[Squat!net]

After the recent dubious illegal eviction of the long-standing COX 18 social centre in Milan, a big worry has been the (hopefully temporary) loss of the space holding the amazing Primo Moroni archive. Below, relatives of Primo (who died in 1998) outline their outrage at the crap eviction and bullshit from the Mayor of Milan, Moratti

Milan, 27th of January 2009

PRESS RELEASE

Today, we have been acknowledged by the press that the major Letizia Moratti claims to be willing to take care of the files of the Primo Moroni archive and that she is willing to move them in a non-specified site of the Milan’s municipality.

If the major was really even slightly interested in the survival of the Primo Moroni archive, she wouldn’t have sent hundreds of policemen and militarized a whole neighbourhood to clear out the Cox 18 Squat, trying to stop a 30 years old activity and preventing the free access to the files of the Archive and of the Calusca City Light Library.

[Read More]

27th january 2009

Today midday the cops evicted the K4 in a fast move, without any warning. The first supporters arrived about 15 minutes later. The people living in the K4 managed to get away. Supporters got the personal belongings short time after. 5 hours later there was a spontaneous demonstration through the inner city with about 80 people. The cops tried to block the demo from moving to the K4. The demo managed to trick the cops and moved around them. The cops tried to arrest some people later, but they didn’t succeed. It all ended with a speech in front of the K4, where supporters and the people who lived there said to continue the fight. There is more to come, the K4 was just the beginning. Solidarity for the K4! Soli-demo in Hamburg wednesday the 28.01.09 at 19 o’clock at the Rote Flora. The struggle continues!

K4

Since the beginning of this year an initiative is using the space of the Kurze Straße 4 in Flensburg for an autonomous social and kulture center. The K4 is open for everybody who wants to drop in and chill out, make workshops or help with the building of this freshly squatted house projekt.

since the legal status is not cleared yet, the k4 needs a lot of solidarity to convince the authorities that a space like this is needed.

Concept of the K4:

A space for us, for all Central core of our project will be a housing project in which people from different social backgrounds can live together collectively and work to make their dreams reality. This living space is supposed to be open to everyone, including those who don’t live in the project, and offer a meeting point for young and old alike. We hope that such a meeting point can help to overcome the seperation of people into different social groups, may it be according to income, gender or nationality and make a contribution to mutual understanding. Furthermore the inclusion of the many social and cultural projects we are planning into the same space that is used privately to live there, will guarantuee the personal link of those living in the building to the social goals of the project and thus helps to ensure that the continuous work of the project does not stop even in difficult times. For us who live there, the engagement for the social and cultural goals of the project becomes a personal engagement and the border between private and public initiative is erased consciously.

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This morning (22/01/09) a lot of people arrived in via Conchetta to defend the social center against the eviction, then from 4.00 pm in a spontaneous demonstration and call to everybody and to everything to converge at Palazzo Marino, Milano town hall, for a participated and determined demotration for Cox18 and against the evictions.

Feature in continuous updating!

Go to the italian feature: http://www.cantiere.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=578

Facts and considerations about the eviction It’s not correct to read at warm the eviction of the Cox 18, historical social center of street Conchetta in Milan, besides center of the bookshop Calusca and the Primo Moroni’s archives. Mobilization against the eviction is in progress, and the Cox eviction is not a closed fact. The eviction occures on January 22 after a question in Parliament against Milan social centers adressed, on January 21, to the Home Affair Minister Mr Maroni the notorious vice-mayor, and public safety alderman and parliamentary, Mr Riccardo De Corato. Certainly this eviction as well as a value in practice, has a great symbolic value in order to state power of abuse over the city by certain administrators sheriffs in double- breast jacket protagonists of politics based upon evictions of social center in order to support private interest of meddlers and ndrangheta members who see Milan at the center of a vhirl of business for the future Expo. A moltitude of people mobilized this morning since dawn after the first news about Cox18 eviction . After some hours from the garrison of street Conchetta was born a blockage directed toward the mainstreet of the city, stopping traffic of one of the most important metropolis arteries. This morning police intervened under disposition that town hall has emanated anadministrative act (act that has not been proved) in which was signalled the unauthorized occupation of the bulding.

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News from 22 January 2009

Eviction of a new squat in Poznan

8 squatters from Poznan were arrested today morning during an eviction of a new squat in Poznan city centre (the building was squatted for 2 months). The people arrested were not only the squatters from this squat but also people from Poznan’s oldest squat Rozbrat (www.rozbrat.org), who came to support them. There is a picket in front of the cop station taking place right now. The eviction of the squat was announced by cops few days ago, but it was also illegal, they had no warrant to come into the building. Media were called and they filmed everything.

The cops told the people showing solidarity that if they protest in front of the cop shop then the arrestees will be kept inside longer. Also, there are 10 people demonstrating in front of the police station so they are fully legal, as only gatherings of over 15 ppl can be called illegal in Poland. The cops really want to threaten all the comrades involved, but I don’t think they will succeed.

All of the squatters got charged with a breach of house peace. They should be released soon.

Video from corporate media: http://www.dailymotion.pl/video/x83zju_eksmisja-squotu-przy-ul-ydowskiej_news

rozbrat.org

20th January 2009

A bulding squatted in the Seoul town centre was supposed to be demolished and the area redeveloped, and some 40 protesters were apparently pressing against the redevelopment, because some of them were owners of former shops, that had to close because of the plan.

The police tried to evict the place violently, the squatters threw Molotov Cocktails at them and a fire occured.

5 or 6 people died (one of them probably a cop), around 20 people were injured and there were 20 arrested.

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Here is some very incomplete information on problems around a newly squatted building. It is very unclear, what did really happen from these fragments of information:

This afternoon, on the 18th of january 2008, two ground floor spaces in the Vinkzicht building in the Kinkerstraat were squatted. Soon after the squat the police arrived, inspected the buildings and OK’ed the squat action for the time being. Soon after that -the police had not left yet- some thugs showed up, started harassing the squatters and smashed a window of a snackbar next to the squat. One of these thugs got arrested. The whole scene calmed down and a start was made with cleaning up the place. At seven thirty a gang of about 20-25 thugs showed up, who all spoke Russian. They forced their way into the building with brute force and viciously attacked the squatters, injuring three of them. One had to be admitted into hospital with a fractured jaw. The thugs operated in an organized fashion, as if they were used to using violence together. Soon after the police arrived, and the thugs convinced them that they had been sitting inside peacefully, and that the squatters had attacked them. Only after people from the neighborhood had interfered did the police realize their mistake and then decided to enter the building and arrest the thugs that remained there. The building was then handed over to the squatters again, who have started repairing the damage done by the thugs and firmly barricading the place up.

[Read More]

Today morning (14th January 2009) a bailiff together with locksmiths, assessor and cops came to Rozbrat squat. After negotiations with a group of squatters the assessor was let in and took photos of the ground but was not allowed into any of the buildings. It turned out the proce estimation made a year ago had to be done again. We found out that the previous price of the ground is 6 million zlotys (1,5 million euro) and the new one is supposed to be higher. Also, we were told that the auction of the ground can take place within 3 months.

We keep our eyes open and will let you know when the mobilization moment comes.

http://rozbrat.org

WAVING, NOT DROWNING
rampART 2009 and beyond…

Despite rumours to the contrary, rampART Social Centre and Creative Space is very much alive, well and ready to connect.

We’ve had our problems over the past year, not least because we’ve been preparing for an eviction that hasn’t happened. Bowl Court was amazing but, ultimately, devastating. In its short life it showed us what a social centre can potentially realise but it also took energy and resources away from rampART and left us with a building in dire need of renovation and an exhausted and dissipated collective.

So much for the past. Now for the future…

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To the people of Oaxaca

To the people of México

To Section 22

To the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca

To the media

In the early morning of Monday, December 8, 2008, murderer Ulises Ruiz’s Oaxacan state government, through its Preventative and Municipal police, onboard various police pickup trucks and motorcycles, violently attacked those who live and work in the political and cultural space of the house located at 408 Crespo Street in the historic center of Oaxaca, “Oaxacan Autonomous Solidarity House of Self-Sustaining (Autogestive) Work” (Casa Autónoma Solidaria Oaxaqueña de Trabajo Autogestivo – CASOTA).

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