Torture 2.

 

                                              Image courtesy of The Parliament.

          State prisons are not what they are sometimes labelled, correction centres, rehabilitation centres, reform centres, they are in fact death centres. When incarcerated in one of the state's and sometimes private run prisons, (run for profit) something has to die. The state's hope is that it is your desire for freedom and you can be released into the community a subservient digit in their plans. However if that spirit doesn't die then you will  go through the various processes to make it happen, even if the end result is your death. Solitary confinement, sensory deprivation, broken sleep, and a multitude of other inhumane endeavours to break you desire for freedom. Some prisoners take the dangerous road of hunger strikes rather than meekly submit to the state's  demands that they abandon their desire for freedom. We owe them our unstinting solidarity and support, their struggle for freedom and justice is our struggle. 

Image courtesy of BBC.

The following article from Act For Freedom Now.

 

Financial support for the surgical expenses of an anarchist comrade.

Dear comrades
         The Solidarity Fund for imprisoned, persecuted revolutionaries (Tameio), has been trying to obtain, since being established in 2010, a regular and consistent political, moral and material support to the political prisoners and imprisoned fighters. Alongside, it has also actively aided with legal expenses and bails of persecuted comrades and it supported prison struggles. Solidarity, as a crucial political act, is extended to include comrades who need our active support.
       With respect to this, we would like to inform you about the firefund that has been created by a group of comrades from Athens for the financial support of an anarchist comrade who faces substantial medical expenses, needing to promptly have a costly surgery.

https://www.firefund.net/medical23

In solidarity,
Solidarity Fund (Tameio)
Italy - General news ,sabotage, actions and Solidarity with anarchists arrested and all those under investigation, Revolutionary Prisoners News, Solidarity Events, e.t.c.
Greece: Announcement of the hunger strike of Anarchists and Fighting Prisoners in Solidarity with Alfredo Cospito
16 February 2023

        16th of February, Hunger Strike of Anarchists and Fighting Prisoners in Solidarity with Alfredo Cospito
        The 41-bis prison regime is the completion of the prison structure into a masqueraded death sentence. The execution, in this case, does not end in one moment, like with a gunshot, the tightening of the noose, the application of electrical current or the injection of poison into the body, rather it lasts a lifetime in a state of social coma, in a state of non-world. And so, spread through time. Out of this world, the death sentence has evaded history, just like the state pursues oblivion for all the prisoners of the social war who are buried alive in the state of 41-bis. The 41-bis regime has already murdered one fighter, Diana Blefari Melazzi.
       The 41-bis regime and the law about “massacre” are the legacy of the european counter-revolution from the time of Piazza Fontana (Strage di piazza Fontana). This civil war never ended. The states, and particularly the Italian one, carry on the counter-revolution so that the flame may never flare up again. All the systems follow, step by step, the examples first introduced as special warfare, e.g. the white cells of West Germany, the F-type prisons in Turkey and the FIES prisons in Spain to the Type-C prisons in Greece or the new high security prison system A.A.; the still active Hitler-inspired law about indefinite extension of one’s sentence on “preventative” grounds, by which comrade Thomas Meyer Falk is being held for another 10 years (25 in total) in Freiburg prison in Germany, to the different methods of extorting declarations of repentance, and from Asinara to Imrali.
        Anarchist Alfredo Cospito is fighting for the flame to flare up again. Let’s reassert the fight of the comrade. It is our duty to defend in deed the battle that Alfredo Cospito is fighting. A struggle for and against time itself. This particular hunger strike does not concern only the comrades in the italian territory, but it is internationalist, and so the star of internationalist solidarity must shine on the side of Alfredo Cospito and all those who are fighting from within a special prison regime. From Greece to every point in the planet – for all those fighting for freedom.
       Because defeat is not captivity, but losing one’s faith in the possibility of wining. So, we are collectively going on a hunger strike, according to each one’s capacity, so that we may stand by the side of anarchist revolutionary Alfredo Cospito, but also, against the death regime of 41-bis. At the same time the struggle against the new prison code in Greek prisons is continuing.

Anarchist and Fighting Prisoners

Giannis Michailidis
(1 day hunger strike)

Dimitris Chatzivasileiadis
(3 day hunger strike)

Thanos Chatziaggelou
(1 day hunger strike)

Iasonas Rodopoulos
(1 day hunger strike)

Kostas Dimalexis
(3 day hunger strike)

Lambros Vougiouklakis
(1 day hunger strike)

Panagiotis Vougiouklakis
(1 day hunger strike)

Stathis Nikolouzos
(1 day hunger strike)

Stergios Kalaitzidis
(1 day hunger strike)
 

Fotis Daskalas
(1 day hunger strike)

 

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

torture.

 

Image courtesy of Freedom Press.

         The Italian state rumbles on with its callous mechanisms, functioning with a complete disregard to the life of a human being in their care. They sift through their judicial papers setting dates that in their twisted minds they know that the individual in all probability will not make it. Alfredo Cospito has been on hunger strike for 119 days while held in the most draconian and dehumanising conditions in the Italian penal system. Callous disregard for a human being in your care is not only criminal, but is callous judicial torture. Sadly all the public have not yet learned that all states are inhuman, dictatorial and unbending in their desire for complete control over the population, they can only survive if they manage to get a subservient population. One person's life is of no consequence to them if they feel it will strengthen they grip on the population. We must prove them wrong on this occasion and make them understand the one person's life is sacred to us as human beings, and they will pay a price should one human die in their care because of their callous indifference.

                                               Image courtesy of Ceasefire.

  The following report from Act For Freedom Now.

 Update about the health condition of Alfredo Cospito on the 119th day of hunger strike February 15, 2023)

         In recent weeks, a mass-media campaign of slander and denigration has been underway against anarchist comrade Alfredo Cospito. Various newspapers have given much prominence to the fact that in the last few days the comrade had started taking supplements again and that he had eaten two yogurts [in the past months, the comrade had at times taken extremely mild supplements, which he had stopped taking for some time, only to try to resume them in the last few days along with the yogurts so as to try to remain lucid in view of the hearing on February 24th in the cassation court, for which the prosecutor general has filed a request to overturn the 41 bis measure].
         Today’s news [February 15th] is that Alfredo’s body, now after too many days of hunger strike, has rejected both these two yogurts and the supplements, contrary to mass-media reports: what he is currently taking is only sugar, salt and potassium. This is dramatic news both with regard to the comrade’s possibility of making it to February 24th alive (the day on which the hearing for the appeal against the order of the surveillance court of Rome that confirmed detention under 41 bis will be held at the cassation court), and with regard to his ability to resume feeding himself following a possible revocation of the 41 bis order.
        [Received via e-mail & published at https://lanemesi.noblogs.org/post/2023/02/15/update-about-the-health-condition-of-alfredo-cospito-on-the-119th-day-of-hunger-strike-italy-february-15-2023

 

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

The Barbarity Of The State.

          Prison is a form of state torture, from its barbaric past, to which it has held on to as a strategy for repression, solitary confinement is an added savagery to that torture, to which no human should be subjected in a civilised society, but evidence tells us, we obviously do not live in a civilised society. All those subjected to these inhumane state devices of torture and repression, demand our total and unconditional solidarity. Solidarity is one of our best winning weapons, and we should remember it takes many varied forms and is limited only by your imagination.

 Received on 01.03.18, from Insurrection News:

        Comrade Konstantinos Giagtzoglou was transferred to the hospital today after a serious fainting incident he had while resting in his cell. The officials of the Justice Department informed the comrade’s lawyers that the council which is going to decide whether Dinos will be transferred permanently to Korydallos prison or not, will meet on Friday, 4 days after the promised day (Monday). Dinos will be on hunger strike for 9 days and on thirst strike for 5 days on Friday.

The struggle committee of Korydallos prison issued a statement informing the Justice Department that if the council doesn’t meet on Friday, there will be prison rebelions all across the country.

The central building of the National University of Athens remains occupied and another series of actions and attacks have taken place:

• About 250 anarchists marched through the central streets of Athens yesterday in solidarity with Dinos
• A group of anarchists smashed several shop windows on Ermou street (it’s the central comercial street of Athens)
• Α group of anarchists raised barricades in Egnatia avenue in the center of Thessaloniki
• A group of anarchists blocked a central street in Patras
• A group called “Workers of the Night” torched a private security car and a diplomatic vehicle on 21/02 and 25/02 in Thessaloniki
• A group called “Anarchist Fraction for Political Self-defence” smashed the windows of two banks on 27/02 and on 28/02 in Athens.
• A group called “Informal Anarchist Network – Commando Haris Temperekindis” torched a private security car and attacked the central offices of the same private security firm (G4S) with Molotov cocktails on 27/02 in Athens.
• A group called “Anarchist Cells in Solidarity and Conspiracy” torched an ATM, threw 10 Molotov cocktails at a branch of the Agriculture Department, smashed the windows of a super market and torched the personal vehicle of a cop on 28/02 in Patras.
• A group of 40 anarchists occupied the offices of “Avgri (Dawn)” newspaper which is the official newspaper of Syriza, for a couple of hours in Athens.
• A group of anarchists canceled the speech of N.Voutsis, current president of the Greek parliament and one of the most well-known members of Syriza, by blocking the entrance of the hotel where the speech was scheduled to take place.

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

The State, Savagery Heaped On barbarity.

        Prison is an anathema within any society that claims to be a democracy, but isolation within that prison system takes the barbarity to a deeper level. Prison is one of the state’s repressive tools, used to try to break down any resistance to its authority over the people. To lock any animal in isolation is sadistic savagery, however, when a human locks another human in isolation, they have left the realms of humanity, they are the moronic stooges of an inhuman system. In these situations we are reminded of the words of Robert Burns, "Man's inhumanity to man--". As long as prisons stand, freedom is in chains. 

This from Act For Freedom Now: 

Prison letter from anarchist Anna Beniamino – Italy

      Today – Monday 10th October – I decided to start a hunger strike against the isolation that I am being subjected to along with other comrades who are part of this investigation, from the moment of our arrest on 6th September. This isolation has remain unchanged, despite comrades having been transferred to different AS2 sections and the custodial interrogations that have taken place. In solidarity with Alfredo Cospito who is on hunger strike since 3rd October and is being held in isolation in the AS2 section of Ferrara prison.
       I knowingly use the hunger strike as an instrument that expresses a minimal sign of reaction to barbarities that are rooted in captivity and authority.
       As always, I keep anarchism in my heart and mind, hold love and respect for all the untamable comrades outside and inside prison, have rage in my teeth and a smile on my lips.

Anna

Man was made to mourn: A Dirge

  Many and sharp the num'rous ills
Inwoven with our frame!
More pointed still we make ourselves
Regret, remorse, and shame!
And man, whose heav'n-erected face
The smiles of love adorn, –
Man's inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn!

Robert Burns.

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

Let's Open A State Cage.

      An urgent appeal to the wider anarchist community and all those who seek justice. Mutual aid is a cornerstone of anarchist principles, and it can take many forms and under all conditions.

 This from Contra Info:

     The Warsaw 3 have been arrested in May and kept since then in a high security jail with very limited contact to the outside and are facing severe sentences under the new anti-terrorist and anti-anarchist laws.  They are still awaiting trial.

     Today during a court hearing concerning the filed complaint for the prolonged arrest of the 3 anarchists, a decision was made to release them on bail. A fee of 20 thousand PLN (4600 euro) of bail was set for each of them. If the money is transferred in a weeks time (7 days from today, until 21st of september), the arrested will be released and kept under police surveillance instead.

      60 thousands PLN (13 800 euro) is a fortune for the families and friends of the arrested. Gathering these funds in one week time seems barely possible. If you can – show your support, either financially or by forwarding the call for collecting funds. Every euro brings us closer to getting them out.

     Leaving the arrest would mean for the arrested anarchists the end of everyday tortures they suffer after more than 3 months in solitary confinement. We cannot let this chance slip out of our hands!

Support here:

Account Holder: VpKK e.V.
IBAN: DE 4085 0205 0000 0361 5700
BIC: BFSWDE33DRE
Bank für Sozialwirtschaft
Note: Donation ABC Warsaw \ ACK Warszawa

IMPORTANT: Do not forget about the note “Donation ABC Warsaw” or “ACK Warszawa”. Without it nobody will know that your donation is specially for three anarchists from Warsaw.

More info: www.wawa3.noblogs.org

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

The Inhumanity Of Prisons.

        All prisons are an injustice, prisons are the state's tool of repression, and in America, the corporations business model. Being locked up separated from you family and friends can be a very traumatic experience, but when added to that there is brutality, humiliation, sexual harassment and solitary confinement, it can be beyond endurance. All those who are subject to this state de-humanising experience, unreservedly deserve our total solidarity. Below is just one case of the millions across the globe who suffer from this inhumanity at the hands of the state. 

***PLEASE CALL THE NEW MEXICO WOMEN'S CORRECTIONAL FACILITY (a Corrections Corporation of America run prison) TO DEMAND JUSTICE FOR CHLOE WELLS***
       Chloe is currently being held in solitary confinement and has been for over 8 weeks at the New Mexico Women's Correctional Facility in Grants, NM. after being found not guilty on charges of inciting a riot.
       After leading 5 other women in an attempt to speak to the prison's inmate advocacy representative, Chloe was told she and others would not be allowed to file a report against a corrections officer who had allegedly committed acts of both sexual and physical abuse against many of the 611 inmates housed in the Grants facility.
       At this time all the other inmates who took part in the stand-off lead by Chloe Wells have been released from solitary confinement and all charges have been dismissed except for those against Chloe.
        Despite being found "not guilty" of the charges, Chloe will still suffer the consequence of being the first woman in the history of this facility to be moved to maximum security Level 6; a program dedicated to solitary confinement for male inmates displaying predatory behavior.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP:

           Please use the attached contact list of prison officials to call on her behalf. Feel free to use this script (leaving your phone number if you reach voicemail is optional) or speak in your own words, but please be polite and courteous! Finally, please like the Facebook page "Justice For Chloe Wells" and let us know how your phone call(s) went. If you are especially moved by Chloe's story, there is also information on that page on where you can write her a letter to keep her spirits up. Thank you!
       "Hello, my name is _____, and I am calling out of concern for an inmate at New Mexico Women’s Correctional Facility by the name of Chloe Wells, inmate number 79147. I am calling to demand that she be released from solitary confinement and put back in general population, that she have access to the same medical care and programs she had before being moved to solitary, and that she and other inmates at this facility are allowed to meet with their inmate advocacy representative and file complaints against allegedly abusive corrections officers as is their right. Furthermore I demand that Chloe’s transfer to Level 6 be cancelled, as this wing is reserved for sexual predators and Chloe’s transfer there is clearly in retaliation for her courageous stand against the sexual abuse of her fellow inmates. I find this whole situation outrageous and disgusting, and I am sure you share my concern about the welfare of these women. Please call me back at (000)-000-0000. Thank you for your time and action on this important matter."

ADMINISTRATIVE CONTACTS FOR CHLOE WELLS

For Stage 1 of Call in Campaign 1/1/2016
MAIN PHONE NUMBER FOR THE PRISON: 505­287­2941
CORRECTIONS CORPORATION OF AMERICA HEADQUARTERS:
615­263­3000

Paula Burns
NM Corrections Office of Internal Audit and Investigation 505­827­8633
Paul Montoya
Administrative Services Director for NM Dept of Corrections 505­827­8632
Melissa Ortiz
Deputy Director of Administration and Female Facilities for NM Dept of
Corrections 505­827­8677 office
James Lopez
Assistant Warden for NM Women’s Correctional Facility in Grants, NM
Currently has no phone number listed online, was former warden for
Grants facility but retired in 2012.
Rhonda Ayers
Chief of Security at NM Women’s Correctional Facility in Grants, NM 

505­449­7394
Was named in most recent PREA Audit as Chief of Security.
Pete Perez
Deputy Warden for State of New Mexico Corrections Dept 505­876­8300 

fax 505­876­8200
Gregg Marcantel
CEO of Corrections Corporation of America (CCA)
Has commented personally on most recent allegations of Sexual Abuse of
female corrections officers and inmates that took place in March 2015 

505­827­8884
Dr.Margaret Western
Ordering Physician for Women’s Prison in Grants, NM
Works with Corizon Healthcare, the Healthcare provider for the Women’s
prison 505­287­3666

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

Solitary Confinement Is Torture.

      The state likes to keep everybody in line, no disobeying rules, always do as you are told, it works hard at this with the early stages being our education system, and as you go through your life there is a tsunami of propaganda that washes over you on a daily basis, reinforcing conformity. In case this doesn't work there are the police and the judicial system, backed up by the prison system, and by any stretch of the imagination, on entering this, we have left the realms of humanity.

      Within the inhumane system of locking people up in cages, there are degrees of repression that can take you deeper into the morass of dehumanising, in an attempt to turn the individual into a submissive clone of a human. Solitary confinement breaks every aspect of humanity, we are social creatures, to take somebody and lock them away from any human contact, any form of mental stimulation, for days, weeks and months, is nothing short of torture, to break the individual. There is nothing reforming, or rehabilitating about the prison system, it is a tool of state repression to protect its apparatus and power.

      There has been a long running series of hunger strikes at the Menard Correction Center Illinois, against the excessive use of solitary confinement, like all prisoners, they need our support and solidarity.

An appeal from Anti-State STL: 

       On September 23rd, prisoners in the administrative detention unit at Menard Correctional Center in Chester, Illinois declared a hunger strike in response to the administration’s continued unwillingness to respond to their demands for relief from their conditions of long-term solitary confinement. See below for their list of demands and description of their conditions. This strike is a continuation of a series of hunger strikes by the prisoners there, which began in January 2014.

Read the full article HERE:

    

Our core demands are:

· We demand an end to long term solitary confinement.

    We demand minimum due process at Administrative Detention Review Hearings by providing inmates with written reasons, including new information relied upon, for Committee’s decision for our continued placement in A.D. and be allowed to grieve all adverse decisions. As it stands, the basis of the Committee’s votes are kept secret.
      We demand more access to outside recreation for the sake of our physical and mental health. As it stands, we are confined indefinitely to these cages for 6 days out of the week, with the exception of one 5-hour day. This is unbearable.
      We demand that meaningful educational programs be implemented to encourage our mental stability, rehabilitation, and social development for the sake of ourselves and our communities that we will one day return to.
     We demand access to more visiting privileges. For most of our families traveling to Menard is like traveling to another state. Considering the distance, 2-hour visits behind plexiglass is insufficient. We should be allowed 5 or 6 hours. Moreover, our family members, including inmates, should be provided the human dignity and decency to purchase food items and refreshments from vending machines after traveling such great distances. This would benefit one’s social development, as well as benefit prison staff environment.
        We ask the public’s help by calling the warden, the Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections, and the Governor on September 23, 2015, and so forth, to check on our welfare.

Warden Kimberly Butler, 618-826-5071
Menard Correctional Center
711 Kaskaskia Street
Menard, IL 62259

Director John Baldwin, 217-558-2200
Illinois Department of Corrections
1301 Concordia Court
P. O. Box 19277
Springfield, IL 52794-9277

Governor Bruce Rauner, 217-782-0244
Office of the Governor
207 State House
Springfield, IL 62706

       We will stay on [hunger strike] as long as possible in order to hopefully bring some change to our conditions. We thank you for any kind of support you can give us.

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

More On American Authoritarian "Democracy".

       You get charged, you go to trial, you are found guilty, you are sent to prison. You spend years in prison and then you are filled with jubilation, your conviction is overturned. You imagine your life after your release, but somehow it doesn't happen, you are kept in prison. The situation is repeated, your conviction is overturned for a second time, but still no release, 43 years in solitary confinement, your conviction overturned twice, and still no parole, they still want you locked up, WHY? American justice at work.

This from Amnesty International: 

Albert Woodfox, 43 years in solitary confinement.

     Albert Woodfox has been held in solitary confinement for nearly 43 years for a crime he maintains he did not commit, a claim that much of the available evidence supports.  Sent to solitary confinement in 1972, Albert is 68 today.

    He is mentally and physically frail from being kept in conditions described as torture by the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, who has called on US authorities to release Albert from solitary confinement with immediate effect.
      On 2 March Albert has a bail hearing. Demand state officials not to appeal his bail request and to give Albert a long overdue chance at justice.

Give Albert a chance at justice

      Albert was convicted of murdering a prison guard in 1972, and he has always maintained his innocence. Evidence appears to corroborate his claim, and suggest that the Louisiana authorities served the sentence and condemned him to decades of solitary under racially and politically motivated circumstances.
     Albert co-founded the Angola prison chapter of the Black Panther Party, with the hope of demanding basic rights for inmates from within a discriminatory and often corrupt system.
     He believes that his political activism and demand for racial equality have been a large factor in not only charging him with the crime, but keeping him in solitary.

Tell state officials not to oppose Albert's bail

      Louisiana authorities have no legitimate reason to continue to keep Albert in solitary confinement: his prison records are exemplary, and clearly state that he poses no threat to himself or others. And still, prison authorities have refused to conduct a meaningful review of Albert’s isolation since 1972.

Call for long overdue justice for Albert

Thank you,

Karen Middleton

Individuals at Risk Manager
Amnesty International UK

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

Solitary Confinement Is Torture.

An Appeal for solidarity from Contra Info:

       Since Monday, September 1st, comrade Chiara Zenobi, NO TAV prisoner who is currently held in Rebibbia prison in Rome, has been on yard strike, refusing to go out on scheduled yard time, to protest against the isolation imposed on Graziano Mazzarelli, anarchist kept in solitary confinement at Borgo San Nicola prison in Lecce since his arrest, almost two months ago, who is charged in the same case (attack on the TAV worksite in Chiomonte in the night between the 13th and 14th of May 2013).

       On August 3rd, Graziano was moved to another individual cell, which made his situation even worse. The cells next to his are empty, and he is meant to go out alone in a messy yard. Furthermore his letters are stolen by jailers on a weekly basis, and the simplest daily needs, such as washing dirty clothes, are continuously hindered or delayed.

       Chiara’s refusal to go to the yard continues as long as Graziano is subjected to solitary confinement, a regime desired by both the prison administration in Lecce and the Turin prosecutors who, as often happens in such cases, are shifting the responsibility to each other.

       Since the morning of September 9th, comrades Niccolò Blasi and Mattia Zanotti have been on yard strike, too, while Claudio Alberto joined them on the morning of September 10th. According to recent updates, also comrades Lucio Alberti and Francesco Sala will carry out similar forms of protest against the isolation inflicted on Graziano.

         A call is made to support the initiative of solidarity with Graziano and put pressure on those responsible for this treatment, namely prosecutors Rinaudo and Padalino as well as the prison director in Lecce, Rita Russo, by sending faxes to the prosecutor office in Turin (0114327453) and the prison in Lecce (0832387496). A fax model can be found here in pdf format.

      Below are the prison addresses of the 7 anarchists co-accused in the TAV yard attack case:

Francesco Sala
C.C. Via Palosca, 2 – 26100 Cremona, Italia

Lucio Alberti
C.C. Via Cassano Magnago, 102 – 21052 Busto Arsizio (Varese), Italia

Graziano Mazzarelli
C.C. via Paolo Perrone, 4, Borgo San Nicola – 73100 Lecce, Italia

Niccolò Blasi – Mattia Zanotti
C.C. San Michele strada Casale, 50/A – 15121 Alessandria, Italia

Claudio Alberto
C.C. Via dell’Arginone, 327 – 44100 Ferrara, Italia

Chiara Zenobi
C.C. “Rebibbia” Via Bartolo Longo, 92 – 00156 Roma, Italia

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

41 Years Solitary Confinement!!

        Another reminder of what goes on in the land of the preacher of democracy and freedom, the Good ol' US of A. This appeal from Amnesty International.

	Amnesty International UK
	After 40 years of ‘inhuman’ punishment, conviction overturned for third time
	Albert Woodfox has spent most of the last 41 years in solitary confinement, locked up for 23 hours a day in a 6.5 x 9 foot cell. Yet a judge recently overturned his murder conviction for the third time on the basis of racial discrimination in the selection of the grand jury foreperson prior to Albert’s re-trial in 1998. Now the Attorney General of Louisiana has a choice: appeal the ruling and drag out Albert’s ordeal for many more years, or let it stand - paving the way for Albert to be re-tried or freed.

	Dear John, My name is Robert H. King. I was released on 8 February 2001, after spending 31 years in prison - 29 of them in solitary confinement at the infamous Louisiana State Prison also known as 'Angola'. Confined there with me were Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace, the other two friends who make up 'the Angola 3'. Herman and Albert have now spent 41 years in prison. And though neither are any longer housed at Angola, both remain in solitary confinement at another prison - a punishment Amnesty has described as 'cruel, inhuman and degrading'. Call on the State of Louisiana to end Albert Woodfox's ordeal Prior to and since my release from prison, I have continued to campaign to free Herman and Albert. Last week, that campaign took a huge step forward with the ruling by a federal district court that there was racial discrimination in the selection of the jury foreperson prior to Albert's re-trial in 1998. Louisiana's Attorney General could appeal against this ruling – he has two weeks left to do so. Or he could do the right thing and end four decades of injustice by letting the ruling stand, clearing the way for Albert to be re-tried or simply walk free at last. Call on Louisiana to allow Albert Woodfox to be retried or walk free I know what being locked up in that cramped, dark cell does to a man, and I fear for my friend Albert whose physical and mental health is failing fast. The sense of how cruelly and unjustly Albert and the rest of us were treated still burns as strong as ever - as does my will to end their ordeal. This isn’t the first or even the second time Albert’s conviction has been overturned. Previously judges have cited racial discrimination, misconduct by the prosecution and inadequate defence in their rulings. There is also troubling evidence that a key eyewitness against Albert had been bribed, and no physical evidence linking him to the murder has ever been found. Call on Louisiana to allow Albert Woodfox to be retried or walk free However, I also know how many of you share my sense of injustice and that we can count on your ongoing support. When I spoke to Albert last week he asked me to pass on his gratitude to his ‘legions of supporters’ across the world, particularly to all of you in the UK. Wednesday 17 April will mark the 41st anniversary of our incarceration in Angola. Please help ensure that this year it is a day of hope - or even freedom - for my friend, Albert Woodfox. End Albert Woodfox’s ordeal: email the Attorney General now Power to the people!  As ever, Robert H. King The only freed member of the Angola 3

ann arky's home.

WHOSE SIDE ARE THEY ON??

Not everybody is enjoying the holiday weekend. It is the measure of a any society when those who struggle to improve the conditions of the ordinary people are victimised hounded and imprisoned. It is these cases that make it glaringly obvious on which side the powers that be stand, it is a display of their real intentions. An appeal from Labour Start.

        It's a long holiday weekend for many of us, a chance to celebrate the holidays with our families and friends.  I hesitate to write to you, to interrupt the festivities, but this is urgent.

        A week ago, the leader of the metal workers union of Kosovo, Hasan Abazi, was travelling to a meeting of European trade unionists in Zagreb, but on his way was arrested by the Serbian government. He was held for 50 hours without even the chance to talk to a lawyer. Now, he's being held in solitary confinement.

        Serbia has committed itself to allow free movement of Kosovars through its territory. That's part of what it needs to do to become a full member of the European Union.

        The International Metalworkers' Federation has issued an urgent appeal for his release. [*]

        Amnesty International has condemned the arrest. [**]

Please take a moment to send off a message of protest to the Serbian authorities:

http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=1338&src=lsmm

         Then, please publicize this to your friends, workmates and fellow union members by email, Twitter, Facebook, and word-of-mouth. If we can flood the inboxes of Serbian government ministers this weekend with our protest messages, they might be compelled to re-think this outrageous arrest and to let Hasan go. They don't want to risk Serbian membership in the EU -- a point we mention in the message to them.

Thank you -- and a very happy Easter and Passover to all of you.

Eric Lee

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