated in a global hungerstrike by some 15 anarchist prisoners to draw attention to their struggle and affirm their resistance to state repression.
The following article has been translated from the Italian website set up to support Marco, and gives a brief history of his life and motivation (any links & highlighting have been added by translator):
“Marco Camenisch was born on 21 January 1952 in Switzerland, in a small village of the Graubunden region. At the beginning of 1980 Marco was arrested for damaging electricity pylons and transformers, once against the NOK company (which ran nuclear power plants in Switzerland) and once against their distributors, the Sarelli company. The sentence was very harsh: 10 years. Marco was well aware this reflected the seriousness of what was at stake: the ecocide perpetrated by the the power industry as part of the wider system of destruction, which formed the target of his own struggle.Read More
Elijah (James) Smith has now been locked up on remand for one year, ever since his arrest last 18 January 2009 after the EDO/MBM ITT factory in Brighton was trashed by 6 campaigners from Bristol. His and the other 5’s trial for that action commences on May 17 in Brighton (along with 3 other people from Brighton allegedly implicated in the action), however he faces being held on remand at least until his trial for the Raytheon 2 (formerly 3) starts in Bristol in early September.Read More