[Squat!net]

On Wednesday night the proposed new law to criminalise squatting in residential properties (clause 130 of the LASPO Bill) was debated in the House of Lords. This was, in fact, the first time the clause has been properly debated since it was proposed. Or rather, the first time since the 1st November when the government slipped the clause into a bill which was in its last stage in the House of Commons.

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From the outcomes of the court trials in September and October, the situation had seemed clear:

The houses under the jurisdiction of Nantes who presented a defence (Le Rosier, La Sècherie, La Saulce) have a delay until November, while those that were not defended (Saint-Jean du Tertre, Le Pré Failli, L’Après Faillite) are evictable as of the 9th January. Houses under the jurisdiction of Saint-Nazaire (Les Planchettes, Bel Air, La Gaité, Le Tertre) are, in contrast, entitled to the winter truce (until 15th March). The judge acknowledged the absence of break and entry and found that “[the buildings] and their occupants are not at risk and [the properties] are not intended for immediate use.” As for the occupied land without surveyed and registered houses, no procedure is in progress, which doesn’t mean they’re not threatened with eviction!

However, since early January 2012, it feels like things are heating up: passing helicopters, constant rotation of police patrols and even a civil “crisis management” team! Worse, the bailiffs went Les Planchettes, in Bel Air, la Gaité and le Tertre to give the command to leave, “if necessary with the assistance of the Police Force, a locksmith and removal men». [Read More]

Early Friday morning, police and bailiffs turned up to evict a row of squatted houses in Dalston lane, but luckily the anti eviction squad was out, in numbers, this time with over 60 people blocking the road and lining the rooftop.

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An offensive division of eviction defense league is investigating the arrest of 5 squatters at vacant homes in Portland, OR on Feb 10th and 13th, 2012.
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Yesterday at 3pm over thirty people demonstrated at a social housing organisation, the Office Public de l’Habitat de Calais (OPH), to demand that they do not go through with the planned imminent eviction which will make many people in Calais, both with and without papers, homeless in the middle of winter.

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Somerset calling. It’s time for action. We urgently need activists to help defend a farmhouse that has been squatted to stop EDF Energy trashing land for a new nuclear power station in Somerset. Anti-nuclear campaigners have been joined by members of Seize the Day as the first residents of Edf-Off Cottage next to Hinkley Point nuclear power station.

The first wave of NVDA activity started last week in freezing weather when three people occupied trees as part of the campaign against two new mega-reactors being built on fragile coastal land.
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LOBBY A LORD, GET INVOLVED!! As you may know, the bill to criminalise squatting in residential properties was rushed through the House of Commons and is already in the House of Lords despite a 96% pro-squatting majority in the consultation. Over the past few months Squash (Squatters Action for Secure Homes) has been busy lobbying the Lords to oppose the squatting clause and have had some successes. They have produced a briefing for Lords, and have contacted as many sympathetic Lords as possible. [Read More]

This is a first text written by the squatters –urgent diffusion asked

Ownership transition of Orfanotrofio squat, from the Ministry of Health to the Holy Metropolis of Thessaloniki (head of the Greek Orthodox Church in the city)

On January 31st a decision made by the Ministry of Health was posted on the governmental website diavgeia.gov.gr (diavgeia means ‘clarity’!), by which it was announced that the squatted Orfanotrofio (a former abandoned orphanage) is granted to the Holy Metropolis of Thessaloniki, on the purpose of creating a foundation for the chronically ill.

In a period of crisis, while the bosses attack against even wider parts of society, having the maximization of their profits as main target, in a period when even more people are led to poverty and misery, and the unemployed and homeless rise in bigger numbers every day, the State and the Church start their ‘charity’ engine. [Read More]

We would like to ‘thank’ those who planned and participated in the smashing of our place’s facade, be it the official police or parastatal ‘patriots’. In this way, they confirmed once again that we are annoying for the current regime of poverty, impoverishment and acceleration of fascism.

We have seen an attack such as breaking our window glasses, or something even more serious, coming. The latest history and stance of the anti-authoritarian space shows that the batons of police squads, the knives of parastatal ‘patriots’, the prosecutions and the bullets, which murdered Alexandros Grigoropoulos and Lambros Foundas, failed to curb the desire for a society without exploitation of human by human, for a world of freedom. Instead, they just serve to make us more conscious, consistent and mature in how we can plan the subversion more effectively. [Read More]

Several immediate actions that we know about have taken place in Minneapolis, St. Louis, Atlanta, New York City and Seattle in solidarity with the rebels in Oakland, hundreds of whom were arrested and many injured during a long series of clashes with the police on January 28. More actions have been publicly announced, others may take place unannounced; we will of course continue to post any actions that take place in the coming days.

Much love and war to the Oakland rebels.
We are with you.
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