Democracy and The State, Opposite Sides Of An Unbridgeable Divide.

      Another couple of examples of how democracy works in the Western world. We preach democracy across the world, bomb countries into submission and call it democracy. While at home we keep locking up more and more of our citizens, and the treatment delivered to those unfortunate to be confined within its cages, can be brutal in the extreme. 
This example is from Contra Info: 

Athens: Beatings inflicted on anarchist prisoner Panos Aspiotis for refusing to give DNA sample

      Anarchist Panagiotis (Panos) Aspiotis was wanted since March 2013 on firearms possession charges (“violation of the Arms Act”). In October 2015, he appeared voluntarily before the authorities. He was remanded and sent to a prison located far from Athens (his former residence). During these months in prison, he has refused to give the police a DNA sample.
       On Saturday, February 6th 2016, Panos Aspiotis was transferred from Nafplion prison to Athens, where he is scheduled to appear before the investigating judge Eftichis Nikopoulos (special appellate judge against terrorism) on Monday the 8th. The comrade was expected to be moved to Koridallos prison, but was brought to the Prisoner Transfer Division instead. He was separated from other prisoners and taken into a cell without surveillance cameras, where he was attacked by hooded cops of the anti-terrorist unit, who tried to take a sample of his DNA by force. He was beaten and kicked repeatedly in the head, ribs and body. The comrade resisted their first attempt by swallowing the DNA swab. The cops continued beating him, even after they forcibly took DNA sample from him.

SOLIDARITY WITH ANARCHIST PRISONER PANOS ASPIOTIS.

       This video from US, is extremely sickening as we know that this sort of thing is all part of the violence the state inflicts on its own citizens, through the medium of its trained keepers of the cages.

Published on Apr 5, 2013
        "You're never going to win... Bottom line is the house wins every time." That's what Maine Correctional Center Captain Shawn Welch said to a prisoner who was strapped into a restraint chair, his face coated with pepper spray and his legs shaking in pain and fear. The entire ordeal was captured in a disturbing video that recently hit the internet. After Captain Welch pepper sprayed prisoner Paul Schlosser in the face, Captain Welch ignored Schlosser's plea that he could not breathe; at one point, Captain Welch responds to Schlosser's pleas for help with the taunt, "Last I heard, I was as useless as tits on a bull."
        A former military medic, Paul Schlosser has received treatment in prison for both bipolar disorder and depression. After being held in solitary confinement for two months, he began to cut himself -- a common response to such long-term isolation. On June 7, 2012, Schlosser pulled off his bandages and refused to be treated. He was then strapped to a restraint chair and confronted by Captain Welch.
       In the video, we see Schlosser immobilized in the restraint chair and surrounded by officers in riot gear. Schlosser remains compliant until one of the officers pins Schlosser's head to the back of the chair; Schlosser responds by squirming and then spitting at the officer. Without warning, Captain Welch suddenly coats Schlosser's face at close range with pepper spray from a canister only intended to be used on large crowds from a distance of twenty feet or more, according to an investigator's report. Schlosser chokes and fights for breath. He pleads, "I can't breathe, Captain," but Welch does nothing. Instead of following accepted professional standards and rinsing away the liquid, Welch puts a spit hood on Schlosser, effectively trapping the pepper spray against the man's face. For over 20 minutes, Welch, with canister in hand, paces in and out of the small area where Schlosser is being restrained, and refuses to let him wash the burning spray from his face and eyes.
        Sadly, this is one of many examples of corrections staff abusing restraints and pepper spray, at times with deadly results: • Nick Christie died in 2006 after being pepper sprayed twelve times and spending six hours naked in a restraint chair. There, too, guards placed a spit hood over Mr. Christie, ensuring that he would breathe the liquid as long as he wore it. The case was later ruled a homicide. • Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio discontinued the use of restraint chairs in 2006 after three wrongful death lawsuits. • Jesse Lee Williams, Jr. was restrained when guards sprayed an entire can of pepper spray into a hood before putting it over his mouth as part of a savage beating. He died two days later.
      Openness and accountability are two of the strongest bulwarks protecting prisoners from abuse. This is true whether the abuse occurs in a matter of minutes, such as when Arizona guards beat, tased, stripped, and left Marty Atencio to die in a cell, or days, like when Michigan guards strapped Timothy Souders to a cement slab until he died of hyperthermia and dehydration.
       Unfortunately, instead of promoting openness and accountability, the Maine Department of Corrections has closed ranks to protect one of its own. Corrections Commissioner Joseph Ponte ignored the recommendation to fire Welch despite an internal investigation which found that Welch acted on a personal vendetta against Schlosser and not for any legitimate security reason. Now, the Department has focused its attention on ensuring no more videos are leaked, instead of ensuring no more torture happens.
        Paul Schlosser is lucky to be alive. The next Paul Schlosser might not be so lucky.

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