A MOVEMENT WHICH DOESN'T SUPPORT ITS FALLEN COMRADES IS DOOMED TO FAILURE 
Anarchist Black Cross - Dijon
E  N  G  L  I  S  H    E  D  I  T I  O  N
C/o Maloka, B.P. 536, 21 014 Dijon Cedex, France. Email : abcu@dds.nl
LET'S  SUPPORT  THOSE  WHO'VE  BECOME  HOSTAGES  IN  THE  COURSE  OF  CLASS WAR !!!

NEWSBULLETIN #3 - February/March 2001
Hello!! The entire political world is very upset at the moment by social movements which substantially extended over the past few months and the prison struggle is part of them. In Spain, France, Turkey, Great Britain or else, the current situation is full of burning issues and we could have made a much bigger issue if we could afford it...It appears like there's a great desire for unity and solidarity a bit everywhere and reactionary states haven't missed the chance to strengthen repressive policies and arbitrary decisions in the scope of breaking these various mobilizations which they have a bigger and bigger difficulty to break down. Prisoners have offered a fierce resistance in spite of their wide victimization and have organized themselves from their cells to express their revolt. The imperialist device has now to deal with a wide wave of protests in many sectors so it's time for us not to weaken!!!
Furthermore, the number of issues printed as well as their cost has substantially increased for us lately so all financial support by international money orders or international coupons (IRC) would be very appreciated as it remains fundamental for us to send money for prisoners as well. In the past 2 months, we could send 500FF to the GRAPO prisoners arrested in Paris, 300FF for the arrestees in Nice, 600FF to the italian anarchist Michele Pontillo on struggle against FIES and 1000FF to support the campaign for the release of Eduardo Garcia, thanx to your donations and various benefits we organized. We recall that a LP compilation in support of ABC-Dijon and Gent is available at our address for 35FF + 20FF postage (get in touch for wholesale prices).
For those receiving this bulletin by email, the sample letters appearing in the email version only are pretty easy to forward to concerned officials as you just need to copy and paste to then forward them directly by email, or to print and send by classical mail. We hope some of you at least attend the different calls for massive mail protests and blockades. It can appear to be useless but for the officials who get flooded with messages, it represents for sure a certain daily pressure which can have decisive consequences for prisoners.
Prisoners, please notify any change of address to us in the scope of updating the ABC prisoner international list so as we can keep in touch and follow your situation. As well, please mention to us any confiscation of the material we may forward you. We recall also that previous issues are still available and that all publications are free for prisoners. Last, please do not pay attention to the sender address mentioned on the backside. This address is only used for distribution purposes. All replies must be sent to our address in France. Thanx in advance and keep up the struggle. Solidarity is a weapon!!!
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STOP THE TEXAS DEATH ROW KILLING MACHINE!!
 Hands Off Shaka Sankofa (Gary Graham) !
Shaka Sankofa has spent more than half of his 36 years on death row. At the age of seventeen, Shaka (then known as Gary Graham) was wrongfully convicted for the murder of a white man, Bobby Lambert, in Houston. Now, after the U.S. Supreme Court's May 1st, 2000 refusal to hear his case, Shaka faces an execution date on June 22nd, 2001. According to Amnesty International, Shaka's death sentence "is illegal under international law, which bans the death penalty for crimes committed by under-18-year-old people". Indeed, as a teenager, Gary Graham was caught up in a life of robberies. He grew up in difficult family circumstances, and he could not read or write when he dropped out of seventh grade. But the only reason the police and prosecutors focused on Graham as a "suspect" in the 1981 murder of Bobby Lambert was that they thought it would be easy to carry out a frame-up of this Black youth.
Lambert was a long-time narcotics trafficker, and his murder was suspicious but the police didn’t carry out any investigation about a drug connection to the killing. Gary Graham did not fit the description of the gunman distributed by the police themselves. The sole prosecution "eyewitness" at the trial had earlier said that Graham was not the shooter and gave a description of the killer that did not match Graham's physical characteristics. Graham's court-appointed lawyer made no attempt to investigate or put on a defense because he assumed that the young man was guilty, and that he would get paid anyway…
In 1993, a new legal team began uncovering plenty of evidence proving Shaka's innocence. Police reports on the Lambert shooting listed at least six eyewitnesses who now say that Shaka was not the killer. And at least four people say they can provide an alibi for Shaka for the night of the killing. Loretta Lambert, the widow of Bobby Lambert, wrote to then-Texas Governor Richards :"It has been brought to my attention that there is evidence that creates a possibility of reasonable doubt as to whether or not Gary Graham did in fact commit this crime.... I do not want the execution of a possibly innocent man on my conscience." Richards acknowledged that Shaka Sankofa's case warranted further consideration, but she left office before taking further action.
Shaka has never had a chance to present his compelling evidence in court. In 1994, Shaka's lawyers argued before the federal appeals court for a new trial. Two years later, the court ruled that there was substantial evidence that should be heard but sent the case back to the Texas courts. The state courts refused then to hold a hearing. Shaka's attorneys went back to the federal court. But the federal court ruled that the Effective Death Penalty Act, signed into law by President Clinton in 1996, blocked Shaka's evidence from being heard!!
The U.S. Supreme Court has now refused to hear Shaka's case, which led Shaka to face his sixth execution date. As Shaka is refusing any cooperation with the prison authorities, he is being targeted for brutal and vengeful punishment. Prison guards have pepper-sprayed him to move him to another cell and taken away his typewriter, clothes, and mail.
Meanwhile, Shaka's lawyers are filing for clemency. The Gary Graham/Shaka Sankofa Coalition for Justice is calling on people to flood Texas Governor George W. Bush and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles with e-mails, phone calls, letters, and faxes demanding clemency. Such protests had actually resulted in a stay of execution for Zolo Azania last November, 2000. Further infos about Shaka Sankofa’s campaign for justice can be found online at www.members.xoom.com/ccadp/garygraham.htm. 
          
Please call the following numbers or write the following addresses to protest Gary's death sentence:
-Gov. Bush: Phone (512) 463-1782 - Fax (512) 463-1849 - Bush Headquarters: 512 463-2000
-governor George W. Bush jr., office of the governor, P.O. Box 12428, Austin, TX 78711. phone: 001(512) 463-2000 - fax: 001(512) 463-1849. For his e-mail look at the web site in, http://www.governor.state.tx.us/email.htm1
-Garret, Clemency Section: Phone (512) 406-5852/Fax (512) 467-0945
-Texas Parole Board: 512 463-1679
-Board of pardons and parole : Gerald Garrett, chairman price daniel, sr. building 209 w. 14th street, suite 500, Austin, TX 78701
 phone: 001 (512) 463-1679 - fax: 001 (512) 463-8120
You can also call Attorney General Janet Reno to protest the proposed execution of an innocent man - (202) 514-2001
              
In the meantime, his supporters are urgently stepping up the fight for his life. A Nation of Islam minister in Houston has called for a hunger strike in support of Shaka. The International Action Center is organizing 4 "Emergency Days of Resistance" from June 16-19. There are plans to protest at the June 15-17 Texas State Republican Convention in Houston. Any initiative towards US official representations can be decisive.
"A strong people's movement supported and mobilized by our youth and students is the only hope to prevent my legal lynching and to stop my execution. I place my life and fate not in the hands of the racist white men on the Supreme Court but in the united and powerful hands of our youth and students and our sisters and brothers and the people. Stop the violence, Stop the executions!",  Shaka Sankofa.
       
Mumia Abu-Jamal files petition for his attorneys to be removed! Our support more than ever required!
First of all, an international action-day in support of Mumia Abu-Jamal and against death penalty will take place on May 12th, 2001. Indeed, last February 10th, the national coordination of the french Mumia committees gathered in Bordeaux and decided for a national demonstration for the release of Mumia Abu-Jamal and Leonard Peltier, against Bush's presidency and death penalty, in Paris. The demonstration will take place on Saturday 12th, May 2001, international action-day in support of Mumia. The time and meeting place will be communicated later. Any other initiative to contrinute to this action-day internationally is welcome.
We have actually just learned of an important and serious development in Mumia's legal situation via the dutch Mumia campaign. Mumia has filed a motion in court for his long-standing attorneys Leonard Weinglass and Dan Williams to be REMOVED from his case, due to a cited conflict of interests. The campaign cautions against jumping to any conclusions, or "taking sides." For whatever good or bad reason this has occurred, it is certain that the enemies of Mumia would exploit any opportunity of this sort, and it is important that we stand behind Mumia and his defense regardless of any conflicts involving him, his lawyers, and various groups of supporters. At issue, says Jamal, is the fact that Attorney Dan Williams has written a book about this internationally recognized case without his permission or review. 
If his motion is accepted, it will mean that Mumia becomes his own attorney. We recall that it was his desire in 1982 to defend himself but his right to do so was violated by Sabo's court. Regardless of whether you consider this a wise move on his part, it is first of all important that we recognize his RIGHT to defend himself, just as he desired in 1982. 
Let's remind that the judge dealing with Mumia's case currently, Judge William Yohn, can announce his decision regarding a new trial at any time, or even reject Mumia's request to become his own attorney and declare any chance of appeal impossible. Similarly to Gary Graham, this potential judicial freezing is the result of the  Effective Death Penalty Act signed into law by Bill Clinton in 1996 which forbids convicts to appeal in order to make new evidence heard...In short, this law gave the power to the american justice to lay down irrevocable verdicts and decide for the death (but rarely life) of a convict without he/she can defend him/herself. Some good business for the death row killing machine for which the new US president and former Governor of Texas Bush remains the most avowed partisan (the state of Texas is indeed the record holder of executions and Bush himself, as a serial killer, is responsible for the legal murder of 144). Since 1976, the number of executions has constantly raised to reach 70 in the year 2000 and we can fear that the US start again to execute on the federal level, thanx to their new president. 
Mumia Abu-Jamal and Leonard Peltier are symbolical figures of people's struggle for justice, of oppression, of institutional racism and of the prison system's political ends. Far from turning its back on other cases of political prisoners and other struggles for justice, and as it has always remained both their position, the solidarity developing for their release constitutes a great chance to highlight the dictatorship of US imperialism over the planet and the means it resorts to maintain its supremacy, amongst the incarceration and slaughter of millions. Therefore, we encourage their support too as we consider that it can constitute a key-weapon to make other political prisoners' cases known and understood and eventually launch the debate on their behalf publicly, which would give a boost to the global solidarity movement's position in the arm-wrestling with penitentiary authorities and justice departments globally...but let's work on that before getting too enthousiastic and most probably disappointed.
If you intend to attend the demonstration on May 12th, get the latest infos at : www.cosimapp-mumia.org or write to Cosimapp, c/o Le point du Jour, 58 rue Gay Lussac, 75005 Paris, France - cosimapp@cosimapp-mumia.org
           
Chattannoga 3 Trial : Stop the frame up!!!
The trial against the Chattanooga 3 activists, arrested at a protest at city hall in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, was finally held on January 9th to 12th, 2001, and resulted in convictions of each of the defendants on all charges. Indeed, Lorenzo Komboa Ervin, Damon McGee and Mikail Musa Muhammad, active members of the Black Autonomy group "Copwatch" in Chattanooga*, were arrested on May 19th, 2000 for leading a crowd of over 100 Black protestors, irate over the death of 2 Black men killed a few weeks previously by Chattanooga police. 
According to a statement from Lorenzo Komboa Ervin, after openly denouncing Lorenzo as a "red anarchist" and a "terrorist", the judge denied the court-appointed defense attorneys from mentioning the First Amendment (or Freedom of Speech) during the trial, thus eliminating ant defense argument. The defendants were only allowed to speak through their attorneys and Lorenzo, who's also the author of "A draft proposal for an Anarchist Black Cross Network" and numerous other writings as well as a veterant activist, was denied the right to defend himself. The jury was primarily white, old and apparently from    suburbs loathing Black people. Right now, the verdict of this first trial indicates that the C3 were spared jail sentences as a result of a quickly-developing worldwide campaign but the state did order a fine and court costs for the court-appointed attorneys of 500-1000$ for each defendant. The C3 actually refused to pay that and therefore the case has been re-submitted to the District Attorney which as a result will haul the defendants into court to face re-sentencing. They actually intend to appeal the case but need first to obtain a new counsel as their court-appointed lawyers do not want them to appeal the convictions. So no enthusiasm for now...Meanwhile the C3 need to raise funds for their new legal team and pay their fines. You can send whatever money you can to : Account #7515108434, Old Kent Bank, 4705 W. Main street, Kalamazoo, MI 49006, USA They also call for sending letters to Judge Rebecca Stern, via her Criminal Court Clerk, Gwen Tidwell, at CriminalClerk@exch.hamiltontn.gov, urging her to grant a new trial and protesting the January criminal trial.
On the second day of that same trial (11.01.2001), an agent provocateur only known as "Omar" entered the courtroom with a gun and a bag of bullets implying that he was part of a conspiracy with the defendants on trial to disrupt the trial. Omar was actually never arrested for bringing the gun and ammunition to court, and it now appears that this incident may be still the basis of another prosecution charging the defendants with being engaged in a conspiracy to disrupt the proceedings and smuggle guns into the courtroom! Based on information and belief, this provocateur only identified as "Omar" is being groomed to go before the Hamilton County Grand Jury, with a story that the Chattanooga 3 had told him to bring a gun and ammunition into the trial to either escape or assault the courtroom. If this story of a new frame-up is being approved by the Grand Jury, this affair could be extremely serious for the C3. This means they would be facing felony charges for conspiracy (5 to 8 years prison) and for bringing firearms into court (7 to 10 years prison). For activists such as Lorezo who's already served 15 years in prison, such frame up is absolutely horrendous! The government actually has an entire year before indicting them on those charges Therefore, the C3 call for sending protest letters to the district attorney demanding that he drop his frame-up plans and arrest the one who actually brought the gun into the courtroom himself. We urge you to forward the protest sample letter appearing down here to Bill Cox (Bill_cox@hcdatn.org) and his DA's who prosecuted the case (Dean_Ferraro@hcdatn.org and Mary_moore@hcdatn.org) :       
	Dear (name of the official)											Date
I am writing to ask that you grant clemency to African-American civil rights activists Lorenzo Ervin, Damon McGee and Mikail Musa Muhammad (Ralph P. Mitchell). They were wrongfully convicted on January 11th, 2001 in Hamilton County Criminal Court of disrupting a meeting of the Chattanooga City Council in 1998. Mr. Muhammad was also convicted of resisting arrest. These men committed no crime but were simply exercising their First Amendment right of Free Speech.
Background information on the case
I have learned that along with over 100 other people, Mr. Ervin, Mr. McGee and Mr. Muhammad went to the city council meeting on May 19th, 1998, to protest the police killings several days earlier of two black men, Montrail Collins and Kevin McCullough. According to my research, for years Chattanooga ranked No. 1 among U.S. cities with populations under 200,000 for reported incidents of police brutality. Leaders of the group to which the three activists belonged, the Coalition Against Police Brutality, made arrangements with David Crockett, who was then president of the city council, for Mr. Ervin to make a special presentation about a police review board. Mr. Crockett broke the agreement, I am told, and would not allow Mr. Ervin to speak at his designated time. When he took the podium to protest, he was arrested. Mr. McGee and Mr. Muhammad, who were at the podium with Mr. Ervin, were also arrested.
Mr. Ervin is a veteran civil rights activist, who for many years has organized against police brutality and racism in Chattanooga, his hometown. In 1987, a group formerly known as Concerned Citizens for Justice (CCJ), of which Mr. Ervin was the spokesman, filed a federal voting rights lawsuit against the city. Mr. Ervin did the primary research for the lawsuit and obtained the attorneys. As a result, the Chattanooga City Council was created in 1990, and the first blacks were elected to city government since 1911. Mr. Ervin also did the primary research for a lawsuit that CCJ filed a lawsuit against the Hamilton County Court system. I understand that as a result of his work on the lawsuits and his work against police brutality, Mr. Ervin has been frequently harassed by Chattanooga and Hamilton County law enforcement officials and subjected to racist ridicule in the media. 
Second disruption conviction
It has come to my attention that the recent trial was Mr. Ervin's second conviction for disruption. In 1993, he and seven other civil rights activists were charged with disrupting a police memorial service in downtown Chattanooga. The group was protesting the refusal of a Hamilton County Grand Jury to indict the law enforcement officers responsible for the death of Larry Powell, whom the protesters said was a victim of "driving while black." Mr. Powell was choked to death. Mr. Ervin was one of the two protesters who were convicted of disruption. His appeal, which argues that the disruption law violates the First Amendment, is now under consideration by the Tennessee Supreme Court. 
Selective prosecution
I understand that Professor Dwight Aarons, of the University of Tennessee College of Law, filed a friend of the court brief to support Mr. Ervin's appeal when it was before the State Criminal Court of Appeals. According to Professor Aarons, the disruption law has only been used twice since the state legislature amended it in 1987. Both times (1993 and 1998) it was used against Mr. Ervin and other black people in Chattanooga who protested against police brutality. I believe that government officials in Chattanooga have used the disruption law to selectively prosecute Mr. Ervin, in an effort to destroy him as a black leader and to destroy the constitutional right of black people in Hamilton County to organize against police brutality.
Jury tainted by police provocateur
I have learned that on the second day of the three-day trial, a black man, who was not immediately identified, who was armed with a gun and ammunition tried to get in the courtroom of Judge Rebecca Stern, who presided over the trial. It is a felony offense punishable by up to seven years to bring firearms into a courtroom in Tennessee, but sheriff's deputies, who handle security for the Criminal Courts, did not arrest the man. According to Mr. Ervin, when the man left the courtroom, he angrily screamed that he would be back "with some people from bin Laden." Osmara bin Laden is suspected of plotting the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Africa in 1999 and is considered to be a "terrorist" by the U.S. government.
The incident was reported on TV news and in the daily newspaper, the Chattanooga Times Free Press. When court resumed the following day, I am told, defense attorneys moved for a mistrial. They were concerned that the jurors might have heard about the incident involving the man with the gun and mistakenly concluded that their clients are "terrorists." Judge Stern would not grant a mistrial, but at the insistence of the defendants, allowed their attorneys to question jurors about their knowledge of the incident. Two jurors said they had heard about it in the news, and a third juror admitted that several jurors discussed it in the jury room. Before the start of deliberations, Judge Stern dismissed these three jurors at the requests of Mr. Ervin, Mr. McGee and Mr. Muhammad.
I am convinced that the man with the gun was a police provocateur and that the incident was staged by Hamilton County Sheriff John Cupp, possibly in cooperation with other law enforcement officials, in order to taint the jury against Mr. Ervin, Mr. McGee and Mr. Muhammad. The plot worked because after less than an hour of deliberations, the jury returned with guilty verdicts. I understand that one of the courtroom observers, Professor JoNina M. Abron of Western Michigan University, has asked the Color of Law Unit of the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the incident, which I believe prevented Mr. Ervin, Mr. McGee and Mr. Muhammad from receiving a fair trial.
Miscarriage of Justice
Mr. Ervin, Mr. McGee and Mr. Muhammad were sentenced on February 26th, 2001. They were spared prison sentences but this coming re-trial indicates that such punishment may be applied this time. You, sir/madam, have the power to stop the unjust imprisonment of these three men, who are working to achieve justice and equality for their fellow African-Americans. Please grant clemency to Lorenzo Ervin, Damon McGee and Mikail Musa Muhammad. 
(Don't forget to add your name, address, country and signature).							Yours sincerely,
*Boycott Chattanooga, the coalition of groups and individuals, has been putting out thousands of brochures listing the persons killed in the city by police agencies, and placing them at rest stops throughout the Southeast in the US. For further infos, go to the webpage www.sf.indymedia.org/lke.php3.
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AUSTRIA : THE RIGHT TO DEMONSTRATE'S BECOMING UNTOLERATABLE FOR THE RULING CLASS
Repression against antifascists
Vienna was the scene of an incomparable orgy of police violence last February 22nd, 2001 while an anti-fascist demonstration attended by 900 was taking place against the opern-ball*, the austrian government and its entire racist and repressive policies. The mainstream media had taken care for criminalizing this traditional demonstration days before it takes place, mentioning the undesirable presence of "professional violent protestors" who were going to wreak havoc in the city and thus prepare the ground to justify heavy repression. 
Indeed, expressing one's opinion through legal means such as demonstrations has become an offence in Austria as the order was to beat up anyone. In a political situation such as Austria's where the inclusion of extreme right-wing members among the government has aroused a wave of popular disontent and mobilizarion, any kind of anti-fascist is considered as a potential threat for the established power. Let's remind that several austrian writers have been prosecuted, which expresses how far the government is prepared to go so as to make its authority recognized. And it is obviously police forces which have enjoyed this momentum of fascism as first.
Along the opern-ball demonstration, protesters were literally overrun, chased through the city of Vienna, and anyone too slow to flee was beaten up. Some protestors reacted towards this massive police violence by throwing bottles, stones and paint-bombs, building barricades and then keep on running. Apart from some "Rapid-Ultra" far-right hooligans , several undercover policemen dressed up as "typical anarchists" were discovered among protestors. Surely enough several passers-by were hit too and aside from numerous demonstrators, some journalists were wounded as well by the police. However most people did not make any complaint against them as they would be formally accused of lying, which must be popular among police officers trained by a fascist state and determined to take advantage of this position to corrupt through violence. 42 people were eventually arrested and put in custody but the nightmare had to reach the top...
*The Opernball is a long traditional, high society event in the viennese opera during the austrian carneval season. It is a symbol of bourgeois omnipotence and a meeting of the economy`s "who is who". In 1987 the bavarian prime minister F.J. Strauss who convinced of the nuclear reprocessing station in Wackersdorf came to the Opernball. For the first time massive riots of thousands of german and austrian autonomous, anti-nuclear, grassroot and anarchist protestors took place in Vienna. From this time on, the anti-Opernball protests became a symbol of "riot and violence" and of course, police repression. The fairy tale of travelling german autonomous protestors coming to destroy "peaceful" Austria was established. For years of the Openball's existence, all radical political groups have been tracked and regulary people were arrested and beaten up. In 1989, after the eviction of a squat, the Opernball demonstration raised the topic "Eat the rich - Evict the opera, raid the buffet." One year later, in 1990, the police beat thousands of sympathizers and protestors through the city. The aim of this massive violence and physical injury was to threat as many people as possible. In the following years, only a few people went out on the streets to demonstrate against the ball of the rich and mighty, compared to the years before.
Protests against the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Right-Wing-Populistic Austrian Government on July 1st, 2001 in Salzburg - Austria. The anti-WEF coordination calls for actions and civil disobedience from June 30th to July 3rd  in Salzburg Further infos at : antiwef.salzburg@subdimension.com - http://www.antiwef.org - antiwef-salzburg-subscribe@egroups.de - for mailinglist.
          
Autonomous center stormed by anti-terrorist brigade in Vienna
After the last groups of protesters went home before midnight, the police prepared themselves for the next action : on Friday 23rd at five a.m. more than 300 policemen attacked the autonomous centre "Ernst Kirchweger Haus" (EKH) through a repressive operation worthy of an anti-terrorist intervention. Police officers were heavily armed, wore helmets and bullet-safe jackets as if they were investigating the headquarter of a guerilla. Most of them were members of the anti-terrorist group WEGA known for its sympathy for the far-right-wing party. Doors were broken up and the noise made the inhabitants think of an attack by fascists (the police did not show any legal document, warrant, etc). The inhabitants of the EKH were brutally taken out of their beds and rooms, some of them with guns pointed at them. Some had to lay down on the floor in underwear. While some policemen kept them under control, others stormed room after room. A private computer monitor, most doors in the living zone and several pieces of furniture were destroyed.
Some masked undercover policemen - the same who had joined the demonstration as "agent provocateur" the night before - participated in the house search as they were identified on behalf of their clothes. During their action the people living there had to listen to statements like "This is a shit house and will be torn down anyway", "Today there are no human rights", "When the governor of Carinthia (i.e. Haider) comes, this will all change", "after this kind of demonstrations we have to make a strong statement",....And this is the point : this attack was clearly a try to intimidate. Somebody had to be guilty but no one was found out...
Apart from some buckets of paint an pieces of metal out of the common workshop nothing was confiscated. Police threatened that it might be the end for the EKH but this operation was a nasty harassment to intimidate the whole austrian underground antifascist movement and remind to its members that being faithful to one's ideals can have heavy consequences. Again police troops marched against a "public enemy" created mostly by the right-wing mainstream paper Kronenzeitung (the most wide-spread paper in Austria). Immigrants had been widely criminalized and targeted along the past few months by such repressive operations but it appears that the ruilng class and their best allies the fascist state are now willing to multiplicate their targets, be they radical or "ordinary citizens", as long as they remain faithful to the antifascist ideals. Solidarity against the criminalization of the anti-fascist resistance !
"The land to those who work on it. The means of production to those who use them. The houses to those who live in it". People from the EKH.
For further infos, contact Rosa Antifa Wien, c/o Rosa Lila Tip, Linke Wienzeile 102 A-1060 Wien, Austria. E-mail: raw@raw.at
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SPAIN : THE BATTLE GOES ON...SO DOES THE SLAUGHTER
F.I.E.S. : white torture by isolation as means of extermination
As we were telling you in the previous issues, the F.I.E.S regime (Files for Internees on special Follow up) was introduced in 1991 to maintain a special surveillance and control over prisoners who were classified by Penitentiary Institutions as "dangerous" or as "agitators" within prisons. This repressive measure was basically intended to break down prisoners who chose the side of resistance and/or try to organize their fellows along common vindications, as it was the case of those involved in the prisoner movement APRE. However the hell of FIES isolation units has led numerous social and political prisoners to launch another wave of resistance and we found interesting to expose down here the "life" style of this prisoner category :
-A daily report is elaborated to keep track over what inmates the internee is related to, what the internee does during the whole day, what relationship he/she maintains with the rest of the prisoners and how he/she behaves towards warders.
-Systematic control and search for those visiting an internee, for sentimental or family purposes. This kind of control is completely illegal as much with the prisoner as with the people he/she is related to. Such measure is a key-weapon to isolate even more an inmate as one must bear humiliation to visit his/her relative in jail, which is clearly dismotivating especially for relatives who have to travel long hours before reaching the prison where the inmate in question was deported to.
-Pursuit and report of all the communications with whom the inmate keeps in touch, via phone or via written correspondance (in the case they would be "conspiring" to get help from outside so prison authorities can target both the prisoner and his supporters).
-Daily searches of the inmate's private belongings and cell, frequent cell transfers to prevent an inmate from establishing relationships with other inmates and from cohabiting with other rebellious fellows in the same cell. As well, no prisoner under the F.I.E..S regime is allowed to benefit from any kind of sentence adjustments such as temporary release permits to go in and out, conditional release, sentence commutations, release after serving 3/4 of one's sentence or any other kind of adjustment registered by law.
-Complete isolation, 23 and a half hour a day locked up in their cells and a half hour of exit to the courtyard with no other  company than a bunch of warders.
This summerizes more or less the "life" of a prisoner under F.I.E.S. regime which is actually pretty similar with most segregation regimes in other european countries, even though every prisoner's situation is particular as most of these measures are absolutely illegal, which provides to prison authorities the supra-power to act on a complete arbitrary way, according to their moods...And political prisoners in particular rarely have good relations with them, which earn them frequently to become their anti-stress objects (...). However the F.I.E.S. regime is itself subdivided likewise in 5 classifications :
*F.I.E.S. 1 (direct control) : prisoners considered as dangerous and conflictive, organizing riots, escapes and representing a "serious" threat to the penitentiary order. Here are detained the most politically conscious and combative inmates, those who never put their heads down nor bend over, those fighting from the inside for a social change.
*F.I.E.S. 2 : prisoners sentenced for drug trafficking, foreign currency evasion, money laundering, etc.
*F.I.E.S. 3 : prisoners who were arrested and sentenced for armed group affiliation, or those who, from the erroneously called "security forces'" point of view, have always been supporters of these armed groups and organizations.
*F.I.E.S. 4 (category that should never appear on this bulletin but for strictly informative reasons!) : Here are detained warders and members of the security forces who have been imprisoned for different reasons. The goal of this classification is to protect these prisoners from possible reprisals from inmates belonging to armed groups or other prisoner collective (of course, this very special category of F.I.E.S. prisoners will enjoy a widely protected life in prison).
*F.I.E.S. 5 : prisoners who, according to penitentiary Institutions, evolve in a positive way within the prison community. Most of the inmates detained into this category were accused of violations that have caused social harm, as well as "insumisos" (unsubjected) and prisoners of conscience (those who energically refused to attend the compulsory military service in the National Army).
          
Out of all these F.I.E.S. categories, the hardest and the one that it is applied in a most bloodthirsty way remains the F.I.E.S.1 (direct control). But again, the entire F.I.E.S. regime, as well as all other segregation regimes and the prison system itself, are a complete contradiction with the so-called purpose given to imprisonment officially, i.e. "social rehabilitation". Prisoners who fall under the F.I.E.S. regime have actually 3 basic choices : being broken down and alienated, repenting (which is about the same) or fighting for their survival as human beings, for their fundamental human rights, for the abolition of segregation/white torture units, for the abolition of the entire penitentiary-industrial system, for their rightful release, i.e. the release and the emancipation of our class, for revolution.
We have to keep denouncing this systematic torture that is being applied in a cruel and overwhelming way against our most conscious and combative comrades. But not only do we have to keep fighting against the F.I.E.S. and other segregation regimes. We have to keep fighting in a permanent way against any existing system of repression and subjection whom prisons remain the pillar. Only by eliminating the causes we can eliminate the crime. Only by eliminating this society where the worst crime is to be born poor, to be jobless, homeless, to be lonely, to be Black, to be a struggler for justice, to be revolted, we can put an end to the harms and the oppression of our class which feed the privileges of the ruling one, and their best allies the reactionary middle-class.
(Little parenthesis for a debate which we consider as fundamental but which unfortunately rarely appears in anarchist writings)
For sure there will be people to say, and I think here more particularly of women, that certain crimes such as rape are also part of other societies and that it existed already much before the establishment of the current capilo-imperialist order. I would plainly agree with that but don't they think that such crime is proportional to the level of merchandizing made out of women's body, of social destitution, of loneliness ? That it is relative to the current way of production and life which divide us, which has deleted the notion of community, which has turned each of us into strangers who can't communicate any longer, who can't help and support each other socially, materially, organizationally ? 
I'm not trying here to forgive those who committed rape nor to depreciate the offence it represents for the women who've been victim of it. I'm just willing to arouse a debate on this question because the matter is not to advocate the abolition of prisons without considering ways to respond to harms which indeed would exist as well in a classless and prisonless society. But it is clear that prison is not a solution to prison. Let's recall that the longer the sentence is, the higher the subsequent offence rate is. This means a rapist is even more dangerous when he serves a prison sentence and then gets out than when he doesn't even go to prison. So a clear statement needs to be made here : are you for walling him up alive or don't you think we can find more appropriate ways to condemn his crime ('cause the point is obviously not to forget about it in the name of idealist anti-repressive principles) ? 
Numerous are those who decided themselves for their fate before the partisans of the prison industrial complexe do it for them. Those professionals of incarceration dream of prisons where it would feel good to serve one's sentence, where prisoners would be responsible for their crime, where it would be warm and cozy, and where there would be no complaints, no insults, no riots, no fights and no beatings! In short a society where everybody would be one's own cop so as pigs can keep on consuming us without having the nightmare to control, oppress, repress and do away with us! I guess there have been enough casualties witnessing their and our categorical disagreement.
Apart from political prisoners properly, who landed in prison for their devotion to our class and to the struggle, and apart from working-class prisoners, who landed in prison for being guilty of their social rank, I guess most of us will agree on the point that imprisonment makes people worse than they were before entering the ruling class' hell. So there's a great need to debate and take our responsabilities before the State does it for us if we really want to live in a society without prisons and without classes. We can't dissociate them anyway. Even though the Anarchist Black Cross Network basically supports political prisoners properly, it seems indispensible to me that at least it takes part, as a prison abolitionist organization, into such debate. Any reaction on these comments is very welcome of course and may be published in future issues. 
UNTIL ALL ARE FREE, WE ARE ALL IMPRISONED!!!
												ABC-Dijon/english edition
             
THE TUBE : Spanish prisons had to invent worse than F.I.E.S. units
The isolation module in Port II (Spain), where Simon Quintela and other 15 Basque political prisoners have spent the last 7 years, is known as "the tube". Not in vain, since the place looks a real tube, with the same feeling as when they introduce you in a tube. The tube ia a rectangular space of about 40 meters long by 13 meters wide, in a lower floor. Inside, there are 16 individual cells, 8 on each side, seperated by a narrow alley (less than two meters wide) and a wall. Therefore, the only thing inmates can see through their windows is this wall. Due to it, Jaime has lost part of his sight. He has 8 dioptries in each eye.
The cells, like boxes of 3 by 2 meters, are a small rectangle with a bed, a small sink, a visible toilet (without any privacy) and a small table, near an iron stool fixed to the floor. The table is so small that barely fits the lunch tray. It is impossible to use this small table for reading or studying purposes, since you can not even put there an open book and a note pad. Besides, the stool is far away from the table, and it does not have a back rest, what dooms the inmate to suffer from back pain right away; so rarely inmates use this table and stool. To study or write, they must seat down in their beds, and lean their notebooks on their squoting knees. 
All the cells have a second door for "security purposes", known as "the crab". This door is made of metal with lots of holes. It has two rectangular openings : one at the chest height, which is vertical, used to handle documents or papers to the inmate. And the other opening is in horizontal position, next to the floor, to introduce the food tray to the inmate. Yes, in the TUBE, they feed inmates as dangerous animals in a zoo. The multiple complaints and efforts carried out by inmates and their supporters to get their meals in a respectful and human way have not been sucessful so far.
The cells are wet and cold. The fact that "the tube" is located in a lower level, and the narrow closed patio (less than two meter wide alley) gets flooded when it rains, it makes the walls of the cells to be completely wet and humid. Besides, there is not heater in any of the cells, and inmates are not allowed to buy their own heater nor any other device to get warm.
The patio where prisoners go out is like a box, barely 12 meters by 10. It is located also in the lower level, surrounded by the rest of the jail buildings. To see the sky from this patio is hard; you have to look up, vertically, and only like that you will see a little square of sky, as big as the patio is. During many years, Jaime and the other two inmates went out to this patio for one hour a day. Now, since the application of the new penitentiary rules, they can go out to this tiny patio for 4 hours a day. How generous they are! 4 hours in that box, without anything around, 7 people walking 12 steps up, 12 down.
The sun only shines in this box one hour a day. A tiny bit of sun in one of the corners around four o`clock in the afternoon, that's all. If they are lucky they are allowed to go out around that time, they will see those few sun rays. If not, ……nothing. From the cell to the patio, from the patio to the cell. They only get out of this routine when they go to communicate; and twice a week, when they go to the sport room for one hour and half, with the rest of the 8 inmates of the same side of "the tube". They don`t see anybody else, since they go to exercise after lunch time, when the rest of the prisoners are in their cells. The inmates of "the tube" remain alone during exercises, with their warders as only company. 
The same 7 or 8 inmates spend their time as best as they can : during many years, they play "palas", they run, or if they are lucky they exercise with weights. Very often, "the person" who has the key to the weight room "could not make it". Prisoners live on this way, day after day, month after month, year after year….
Despite of suffering from the "Korsakoff Syndrome", Jaime has spent 8 years without going to the hospital, to be seen by specialists. The doctors of Puerto II jail only prescribed to Jaime a simple B12 vitamin complement. And the jail authorities claim that this is due to "security measures" to avoid to take Jaime out to the hospital.
At "the TUBE", inmates are forced to be sounded by the jail doctors in the narrow alley. Inmates stand inside their cells, doctors in the midle of this alley. The check up takes place through a metal door with bars, called "the crab". Under these conditions, inmates only accept to be assisted in the event of maximum emergency.
"I can not open the door and, is there maybe narrower tomb ? Only by noticing the officers' twinkling in the peephole, I realize that I am alive". An inmate detained in the Tube. 
         
Stop the frame up of anarchist Eduardo Garcia! Stop the criminalization of the solidarity movement!!! 
Hundreds of social prisoners are nowadays involved in various grades and some others in hunger strikes, log-in strikes and other types of action claiming 3 essential points:
 -End of the evil isolation regimes (FIES) created in the 90´s to slowly break down and end up with "dangerous" (militant) prisoners.
 -End of dispersion and return to prisoners' homeprovince, near everyone´s family.
 -Immediate release of extremely-ill prisoners and prisoners with incurable diseases.
Other claims have been formulated by certain prisoners or prisoner collectives such as :
 -Immediate release of those having served 20 years.
 -Redemption of the New Penitentiary Code.
 -Application of penitentiary benefits (release of those having served the 3 quarters of their sentence for example).
 -Application of the measures decided by the High Court for drug users.
As for the most recent news we have, the collective hunger strike from last December, 2000 ended on early January. There are actually some prisoners on individual actions (like in Puerto I), but currently there isn´t a coordinated mobilization. The inmates detained in FIES units are still on "patio strike" since September 2000, which means they are in their cells and refuse to go out as a protest for the 3 most important demands mentioned above.
Up to now, prisoners on fight have been supported mainly by the autonomous and libertarian movements, as well as some social organizations such as United Mothers Against Drugs or the Anti-Torture Association (ACT). Demostrations (last one in Madrid with 1,000 people, others in Barcelona, Valencia...), solidarity actions, leaphlets, posters, etc are being used as means to make their situation and struggle known and try so to help them.
All that happening around this struggle has been censored by the mainstream media in close collaboration with the State, and the few informations appearing attacked directly the struggle, criminalizing it and trying to fool the population by resorting to the systematicly used anti-terrorist paranoia.
Now we are forced to speak about the last attack carried out by the Goverment. Frightened by the social extension the struggle was taking, they built a frame-up against one of the best-known and most active supporters in the streets : Eduardo García (Edu),  member of the Anarchist Black Cross group in Madrid (also very involved in the squat movement and "anti-globalization" protests). Estefania Maurette Dias (Fani), another anarchist active in the solidarity with prisoners struggle, was arrested and charged along with Eduardo while a third comrade, called Jose Manuel, is wanted by the police but managed to escape. The police have accused Edu and Fani of sending 7 letter-bombs to 6 journalists and a politician. Inside these letters there were leaphlets against the isolation regime (FIES), and one of them (sent to the fascist newspaper "la Razón") was claimed through a communique signed "the anarchists" dated on May 2000, in Pamplona (Basque country). We must also add that according to police sources, only one of the letters was prepared to explode.
On November 9th, police officers arrested Eduardo García and Estefania Maurette under the charge of having sent the letters in question (3 of them, which simulated letter-bombs, were claimed by a different group, asquead@s ("disgusted") while the others remained annonymous). On this way, police managed to confuse together a group of unsolved "felonys" and openly present a "criminal" (Edu) responsible for all of them. They also tried to relate this "criminal" with a bomb that was found next to Valencia´s Court of Law (claimed by "International Solidarity"), with another bomb exploding in the surroundings of a police station in Burgos and with a third action in Aragón..
Edu fell under the anti-terrorism law when he was arrested, and neither his family nor his friends knew where and why he was, despite the official media informations. Parallely, a press campaign against Edu, his family and three prisoners suffering segregation regime began. The frame-up was set up and authorities pretended that the italian anarchist prisoner Claudio Lavazza is the "brain" of the "anarchist cell". We must point at the fact that, as we exposed above, prisoners classified as FIES are constantly controled and watched, so this idea is quite "surrealistic". But Claudio would have supposedly contacted a second FIES prisoner who then would have communicated the targets via a so-called third "contact" (Fani, his girlfriend), who fortunately is today free as the judge didn´t believe this part of the story. Eduardo and Estefania (Fani) were actually released together on bail in the meantime, but the same week Eduardo was arrested again. Fani is still out of jail, though she remains charged for almost the same facts as Eduardo.    
All this structure is a pure invention by the police that created it without any proof and collaborated with the media to attack prisoners 10 days before they start an indefinite hunger strike (afforded by 50 of them and interrupted a month later). The media also pretended that Edu, 22 years old, had already been a prisoner in his past, which is not true.
On the same day as Edu was arrested, an "ETA commando" was captured in the Basque Country while 6 members of the marxist urban guerrilla GRAPO are arrested in Paris. This appeared as a great opportunity for the media to confuse all this and create virtual links between these different events, pretending Edu was also on contact with ETA members and other urban guerrillas, simply because police found a Basque radical magazine at his home and that he had travelled in the Basque Country in August 2000 with some friends. As we saw it in Nice and as it is the case on various and too frequent occasions, being Basque, having connections with any Basque people, keeping aware about the Basque separatist movement or any other fact dealing with the Basque Country is nowdays considered as a crime in itself. The violence that may have occured in the Basque Country and the entire political work that has been developed by the Basque people is being used by the spanish government to feed anti-terrorist paranoia and link any other subversive political activism to criminalize any dissident voice. And numerous, too numerous, are those who fell under political repression for such reasons.
Media and government also argued that our fellow Edu had relations with some other prisoners... and we ask : is that illegal? If it is so, they should arrest the 50,000 spanish prisoners' families and friends, shouldn't they ? They also attacked him because his father is an important employee at a spanish bank and has a flat in a wealthy neighbourhood in Madrid. But does this have anything to do with his son, Edu, being an anarchist and showing solidarity? The journalist who dared writing about his private life and family did obviously so in an attempt to slander him and his ideas as well as to isolate him, thinking people wouldn't support him because of that.
On the same day as he was arrested, his friend and commarades immediately organized support assamblees and, in spite of having very little information. They decided to gather in front of the Nazional Court, where he had most propably been taken to. Every concentration is surrounded by dozens of anti-riot squads and they record and identify all of their attendance...Edu's supporters and family start to understand they were trying to frighten them, which means that they attempt to break down the solidarity movement...All those are the reasons why our comrade is in jail since the 8th of November of 2000, suffering FIES III (terrorism and armed organizations) at Soto Del Real prison.  
Now, the public prosecutor is terribly busy looking for some more proofs, because he's got nothing reliable. Indeed Edu is gonna face four trials at the National Court level and the charges weighting on him are everything but coherent : bombings in Zaragoza, Valencia, Burgos...in places where he's never been. Spanish authorities have framed up one member of the solidarity movement and it appears that they're going to do it on a very professional way, i.e. charging him for a series of bomb attacks for which those who did them haven't been captured...a way to take revenge over the entire anti-authoritarian and solidarity movement in Spain. This affair appears as a clone of the repression that has struck the anarchist movement in Italy following the "investigations" run by the judge Marini. And we can fear an extreme hardening of this type repression in the coming months (see below "Eurofascism : Soon they will not have to frame us up any longer to wall us up").
Meanwhile, one of the four judges in charge of Edu's trial has suggested that Edu be released until his trial takes place. Therefore, comrades from ABC-Madrid call for filling petitions to show that Edu is not left alone and that his case is clearly a police frame up, i.e. that he has nothing to do with the facts for which is being charged. Our fellows also encourage every prisoner support groups to carry out actions in front of spanish official representations but to act in a responsible, cautious and intelligent way so as not make his situation worse than it is already now. Please forward any report of the actions you may undertake to ABC-Madrid at : ABC/CNA Madrid, Paseo Alberto Palacios nº2, 28021 Madrid, Spain (phone : 91797 0424 - fax: 915052183). Email : edulibre@yahoo.es
Here down is a sample letter we urge you to send at the attention of the judge who had suggested to release our comrade until his trial comes, even though she now chose for keeping him in jail. We have to keep up the pressure, not only in the name of Eduardo, but in the name of the solidarity movement with our fellow hostages. If spanish authorities do not witness solidarity with our comrade, we can expect more frame ups of this type. 
      
To : Maria Teresa Palacios, Juzgados de Instruccion n*3, Audiencia Nacional C/ Garcia Gutierrez n*1, 28 004 Madrid - Spain 	              Date
Eduardo García Macías is still in prison, due to a sentence of yours. All his legal procedures have been ignored and you haven't even granted him an audience to testify. As Eduardo's lawyer reminded it in his appeal to the High Court dated from the 12th of November, 2000, "any judicial sentence that order the imprisonment of the accused wilthout calling him to testify, violate the logical righty as well as the defencie rights, that are a legal guarentee in two ways. In the scope of the constitution (art. 24.2) and in the daily routine of the law."
As you undoubtedly know it, there isn't any proof justifying his imprisonment. Therefore, we demand his immediate release.
(don't forget to mention your name, address, country and to add your signature)
Postcards at the attention of the judge Palacios are also available directly at the address of the ABC-Madrid as well as to ours. If you have the possibility to spread many of them, please make a request to our spanish comrades. Thanx in advance.
      
Furthermore, the ABC-Madrid itself is being persecuted by both the media and the police. Indeed, the over conservative paper El Mundo published an article in its state section in which the ABC is shown as a "violent organization" and described it as "supporting terrorism". The article was actually surrounded by news about ETA, so as to emphasize once again on the anti-terrorist paranoia and justify so some potential further investigations of the solidarity movement. Besides, their counter-information website www.sindominio.net was forced to be closed by police. 
             
Amadeu Casellas Ramon kidnapped by the State
Amadeu Casellas Ramón was on hunger strike from January 13th, 2001 in Can Brians prison, as part of the general mobilization of social prisoners in the spanish State for collective demands. He had actually taken part in another undefinite strike that started on October 19th, 2000 along with Jordi Alvarez and Jose Gomez Salgado and had sewed his mouth as a protest against the extreme conditions of detention under FIES regime. 
Amadeu has been kidnapped from Ponent en Lleida prison, one of the most modern prisons of Catalonia where brutality against inmates is used without discrimination in order to establish order and where he was kept in the extermination hole. The media have focused on a so-called prisoner violence so as to label them as "“extremelydangerous" and justify their heavy mistreatment. On the other hand, neo-nazis are allowed to organize themselves inside and impose their law. Welcome to the AmeriKKKan Global Prison System!
In Ponent you can find different sections with different levels of repression and isolation, such as DERT (a Catalonian version of the FIES units, i.e. solitary confinement). This confinement consists in total silence. Prisoners are totally isolated, so much as they can develop a feeling that the only support they have, it's the prison itself. In this area prisoners become vulnerable to all kinds of physical and psychological tortures. This torture chamber's name is "the roundabout", and there prisoners are humiliated, tortured and fucked-up. Despite its name this is not a playground but the continuation of the ancient inquisition methods applied to new technologies.
The most vital and elementary contact between people is extinguished in vacuum and expectation periods, keeping prisoners' mind busy with the stress of incoming and outcoming mail as the mail regime is purely arbitrary, thus putting inmates under the yoke of warders' moods.
At the moment we don't know about Amadeu's situation. The only thing we know is that he's been taken away by force from Ponent en Lleida prison. Just before being kidnapped his health had seriously deteriorated. He had lost more than 12 kilos as a consequence of the hunger strike and had a pulse rate of 80 beats per minute and his blood pressure was 80/60. 
This attack is part of the numerous attacks carried out against prisoners and their mobilization for justice. This is why it is important to show that we keep an eye on everything the penitentiary administration undertakes against our comrades inside, and outside...Please send protest letters claiming freedom for Amadeu Casellas and an outcome of his current situation to : Sr. D. ANGEL GOMEZ MUÑOZ, Dr. Gen. de Serveis Penitenciaris i Rehabilitaciò, C/ Aragó  332, 08009  Barcelona, Spain.
    
Letter from Gabriel Bea Sampedro
At this very moment, in the prisons of the spanish State and in some others in Europe, there exists a reality of struggle and resistance. In this State, one year ago, the prisoners called "very dangerous", social prisoners, rebels, anarchists, those imprisoned in the FIES isolation units, have decided to coordinate the struggles that have been going on for years, in the midst of the silence and the hypocrisy of society. From that moment, a multitude of initiatives and actions have succeeded each other, inside and outside prisons (...)
Since then, the repression of the State did increase as well, in the form of more dispersions, more beatings, provocations, blocking of correspondence, denial of communication with family and friends,...and a campaign of manipulation and criminalization of the struggle and of prisoners in the media, which also did intend to clear the image of the institutions of extermination. This repression reveals the fear of the State faced with the struggle of our comrades, not so much because of its vindications, but because of its spirit. At a time when State and Capital restructure the forms of exploitation, control and repression in the European market, sell the bit of ficticious freedom without encountering practically any opposition within a submissive society, the self-organized struggle of prisoners, driven by solidarity and mutual support, which dares to criticize not only the penitentiary system but the whole social organisation based on repression, represents apparently a threat for the power of the State. 
And it will do so for sure when this real solidarity and this rebellious spirit extends beyond the walls and even more beyond the frontiers so as to promote an uncontrolled movement of subversion with all those who today outside suffer repression alone, because isolated from the others.
REPRESSION IS A SOCIAL ISSUE, PRISON IS A PROBLEM FOR ALL OF US. SOLIDARITY WITH PRISONERS' STRUGGLES AND WITH ALL THOSE WHO CONFRONT REPRESSION WITH THE MEANS THEY HAVE AT THEIR DISPOSAL. 
											Gabriel Bea Sampo, January 2001
Gabriel Bea Sampedro, Centro Penitenciario Badajoz, Ctra. Olivenza Km. 5, 06008 Badajoz, Spain.
     
Laudelino sentenced again
Laudelino Iglesias (see previous issue) has spent an overall of 27 years in prison. He was on hunger strike for 45 days to obtain his rightful probation release as he has served the 3/4th of his sentence. He actually stopped his strike because of his long-term involvement in the prisoner movement against FIES which has substantially affected his condition. 
We were informed of a recen very bad news by the Amaitu platform who support him  The penitentiary administration already wanted to punish him with additional time of detention for his resistance but his late appeal to the supreme court turned into a nightmare...life sentence so 20 additional years! No matter for the PA to deliver such verdict, he's a prisoner who fiercely resists to the slow death they want to doom him to. Laudelino intends to try all legal possibilities to overturn the sentence (european commission for human rights and the consitutional court). But considering the social extansion of prisoner's mobilisation in Spain at the moment, it is clear that this sentence reveals the strong determination of the PA and the government to put an end to this fundamental criticism...The Amaitu platform calls for the mobilization of the international solidarity movement and individuals prepared to take action in support of Laudelino. Further infos at : Plataforma Amaitu, Apdo 179, Barakaldo, Euskal Herria, Spain. 
*  *  *
...EUROFASCISM : SOON THEY WILL NOT HAVE TO FRAME-US UP TO WALL US UP...
Those persecutions against the solidarity movement in Spain or else the victimization of the anarchist movement in Italy are the expression of European states' fears of the raising and multiplicating social movements that have developed lately in various countries of the Union. Up to now, the professionals of repression were standing on a pretty unsafe ground as at the same time as they had to preserve social peace and the credibility of their institutions, they also had to act illegally so as to break down social and political agitation, which of course was pretty hard to handle for the image and the stability of social western "democracies".
Even though the preludes of a repressive legacy on the european level  were being felt through the elaboration of the Criminal Justice Bill in England or else the article 141 in The Netherlands, the rest of those copper-politicians still had to work hard on very tactful strategies to repress our class and its militants, which seems to cost them too much frustration...Indeed, european police departments, in response to the various struggles against globalized capitalism, are elaborating a new and extensive definition of "radical and anarchist terrorism". In short, they are legalizing the more and more repressive behaviour of european states whose dream would be to turn social democracy into bourgeois democracy. A society where there would be no beggars in the streets, where the only possible fate of the working class would be jail (in the case she wouldn't confine with her status of under-skilled and under-paid labour), where the penitentiary industry would finally become a reliable and profitable market, where freedom would belong to the reactionary middle-class and where coppers would be allowed to shoot us because anyway we are "dangerous terrorists", "traffickers", unemployed, i.e. that we are everthing but useful for the society they intend to establish.
From January 29th to February 2nd, 2001, the very first european conference about "terrorism" was being held in Canilas, Spain, on the initiative of the spanish ministry of Home Affairs (!) and their fellow Europol. This conference gathered the heads of the various European Community's member-states' police departments in the scope of progressively harmonizing the european police's orientations.
By the voice of the spanish minister of Home Affairs, Europol was introduced as a "fundamental institution for the anti-terrorist struggle" and a "forum where the new model of common security in Europe" had to be elaborated, which was eventually formulated by the term "Euro-order" (we must believe that it's becoming an emergency for mister the minister). 
The reinforcement of the criminalization made out of class struggle, at the level of european policy, goes through a more and more extensive and abstract definition of terrorist action. It is so that along this conference, it was asserted that terrorism is "a project that attempts to settle down within society" and that "to fight against it, it is also necessary to fight against the social, economic and political structures as well as the means of communication that support and feed it". On this account, the closure by the police of the ABC-Madrid's website or else the prosecution of the swedish magazine Brand, or else the censorship of our french-edited newsbulletin, or else the famous GandALF affair in England can be defined as the preludes of the policies which are gonna be decided on the european level as indeed, there's a great need to legitimate such repressive measures if copper-politicians still want people to recognize their society as "democracy", which in fact is slowly becoming legal fascism. Legal, so...democratic.
More precisely, Europol engages itself to support european countries' initiative to set up "investigation groups fighting against anarchist and radical groups' terrorism". The countries mainly targeted by this policy are Italy, Greece, Portugal and Spain (the riot countries of course!).
Concretely, a document, entittled the "Madrid document", recording the thoughts of those copper-theoricians and being used by Europol as a database for the upcoming anti-terrorist struggle, is planing several series of measures :
-the creation of a database "taking into account the records of the most run-after terrorists of the European Community so as to help an active search of them.
-the setting up of a "plan to reward the people who will provide informations about terrorists with economic incitations". In other word, they plan to accelerate the process of middle-class' reactionary evolution by feeding them with a few more scraps of their billions euros. Well-to-do honest citizens will have the chance to become the potential auxiliaries of repressive forces and the pleisure to denounce/lie about working class people and political militants, participate in their frame up, etc, if that allows them to buy a bigger car or go on holiday to the Bahamas twice a year instead of once...In short, a society where we will be constantly surrounded by cop-citizens, where fear will lay down the law for those who are everything but reactionary, brainwashed and apathetic.
-the unification of european judicial systems which aim at making extradition procedures easier and faster (undoubtedly, it looks like the spanish minister of Home Affairs was too much listened too along this conference).
This conference and the measures that were approved there correspond to the new response prepared by european states to the resumption of social struggles acting out of the institutional and acceptable dimension allowed by bourgeois democracy. It will deal among others with the movements fighting against global capitalism, at least their most offensive componants, i.e. those determined to take the struggle on the ground of direct confrontation with the State and its coercive forces. Therefore, we urge all comrades to remain extremely cautious along their correspondances, especially for those who afforded less caution through international contacts, thinking that risks would be minimum. As well, we urge all internet users to resort to PGP keys or any kind of cripting means that could prevent authorities from investigating our communications.
We shall not disappoint those dignified representants of world capitalist policies....class war goes on !!!
For further informations about the general "copperage" of Europe, if hopefully you read french, go to www.france.indymedia.org 
*  *  *
STOP THE VICTIMIZATION OF POLISH ANTIFASCISTS! JUSTICE FOR TOMEK WILKOSZEWSKI!!!
In the first bulletin, we talked of the polish anti-fascist Tomek Wilkoszewski whose appeal at the Supreme court was rejected. Indeed, as a victim of brutal assaults, Tomek was severely punished by a 15 year prison sentence. Such severe punishment is even rarely observed in cases concerning members of the mafia or merciless criminals. Tomek has been in prison for 58 months now because he isn't rich, because he doesn't have relation with authorities and cannot afford a lawyer. His only guilt was that he was 'different' as an active anti-fascist and defended himself from an attack carried out by several neo-nazis on his person. Tomasz Wilkoszewski  was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment in Piotrków court on the end of February 1997. He was found guilty of murdering the 17-year old neo-fascist Daniel Switon. 
Tomek comes from a small village called Brudzice situated in the province of Radomsko. He was a diligent student who was planning to study at the university. Till March 1996, he was not found guilty of any offence, which shows how targeted he was for his political beliefs and activism. In Radomsko (a typical small town in central Poland) the group of nazis was terrorizing all youngsters in this town. Assaults were usual and took place in collaboration with the police while the rest of the town authorities remained totally passive. People who did not fit the stereotypes adopted by the nazis were attacked. Tomek was a regular victim of those attacks (once the muggers wanted to gouge his eyes out). Every case reported to the police was ignored. The follow-up, i.e. the murder of this young neo-nazi, was the natural consequence of prior events, since youngsters had no other choice than defending themselves by their own means, which Tomek did in the scope of saving his own life.
The police wanted to find the culprit so much as they did not investigate the proofs carefully. Till the present day, they have not found out whether the knife located at Tomek's place was used during the crime. Furthermore, on the place of the murder another knife was found. The police was not even sure which knife was used. 
These doubts should have been used to the benefit of the accused. But further explanations were not heard and the court could not even figure out what the situation consisted in at the moment during the murder. Therefore, Tomek's sentence was entirely based on suppositions. The court did even not accept extenuating circumstances (aggression of Tomek and his friends was the result of the long-term persecution and corruption of the police). 
This 15-year prison sentence and the severe trial conditions are more oppressive than those usually applicated by polish courts. The court ostensibly acted on the spur of the moment as it was prejudiced against the so-called "Black Marches" organized to protest against violence. 
Support and help for Tomek and his family is organized both in Poland and abroad. Thanks to the campaign organized by the Anarchist Black Cross Network and the Anarchist Federation it was possible to collect several thousand zlotys to help Tomek getting a lawyer in court. Help from many people resulted in moving Tomek to another prison where he could continue his education. Now, ABC is preparing to send him a PC set (the polish network is facing problems with collecting money for a parcel). Unfortunately, Tomek is still in prison for the meantime and this appeal was actually his last chance to overturn his sentence, though there remains one ultimate chance to achieve his freedom, for which we urge you to provide a little help. Indeed he may only be pardoned by the president of Poland and that will depend on the pressure we will manage to exert. Below is a sample letter for his attention which we urge you to copy and forward him (you can as well send a letter inspired from this one of course).
To : Prezydent RP, Mr. Aleksander Kwasniewski, Krakowskie Przedmiescie 48/50, 00-071 Warszawa					Date
	Mr. Kwasniewski,
I'm writing you concerning the case of Mr. Tomaz Wilkoszewski who was rejected the appeal he had lodged at the Supreme Court last September 27th, 2000. Indeed, Tomek was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for the murder of the 17-year-old neo-nazi Daniel Switon in 1997. As you most probably know it, this youngster was part of the fascist group who was terrorizing many in this town. Assaults were usual and took place in collaboration with the police while the rest of the town authorities remained totally passive. People who did not fit the stereotypes adopted by the nazis were attacked. 
Tomek was a regular victim of those attacks (once the muggers even wanted to gouge his eyes out!). Every case he tried to get reported by the police was ignored. The follow-up, i.e. the murder of this young neo-nazi, was the natural consequence of prior events, since youngsters had no other choice than defending themselves by their own means, which Tomek did in the scope of saving his own life.
Furthermore, I'd like to attract your attention on the way the investigation was run and the great lack of proof that surprisingly led to the unsually severe sentence of 15 years imprisonment. I recall that until the present day, the police have not found out whether the knife located at Tomek's place was used during the crime. In addition, another knife was found on the place of the murder and the police was actually not even sure which knife was used. 
These doubts should have been used to the benefit of the accused. But further explanations were not heard and the court could not even figure out what the situation consisted in at the moment during the murder. Therefore, Tomek's sentence was entirely based on suppositions and it undeniable that as long as a full investigation will not have been run, such a sentence means everything but justice.
Above all, I want to emphasize on the fact that the raise of fascism in Poland as well as in other eastern european countries has remained one of the reason why those states haven't been integrated yet in the European Community. Becoming part of it seems to be considered as an urgent necessity for them but it is for sure not in their interest (and then not in the interest of Poland) to keep prosecuting anti-fascists on such unfair and unlawful grounds. Fascism will remain an obstacle to the integration process of Poland as long as nothing concrete will be done to fight against it. Tomek's imprisonment appears therefore to be contradictory with the European Community's expectations to grant you membership.   
To conclude, I want to underline that Tomek was a diligent student who was planning to study at the university. Till March 1996, he was not found guilty of any offence, which shows how targeted he was for his political beliefs and activism - which however are favorable for your country to become part of the European Community. In spite of all, you have the power to overturn the truely unfair and illogocal sentence which Tomek was victim of. You are the last official who may spare his life to be wasted by such great injustice and therefore I urge you to decide for his immediate release. Freedom is his right anyway.
(Don't forget to add your name, address and signature)							Yours sincerely,
For further infos, visit the website www.wilkoszewski.pl or get in touch with ABC-Poznan : PO Box 5, 60966 Poznan 31 - roszak@artemida.amu.edu.pl
Tomek Wilkoszewski : Zaklad Karny, Orzechowa 5, 98-200 Sieradz, Poland.
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PRISON : A DEFINITELY SOCIAL ISSUE IN TURKEY
There's always benefit to make out of a slaughter...
As you probably have already heard from the media, the hunger strikes and death fasts have been continuing for more than five months now in the prisons of Turkey. More than 35 prisoners were died by police raid. Total number of deaths has been increased, also because of the absence of medical care for those gravely injured during the police assaults. As for the current situation, we learnt of the death of Cengiz Soydas who died on the 153rd of the death fast in Sincan "F" type prison. Most probably, he'll not be the last one if the turkish government keeps on following the same policy towards prisoners, with the barbaric support of european institutions(1). 1200 prisoners were actually transfered to these new prisons where resistance is still going on in spite of torture and the condition of many of them who are put on a drip. Many of those on death fast are about to die and show heavy degradation of their condition. About 500 inmates are still on death fast, supported by their families on hunger strike for over 120 days now and 1500 other prisoners on limited fast. But the turkish fascist state keeps on refusing any concession and for that reason is being responsible for the slaughter of hundreds(2). It is trying to cripple the prisoners on the death fast by force-feeding them. As soon as they lose consciousness they are taken to hospital and force-fed. Several prisoners have lost their memory as a consequence of force-feeding. They can no longer remember why they are in prison and cannot recognize their own mothers.
All prisoners in the 'F' Type Prison at Kandira have announced that between March 19th to 23rd they will not accept visits. "We will continue our resistance until victory. To protest against the supremacy of the IMF, the repression in F-type prisons and the crippling of prisoners through force-feeding, we will not accept family visits from March 19th to 23rd" (from a statement by the prisoners in Kandira F-type prison). "Today on March 18th, we honour all political prisoners world-wide who have struggled for a world without exploitation and oppression. Those who do not bow their knee to imperialism, those who fight against fascism will win. FOR THE FREEDOM OF ALL CLASS PRISONERS AND LIBERATION STRUGGLES IN TURKEY AND THROUGHOUT THE WORLD! LONG LIVE THE DEATH FAST RESISTANCE! LONG LIVE INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY!".
The principal aim of carrying out death fasts is basically to reject imprisonment in "F" type prisons which the turkish government has been building on the west-european model to prevent inmates from organizing resistance within prisons and break them down through isolation/white torture (3). The main feature of this prison type is that it is made of little single cells. Therefore it is also called "coffin yard" as the symbol of the government's intention to bury prisoners, on the same way as western countries do, so as to conform to their norms and increase its chance to get integrated into the european economic community. Indeed, Turkey has applied for many years to become part of the free market and pretentiously, one the main pretext exposed by european states to reject its demand is the so-called "violation of human rights" in that country, which allegedly doesn't concern themselves (4). However, the single contrast that allows them to clear their institutions from this "anti-democratic" and "barbaric" nomination remains blood and systematic physical heavy brutality (particularly against prisoners for who they would coincidentally show compassion) which always shocks people's eyes. 
Yes western countries have understood for a long time that for their pretentious "democracies" to be considered and assimilated as such by the public opinion, "civilized" scientific methods like brainwashing through white torture was more appropriate than "primitively" murdering. Blood, firing squads, hanging...acts that have remained the mystic symbol of dictatoship and which, by replacing them out-of-court with presentable means in appearance have guaranteed social peace and saved their ass for decades. But we may not forget the 10 irish prisoners murdered by Thatcher who refused to get them out of segregation, we may not forget the RAF prisoners murdered by a certain prosecutor Buback who did so as well, we may not forget Georges Cipriani and his fellow warriors from Action Directe who continue till today to struggle not to die in the back of an isolation cell, we may not forget the every-day "suicide" who prefered courageously chosing themselves the day of their death rather than allowing penitentiary administrations to slowly kill them in the hole and even in normal detention of high security prisons. Today they do not guillotine any longer but aside from reactionary middle class whose faith in government is based on its most visible gests and aside from our executioners whose hands are clean of our blood and dirty with dust, it becomes hard for a raising number of us to forget those who've been walled up alive. Prison is nowdays a reality in the daily life of thousands of families, and they keep on lengthening maximum detention time....
It is not a coincidence if the prison issue is becoming a social and political issue for a growing part of our class. But the mainstream media didn't miss the chance to pull forward this conservative controversy that teaches people not to complain because "there's worse elsewhere", because "you see how lucky we are to live in a western democracy". But this manipulation doesn't take away the anger and the misery of the more and more numerous families who see their relatives moping step by step into their cells till the day where they get eventually informed by those "non-responsible" officials about the hanging of their son, the suffocation to death of their little girl, the drug addiction of their Dad, about the additional punishment years of separation they will have to go through as if that hadn't been enough...And in the meantime the french Prime minister Jospin proudly announces the investment of 10 billions FF (about 1 billion Pounds) to "rehabilitate" -i.e. reinforce security- the existing establishments and build 10 new ones!!! THERE IS NO PRISON WITH HUMANE FACE!!!
(1) Lately, the European Commission for the Prevention of Torture legitimated in a report the slaughter perpetrated by turkish authorities in several prisons last December 19th, 2001.
(2) a demonstration in solidarity with prisoners on struggle and against the turkish government took place in Paris last March 24th, 2001.
(3) Turkey announced a national program defining its objectives for joining the EU, including the improvement of its prison system.
(4) The European Union expressed "profound regret" over the death of a Turkish prisoner on a hunger strike and called on Ankara to avoid any other deaths, in a statement issued on March 22nd, 2001 : "On behalf of the EU presidency and the Commission, we deeply regret that a first death has occurred following the hunger strike in various prisons in Turkey," said a statement from the Swedish ambassador in Ankara. "Irrespective of the motives for the hunger strike, we urge the Turkish authorities to take all appropriate measures to avoid further deaths," the statement added.
        
Report on prisoners' resistance in Burdur prison
However, and as we exposed in the previous article, whatever appearance the system takes to break down and kill slowly its opponants, imprisonment remains imprisonment and it is fundamental to recall our categorical opposition to any of the forms it may cover. All that is to emphasize again that we're everything but partisans of the so-called "3-star" prisons which the clowns leading us intend to establish as a response to our protests. Prison is inhumane, no matter how warm it is inside. The prison struggle stands as a global rejection of the oppression of our class and is part of the even more global struggle against fascism, be it called neo-liberalism, western democracy or dictatoship. The prison struggle is not a struggle apart from others, though it appears like many "activists" consider it as such, in spite of us.
Therefore, and to put forward our fundamental abnegation of the contrasts we expose through various cases and countries, we thought it could be interesting to publish a report about prisoners' resistance against the police assault that took place in Burdur prison on July 5th, 2000 (we actually do not have more recent such report). This attack carried out against prisoners lasted 15 hours. On the next day, the 5th, 12 convicts had to be heard in court and these notified to the administration that they were willing to go before the court. However the penitentiary administration required that prisoners be searched after coming back from the courtroom, what actually never happened either in this prison nor anywherelse. Cops threatened to attack them if they didn't let themselves be searched. The inmates then declared that such practice was being used as a pretext to attack them. For months already they had to suffer attacks during the transfers between the court and the prison and this is why they refused to go before the court on that day. On July 5th, prisoners notified to the administration that they knew about an attack that was being prepared against them and therefore refused to go before the court again. At 5:00am, a "crisis cell" is set up by penitentiary authorities with the help of commandos from a neighbor town and gives the order to attack prisoners.
-8:00am : Commandos, gendarmes and police brutally attack revolutionary prisoners who were then in the common dormitory (revolutionary prisoners in Turkey are grouped in dormitories of till 60 inmates according to their political affinity).
-8:50am : Cops, etc start to break down the dormitories' walls with bulldozers so as to get into it.
-9:20am : Special forces start attacking with the help of firemen who hurl highly pressured water through the holes made by bulldozers. In the meantime, prisoners gather in the A-1 dormitory with 60 people. Commandos were then calling them to give up.
-9:50am : executioners throw tear gas into the holes made into the walls. Soldiers placed on the roof start shooting on prisoners. They also try to crush the walls down with cranes from outside and with other machines from inside.
-10:25am : bombings continue. On that moment, cops start throwing a kind of tar over prisoners and evacuate the PKK inmates' dormitories, who do not resist, so as to carry out a full assault. The PKK inmates, as it was the case as well during the massacre in Ulcanlar prison, obey to commandos and just stand as onlookers (we will not comment over that as we have absolutely no idea of the context and situation of kurdish prisoners in turkish prisons).
-10:30am : The central coordination of prisons wants the attack to stop and warns the administration of Sagmacilar prison (Istanbul) not to do the same. This prison administration declares that they got in touch with the director from Burdur prison who then asserts that there is no attack in his establishment (though it was taking place at the same time). 
-10:55am : The battle goes on over the barricades held at the doors of dormitories. Commandos and special forces evacuate the common inmates' dormitory so as to break some more walls as they do not manage to reach revolutionary prisoners.
-11:35am : Cops keep trying to break down the courtyard wall with a crane. They actually try to make a breach throughout the toilets. At the same time some of them manage to enter by crushing down totally the cealing of a dormitory where some inmates were resisting and start shooting on them.
-12:30pm : The battle between attackers and resistants is getting more and more intense in front of the main barricade. Prisoners set it on fire and cops use tear gas. 
-12:50pm : Cops managed to go through the barricade in front od women's dormitory and attack then from this area.
-3:00pm : They trow tear gas by the roof after collapsing women's dormitory's roof. An inmate with asthma has a crisis. Revolutionary prisoners gather in another dormitory.
-5:20pm : The walls of the dormitory where they took refuge are being collapsed and broken from all sides. There's no other place to go. A fight is starting with commandos and special forces. Prisoners singing the revolutionary march "If you are courageous, come along!" resist with their body and hands against cops equiped with firearms and iron sticks. They try to separate prisoners injured from the rest but the fight continues and once more, executioners are defeated.
-6:30pm : The prison central coordination gets in touch with Ferzan Ciftci (judge from the prison administration) in order to ask him to stop immediately the assault. Ciftci confirms that he contacted the director of Burdur prison who said he was talking with revolutionary prisoners and that the "problem" was going to be solved in an hour on. At the same time prisoners where resisting while being thrown tear gas. The state prosecutor and the penitentiary administation lied to fellow prisoners being detained in other jails so as not to prevent their uprising.
-7:00pm to 10:00pm : The assault goes on.
-10:40pm : Almost all inmates are severely injured. They keep however on singing their slogans. In a dormitory where prisoners captured are tortured, civil-dressed people get in as well and start torturing prisoners together with cops. 
-10:45pm : No inmate can stand up. All are seriously injured and tortured.
The fascist state and the ministry of justice achieved their "great war" that started at 8:00am and finished completely around 11:45pm.
-11:00pm : With a triumphant mood, he head official from Burdur explains to the press that they took over control over the prison.
-12:00am : Most of the prisoners injured are transfered to segregation. The very injured are transported to the hospital in Burdur but "were forced to leave and those refusing were beaten up by gendarmes. They shouted then :"Up our legitimate struggle!" and transfered back to the jail in buses under torture" (according to the paper Cumhuriyet dated July 7th 2000). One of the inmate eventually lost one of his arms because of a cop breaching a wall with a pneumatic drill.  
On the next day, the prisoners transported to the hospital were put into segregation without receiving medical care. The families who came overthe jail to know about their relatives' condition were arrested and put in custody. Lawyers were forbidden to visit prisoners. In Istambul and Ankara, prisoners' families who wanted to protest against these atrocities were also put in custody. The fascist State exhibited its "authority" within the jail (!) and shew how strng it was. As for revolutionary prisoners injured, they kept on struggling by shouting slogans from their cells. Their families who had started a hunger strike in solidarity in the CHP's office (left-wing political party) were evicted on the second day by police. 6 of them continued their strike somewhere else. 
 "I will resist against those cells for my honour, my dignity and my moral values before all. I think that struggling against those cells is a moral question. I do not conceive my life without those I love, alone, far away from human beings. As for death, I' ll die here but I do never come into these cells." 
											Umus Sahingoz, striker on death fast. 
  
Raid on Sincan prison
As we mentioned above, prisoners' struggle continues in F-type prisons and so does repression. According to lawyers, the turkish parliamentary human right commission and prisoners' families, F-type prison authorities have turned to systematically torture particularly since January 25th, 2001. The prisoner's families association TAYAD (see below) mentions that security forces attacked the political prisoners who were transfered to Sincan prison (unfortunately we do not know the exact date). This attack indicates once more the turkish government's determination to end up as fast as possible with their struggle and themselves. Revolutionary prisoners in Turkey (and others before them) do consider their own death caused by their fast as a victory. As they declared : "We will die but we will not enter the cells". In such situation where the government's refusal to make concessions is before all responsible for their death, authorities' goal remains to put an end to prisoner struggle. Even though it results in casualties, these mean a political victory over the fascist regimes that wants political prisoners to resign and that's why the turkish government continues to carry out attacks against prisoners even after their transfer to F-type prisons. 
You can send protest letters to the following officials : 
-Director of Sincan prison : Fax 0090-312-311-05-72
-Prime minister, Mr Bulent Ecevit : Fax 0090-312-417-04-76
-Minister of Home affairs, Mr Sadettin Tantan : Fax 0090-312-418-17-95
-Minister of Justice, Mr Hikmet Sami Turk : Fax 0090-312-417-39-54
"Here they cannot drown our voices either. With the slogans we shout in our cells, we overcome all walls and distance. We have contrived to break down the 'separation', so to speak... It is so beautiful to be part of this splendid resistance and to experience this. I am very happy and this is such an excellent thing." These are the words of  the Death Faster Ahmet Özdemir, who has been on the Death Fast for over 160 days.
For further infos get in touch with the press agency Ozgurluk (same contact as below).
          
Repression against the solidarity movement
In marge of the death fasts, several direct actions have taken place in Istambul in solidarity with prisoners. On January 10th, 2001, masked gunmen fired on a police car in a poor suburb, killing one officer and injuring another one according to the police. Police raids were searching the Sirinevler neighbourhood near Istambul's airport but none of the gunmen was caught or identified. There was no immediate claim of responsability but suspicion fell on left-wing organizations. Turkish police have increased security following recent attacks by radicals who have left 3 police officers dead and more than 2 dozens injured. The previous week a militant with a bomb strapped around is body blew himself up inside a police station in Istambul, killing one of the policeman and injuring seven people (possibly cops as well). The marxist revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front claimed responsability for this attack, saying it intended to avenge the death of 30 of their comrades on December 20th, 2000 when troops stormed prisons. Kurdish and islamic groups seem to be active as well in Istambul. 
Furthermore, on the 56th day of the death fast, "civilians fascists", members of MHP, Grey Wolves and Idealist Hearts, attacked the offices of TAYAD (support organization to inmates' relatives) with support from the police. Fascists used stones and forced their way to the door, threatening the people inside. Only 6 people were working there at the moment of the attack as most of prisoners' mothers were visiting their relatives in the F-typed prisons where these had been transfered. Uniformed police arrived 45 minutes later while the Istambul security Department (where many revolutionaries have been tortured and killed) is situated 200 meters away from the TAYAD offices. The "civilian fascists" protected by plainclothes police were obviously not charged. 
On December 23rd, those offices had been attacked by police using pick-axes and sledgehammers. A very large number of people were arrested amongst a mother on the 57th day of her hunger strike. Repression continues on January 5th, 2001 when the same offices were raided by the security office and the anti-terror police branch who plundered things and confiscated addressbooks and notebooks. From that day on, dozens of TAYAD supporters were arrested and tortured. The organization calls everyone, parties and trade unions, democratic mass organizations, human righs organizations, lawyers' bars, professional chambers, and "everyone who consider themselves as human beings to mobilize in solidarity. 
Furthermore, 2 human rights activists, Juliette June Ales (an american) and Stephen Kaczynski (a briton) were arrested by turkish police on January 27th, 2001 as they tried to make a statement to reporters on conditions in Turkey's prisons. It is actually forbidden to make statements in public places without permission from authorities in Turkey but apparently, the US activist would not be charged yet. Both have been detained since then and their turkish translator, Sibel Sahin was detained as well though we don't know if he's been released yet. The 2 activists are actually part of 5-member international organization but it's not clear which organization they actually represented. And thanks to the NATO, be sure US and british officials will not move a finger for them!!!
To conclude about this chapter of terribly bad news, during "routine" house searches near Aydin Prison on March 15th, the militant Resul Aydemir was brutally beaten and murdered for daring to ask the police if they had a search warrant. Then local inhabitants started clashing with the police in the street. Several police vehicles were destroyed and gendarmerie units were sent into the area to beef up the ranks of the police.
For further infos, contact the press agency Ozguruk at : english@ozgurluk.xs4all.nl or ozgurluk@xs4all.nl or kisk@gmx.de or go to www.ozgurluk.org.
       
Turkish anarchists murdered by Leninists-Stalinists
However, it appears like a terrible division based on ideological background has hit the prisoner movement in turkish prisons and that has lately victimized anarchist prisoners in particular. According to the 5th of May group, they actually suffer oppression from both powers. On the one hand the Turkish authorities, on the other hand Leninist-Stalinist revolutionary prisoners. As well, these leftists would have built an "inner prison" by exerting authority over other political prisoners thanx to their major number which has allowed them a strong position inside prisons. Still according to the 5th of May group, communist prisoners would be powerful enough to the point of negotiating with prison authorities. A few months ago, one anarchist fellow was killed by them in prison while two other anarchists were killed by DEV-SOL (revolutionary Left) outside. As well, it appears like a turkish anarchist prisoner sent a letter in which he denounces the oppression he suffers simply because of his political tendencies. However, the origin of that letter hasn't been unveiled and as we do not want to raise senselessly tensions between anarchist and communist prisoners, we prefered not publishing that letter as long as nothing will be more clear.
Nevertheless, it is important not to mix up everything and all revolutionaries. According to certain communist prisoners, there exists deep differences between various communist revolutionary organizations in Turkey, at the image of an anti-F-prison demonstration in Istambul that turned into clashes between members of DEV-SOL and DHKP-C. In spite of all, our anarchist comrades inside need solidarity and help for their basic needs and medical treatments as some of them are seriously ill.
Because of these events, some anarchist groups in Turkey and Europe have refused to collaborate with Leninist-Stalinist organization in the struggle against F-type cells and the solidarity with prisoners. We witness then an inner division of the solidarity movement. They actually set up a specific platform constituted of anarchist groups only to show their indignation and make clear their rupture with Leninists-Stalinists. 
Another anarchist inmate has an illness in his kidneys. He needs immediate medical treatment. If you would like to donate some money for his treatment, you can send cheques payable to "Emine Ozkaya" at the following address : 5th May Group, P.O. Box 2474, London N8, England.. If you need more information, you can contact them via email at cemilebahar@hotmailc
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BRITISH JUSTICE'S JOB : MAKING PREY OF WORKING-CLASS PEOPLE
Communique from the London anarchists in exile : SATPAL RAM moved to another prison for the 63rd time!!!
Coincidence ? Action was taken against SODEXHO and their involvement in the prison industry through UK Detention limited on February 24th, 2001 and Satpal Ram is now in a prison run by UK Detention Limited. Satpal asked to let you all know he has been moved to HMP Blakenhurst. Visits should take place there and mail should be sent to this HMP till the new year. He is now on the wing under normal routine but his solicitor and some of the London Campaign should have had a meeting with Paul Boateng, Minister of Prisons, on Monday 18th  December, 2000 to keep up the pressure over him.   
Satpal Ram, HMP Blakenhurst Hewell Lane, Redditch, Worcs, B97 6QS 
        
Background on the case
On November 16th, 1986, Satpal Ram suffered a vicious unprovoked racist attack by a gang of 6 racists. As a result of  Satpal defending himself, he was charged, sentenced and imprisoned for murder. The police investigation and the subsequent trial failed to meet international standards for a fair trial. The original tariff was set for 10 years by the courts - subsequently increased by the then-Home Secretary to 11 years. Retired Chief Justice Lord Lane advised that this, amongst many other disturbing factors, was wrong because it amounted to political interference. He actually continues to reiterate this position whereas the respective roles of politicians should not extend to sentencing. Sentencing should be left up to judges to make and not politicians. 14 years later Satpal remains inside a maximum security prison - a prisoner held within a brutal and racist system. Now, after years of campaigning, Satpal's case is finally being heard by the Parole Board and their decision is  expected at any moment.   
On November 16th, 2000, in numerous cities across the world, including San Francisco, Paris, Tokyo, Toronto and Rome, letters  have been handed into British Embassies and Consulates expressing concern at the continued imprisonment of Satpal Ram. The letters are calling for his immediate release and an inquiry into the trial, as well as his continual mistreatment within the prison system. Satpal Ram's solicitor, Gareth Pierce (solicitor for the Birmingham 6 and Guildford 4) has also presented a dossier to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, arguing that his conviction was unsafe and unjust. The Commission, if they agree with the lawyers, could refer Satpal's case back to the Court of Appeal. A decision was actually scheduled for November 28th, 2000, but nothing has come out up to now.
Public support for Satpal has succeeded in pressuring the Director General of the Prison Service, Martin Narey, to personally undertake a review of Satpal's imprisonment, taking into account the many disturbing factors related to his imprisonment in the first place and his treatment within the Criminal Justice System. In his April 7th, 2000, dated letter, Prison Minister Paul Boateng, stated "The Director General has concluded, and I agree, that if his settled behaviour continues, a down grading to Category C conditions will be made after six months to ensure his release quickly." Settled behaviour has indeed been made possible since prison transfers have stopped (Satpal has been moved 63 times!). Despite their  promise, Satpal Ram still remains in Category A.   
Over 50,000 people have signed the petition in support of Satpal Ram, including Eastern Eye Newspaper Campaign, Chris Mullen  MP, John McDonald MP, Helen Jackson MP, Keith Vaz MP, Pauline Green MP, Trevor Phillips and Liz Davies (Member of the  NEC Labour Party), A. Sivanandan and National Civil Rights Movement (NCRM). "High profile" supporters including Asian Dub Foundation, Primal Scream, Massive Attack, and Chumbawumba have pledged support as well as Irvine Welsh, Sean Hughes, Lord Waheed Alli, Imran Khan, Mark Thomas, DJ Annie Nightingale,  Benjamin Zephaniah, Shaka Hislop and Apache Indian.   
Therefore, we urge you to continue sending faxes and letters of support for our demands to the (becoming-famous for his never-held promises) british minister of prisons :
-Paul Boateng, Minister Of Prisons, Home Office, Queen Anne's Gate, London SW1 - Fax: 020 7273 4090   
For further infos, contact the Free Satpal Ram Campaign (London) : P.O. Box 30091 London SE1 1WP, UK.   
       
Ian Thomas : Victim of a gross miscarriage of Justice
Ian Thomas has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment twice for the same crime on exactly the same teneous and speculative circumstancial evidence. There are no confessions or admissions of guilt, no witness to any crime and no forensic evidence of any sort that stands against Ian in this case. 
Ian was actually convicted in 1992 for the murder of his partner in 1990. In 1994, the conviction was overturned on appeal, the appeal court judges accepting that Ian had always maintained his innocence, that the conviction was based entirely on circumstamcial evidence and that vital corroborative evidence in his defense had been wrongly kept from the jury. 
A re-trial was ordered but the jury were again prevented from hearing that vital evidence and Ian was convicted from the second timeAt a second appeal in 1996, judges contradicted those in the first appeal and upheld the conviction, so Ian is now victim of contradictory appeal rulings, and both convictions were given by juries unaware of that vitally important defense evidence. 
But there are actually many more reasons why the conviction is still unsafe : significant non-disclosure of other vital evidence by police, repeated offers of a manslaughter deal from police and the prosecution QC (which Ian did not hesitate to reject), admissions of bullying and detention under false pretences by police, perjury at trial by 2 senior police officers which were promoted instead of being punished, perverting of the course of justice by police which "advised" witnesses not to turn up at trial to give evidence that would have been helpful for the defense, "loss" by police of an exhibit helpful as well, repeated breaches of the Police & Criminal Evidence Act (PACEA) as well as of the european convention on Human Rights, etc. 
It is clear that Ian was targeted by the police, all the more as potential suspects were systematicly ignored. At a court of appearance, Liverpool Stipendiary Magistrate Norman Wooten himself said that "the police had shown him no evidence and were scraping the bottom of the barrel" to get Ian convicted so as to close the case and protect themselves from possible legal attacks. Let's recall that police run an absolutely gross investigation and went so far as to turn away witnesses from speaking out, which appears to be very suspicious. It is arguable that such precaution relates to the disclosure of possibly compromising facts, otherwise it seems difficult to understand why they would have taken it. Moreover, the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) have ordered an investigation into the way Mereyside police handled the case and will supervise the investigation of complaints made by Ian and his family. Lately, Ian's case was featured on the programme "Clear my name" which provides new forensic evidence concerning the site where the victim's body was found and that raises questions about both the alleged cause of death and the adequacy of the police investigation. The program relates also to witnesses whose existence has never been diclosed to the defense. 
In 1996, Ian wrote to the Law Commission of proposing a change in the law based on matters arising from his case and involving vital evidence that was never put before the jury. The commission cited that evidence as being "exculpatory", showing Ian to be free from blame for the crime. The government have now accepted that proposal and therefore Ian's case has proven that the law was at fault, considering it made impossible for him (and numerous others) to have a fair trial. 
Even though Ian's case is now going back to the court of appeal and that he is supported by numerous individuals, MPs and organizations (Cage, The Critical Lawyers' group, Liverpool liberty, etc), Ian still remains in prison, victim of a gross injustice. Aside from his own case It appears more and more frequently that british police's job consists in targeting working-class people rather than looking for truth, and that this eventually results in numerous unsafe convictions. Those fellows have nothing to do in prison, and be they called Ian Thomas, Mark Barnsley,
Ray Gilbert or else, their names have to be cleared from the crimes for which they are wrongfully convicted. But it is not only easier to frame up working-class people and political dissidents, it is a purpose in itself. The power of a few has always been fed by the oppression of the majority and this is why nowdays the prison system has become so necessary for this hierarchy to be preserved. At the same time as pigs need to remain careful to preserve reactionary middle class support, as the attitude of the Law Commission illustrates it in Ian's case, they had to find means to silence dissident voices. And there have ever been no more profitable ones than the now becoming-industry prison system to achieve this goal.
Ian Thomas : DV 0453, HMP Ashwell, Oakham, Rutland LE15 7LF
     
Stop harassment of Mark Barnsley!! Keep up the pressure!!
As we talked about in the previous issue, Mark was moved to HMP Wakefiled on February 1st, 2001, a A category prison for (sex offenders) which actually is contradictory with Mark's status who's a category B prisoner. As for the 16 people who were arrested during the action at the CPS offices in Sheffield on December 16th, 2000 and charged of "conspiracy with burgle, their trial was finally postponed on March 13th, 2001. At the time we're writing those lines, we do not know yet about the result of this trial but the fact that their action focused on the witholding by the CPS of the evidence related to Mark's case may have potentially pushed the dirty laundry to aire those witheld evidence in public. That could be indeed absolutely interesting for Mark's struggle for justice which at least would be prepared to expose and make recognized these evidence so as to urge his release. But we also must take into consideration the fact that the harassment of Mark eventually resulted in additional punishments against him, which would be some more bad reasons for the CPS to keep jailed longer. Unfortunately we do not know about the result of Mark's supporters' courtcase, as well as if it eventually took place, but the lonely fact of its postponement indicates how embarrassed the CPS headquarter in London is in such a context of public exhibit.
As for the current situation and treatment of Mark, a lot of his mail continues to be withheld. On several occasions even Mark's legal mail has been opened and withheld, in open disregard of prison guidelines. The noise demo that took place on February 19th, 2001 at Wakefield prison was actually pretty successful as Mark in fact could hear everything and shortly after the demo he was moved to another cell which at least has heating. However, apart from this small concession, the harassment against Mark continues. Over the past few weeks, Mark's visitors have only been able to see him in closed visits, separated by thick glass. Numerous items of Mark's mail never reach him, even when it meets the prisons' own strict criteria and even a letter from the CCRC was opened by the prisons in-house security and is still being withheld from him. 
To conclude, a talk was given to Church leaders (including 3 Bishops) in Sheffield last December 2000. We are pleased to hear that the presentation, detailing all aspects of Mark's case, was well received and at least one of the Bishops present has made further enquiries at the Home Office about Mark. On another occasion, supporters leafleted 100's of cyclists attending a Critical Mass protest in London. Gigs and other events around the country also continue to be leafleted and Mark's case is  attracting growing interest from abroad via the internet. 
We urge you to keep sending faxes and letters to british officials to protest Mark's treatment and demand that he be immediately removed to another prison of lower security category, for example HMP Lancashire, located in his home province :
-Martin Narey, Director General of Prisons, Prison Service HQ, Cleland House, Page street, London, SWT 4LN, England. Fax : 0207-217-66-64.
-Peter Atherton, Director of High Security Prisons (same address). Fax : 0207-217-66-64.
-Bill Bade, Directorate of High Security prison (same address).
-David Shaw Governor, HMP Wakefield, 5 Love lane Wakefield, WF2 9AG, England.
Please send letters and emails to your local ambassy as well. It is fundamental to keep up the pressure in a moment where Mark's case is arousing a wider interest from more various parts of society and turns to become a kind of centre giving the possibility to other inmates in a similar situation as Mark's to be known. This attraction has already managed to build up new ties with other campaigns for justice and thus join supporters' forces to boost the pressure over the global british justice department and the prison service.
For further infos, contact Mark's campaign for Justice at : Justice for Mark Barnsley - PO Box 381, Huddersfield, HD13XX, England - barnsleycampaign@hotmail.com  or go to www.freemarkbarnsley.com. We recall that the pamphlet "Beaten up, Fitted up, Locked up" about Mark's case is still available at our address for 20ff + 4,50ff postage or 6 IRC (free for prisoners). We're actually about releasing a similar pamphlet in french to publicize Mark's case in France but are confronted with financial restrictions to achieve it. All donations would be very helpful and welcome.
Below is an article by Mark that appeared in the paper 'Tribune' on 29th, December 2000.
           
Appeal system in the dock
"It is high time the legal system provided adequate means of redress for the victims of miscarriages of justice.
There is a certain current of thought which supposes that prisons are full of people falsely protesting their innocence (and probably living the high life behind bars, while legally aided fat-cats make a mockery of the judicial system to win their release on legal technicalities). This current of thought is very convenient for myopic politicians and the legal establishment, and like many examples of what is often referred to as the ?popular imagination? it probably has more to do with opportunism of right wing journalists than innate public perception.  None the less, it is undoubtedly the case that many people believe this sort of rubbish.
I am sure that there are plenty of criminals who go to trial wrongly protesting their innocence.  Some of these will be acquitted, and the more successful they are as criminals (and consequently the more money they have made) the greater the chance of that, since they will be able to afford expensive lawyers, instead of having to rely on the dwindling legal aid system. But most of those coming before the criminal courts do not have money, and many who are genuinely innocent are wrongly convicted.
Following conviction, of course, we have an appeal system.  But one only has to look at the amount of time spent in prison by those who have successfully challenged miscarriages of justice over the past couple of decades to see how ineffective the appeal system is.  Talk to any barrister, and even the most competent of them will not be able to put their hand on their heart (or wallet) and tell you the system works effectively.  Talk to any wrongfully convicted  prisoner, and their response is likely to be more robustly effusive.
The fact is that following conviction, and certainly following the denial of appeal, any prisoner who continues to falsely protest their innocence would have to be stark staring mad.  Who but those who feel the genuine weight of legal injustice would struggle on to fight their convictions without legal aid and sometimes without any legal help at all, with access to only the most basic of law books, frustrated at every turn by the mandarins of the judicial system, and often knowing hat fixed sentences are likely to be served long before any eventual appeal is successful? Even more morally repugnant is the way that those protesting miscarriages of justice are doubly punished while they are in prison.  Most obviously, those maintaining their innocence, and consequently not addressing their offending behaviour, do not get parole.  If they are life- sentence prisoners they may never be released, but even those serving fixed terms will spend longer, often much longer, in prison than if they were guilty of the crimes for which they have been locked-up. They will also serve their time in conditions of higher security than those who progress through the system by taking part in Sentence planning. Forget about the home-leaves and the town visits we frequently read about in the Right-Wing press.
The challenge to the system made by prisoners who refuse to take part in sentence planning and offending behaviour courses marks them out as troublesome and subversive. Many of those fighting miscarriages of justice often find themselves subject to inter-prison moves (ghostings) and periods of segregation, as well as other harassment. Even on a day-to-day basis, wrongfully convicted prisoners suffer as a result of being penalised by the so-called Incentives and Earned Privileges Scheme. This pernicious device was introduced in the mid-1990's as part of a package of repression, and effectively created a state-defined class-system in British prisons. Under the scheme, prisoners are classified as Basic, Standard or Enhanced, depending on their general behaviour and overall level of compliance. These categorisations define the conditions they are held in and the privileges they are allowed.
Since 1997, a willingness to take part in sentence planning and attend offending behaviour courses has been an integral part of the scheme, with those who refuse being denied Enhanced status. This means that appellants are not only likely to spend longer in prison, and in conditions of greater security, but they will get less visits, less wages, poorer jobs, be able to spend less of their own money, be locked in their cells for longer, have poorer living facilities, less gym, and be penalised in a whole number of other petty and spiteful ways. Conformity is everything in prison, and those who do not conform absolutely will be punished.
In these circumstances, only those with integrity, spirit, determination and patience in ample quantities continue to fight to clear their names. The sheer awfulness of injustice gives many these qualities in abundance, but others are crushed, and driven to suicide or insanity by a system that is rotten to the core.
The simple fact is that prisoners who claim that they are innocent very often are innocent, and the failings of a legal system which cannot speedily address miscarriages of justice are being compounded by a penal system that torments those who are wrongly incarcerated." Mark.
     
Undoubtedly, walls need to be crushed down...
Ishtiaq Ahmed was arrested on October 17th, 1989 and wrongfully convicted for murder on January 31st, 1991. He always protested his innocence and was granted an appeal court on July 1st, 1991. After Ishtiaq and some of his relatives had made formal complaint denouncing the fact that the police had coerced witnesses to commit perjury, a limited investigation was made into the conduct of the Thames Valley forces by the Bedfordshire police in April 1994.
In February 1995, the Crown Prosecution Service applied successfully to the High Court to suppress the report of this investigation, plus 53 other documents and police notebooks on the grounds of Public Interest Immunity. This order was granted after being postponed three times and an appeal was finally heard but dismissed in February 1995. Ishtiaq then begun a thirty-day hunger strike and abandoned it only after his 2 local MP's visited him and persuaded him his case would be looked into. With the help of the Rt Hon Tony Benn they managed to persuade the then-Home secretary to order a review into his case to the Court of appeal on the ground of lack of new evidence concerning his guilt for the murder. However, no documents from this review have been disclosed, neither were the prosecution's investigation reports examined before the conclusion for the review be made. 
Ever since he was arrested in October 1989, Ishtiaq has been constantly fighting for justice. He's continually been calling for a full independant investigation into the conduct of the Thames Valley police in this case and for the CPS to release the documents they have suppressed under Public Interest Immunity.
Since May 1997 the Criminal Cases Review Commission has been looking at his case but no decision has been taken to order full investigation up to now. 
You can send faxes to the following officials to demand that they personally see that the London CPS hand over the documents they have suppressed since 1991, thus preventing Ishtiaq from exposing his innocence : 
-Jack Straw Home Secretary, 50 Queen Anne's Gate, London, SW1H 9AT, England. E-mail : gen.ho@gtnet.gov.uk.  
-Paul Boateng Minister of state, Home Office Queen Anne's Gate London SW1H 9AT, England. Tel: 0207-273-4000. Fax: 0207-273-2190
For further infos, get in touch with Ishtiaq's sollicitor : Richard Leathem, Rowberry Morris Solicitors, 17 Castle Street, Reading RGI 7SB, England. Or write directly to : Ishtiaq Ahmed WV 2288, HMP Coldingley, Shaftesbury Road, Bisley, Woking, Surrey, GU24 9EX, England. 
*  *  *
FRANCE : RADICALLY REPRESSIVE
Sentencing of the FTP2 : Five years for Yves Peirat
As we summarly talked about in the previous issue, Yves Peirat got 5 years prison while his fellow William Ferrari got 18 months amongst 14 on probation, in addition of a 750000ff fine (about 75000 pounds) required by the FN lawyers and the prosecution for the material damages caused by the FTP's attacks against the National Front's locals. Regarding Albert Peirat, Yves' brother, he was cleared of any charge. William will not have to return in prison as already served the time required before being released on bail but for Yves, the perspective of an emergent release flew away. 
The trial that started on February 6th was first of all interfered by the NF's lawyers who required this hearing to be postponed and dealed with by the Supreme court, considering that this affair as a terrorist one. However this grotesque manipulation that aimed at criminalizing the FTP2 and obtain a sentence as heavy as possible was broken down by various defense witnesses who set back the FTP struggle into a context of racial hatred in the PACA region where the fascist party was raising on power. A witness whose car had been damaged by one of the FTP's attacks even deleted his complaint against Yves in solidarity. Yves Peirat confirmed to be responsible on his own for all the attacks that took place from 1991 to 1998, thus clearing his brother and compromising William's participation in those attacks. 
By sentencing so 2 militants whose actions have been recognized as specifically aiming at material damages, "justice" tries again to silence appropriated answers to capitalism's inadequacy that too often results in the raise of extreme-right-wing political tendencies. One has much more chance not to get such a sentence for weapon trafficking in Africa or for shooting on "illegal" or "coloured" people like National Front militants are almost granted the freedom to do it by the same class justice. But of course, depends always from which class one belongs to or claims him/herself to struggle for...Yves decided to appeal the sentence.
Yves Peirat : Ecrou 116 055 X, Bat A 3e Sud Cellule 30-41, M.A. des Baumettes, 213 Chemin de Morgion, 13 009 Marseille, France. 
      
The AD prisoners still victimized by the penitentiary administration
On January 31st, 2001, a certain number of engagements taken by the Chancellerie was leading Joelle Aubron and Jean-Marc Rouillan to put an end to their hunger strike (see bulletin #2). The four main promises concerned : the transfer of Jean-Marc to the Arles detention Center, suited medical care for Nathalie Menigon, psychiatric exams and medical care out of penitentiary institutions for Georges Cipriani and the end of restrictions put over visiting rooms. About 2 months later, only the first one of those engagements has been held.
Thus, no visiting room has been granted for Joelle Aubron, and either Nathalie Menigon nor Georges Cipriani have received medical care. Even worse, the penitentiary administration has started with a strategy of daily harassment against Nathalie Menigon for a couple of days. That began with the tray meal : arguing that Nathalie is a vegetarian (which allegedly is not common in prison), the PA has been feeding her with french fries exclusively at lunch and diner for a week. That can look derisory but try to imagine the daily pressure it represents! Moreover, her drug treatment has been interrupted cynically because of "upcoming exams"...In the meantime, it appears like the direction of the Bapaume detention center seized the letters sent by Nathalie to a neurologist so as he can come to visit her at the prison. Finally, Nathalie and Joelle are again subjected arbitrarily to a punishment regime regarding phone communications. This absolutely unjustified measure appears as reprisals for the interview given by phone to the radio show "France culture" by Jean-Marc Rouillan. Aside the fact that this interview was in no way illegal, the reaction of the PA makes us think of the worst authoritarian regimes that punish collectively the alleged culprits, their families and friends.
On March 24th, 2001, Nathalie Menigon could make a phone call to warn about this new harassment. The ton of her voice was particularly anxious as if she was steadily watched. After a couple of quick sentences relating to her situation, the communication was brutally quitted and could not be restablished any longer.
For over 14 years, the militants of Action Directe have been subjected to exceptional treatments : exceptional -political- courts, years and years of isolation which have led them to run many hunger strike, exceptionally long and illegal maintaining in a short-stay prison for the two female prisoners. However, it seems like the penitentiary administration hopes to have the possibility to start again with harassments thanx to the protection of silence. Therefore the collective "Ne Laissons Pas Faire" has launched a campaign of actions in order to prevent the slow death regime from being applied again to the prisoners of Action Directe. 
On March 28th, 2001 the french prime minister Lionel Jospin was early and noisily awaked. About 6:45am, a bunch of militants from the collective went to his parisian home. One could hear foghorn, fireworks and whistles while the neighborhood was getting an orange colour because of coloured smoke placed there by the militants. For 45 minutes, they stood there with a banner "Release of the Action Directe militants" and shouted slogans. At 7:45am, the police arrived and pushed brutally away the demonstrators before being arrested for an ID check. A photograpg was even brutalized and the AD's supporters were all released soon later. 
             
Constitution of a "Collective to end up with prison" : Following the hunger strike of the long-sentenced prisoner Eric Minetto and the solidarity engaged with him by numerous prisoners detained in various detention centers in France, a "collectif to end up with prison" was set up as a platform gathering various heterogeneous groups and collectives. A meeting took place on March 1st, 2001 in Paris and brought together basque and corsiscan prisoners' support collectives, prisoners' families' associations, the MIB (Immigration-Inner-city Movement), the CNT, Ras-les-murs, Act-up (supports prisoners suffering from AIDS) and numerous others. The collective took over the claims exposed by the Lannemezan prisoner collective who had run a tray-meal strike followed by quite some prisoners in other prisons, expressing then common interests to end up with long sentences, isolation units, special status, the release of the sick, the absence of probation releases and sentence benefits, etc. The claims of the platform are the following : 
-end of long and surety sentences.
-abolition of disciplinary units.
-abolition of isolation units, inheritants of the High Security Wings allegedly abolished in 1981, and abolition of special and particular status for so-called "dangerous" inmates.
-immediate release of the sick.
-geographical reconciliation for those who require it, grouping according to affinities (family related, political).
*  *  *
BRITTANY : COMMUNIQUES OF THE BRETON ANTI-REPRESSIVE COORDINATION (CARB)
Absence of appropriate medical care : the legal responsability of the french minister of justice involved.
The breton anti-repressive coordination attracts once again the breton, french and international public opinion over the scandalous attitude of the french penitentiary administration towards breton political prisoners suffering from various pathologies. 
Indeed, Gerard Bernard, who 's been in "custody" since November 10th, 1999*, has not yet obtained a medical exam by an endocrinologist while the presence of a suspicious ball over his thyroid gland has been detected for several months.
Indeed, Pascal Laize whose condition requires physiotherapic treatment and who's been in "custody" since May 2nd, 2000, has not yet benefited from it. Short before his arrest, his kneecaps were injured because of a heavy car accident.
Indeed, Alain Sole, who's been in "custody" since October 1st, 1999, has become dependent on insulin during his detention. The lack of suited medical care are responsible for the worsening of his diabetes. In a February 28th, 2001 dated letter published in the weekly paper "Brittany-Info", Alain Sole explains that "he cannot receive the appropriate alimentation for diabetes despite the doctor's interventions". He tells then :"Therefore I eat milk products, fruits, I store a few food stuffs. The list of available stuffs (for prisoners : buying common use products such as stamps, hygienic paper, food stuffs) doesn't contain slim products, especially without fat, sugar or with substances suited for diabetes. I would have to order outside but that would be much too expensive for me. Products here inside are already 40% expensiver than in other prisons of the State. As a consequence of this deficiency, my blood-sugar rate has substantially increased (...) My weight has raised of 15 kilos in one year and I suffer from grave food upsetting".
The french minister of justice can't reasonably pretend ignoring the absence of suited medical care which breton political prisoners suffer from in the prisons she's responsible for. She's regularly informed by the anti-repressive coordination who often sends documents to MP Yvon Abiven (MP of the department Finistere and deputy of the minister at the French National Assembly), to senator Louis Lepensec (senator of Finister as well), to MP Jean-Yves Le Drian ) MP of the Mor-Bihan department) and to senator Nicole Borvo (communist senator). Therefore, the coordination is studying from now on to make a complaint against the minister Lebranchu before the french republic's justice court as her penal responsability is involved. It calls each of us to react over the worrying health situation of the three ill breton political prisoners by sending messages of support to each of them and protest messages to the following officials : 
-Monsieur le Président de la République Française, Palais de l Elysée, 75008  PARIS (numéros de télécopie : 01 42 92 81 17, 01 42 92 81 79 ; 01 42 92 81 45 ; 01 42 92 81 93 ; 01 42 92 81 22 ; 01 42 92 80 01) ; 
-Monsieur le Premier Ministre de la République Française, 57, rue de Varenne, 75700 PARIS ( numéros de télécopie : 01 42 75 80 41 ; 01 42 75 75 04). 
-Monsieur le Président du Sénat, 15, rue de Vaugirard, 75291 PARIS, Cedex 06 (numéros de télécopie : 01 42 34 36 66 ; 01 42 34 43 44 ; 01 42 34 38 00)  (email : a.delcamp@senat.fr, p.cerez@senat.fr, c.bresard@senat.fr, jm.virieux@senat.fr, s.fonrojet@senat.fr) 
-Monsieur le Président de l Assemblée Nationale, 126, rue de l' Université, 75007 PARIS (numéros de télécopie : 01 4 63 98 06 ; 01 40 63 54 47).
Breton prisoners' addresses : 
  # Alain Sole : 9045 B2 S. 217, M.A. de la Seine St Denis, 93422 Villepinte Cedex
  # Christian Georgeault : 890 826, 3/179, MAH, 94 261 Fresnes Cedex
  # Gerard Bernard : 289 703 V., G-3-46, D4, MAH, 91705  Fleury-Merogis Cedex
  # Bertrand Grimault : 887 472, 2e division cellule 140, Allee des Thuyas, 94 261 Fresnes Cedex
  # Arnaud Vannier : 272 336 T2/ 246, Gael Roblin, 273 196 A 215, Pascal Laize, 273 195 D119, Stephane Philippe, 273 209 B117, Philippe Jaumouille, 274 101, Pascal Scatollin, 274 123 1/203 : 42 rue de la Sante, 75 674 Paris Cedex 14.
        
 D.N.A. - Declaration from Mrs Lebranchu : Lies rather than ignorance. 
Using the legitimate commotion aroused by a trial in assizes in Paris, Mrs Lebranchu, franch minister of justice, declares being favourable to the extansion of D.N.A. records for other crimials than sex offenders, as it was reported in the March 28th, 2001 dated daily paper "France-Soir".
Once more, Mrs Lebranchu tries clumsily to hide the true repressive methods used by the "plural-left" government with a thin curtain of smoke. It definitely can't ignore these practices.
It is indeed notorious that DNA samples are more and more commonly resorted to : anti-G.M.F. demonstrators from the Main-et-Loire department and the nearly 120 people arrested in Brittany since the end of September 1999 (following the robbery of explosives in Plevin - see bulletin#1) know something about it...The method is simple : the arrested people, even though they are not charged, are fiercely recommanded to provide saliva. In the case they would refuse, a personal belonging is seized : shaver, under-wears, cigarette butt... 
In Lanester (department of Mor-Bihan) cops from the anti-terrorist national fraction even seized 3 children's (aged of  9 to 13) toothbrush last December 1999! Their father was put in custody from which he was released without any charge. His children are now filed for life (...)
The anti-repressive coordination denounces the "fascisation" process in which the "plural-left" government has engaged itself. 
Down here follows a declaration by Gael Roblin, breton political prisoner.

When colonial class justice is mistaken......
I was arrested and incarcerated in May 2000. I'm suspected to be a militant from the Breton Revolutionary Army (ARB). Along 11 months of procedure, I've been heard 5 times by the examining magistrate. His investigators allowed me to put forward that...I had typed an article! According to him, I incur a life criminal sentence for this very grave crime! I was arrested without weapons nor explosives and my timetable has no ambiguousness.
To justify his refusal to release me, the judge for detention/release points explicitly at my political involvement within the Left-wing Separatist Movement (Engamm) which is a public movement. Here are his own words which clearly refute the minister of justice's assertions daring to pretend there's no imprisoned breton political prisoners in France :"It's clear that Roblin neglects belonging to the ARB but doesn't his nationalist tendencies and indeed, his involvement in Emgann...". Frustated of refuting the minister of justice, this state employee who makes justice in the name of a people I neglect belonging to, drags me even deeper. Indeed, he mentions the fact that being a job seeker doesn't allow me to offer suffiscient representations! In addition of recognizing my detention far away from my homeland because of my opinions, he justifies this situation by my class membership.
I'm persuaded that if I was involved into international weapon trafficking and if my parents were members of the French Socialist Party, I would be in my homeland for a long time with my companion, my son, my friends and my comrades...
Up the breton people's national and social liberation struggle! Down colonial and class justice!
 				             		       Gael Roblin, breton political prisoner, La Sante prison, Paris, March 20th, 2001
Furthermore, a demonstration organized by Dispach'e pep lec'h and supported bythe CARB took place on Marc 10th, 2001 in Gwengamp. Demonstrators, who were willing to bring support to the EZLN, and were claiming the release of zapatista and breton political prisoners. The demo turned into a a redecoration of the city which became like a police state for a couple of hours. 
*  *  *
BRIEF NEWS ITEMS
Anarchist Prisoner seeks contact : The anarchist prisoner Robert J. Duffey took up contact with ABC-Innsbruck and asked to pass on his address to comrades and other groups. He seeks regular contact with other comrades and also asks for political info material, which he will pass on to other prisoners. He has been active within the prisoners' rights movement for some years. (PS: We don't know for what Robert had been sentenced - just as additional informations for all those how are going to ask why-how-what-and-when Robert is in prison...)
Robert J. Duffey : DS-9682, 1111 Altamont Blvd., Frackvolle, P.A. 17931, USA.
Chili : This information is probably a little old now but we thought it could be interesting to let you know that among the 34,000 prisoners of the chilean State, 11,000 of them have started an undefinite hunger strike on December 29th, 2000 in reaction to the death of 7 inmates along a mutiny at San Miguel prison, South of Santiago, last December 11th, 2000.
Robert Thaxton transferred : Anarchist prisoner Robert Thaxton (Rob Los Ricos), sentenced in an unfair and political trial to 88 months for "first degree assault" and "rioting" during a Reclaim The Streets event on June 18th, 1999 in Eugene, USA, was transfered from Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP) to Snake River Correctional Institution (SRCI). The "prisoncrates" are citing a lack of space at the OSP as a reason for this transfer while it is obvious that this was done in order to isolate Rob from the Eugene anarchist community who's supported him actively. Rob would appreciate mail at this time. A steady stream of postcards to Rob would let the SRCI officials know that we're watching and that he's not left alone to the mercy of the penitentiary administration. His new address is : Rob Thaxton, #12112716, SRCI, 777 Stanton Blvd., Ontario, OR 97914, USA. In the case you would be confronted with mail interference with Rob at this new address, please get in touch with the Anarchist Prisoner Legal Aid Network (APLAN) at : 818 SW 3rd Ave. PMB#354, Portland, OR 97204, USA - aplan69@hotmail.com.
Nice demo : The 5 militants from the anarchist federation and the CNT who had been arrested in Nice for "disrupting the traffic" were eventually cleared before the court on March 1st, 2001. They had actually stopped for a short while an official italian car that was going to the congress room and which was driving on the footpath!! Thanx anyway to all those who sent donations for the arrestees' legal support.
Philippines : As well a little old but enjoyable to read...In Apupong city, 100 people attack the prison with hand-grenades in the warder's quarter to conclude the assault with rocket-launcher. This attack was claimed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, one of the 80 guerillas from the Philippines. As a result, 67 prisoners escaped.
Greece : On March 8th 2001, three self-made devices were put outside two banks and a TV-station in Salonica. After few hours, two anarchists, T.Fourlis and  T.Ginalas were arrested, accused of placing the devices. Their arrest took place after cops "saw them moving suspiciously near the area that the devices have been placed". During their arrest, cops took hair off from their heads with violence, in order to use them as a factor of DNA, a practice that started being used also in Greece, with the new "anti-terrorism" law. Besides, on the day following their arrest, a daily newspaper declares that the two anarchists had confessed and admitted their responsability actions while in fact that is not true. The 2 comrades have been imprisoned since March 13th, 2001. The tactics of "recognition" and the arrest based on that "recognition" is a practice that started about 2 years ago, as a result of the state's weakness to find allies in society, aside from conservative mainstream media.
Furthermore, the anarchist Nikos Maziotis who we had announced the possible release in the last issue was in fact released for a "home-leave" of 8 days and should be eventually released in August 2001 since his sentence was actually reduced to 5 and a half year. 
France : In the morning of March 24th, 2001, 3 prisoners, Jean-Felix Lecas, Abdelamid Carmous and Emile Fernassari escaped from Draguignan prison by helicopter. Good luck to them...
Czech Republic : We were informed by the Organization of Revolutionary Anarchists Solidarity (ORAS) of the suspension of the punitive prosecution of two anarchists, Milan Naplava and Jindra Lumbach (both members of ORAS) who had attacked by eggs on former chief of department for foreign affairs of USA Madelaine Albright about a year ago in the March 2000 demo in Brno. Indeed, this direct action was a protest against the aggression of the NATO against Yugoslavian people and against the american rulling class' imperialism in its whole. Both anarchists were arrested at that time and then were charged with disturbance. Many anarchists and anarchist organizations instantly organized demonstrations of solidarity with Milan N. and Jindra L. and many of them also sent financial support for the expenses made for their lawyer. The judge said in his verdict of non-guilty that both anarchists had meant by "egg attack" the opinion of large parts of Czech society and that there was "only little detriment" to person of "bomber" M. Albright!!! Further infos at : oras_intsec@another.com. 

The Anarchist Black Cross is a federation of autonomous groups whose purpose is the definitive abolition of the penitentiary system. We'll not manage it right away and therefore, the ABC network offers to support revolutionary, leftist, anarchist or else framed up prisoners as a first step. As well, we support prisoners who became politically aware in the course of their detention, so-called "illegal" immigrants in jail, victims of racist, sexist and police aggressions. We encourage readers to write to prisoners, we collect funds to provide them financial support to cover their lawyer costs, help their political work in jail, or else their expensive and difficult daily life. As for the group in Dijon, we spread infos on a monthly bulletin in french and a bi-monthly in english, we propose a short list of prisoners' writings and materials about the prison topic, we organize solidarity actions, etc. Get in touch to receive prisoners' addresses, flyers, infos, to subscribe or just to know more. 
ABC-Dijon, c/o Maloka, B.P. 536, 21014 Dijon-cedex, France. E-mail : abcu@dds.nl or maloka@chez.com. Website : www.chez.com/maloka