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Posts Tagged ‘Spain’

Supreme Court reduces the sentences of anarchist comrades Mónica Caballero and Francisco Solar (Spain)

Saturday, December 17th, 2016

On December 16, the Supreme Court reduced the sentences of comrades Mónica Caballero and Francisco Solar, accused of placing a bomb in the Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza in October 2013, repealing the initial sentence of 12 years that was dictated by the National Court to 4 years and 6 months.

This decision was made after partially received an appeal by the defense for the comrade Francisco Solar, who asked that they should not be convicted for the crimes of terrorist damage and separate injuries as if they were the result of two different actions as it was originally in the National Court. In addition the defense noted that the comrades took care when they placed a small homemade device to attack the religious symbol of established power and that they did not intend to cause any injury to any person. To reinforce this defense it noted that at the time of the attack the Basilica was closed to the public and that in addition the device did not contain shrapnel and that they gave a warning before the device was detonated. (more…)

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Posted in Prison Struggle

Letter from imprisoned anarchist comrades Monica Caballero and Francisco Solar (Spain)

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2016

During the almost three years that we have been confined by different prisons of the Spanish State, there is one aspect that particularly calls attention to its determinant importance in prison life; we refer to the dispersion.

The dispersion corresponds to a policy of Penitentiary Institutions implemented by the socialist government in the mid-1980s, which consists of transferring determined prisoners to distant prisons many kilometers from their place of residence. In many cases these transfers are incessant and see the prisoners forced to go through various prisons in a short period of time preventing them from establishing themselves and establishing lasting relationships with others. The purpose of this policy was to curb the riots and protests inside the prisons that had been occurring during those years by drastically removing prisoners considered hostile to the prison system. (more…)

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Posted in Prison Struggle

International Month of Solidarity and Fight for Squatting : 19 Nov-19 Dec

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2016

Month of Solidarity and Fight for Okupation (squatting). From the 19th of November to the 19th of December

Web (Spanish): https://okupamadrid.espivblogs.net/

We understand okupation (squatting) as a tool of fight whose main purpose is far from the idea of shaping recreational places. It is an strategy to fight, theoretically and practically, against property as a key pillar of capitalist democracy. Okupation (squatting) is beyond merely logistic. It brings partnership among comrades, builds affinity networks and solidarity, as well as create meeting points to discuss, share experiences or to make out some self criticism. Okupation is not and end but a mean that allows us to organize ourselves and conspire. It is a tangible expression of the notion of “Do it yourself”.

The power has done everything to erase any self-management projects since they prove our capacity to organize ourselves outside the system.

For that purpose, many strategies have been deployed. From harsh repression; raids, arrests, police farce, to “kinder” strategies based on negotiation. Despite superficial differences, the final end of these strategies is the control and domestication (of our ideas and practices) of social movements. (more…)

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Posted in Autonomy

Solidarity actions in The Hague with comrade imprisoned in Spain on charges of expropriation (Netherlands)

Tuesday, July 5th, 2016

See for pictures.

Last Thursday night, June 30th 2016, we carried out actions in solidarity with our comrade who is imprisoned in total isolation in Spain on charges of participation in a bank expropriation in Aachen, Germany two years ago. She is now awaiting extradition to Germany, which will probably happen this week.

In solidarity we spray-painted ‘Freedom for our Spanish comrade’ on the wall of a department of the Spanish embassy in The Hague, the Netherlands and glued the locks.

That same morning during rush hour a banner was hung above the highway, reading: ‘Burn all prisons! Freedom for our Spanish comrade!’

We are not interested in knowing whether the comrade is actually responsible for the bank robberies or not. Expropriation is an ethically just and politically legitimate practice, a method of struggle that is part of the history of all revolutionary movements.

Indeed, despite the constant attempts by Power to reduce this method to within the scope of a ‘common crime’ motivated by individual greed, the fact is that the expropriation of places of accumulation of capital is a constant in our history: from the anarcho-syndicalist groups in the early twentieth century who robbed banks to support strikes or help the families of imprisoned comrades, to the various autonomous groups of the 70s and 80s.

We call out to anybody to take action in solidarity with the comrade imprisoned in Madrid! Immediate freedom for the comrade!

Burn all prisons!

In solidarity,
Some anarchists

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Posted in Direct Action

Madrid: Desajolo La Dragona Anarquista y plan de lucha (Spain)

Friday, July 1st, 2016

AMENAZA DE DESALOJO EN MADRID

ESOA La Dragona: “Lo que el PP no ha podido hacer en 7 años, lo pretende hacer en 7 meses Ahora Madrid”

Sobre el ESOA La Dragona de Madrid pesa una amenaza de desalojo. El pasado martes convocaron una rueda de prensa para exponer sus posiciones y dar a conocer su plan de lucha.

El ESOA La Dragona comienza a funcionar en el año 2008 tras liberar activistas y jóvenes vecinos del madrileño barrio de La Elipa un edificio abandonado durante más de 25 años perteneciente al cementerio de La Almudena.

El cementerio se encuentra actualmente gestionado por la empresa mixta de servicios funerarios FUNESPAÑA S.A., cuyo principal accionista es la multinacional española Mapfre. El gobierno del Partido Popular otorgó la concesión a esta empresa durante 20 años a cambio de tan solo 100 pesetas, lo que le valió una imputación al entonces alcalde de Madrid, Francisco Álvarez del Manzano, por un delito de prevaricación y malversación de fondos públicos. (more…)

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Posted in Autonomy

Words in solidarity with the comrade arrested in Barcelona (Catalunya)

Monday, June 27th, 2016

Every heart is a time bomb

On 13th April 2016 the Mossos d’Esquadra in collaboration with the German police raided three places, two of which were private homes and one was the squat Blokes Fantasma.

The repressive operation concluded with the arrest of our comrade, for whom there was a European arrest warrant after Germany accused her of participating in a bank expropriation in the country in 2014.

The comrade has been held in solitary confinement in the prison of Soto del Real (Madrid) since 14th April and has expressed her opposition to being extradited; but judge Angela Murillo of the fourth section of the Audiencia Nacional gave in (as usual) to the request of the German state and on 26th May she ordered our comrade to be extradited within 10 days, after which she’ll be put in a maximum security prison.

The prosecutor in Aachen (Germany) is the same one that issued a European arrest warrant on 24th June 2015 against a Dutch anarchist comrade, who was arrested on the Greek-Bulgarian border and imprisoned for two months.
She was then extradited to Cologne, where she spent 4 months in jail, also charged with expropriating a German bank in 2013. She was released on bail on 16th December 2015 and is awaiting trial. (more…)

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Posted in Prison Struggle

Update and words from the anarchist comrade threatened with extradition for bank robbery (Spain)

Tuesday, June 14th, 2016

Some days ago, as we had already taken the extradition of the comrade arrested on 13th April for granted, we got news that extradition to Germany would be postponed for a month, a postponement decided by the Audiencia Nacional in response to our lawyer’s request as preparation of her marriage documents had begun before her arrest. As soon as the tribunal’s decision was made known, the comrade was transferred to the women’s prison of Brieva (Avila), from where we thought they were making arrangements for the flight to Germany.

From the prison we received her words, which we are going to publish immediately. At the moment the comrade is being held once again in the prison of Soto del Real (Madrid), in solitary confinement and with the possibility to go to the exercise yard with the other prisoners, at least until 30th June, the day when the delay for the wedding ceremony expires.

In the meantime we are making a callout for solidarity with the comrade in the streets, for support to all imprisoned fighters and for showing deep contempt at the system that keeps them kidnapped in order to defend its miserable order.

Words from the comrade arrested on 13th April:

Comrades, I’m writing from the prison of Brieva, Avila, where I’ve been just taken after a month and a half of imprisonment in Soto del Real, Madrid, always in FIES and solitary confinement. I wanted to write earlier but communications and information are very slow and restricted, so I haven’t done so till now.

I truly appreciate all the gestures and demonstrations of solidarity and support.
(more…)

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Posted in Prison Struggle

Letter from anarchist comrade Gabriel Pombo da Silva, outside the prison walls at last (Spain)

Sunday, June 12th, 2016

“Anarchism concerns the individual, not only with regards to collectivity but also with regards to itself’. Anarchism is not directed at the “citizen” but to people.” – Albert Libertad.

Dear comrades,
Finally, after endless games and chicanery by the prison institution and the ministry of the interior they were forced to obey their own laws, which they constantly break, here I am finally free, writing these first words of gratitude and love to all those who over these past 30 years have accompanied me and reaffirmed my own anarchist beliefs, putting into practice the basic values and principles of anarchism like mutual support and solidarity and have finally managed to pluck me from the clutches of the prison beast which I will continue fighting from the street without forgetting, obviously, the combat being waged outside.

I am certain that even in all of this I am very privileged to have had the support of comrades, because there are many who do not have this possibility. In the coming days we will send out statements in more specific terms about what concerns our movement and possible strategies that we must develop so that we can cure the revolutionary anarchism of our elders of all institutionalism and insubstantial chatter. I want to be clear that I will never forget our libertarian comrades imprisoned in the spanish state and around the world, particularly Mónica, Francisco, Claudio, and the latest comrade to be arrested who will soon be extradited to the german state, and many more unnamed. (more…)

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Posted in Prison Struggle

Gabriel Pombo da Silva is free (Spain)

Saturday, June 11th, 2016

We learn that anarchist comrade Gabriel Pombo Da Silva is finally free, despite the impasse that had been created around his release after the end of his sentence. Further updates will follow as soon as possible

Gabriel’s letter in Spanish.

via actforfree, cna

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Posted in Prison Struggle

Judge Murilla sanctions extradition to Germany of a comrade accused of expropriation (Spain)

Saturday, June 11th, 2016

Angela Murilla, a judge at the Audiencia Nacional, already notorious for her recent involvement in the 12-year sentencing against Francisco and Monica, after trying to inflict a full sentence against her, decided to order the extradition to Germany of the comrade arrested on 13th April accused of participating in the expropriation of a bank in Germany.
German prosecutors accused the comrade of having carried out a string of expropriations against banks. In 10 days it will be known whether the extradition order is enforced.

via actforfree, cna

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Posted in Prison Struggle

Update on the situation of anarchist Gabriel Pombo da Silva (Spain)

Thursday, June 9th, 2016

“Let’s not allow the State to keep rebels in its clutches!”

There seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel for comrade Gabriel Pombo da Silva who has spent more than 30 years in Spanish and German prison cells.

He was extradited from Germany [to Spain] to serve a sentence of 3 years and 7 months thanks to a European detention order issued by the court of Albacete, which he has just completed following the application of a judicial decree. The same court in Albacete therefore issued an order for his immediate release on May 17, and comrades went to the prison to meet him on the outside over the days that followed. In vain, however, as he is still behind bars.

The management of the prison where he now finds himself (Prison La Moraleja in Dueñas, province of Palencia) and various judicial bodies such as the court of Girona lost no time in submitting a number dubious procedures to prevent Gabriel’s release. These procedures are aimed at prolonging his imprisonment indefinitely, despite the fact that he has several appeals in course. (more…)

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Posted in Prison Struggle

Letter from imprisoned anarchist comrade Francisco Solar : Nothing is over (Spain)

Tuesday, June 7th, 2016

NOTHING IS OVER. ON THE NEED TO ACCEPT THE FULLNESS OF OUR CHOICES

‘Anarchist prisoners are not alone’ and ‘if they touch one, they touch all’ are slogans that lived once again in the everyday anarchist action before, during and after the trial against us. The screams of disgust for authority that pierced the police control and the walls around those on trial clearly enraged the judge and magistrates, as was evident on their faces and which put smiles on ours. The presence in court of dear ones known and unknown filled us with pride and joy, preventing the prosecutors’ accusations and demands from having any possibility of intimidating us. They can’t stop us. The acts of solidarity and the negation of the existent that have multiplied in various countries are further proof of the fact that we are everywhere, for us borders do not exist and solidarity is inseparable from our practice. Comrades who have chosen and are continuing to choose conflict by taking their chance and attempting to make their lives reflect their desires, instincts and passions so as to put an end to power in all its forms everywhere, who not content with empty and self-complacent words persist and expose themselves through gestures of active solidarity: my love and respect to all of them. Their disdain and courage give me immense strength. It is in trying to do what one says and believes, transforming words and ideas into action, that one starts to take back control of one’s life. We stop being spectators and become protagonists wanting to take the reins of their existence by deciding autonomously about priorities, rhythms, times and projects. (more…)

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Posted in Prison Struggle

Thousands protest around the world against immigration detention centres

Wednesday, May 11th, 2016

#ShutThemDown

OVER 20 SIMULTANEOUS PROTESTS THROUGHOUT THE UK AND AROUND THE WORLD TO END IMMIGRATION DETENTION CENTRES

THOUSANDS OF ACTIVISTS TOOK PART IN A COORDINATED TRANSNATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH DETAINEES; 190 DETAINEES ON HUNGER STRIKE IN HARMONDSWORTH DETENTION CENTRES

A coalition of groups from the UK and around the world joined today (Saturday 7 May) a mass simultaneous protest in 15 detention centres, calling to end immigration detention centres. An international coalition joined forces with groups from all around the UK as well as groups from the US, Spain, Greece, The Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Iceland, N. Ireland, Belgium, France and Italy. In the UK, thousands took part in the protest in solidarity with the 30,000 adults and children in detention. Protesters held demonstrations at St Pancras train station, held noise demonstration in various detention centres, flew kites so detainees can see them beyond the high walls, danced, sang songs and called for the immediate release of those held against their will without judicial oversight, a time limit, or adequate access to legal support, translation, and healthcare. (more…)

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Posted in No Borders

Update on Aachen repression (Germany & Spain)

Thursday, April 21st, 2016

In July 2015 our friend and comrade got arrested at a passport control at the Greek-Bulgarian border. The Europe-wide arrest warrant against her had been issued by the prosecution office of Aachen, Germany, on the 24th of June 2015. In Germany she got locked up under the ‘U-haft‘ (Untersuchungshaft) regime in Cologne because of a presumed involvement in an armed bank robbery that had taken place two years earlier (2013). On the 2nd December 2015, after months of investigation the prosecution formally charged her with bank robbery, hostage taking and weapon possession. On the 16th of December, the court called the prison instructing them to release our comrade because all charges were to be dropped, since the “evidence” that months of investigation produced was not sufficient for this case to be brought to court.

When we were writing the above statement concerning the imprisonment and release of our friend, we hoped it would be the last. Unfortunately the German cops did not agree, and decided to appeal against the decision of her release. This resulted in, after first being rejected by the normal court, the higher court’s decision to reopen the case. Concretely this means that, after having spent nearly six months in preventive prison, our friend and comrade is now outside awaiting trial. It is still unclear when the court case will take place. Despite several desperate attempts from the prosecutor’s office to also get a new warrant for her arrest – at the moment we are awaiting the high court’s decision of yet another appeal – she is still outside with us. (more…)

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Posted in Social Control

Communication antennas sabotaged in solidarity with prisoners (Basque Country)

Monday, April 18th, 2016

from Irakunditxs via Contra Madriz

translated by Earth First! Journal

Every tool in the toolbox! Capitalist society is held up by two fundamental pillars: repression and social control. This time we have wanted to hit a part of the system of social control via communication antennas. Between Saturday night and Sunday morning (April 2-3), led by the stars, we approached two antennas in the road between Iruña and Irurtzun (Nafarroa) and with the help of pliers we opened a breach inside wire mesh that surrounds the antennas. With wooden-handled mallets we destroyed the electricity meters inside both antennae and we broke the two AC units inside each, as well. With axes we cut the cables to the antennas’ electrical device as well as wires to the distribution substation that power the antennas.

This time we demand and make this action public in part to launch an irrintzi solidarity campaign with our imprisoned compañeros who are on hunger strike in the murderous and torturous state jails: José Adrián Poblete Darre, Xavier Corporales Barruecos, and Antonio Chavero Mejías. We do this for you.

In solidarity with the compañerxs Monica and Francisco who have recently been charged in the first degree to 12 years (a sentence is but an opinion). Strength and courage.

[This was done] in protest of the violations which are penetrating the Earth and nature, such as the TAV and the other infrastructures which serve only for the interests of the same people as always. Ama lurra defenda dezagun! [Euskara language.]

PS. It’s a shame that the fire we had hoped to gift in the end did not happen…. Do not fret, as we will take care of that next time. estatuari gerra, gerra beti!
[Euskara language.]

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Posted in Direct Action