Antifa

p { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; } 18th of October, lenta.ru news service transmitted that judge refused to sentence defendants of the so called "Antifa-RASH" case in Nizhni Novgorod. Judge Olga Koloverova demanded police to reinvestigate the case, in order to exclude contradictions, which are currently obvious.

The crackdown against anti-fascists in Russia has recently gained momentum. The country’s repressive law enforcement authorities view involvement in the anti-fascist movement as a crime in itself.

In August, Pyotr Silayev was arrested in Granada, Spain by anti-terrorist special forces. He was then moved to Madrid, where the Audiencia Nacional was to make a decision about his extradiction to Russia. All this based on charges stemming from a demonstration organized by anti-fascists and enviromentalists against the city administration of Khimki, Moscow region.

Hello everyone!   Yet another period of our remand imprisonment is approaching its end, but I am certain, that we will be kept locked up a few months more, even without any developments whatsoever in the fabricated criminal case against us.     You already know the details of our arrest and the violations connected to it, but now I want to share with you my thoughts regarding the political context surrounding our case.

In "March of the millions" in Moscow 15th, nationalists attempted to invade tribune, scanning their slogans. They were met with a hail of bottles, small stones and sticks. Former leader of "Movement Against Illegal Immigration" Aleksandr Potkin was got hit with a stick, his supporters lost flags and scarfs.

Silajev had been granted a political asylum in Finland early this year. The Finnish embassy in Madrid has said that Silajev can be kept arrested for 40 days! The Spanish police arrested Silajev in Granada because of request from Interpol on the 21st of august.

(This is a partial English translation of a program, aired in Dozhd TV channel 17th of August, which is embedded below.) Center of Counteraction Against Extremism ("E-Center") in the city of Vladimir did not liked amateur movie "Russian anti-racist skinheads", and they opened a criminal case against makers of the film. According to them, film incited hatred against "social group of skinheads and nationalists".

4th of July, at Presnenski district court of Moscow, judge Dmitry Dolgopolov fulfilled request of the police to imprison two of the six anti-fascists, who were remanded in night of second of July, not far from club "Barrikada".

Kharchenko Igor Olegovich FKU SIZO-2 UFSIN Rossii po g. Moskve ul. Novoslobodskaya d. 45 127055 Moskva Russia

Today, wednesday of 12th of June, supporters of Moscow anti-fascists made a painting to asphalt in front of Russian embassy in Helsinki, at Vuorimiehenkatu-street.  Painting has text "freedom to imprisoned anti-fascists", with portraits of two anti-fascist, who are in remand imprisonment in Butyrka prison. 

Not so long ago, in Rostock, in the north-east of Germany, the anti-fascist festival "Riot in My Heart" took place. After the performance, band members from Los Fastidios(Verona, Italy) and the Stage Bottles (Frankfurt, Germany)as well as one of the organizers of the festival made a video message in solidarity with their comrades in Russia. This is a reminder for the Days of International Action in solidarity with Russian Antifascists which have been repressed by authorities, to take place from the 10th to the 17th of June. Various Moscow antifascists including Alexey Olesinov and Alexey Sutuga are being accused of having participated in a fight, which took place on the 17th of December 2011, at the club "Vozdukh." They are being charged with Article 213 Part 2 of the Criminal Code ("hooliganism"). They are also being charged with having caused bodily injury to a resident of Moscow on the 4th of December 2011. Neither defendant accepts this chargers and are pleading innocent. Pavel Krivonosov, Dmitriy Kolesov and Oleg Gembaruk (Nizhniy Novgorod "RASH-Antifa" case ) are being charged with article 213 (hooliganism), 282.1 (participation in an extremist community), 115 (causing bodily harm) and 116 (assault). They are accused of having participated in an extremist community, ostensibly created for the attack on neo-nazis (or "skinheads, football fans," as the investigators have called them) to incite hatred against a social group of "bourgeois-backed Citizens."

Την άνοιξη του 2012, αντι-φασιστικό κίνημα στη Ρωσία έχει υποστεί μια νέα καταπίεση. Το πρόσχημα για την καταστολή ήταν το περιστατικό στην Μόσχα κλαμπ "Αέρα", όπου η 17η Δεκεμβρίου δεν υπήρχε σύγκρουση μεταξύ των επισκεπτών  punk hardcore συναυλία και την προστασία του συλλόγου. Οι φρουροί ήταν ακροδεξιών απόψεων και προκαλούν τους επισκέπτες.  Λόγω της εμφάνισης συγκρούσεων διακόπηκε πρόωρα, αλλά οι φρουροί προσπάθησαν να διαρκέσει μερικά επισκέπτες ως ομήρους, υποσχόμενος τιμωρία τους από τους φίλους τους, ποδόσφαιρο χούλιγκαν-εθνικιστές. Επισκέπτες αντιστάθηκαν, φρουροί άνοιξαν πυρ από ένα τραυματικό όπλα, αλλά στο τέλος έχουν εξουδετερωθεί. Άλεξ Olesin συνελήφθη το βράδυ της 12ης Φεβρουαρίου στην Αγία Πετρούπολη, Αλεξέι Sutuga συνελήφθη το βράδυ της 17ης Απριλίου στη Μόσχα.Προς το παρόν, δύο είναι υπό κράτηση στη Μόσχα.

In spring of 2012, anti-fascist movement of Russia has been targeted with new repressions. An excuse for the repressions was an incident in Moscow club "Vozdukh", where 17th of December, during a punk-hardcore concert, a conflict between public and the security took place. Security of the club consisted of supporters of the far right, and were provoking guests. Due to conflict, concert was got halted prematurely, but the security attempted to take some guests as hostages, promising them punishment from their friends - nationalistic football hooligans. Visitors of the concert resisted, the security opened fire with rubber coated metal bullets, but soon guests of the concert gained upper hand and the security was neutralized.

8th of May, 5:30 AM two neo-Nazi brothers, Ambik and Arame attacked club "D.I.Y" in Yerevan. They broke window of the door and threw bottles filled with flammable mixture.

9th of March there was a benefit evening in Lund, a student city located in Southern Sweden. One of the topics of the event was repressions against antifascists from Nizhniy Novgorod.

13th of February, a known Moscow anti-fascist Alexey Olesinov was arrested in St. Petersburg with charges of “hooliganism”, related to incident in Moscow club “Vozdukh” 17th of December.

TerraSelvaggia is an Italian eco-anarchist paper, which made this interview with Russian Campaign to Defend Khimki Hostages last September. Paper issue came up some time ago after the usual delays, so now it is time for online publication. Keep in mind, that this interview reflects the situation in Russian society last September – before the recent massive protest against election fraud.

On the 9th of February, at 6:30 in the morning in the area of the institute "FIAN" (in Samara) a janitor found the body of Nikita Kalin, born in 1991. At 8:00am police arrived on the scene, and at 11:00am police contacted the mother of the victim.

Friends and comrades! We, the anti-fascists and anarchists of Nizhny Novgorod (Russia), appeal to concerned people around the world. The political police (the Center for Combating Extremism or Center “E”) have fabricated a criminal case against our comrades. Anti-fascism has been outlawed in our city. We need your solidarity and support!

On April 26, 2011, in the morning, six young people were arrested by Center “E” detectives (so-called “Anti-Extremist” cops). Five anti-fascists of Nizhny Novgorod were subject to home-searches. One of the flats was stormed by OMON (Special Police Squad), the windows were broken because nobody was at home. During the searches the membership cards of a non-existing organisation “RASH-Antifa” with photos and serial numbers, evidently made by Center “E” (Anti-Extremist Center) detectives, were planted in suspects’ homes.

While in Russia right-wing hooligans were guarding the "United Russia" rallies in the center of Moscow, Swedish nazis were holding their own march in the streets of Stockholm. Naturally, leftist activists could not ignore this event. More than 2,000 people gathered to block the right-wing march. The action was attended by different anarchist and socialist groups and organizations from Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Germany, as well as some anarchists from Russia, who, in order to attract the attention of the Swedish media in relation to the ongoing protestsin Russia, handed out the following leaflets in English.

18th of November 2011, 17-year old anti-fascist Mikhail Norokha was murdered in Dnepropetrovsk of Ukraine. His body was found 8 meters from an abandonded, 16 floor house. He deceased due to multiple fractures and internal bleeding, which resulted from a falling. Although he falled to his back, his nose was broken and he also had scratches in his face. Also, there were remains of pepper gas in his clothes, and his coat was torn, which is additional proof that this was not a suicide. Also, Mikhail had his mobile phone, documents and money left with him - murderers took nothing from him. 

Today, two years have passed since our comrade Ivan Khutorskoy was murdered in Moscow. On occasion, we publish an article which was written for Avtonom journal in Russian, and translated for Abolishing the Borders from Below in English. “You are made of some different fabric. You are way more prepared than me for this kind of shit. I figured it out, when you told me by telephone, that Vanya is not anymore” - a young comrade put it like this once, in the frame of one discussion. We were standing on the platform of a metro, wagons of steel were scurrying on metallic rails. Their metallic clamps were squeezing my insides. Yes, my young friend, I am definitely ready for this shit. Upon the death of Vanya, in spirit I was already in my 4th decade, although my physical age will correspond to that much later. My twenties I had spent in a skinhead-casual frenzy, spiced with an anarcho-communist baggage of ideas. For me, all those years passed side by side with two guys. One of them left all of that behind a long time ago, now he is more into stuff like wifes/mistresses/kids/cars. Another one was Vanya. If I will be alive, healthy, and out of jail  my fourth decade will not be boring either, but it will not be the same.

I am often faced with one basic question: whether, if knowing the consequences I would still take the same actions I did last year. Of course I would. Yes, we all suffered the consequences, but we also proved that average people, when united are able to scare insolent bureaucrats. Nowadays in the Russia this is worth the effort. Who are the police investigators and field operatives? TThey are subordinates who are generally too frightened to admit that they are the slaves of their bosses, deceiving themselves that things are otherwise. Many of them have clearly understood that they have to make some junk and invent a sort of extremism. Maybe there are also sincere stupid people who believe in their work. These fools do not see the extremists in officials and instead search for them in housing districts.

Rinat Sultanov - anarchist anti-fascist and RASH-skinhead from Saint Petersburg of Russia, who was sentenced to two years in prison for a fight with Nazis, which took place 4th of November 2008, is being transferred. During transfer, which may take more than a month, his whereabouts are unknown. Please remove Rinat's address from prisoner lists until his new prison address is known.

At the present moment by The Anti-Extremist Center of GUVD (General Directorate of Internal Affairs - SM) in Nizhniy Novgorod Region detectives a criminal case is fabricating against Artem Bystrov, who was arrested on April 26,2011. He is incriminated the article № 213 part 2 (hooliganism committed by a group of persons on preliminary arrangement by hatred or hostility toward a particular social group). Two of suspects yet couldn't be arrested. It is worth noting that victim itself — a nationalist D.Redkin, doesn't have any claims to people arrested on April 26 and refuses to take part in confrontments. The case was filed seven months after the accident. It was filed by pressure at the victim and the witness. The investigation is proceeded with gross violations and falsification of evidence. For example during the rummages the membership cards of non-existing organisation “RASH-Antifa” with photos and serial numbers, evidently made by Center “E”(The Anti-Extremist Center - SM) detectives, were planted in to the suspects' homes. <

28th of April, hip-hop musician Andrei "KUBA" Kravchenko was kidnapped by police in Moscow in university, where he was about to pass his final exams in faculty of PR. He was handcuffed and taken to police station of "Bogorodskoe", from where he was further sent by airplane to his hometown, distant city of Chita in Siberia. 30th of April, Andrey was interrogated in criminal case against local anti-fascist activists, and eventually released court pending. Case dates back to September of 2010, when a group of local Nazis, lead by Semen Murzin, claimed to local polcie that they had been beaten up by anti-fascists. Five anti-fascist were charged with "hooliganism", but eventually three of them have been requalified from suspects to witnesses.

BERLIN – Irmela Mensah-Schramm stopped abruptly at the crudely sprayed swastika on the wall of a pedestrian underpass. Whipping out a can of spray paint from her cotton tote bag, she quickly made short work of it, turning the neo-Nazi symbol into a nondescript black splotch. For the 65-year-old retiree, it's all in a day's work.

From 2nd of 9th of April 2011 and after, actions to defend “Khimki hostages”, Alexei Gaskarov and brothers Maxim and Denis Solopov were organised in six countries and 25 cities. Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov are currently out from jail, in court facing charges following from a demonstration, which was organised 28th of July 2010 in Moscow suburg of Khimki against construction of Moscow-St. Petersburg toll road, and the gross human rights violations against its opposers. Denis Solopov has been granted an UNCHR refugee status in Ukraine, but in beginning of April he was detained and is currently waiting his deportation court in Lykyanovka prison of Kiev.  

On the night of April 10, Ufa anarchists and anti-fascists was carried out graffiti - rally in support of Khimki hostages Dennis and Maxim Solopova and Alexei Gaskarova. In the center of town on a busy street next to the police station was painted with images of a large stencil of our comrades.