UK Fascism.

 

       The state, any state moves inexorably towards fascism, it has no alternative as it seeks total control over its citizens. In the UK the state took a massive step towards fascism when on March 9th 2021 it introduced the The Police, Crime, Courts and Sentencing Bill. This single bill hands more power to the police, groups a raft of activities as crimes and introduces harsher sentencing. It is a vice clamp on our right to protest. Those who have the courage to stand up and oppose this curtailing of our democratic rights are being hit hard by the loaded judicial system that will defend and enact this step to fascism.
       In Bristol one such individual is facing a long prison sentence for openly protesting the injustice encapsulated in this legislation. He deserves and needs your support.

       Ryan Roberts’ trial for riot and arson is on the 25-27th October. If convicted he is facing a long sentence. He will be the first defendant to be brought to trial to have plead not guilty for charges relating to the 21st March Kill the Bill demonstration.
       Ryan is calling for solidarity and support
       We will hold a demonstration on October 25th at 8.30am outside Bristol Crown Court. We’d also like people to sit in court from the 25th-27th, to show that Ryan has support!
        On the final day of the trial we will hold a demo at 5pm outside the Crown Court.
        if you’re coming from elsewhere and need accommodation email bristoldefendantsolidarity@riseup.net
        We are also calling for you to do a solidarity banner drop or other action in your local area during October to show your support for Ryan
        Ryan is currently on remand in Bristol Prison. He’d welcome letters of support. Click here to find out how.

Solidarity is strength!
bristolabc 

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info  

A Long Struggle.

      Proclaiming to be an anarchist in this system of economic madness is seen as being a threat, and a reason to have you silenced in one way or another, preferably locked up. The case of John Bowden is one glaring example. John Bowden has served 40 years in prison and had four parole requests rejected. The main reason for those rejections was not that he was a possible threat to the public, but that he held anarchist views and was in frequent contact with anarchist groups such as Anarchist Black Cross. Four parole requests rejected simply on the bases of his political views, not his threat to the public, says a lot about our loaded judicial system. In this so called "democracy" holding a political view that fights for equality and justice, and in doing so threatens not the public but those pampered privileged parasites that hold the levers of power, is seen as a crime and must be silenced. They have failed in the past, and they will always fail to silence the human cry for justice, freedom and equality.

A now defunct poster, sadly there are many others to take its place.

 

This from Act For Freedom Now:

       On the 20th February, the Parole Board finally agreed to my release after forty years of my imprisonment and four previous parole hearings when my release was denied not because I represented a risk or danger to the public but because I was labelled an “anti-authoritarian” prisoner with links to anarchist and communist groups on the outside, specifically Anarchist Black Cross and the Revolutionary Communist Group.
      Following a parole knockback of my release last year, I instigated a Judicial Review of the decision. Which although it did not succeed fired a judicial shot across the bows of the Parole Board and Ministry of Justice. And persuade them that future decisions on my release or not would have to be based on proper legal criteria. Specifically, whether my continued imprisonment could be justified in the Interests of public protection and-not just because I was labelled a “difficult prisoner” by the – prison authorities.
      So, the parole panel considering my case in February of this year had to admit there was no real lawful justification for my continued imprisonment and so reluctantly agreed to my release. However, in its written decision, the Parole Board claimed that my “current risk factors” included “anti-authority views” and “attitudes supportive of the use of violence.” It also wrote: “During your sentence, you have evidenced that you have a mistrust of those in authority and professionals have previously reported that if you felt unfairly treated or discriminated against, coupled with any engagement with anti-social peers, then this could increase your risk of violence. Your attitude towards authority and your personality characteristics have also been considered by professionals to present a potential challenge in your future risk management.”
       Focusing specifically on my contact with prisoner support on the outside the parole decision report says:. ‘it is clear from official reports that you have passionate political views and during your sentence, you have engaged with groups that have been described as anarchist groups (specifically Anarchist Black Cross). You stated that these groups could be forthright and radical in their protests, but they were not terrorist groups and did not advocate violence.
You told the panel that you’ve had a lot of time on your hands in prison, and this has facilitated your contact with such groups and your general interest in criminal and social justice, equality, unfairness and inequality.” It then concludes with “The panel accepted that your passion for standing up for people whom you believe need support is unlikely to impact adversely on your risk to the outside community. However, the panel was mindful that when you were previously at large having escaped you were helped considerably by associates you had met through these groups and therefore it would need to be borne in mind that you might be provided with assistance if you disengage with supervision in the community”.
        However, in its final decision, the parole Board admitted that my actual risk or danger to the public was minimal and therefore there was no lawful reason why I should remain imprisoned, and on the 13th March the Ministry of Justice agreed to my release.
       Despite 40 years of imprisonment I finally emerge from prison unbroken and my political integrity uncompromised and unyielding, and I want to deeply thank all the comrades who have supported me during my long imprisonment and provided me with the strength to maintain my struggle, especially comrades in Anarchist Black Cross and the Revolutionary Communist Group. I salute you, comrades!
John Bowden
HMP Warrenhill
March 2020
Source: Brighton ABC… please visit
https://www.brightonabc.org.uk/john/ileave.html
Additional note: John was released yesterday. Please check Brighton ABC
website for future statements… https://www.brightonabc.org.uk/
email brightonabc[at]riseup.net

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk 

Pandemic And Prisons.

        We all know, or should know, our prisons are overcrowded with poor hygiene, poor medical facilities, and are places with no freedom or possibilities of self isolating. They are incubation pods for the spread of infections, so what are our lords and masters doing to protect those who find themselves lock into this intolerable situation during this pandemic? We must demand that all prisoners should be in a position to self isolate, have the needed health care and hygiene necessary to survive this pandemic. To fail to do this is not just a case of cruel criminal neglect, but also an act of callous inhumanity. Prisons must not be allowed to become institutional mortuaries and reported as just one of those things that happen. Prisoners can and must be protected.   

This from Act For Freedom Now:

         In this moment of not knowing what’s coming next, the failure of this system is more and more clear: a world wired for ever-growing speed, circulation, and productivity, suddenly has to stop. In this moment when power gets more power, fed by the general panic of an unknown and new situation, there’s a pressing need to listen out and to fight for those who are most affected, those who already know what it is to be trapped, isolated and repressed.
        We will be publishing information, hoping to amplify unheard voices, and to break the silence that risks making an intolerable situation even worse. Now, more than ever, those caged by the state face precarious conditions, with low hygienic standards, very poor healthcare and overcrowded cells. While the ‘managers’ of the crisis carefully calculate how this or that measure can protect the political and economic order, the basic steps we need to take to slow down the contagion are clear: keep distance between each other, maintain good hygiene and avoid crowded places. Inside, this will be difficult or impossible for many. We are not going to ‘take this on the chin’! Prison makes us sick!
       Take a minute to share this poster, as an easy and first step to practicing solidarity. Email us with any questions. We won’t share any details without consent.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Support Antifascists.

       Fascists raise their vile brainless shit heads from time to time, it seems as if the powers that be whistle these dogs in whenever there is a hint of anger and unrest among the population. Invariable it is those who resist the fascist scum that get treated to the harshest treatment from the forces of "law and order", that gives you a fair idea where their real support comes from.

A call for solidarity and support from Sweden:

        For a few years Gothenburg was one of the focal points of neo-nazi activity in Sweden. The bombings of a leftist book cafe and two refugee camps in 2016 were followed by a period of intense pursuits at establishing the so called Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM) on the streets of our city. The NRM is a violent pro-Hitler sect consisting of racist maniacs threatening, attacking and in some cases even killing its opponents. No one in their right mind wants them around.

Originally published by Anarchist Black Cross Gothenburg.

       Their efforts reached its climax with the attempt to arrange a big nazi march in the autumn of 2017. But they underestimated the collective rage and resistance of everyday people. Almost 20,000 people claimed the streets, stepped over public order fences or took some part in blocking every chance for the march to succeed. Since then, their presence is limited to night time actions and short visits to nearby towns. We halted the establishment of a local nazi movement, but it has not stopped.

      In 2018 a group of nazis, some belonging to the NRM, tried to break into a syndicalist may day-celebration. They were efficiently stopped by people in the demonstration, and one of our comrades is now awaiting trial for an alleged assault.
     In 2019 the NRM held a demonstration on the first of may in our neighbouring town Kungälv, hoping every left leaning antifascist would be busy. But thousands of people, local and traveling from Gothenburg, made their day a miserable failure. They have since announced they will not come back to Kungälv this year. At least one comrade from Gothenburg is however awaiting trial for allegedly resisting the police, and more accusations may likely come following what was described as a riot.

      With trials coming up, and assuming that the confrontations above will likely not be the last, we ask for your support. A series of support parties in Gothenburg have already begun, but knowing that the Swedish state is happy to set an example with antifascists, we suspect this will be expensive.
        Every euro raised will be used to first pay for fines and second to cover the costs associated with prison sentences. Should there be money left over, it will be used to help cover similar cases in the future.

Crowdfunding campaign:

https://www.firefund.net/gothenburgafa
Anarchist Black Cross Gothenburg

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Anti-Prison Week.

         Prisons are symbols that we live in an authoritarian society, prisons are totally unacceptable in a free and democratic society. Locking people in cages can never be seen as an acceptable answer to any problem when we live in that free and democratic society. Today prisons are not the monopoly of the state, though the state holds the sole right to send you there, it has handed the running of prisons over to money seeking shareholders. They in turn will seek to expand the prison system and to increase its capacity, all in the drive for more profit. A typical capitalist profit making entity from dehumanising people. Freedom can only grow from the ashes of the prison system, only when the last prison lies in ruins can we say, we are truly on the road to freedom.

This from Act For Freedom Now:

 

     The anti-prison week is in less than a month! It will happen from 2 to 8 march 2020 in the old train station of Luméville, close to Bure, place of a struggle against a project of a center for burrying nuclear waste.
       The idea is to take time to meet, between people and groups from different countries, have formal and informal times of discussions, workshops, movie screenings, readings. You can come to the week with your own proposals, with or without telling us in advance. Zine distros are also very welcome.
     We received criticisms regarding the lack of topics related to racism in prison and state racism in the program of the week, considering the key role that racism play in penitentiary systems. We would like to make more space for these topics, so if you think you have something to contribute on these topics, please contact us.

Program

      We are currently contacting the groups that will take part in the week to know when each workshop or discussion will happen. This section will be updated regularly between now and the beginning of the week.

Monday
An update on the struggle in Bure, the Cigéo project, the events of the last few years.
More info soon.

Tuesday : repression and anti-repression
More info soon.

Wednesday : (No) Borders
More info soon.

Thursday : gender issues, LGBTQ+, women’s prisons
More info soon.

Friday : about being “on the run”
More info soon.

Saturday : anarchist views on justice, law, crime / how to get out of a punitive system
More info soon.

Sunday
More info soon.

Practical informations

Coming to the place of the event

       The old train station of Luméville is located in Meuse, France, close to the village of Luméville-en-Ornois, on the left of the road leading to the village of Mandres-en-Barrois. You can enter it by car. We will put up signs so you can’t miss the entry ways.



Food

        There will be vegan food from sunday 1st in the evening to monday 9th in the morning. We will provide the food and cooking equipment but cooking will be participatory and rely on self-organization. You will be able to put money in a free price box to help us cover the expenses of the week.

Sleeping

       There will be sleeping places in a building on the place of the event, but not enough for everyone. There will also be sleeping places in other collective houses in villages around (at maximum 8km). There is a lot of space on the place of the event if you can come with a tent, a camper or a truck (bring blankets if you can!).
      If you need sleeping places in the building on the place of the event, please tell us in advance how many places you need so we can organize.

Translations

     Translations will be provided as much as possible in french, english, german and italian. If you plan to come to the week and are able and motivated to do translations during discussions, you can tell us in advance when you would come and from which to which language you can translate.

Legal information

       We published an article about legal information and police controls in the context of the week. You can read it here.

See you in march!

 The Anarchist Bure Cross

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

An Early Invite.

        Anarchist bookfairs, festivals, gatherings are always welcome events. A great opportunity to meet up with new contacts and old comrades, a chance spread ideas learn new ones. To generate that feeling of solidarity and comradeship, feel you are among people you wish to work with, and with whom you hold the same basic ideals.
        So why not mark your calendar, and if you can get yourself to Vienna around the end of April 2020, you could enjoy all of the above and more.

 Details:
Dear comrades!
        We want to invite you for the next ABC-Solidarity-Festival in Vienna starting at Thursday 23. to Sunday 26. April 2020.
          It would be great if you come to Vienna with your merch, books and info tables, workshops, bands, tattoo tools or other ideas how to participate at the festival. It is a great opportunity to get connected with comrades from all over Europe and to discuss several issues about our struggles, perspectives, projects and critics.
         If you want to offer a workshop or play with your band: Please contact us as soon as possible to fix the details – for the workshop you have normally two hours all in all. The workshops are on Friday or Saturday, starting at 1 in the afternoon. Have a look at the timetable of the last years: https://abcfestvienna.noblogs.org/program-2017
        It would be a pleasure to see you in Vienna (of course you are very welcome also during the year).

All the best and warm hugs from us,
ABC Vienna

https://abcfestvienna.noblogs.org

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Remembering Our Own, Albert Meltzer.

       We should always remember our own, those who stood up and fought on the side of the ordinary people against the injustices and inequalities of this repugnant capitalist system.

     January 7th. marks the 100th. anniversary of the birth of staunch anarcho-communist, conscientious objector, Albert Meltzer who died almost five years ago on the 7th. May 1996.

      This extract is from the Kate Sharpley Library and is by his friend and comrade Stuart Christie:

 Albert Meltzer with Stuart Christie

Albert Meltzer, anarchist

Stuart Christie

         Albert Meltzer was one of the most enduring and respected torchbearers of the international anarchist movement in the second half of the twentieth century. His sixty-year commitment to the vision and practice of anarchism survived both the collapse of the Revolution and Civil War in Spain and the Second World War; he helped fuel the libertarian impetus of the 1960s and 1970s and steer it through the reactionary challenges of the Thatcherite 1980s and post-Cold War 1990s.
      Fortunately, before he died, Albert managed to finish his autobiography, I Couldn't Paint Golden Angels, a pungent, no-punches pulled, Schvejkian account of a radical twentieth century enemy of humbug and injustice. A life-long trade union activist, he fought Mosley's Blackshirts in the battle of Cable Street, played an active role in supporting the anarchist communes and militias in the Spanish Revolution and the pre-war German anti-Nazi resistance, was a key player in the Cairo Mutiny [after] the Second World War, helped rebuild the post-war anti-Franco resistance in Spain and the international anarchist movement. His achievements include Cuddon's Cosmopolitan Review, an occasional satirical review first published in 1965 and named after Ambrose Cuddon, possibly the first consciously anarchist publisher in the modern sense, the founding of the Anarchist Black Cross, a prisoners' aid and ginger group and the paper which grew out of it - Black Flag.
        However, perhaps Albert's most enduring legacy is the Kate Sharpley Library, probably the most comprehensive anarchist archive in Britain. 

Read the full article HERE: 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk 

The Prisons, Institutions For Creating Submissive Citizens.

        John Bowden was sentenced to 25 years in prison, 40 years later he is still there, even although all the criteria set by the parole board have been met, according to the prison professionals who asses these things, the parole board still hold on to their pig-head authoritarian mindset, and refuse him parole. The fact that he is an anarchist and stands firmly by his anarchist principles of resistance to injustice even within the confines of prison, is the main reason for his denial of parole. They demand total and submissive obedience to their idea of the perfect citizen, he must not resist the injustices that he sees all around him. After all that is the real reason for the existence of the prison system. You can forget all that crap about re-rehabilitation and protecting the public, that is the thin veneer they spread of this repressive tool of the state. 

This from 325:

        On the 22nd January 2019 after almost forty years in prison the Parole Board considered the case for either my release or continued imprisonment. In the case of life sentence or indeterminately sentenced prisoners once such prisoners have been detained for the length of time originally recommended by the judiciary or Secretary of State, in my case 25 years, then the Parole Board has a statuary and legal obligation and responsibility to review the case for either the release or the continued detention of such prisoners. At three previous parole hearings my release had been denied by the Parole Board on the grounds that I was a “difficult and anti-authoritarian” prisoner, and insufficiently obedient to prison authority; my actual risk or danger to the public, the prime official criteria for denying the release of life sentence prisoners, was never cited as a reason for my continued imprisonment.

        At my parole hearing on the 22nd January all of the professionals employed to assess the potential risk of prisoners the community, prison psychologists, probation officers, etc., all provided evidence stating that my actual risk to the community was either minimal or non-existent and that I could be ‘safely managed’ outside of prison. My lawyer informed the parole panel that the three chief criteria determining the ‘suitability of release’ of life sentence prisoners [has the prisoner served a sufficient length of time to satisfy the interest of retribution?; does the prisoner represent a minimal risk to the community?; can the prisoner be safely managed in the community?] were all confirmed in my case and therefore there was no real lawful justification for my continued imprisonment, especially as I remained still in prison almost fifteen years beyond the length of time originally recommended by the judiciary. The issues raised by the parole panel were not in fact my potential risk to the community or potential for violent behaviour, all of which had been assessed by the system professionals who gave evidence at the hearing and who unanimously attested that my risk of either violent behaviour or risk to the community was minimal; the main concern of the parole panel was my propensity to challenge prison authority and my association with radical political groups on the outside, specifically Anarchist Black Cross. Representatives from the London Probation Service informed the panel that all of the groups that I was associated with were lawful and none were associated with illegal activity, and in terms of my relationship with the prison system whilst I continued to question and challenge what I perceived as abuses of power, I had not been involved in violent protest actions against the system for over twenty years.

        At the conclusion of the parole hearing the panel announced that it would deliver its decision regarding my release within fourteen days. By law parole panels must deliver decisions within fourteen days of hearings.

On the fourteenth day following my hearing the Parole Board claimed that it had not in fact concluded the hearing on the 22nd January but had “adjourned” it and would conclude with a “paper hearing”, when I and my lawyer would not be present, on the 20th February. They also requested additional information from the probation officers responsible for my post-release supervision concerning the conditions and rules of that supervision. The probation officers subsequently provided the Board with the information, and reiterated that in their professional opinion I could be safely managed and supervised in the community.

On the 20th February the Parole Board then claimed that they had “deferred” the “paper hearing” because one of the Board members considering my release had decided to go on leave. In early March in response to inquiries from the Probation Service regarding a parole decision, the Parole Board said that they were in the process of “finalising” their decision. What was becoming increasingly apparent was that the Parole Board simply did not want to make a decision, or at least a decision authorising my release, which placed them in something of a quandary.

        Confronted by the evidence and recommendations of system professionals such as probation officers and prison-hired psychologists who had all stated that there was no public protection justification for my continued imprisonment, the Parole authorities were denied a legitimate legal cover for my continued detention, and obviously were extremely reluctant to openly declare the true reason for their desire to deny my release – a determination to continue my punishment for ever having dared to fight and challenge the prison system, and my refusal to compromise or surrender my political integrity and spirit. In reality, when considering the release of life sentence prisoners one criteria is given absolute priority over all others, and it certainly isn’t “public protection” or the propensity, or not, of the prisoner to criminally re-offend. The most fundamental criteria governing the release decision of life sentence prisoners is the absolute obedience of the prisoner to the authority of those enforcing that imprisonment? Essentially, prisons exist as instrument of social control to tame the rebellious poor and condition them into total obedience to the system; “rehabilitation” is simply a veneer used to legitimise an institution that is intrinsically brutal and inhuman.-------------

---------------Britain now currently has the highest population of life sentence prisoners in the whole of Europe and as the social and political climate here becomes increasingly more repressive and retributive that population of the civil dead will continue growing.

Read the full article HERE: 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Week Of Solidarity With Anarchist Prisoners.

        Prisons are places of repression, intimidation and isolation, as the state would have them be. However, the isolation can be broken with contact from the outside, that feeling of being cut off and forgotten can destroy your mind. To feel that you are part of something bigger than the prison that tries to subdue you, can help you through your ordeal. Below is a call for solidarity with anarchist prisoners, here and abroad, from Anarchist Black Cross: 

         Why bother writing to politicians when all they deserve is our hatred? They will never listen to appeals from social reformers or the unwashed, nevermind the misguided anarchists. Why don’t you write to locked-up anarchists instead, cheer them up and strike up a conversation? One of the most important and simple ways we have available to break the isolation imposed on our imprisoned comrades is to write to them and let them know that they are not forgotten but are present. Nothing stops when you enter prison and we can meet them there with our international solidarity which is taking place on many fronts.
        Here is a good PDF guide to prisoner correspondence written by ABC Leeds some years ago but still relevant today, plus a list of anarchist prisoners compiled by the international groups of the Anarchist Black Cross for the week of solidarity taking place at the moment:
Writing to prisoners – Guide by ABC Leeds
Anarchist prisoners addresses list – August 2018

From 325:

 
       If the “innocent” ones deserve our solidarity once, then the “guilty” ones deserve it a thousand times… — Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, FAI-IRF / Imprisoned Members Cell

       Solidarity will always be practiced as an indispensable feature of an anarchist way of life and action. The war continues, never give up, never give in. Long live FAI-FRI. Long live CCF. Long live the black international — Alfredo Cospito

Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk

The State And Its Fear Of Anarchists.

         As I stated before, in state after state, the rise of the right goes on well financed and unchecked, while anarchists and others, whose main aim is a free, sustainable and fair society, something the state can't tolerate, are hounded, persecuted and imprisoned. No state is immune from this repression of anarchists, though at the moment Russia is well to the fore as a regime that encourages brutal torture, false evidence, backed up with a corrupt judicial system.

This from Contra Info:

         Moscow Anarchist Black Cross released the review of repression of anarchists by Russian state in 2017 and early 2018. During this period, the authorities continue to frame and persecute the Russian comrades. Anarchists are also a subject of repressions in prisons. Here is the extract of recently published list of repression in Russia.
St. Petersburg and Penza
In October 2017, Russian Special Services (FSB) fabricated a large-scale criminal case against anarchists and anti-fascists, whom they declared members of the terrorist organisation called The Network. Russian authorities allege that the accused planned and prepared terrorist acts to be conducted during the coming presidential elections in March 2018 and the World Cup over Summer the same year.
In Penza, Yegor Zorin, Ilya Shakursky, Vasily Kuksov, Dmitry Pchelintsev, Arman Sagynbaev and Andrei Chernov were detained. In St. Petersburg, the cops arrested Victor Filinkov and Igor Shishkin. Ilya Kapustin is currently a witness.  The relatives of the arestees reported that their loved ones were tortured in order to extract confessions from them. All detainees in this case are in a difficult situation, under the threat of repetition of tortures, and very much need your support – and your solidarity. You can make a donation towards their legal costs here. The arrested will also be delighted to recieve letters of support. Here are their addresses:
St. Petersburg:
191123, St. Petersburg, Shpalernaya St., 25 PKU SIZO-3 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia
Shishkin Igor Dmitrievich
Filinkov Victor Sergeevich
In Penza:
PKU SIZO-1, st. Karakozova, 30, Penza, Penza region, Russia, 440039
Shakursky Ilya Alexandrovich
Pchelintsev Dmitry Dmitrievich
Chernov Andrey Sergeevich
Sagynbaev Arman Dauletovich
Moscow
Two activists, Elena Gorban and Alexei Kobaidze, are charged with criminal damage of Putin’s United Russia Party offices. They were charged after, at the end of January 2018, unknown activists smashed the window of one of the branches of the United Russia Party in Moscow and threw a fire inside in protest against the upcoming presidential elections.
“No matter who becomes president, their policy is always the oppression and exploitation of a simple working people. We, as anarchists, offer self-government and direct democracy in exchange for presidents and other state institutions. Join our fight! “- the people responsible for that action said in their statement.
The police broke into the apartments where Gorban and Kobaidze lived on February 13. After the interrogations, the activists were released on bail, and now they are on the run.
Chelyabinsk: criminal case for anti- FSB banner
In Chelyabinsk, five activists were detained on 19th February 2018 after the action near the local branch of the FSB. Persons unknown hanged a banner saying “FSB – the main terrorist” and threw a smoke bomb over the fence of the FSB property. The action was held in support of the anarchists arrested in Penza.
The activists, who prefer their names to be published, reported that the FSB officers tortured them with a taser gun, demanding that they admit that they hung the banner. They were eventually released on bail, but with a condition preventing them from leaving the country or changing address. You can help them with legal costs by transferring money to the account of ABC.
Crimea: Yevgeny Karakashev arrested for “justifying terrorism”
In February 2018, Crimean FSB arrested anarchist Yevgeny Karakashev. He is accused of “inciting hatred” and “justification of terrorism”, or in other words, posting a video on Russian social media page VKontakte. Karakashev is currently under arrest.
Eugene has been busy with activism for some time. Prior to his arrest, he took part in a picket near the FSB building in Crimean city Simferopol, and in November 2016, along with like-minded people, planned to hold a picket “against police arbitrariness in the Crimea” near the building of the Ministry of the Interior. This picket was banned by the local authorities.
Administrative Persecution of Anarchists
In Janury 2017, on the anniversary of the political assassination of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova, there were memorial events across the country, which the cops tried to break. Anarchists were detained in Moscow, Petersburg, Murmansk and Sevastopol. The police conducted more arrests this year during commemoration actions for Markelov and Baburova.----

Read the full article HERE: 

Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk
 

  

The State And Repression Go Hand In Hand.

 

       Scan the map of the Earth, pick your state, no matter which one you select, you'll find it indulges in brutal repression, cruelty and inhumane treatment of its own people. The state apparatus has to, to maintain its hold over the people, to allow freedom of speech and expression would be the demise of the state and its corrupting, debilitating influence. Violence and repression are the state's weapons of survival.

An appeal from ABC Istanbul:

     Vegan anarchist prisoner Osman Evcan was recently exiled (aka transferred) from Kandıra prison No.1 to Silivri L-type closed prison No.6, and has suffered repression such as naked body search, cameras in cells, ban on letters and visitors, and blocking of vegan food. He has undertaken hunger strike since February 22nd 2016 to resist this oppression. Help spread the word!

More info HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Anarchist Black Cross.

An announcement from Italy Black Cross,  Croce Nera Anarchica: 

        As already announced in the first meetings for the presentation of the Anarchist Black Cross editorial project, besides the contribution made with information and discussions through the paper and the blog, we’ve been proposing the creation of a solidarity fund for anarchist prisoners, as we want to give economic support to those who fall into the tangles of repression of which they are active conscious enemies.

We’ve now done it and created the fund.

      Anarchists are intrinsically reluctant to all political categorization, they are anti-political by nature and therefore shouldn’t be referred to as political prisoners. At the same time, anarchists end up in prison on the grounds of ideas, actions and behaviour that are the result of ethical, political and existential awareness. Painful awareness, intellectual conscience, joyous revolt and any other mixtures of feelings, actions and knowledge, is a natural process that leads us to be informed, alert and critical towards certain trajectories of struggle and repression. We are anarchists, alien to the concept of politics, no matter what the name; if we fall into the net of the enemy, we don’t claim to be political objects but are subjects of a different sociality/a-sociality, a different view on the existent. We look for allies, accomplices, comrades among the others oppressed by the machinery of dominion. But that doesn’t mean mythicizing class belonging as the old communist Vulgate did, or making clumsy attempts at social entomology and looking for the oppressed we talk about, be they outside or inside prison, from the pulpit of our analysis, as though the oppressed were objects of study.

      We are well aware that in this context making distinctions can be unpleasant and misleading, as this can lead to simplifications liable to be exploited on a political level and by the repression; that is why we decided to clearly specify the discriminating factors we have chosen, for the time being.

      A solidarity fund in support of anarchist prisoners, which obviously goes beyond the fictitious distinction between political and social prisoners.
     We’re also aware of the increased repressive clampdown as a result of recent legal measures, which makes the need to use instruments that the enemy would like to suppress even more obvious.
We want to add that we don’t intend to give any ‘geographical connotation’ to the prisoners we are about to support, and that this is a solidarity fund for them, not a fund for legal expenses or a tool of legal support.
      We want to become active on these grounds, aware as we are of the effort required and our current possibilities.

CNA

To send solidarity contributions:

PostePay Card Number: 4023 6009 1934 2891

Account name: Omar Nioi

Via:croceneranarchica

Translated by act for freedom now

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY.

       Like the man said, "Prison is a crime against humanity." In America there are more people locked up in prisons than any other country in the world, while we in the UK also come very high on that list. I believe that in the UK approximately 80% of those in prison are in for non-violent crimes and a high proportion have mental health problems, and addiction problems. More hospital cases than prison cases, but this is capitalism. However under the present system we will not be able to abolish prisons, but there are those who do try to do something about those unfortunate enough to get caught up in this destructive system. Everybody knows Amnesty International, there is SACRO (Scottish Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders) there is also Anarchist Black Cross and Jail Guitar Doors. Until that day when the prison walls come down by the force of justice, those on the inside still need support.

ann arky's home.

THE BOTTLED WASP.

       Under the economic system that we at present just about survive in, there are an unlimited number of causes that we feel we should support, some physically and some financially. Sadly we can't support them all, so making choices is something we have to do. Due to the ever increasing number of people that the state locks up, in an ever increasing privatised prison system, prisoner support is one field that can always do with greater support and solidarity. 

      Anarchist Black cross (ABC) works constantly and tirelessly to support those who find themselves caged by the state. There are numerous local ABC groups where you can get involved in simple and not too time consuming means of offering a window to the outside world to those isolated from that world. Letter/card writing, prison visits, small gifts, financial, publicity for certain cases, etc. Without getting too involved and something that will only take a few minutes and a fiver, you could order the new ABC prisoner support 2013 pocket diary, The Bottled Wasp.

    It will be available from November cost £5 and will only take minutes of your time to obtain, but the money will go a long way in bring support to those individuals caught up in the state's maze of a penal system.

ann arky's home.

SOLIDARITY WITH POLITICAL PRISONERS.

        Across the world state repression hits hard those who would actively work towards changing the present economic system to one of fairness and justice. One thing the powers that be, in this exploitative system want tolerate is the people trying to create a system that sees to the needs of all our people, free from the strangle hold of the corporate profit junkies. We should always remember, that it is not just in our own country or those far away lands under the grip of some despot dictator, that this repression takes place, it is in all the countries across the planet. We should always show solidarity with each and every one of those who sacrifice their own liberty to the cause of a fairer and better world for all.

This from International Prison Books Collective:

Hello Friends and Comrades,

      Here is the political prisoner birthday poster for August. As always, please post this poster publicly and/or use it to start a card writing night of your own.

      A hunger strike has begun at multiple prison facilities in North Carolina. Reports are still coming in as to the scope of the strike. A list of the strikers demands and phone numbers you can call can be found here.

       On Wednesday July 25^th, the FBI conducted a series of coordinated raids against activists in Portland, Olympia, and Seattle. They subpoenaed several people to a special federal grand jury, and seized computers, black clothing and anarchist literature. This comes after similar raids in Seattle in July and earlier raids of squats in Portland. A website has been created to spread information about the raids and to support the victim´s of the FBI´s Harrassment.

     Lastly, here is a link to the latest Political Prisoner/Prisoner Of War every-other week update by the NYC-Anarchist Black Cross. There are lots of good updates on many political prisoners.

Until Every Cage Is Empty,

 ann arky's home.