The state, any state, will do all that is necessary, "legal", by their own written laws, or "illegal" by their own written laws, to protect its power and the wealth and privileges of those who hold the power. Each state points to other states for useing torture to achieve their aims, but none are immune from this inhuman tactic. The British imperialists were pass-masters at it, controlling vast swaths of the planet by subtle and dubious means or open callous brutality to control populations. They have never lost that acquired ability. We can point to Russia, China and other states for their, so called "abuse of power" and "illegal" methods of controlling their populations, but the British state's hands are ever deep in the sewer of this inhuman method of repression to guard their power and privileges and maintain the status-quo. We can and do fight the open and known injustices inherent in the state system, but we must always be alive to the their many and varied, more underhand, hidden, callous methodology they use to try to create that subservient population. First they came for the anarchists----.
This from Act For Freedom Now:On Saturday the 22nd of February there was a protest held outside the Russian embassy in Dublin, Ireland in solidarity with anarchists and anti-fascists being persecuted by the Russian state.
On the 10th of February, as part of “The Network” show trials and ongoing repression since 2017, seven anarchists were convicted on fabricated lies created by the Federal Security Services (FSB) the successors and continuity of KGB.
Dimitry Pchelintsev received 18 years, Ilya Shakursky 16 years, Arman Sagynbaev 6 years, Andrei Chernov 14 years, Vasily Kuksov 9 years, Mikhail Kulkov 10 years and Maxim Ivankin 13 years imprisonment.
The main “evidence” used against the seven were:
1) “Confessions” that were tortured out of the accused. Torture, which includes beatings, sleep deprivation and what could only be described as sexual assault from electric shocks to bodily parts.
2) Materials planted in the homes of the accused.
From the very start of the trial and throughout, the defence for the accused attempted to have the “confessions” thrown out of the trial as evidence. The court refused. Its clear the state had them guilty before they were even arrested!
At the Russian embassy in Dublin the police were there before our arrival. Throughout the protest embassy staff continuously came out to take pictures of us. The repression and tactics used by the Russian state are nothing new. Throughout the world, states fabricate “evidence” to remove anyone deemed as a danger to the power of the state.
In Ireland this can be seen in recent years with the case of the Craigavon 2, who the British state blamed on killing a cop in Craigavon, Armagh. The only evidence the state used against the two was a statement made by an individual whos father came out publicly calling his son a liar and in the trial the same witness contradicted himself. The rest of the evidence was circumstantial. The British intelligence service even had a tracking device on the car of one of the accused on the night of the shooting, which the data on the device mysteriously went missing. The Craigavon Two are still in jail doing life.
Also in Ireland in the last few days a republican Paul McIntyre was arrested and charged with the murder of journalist Lyra Mckee who was shot dead in Derry during a riot that erupted after a series of police raids on homes. The police have publicly said they have no evidence linking Paul McIntyre to the killing other than picking up shell casings. This is yet a new case of repression by the British state against their political enemy.
We send our solidarity to our comrades in Russia as well as across the world and to all those fighting oppression and being persecuted.
YOUR TORTURE WILL NOT KILL OUR IDEAS