An Irish anarchist living in Sydney reports of recent march against deaths in Custody and its parallels with Ireland. "Many of our readers may be aware of the tragic death of Inner city Dubliner Terence Wheelock in 2005 from injuries received in Garda Custody while in the North there is a long history of state violence and terror in and outside of custody; as there are across the UK.

"Australia is no exception to this given its colonial racist roots in the active dispossession and genocide of its indigenous people and the continuing plight of asylum seekers. Recently a national day of action took place across Australia marking the 30^th anniversary of John Pat’s death in custody. Up to 100 people took part in a rally and march in Sydney including anarchists and the James Connolly Society, set up by Irish emigrants drawing links between the continuing colonial legacy in Ireland and Australasia.

The Syrian revolution is a revolution that began as a struggle for self-determination. The Syrian people demanded to determine their own destiny. And, for more than two years, against all odds, and in the face of massive repression and destruction from the Assad regime, they persevered.  In the course of the revolutionary process, many other actors have also appeared on the scene to work against the struggle for self-determination. Iran and its militias, with the backing of Russia, came to the aid of the regime, to ensure the Syrian people would not be given this right. The jihadis of the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham and others, under the guise of “fighting the Assad regime,” worked against this right as well. And I feel the same way about any Western intervention.

Conversation with Dimitris,  a Greek anarchist living in Melbourne, co-founder of Anarkismo and translator of many English anarchist publications. I began by asking Dimitri, who became active in anarchism after a background in the Greek Communist Party, the nature of austerity in Greece and resistance to it. We also discussed briefly the history of Greek anarchism, its strengths and weaknesses in contrast with anarchism in Australia.