Bristol Anarchist Black Cross – Prisoner Support

This week of solidarity is coming soon, here is the call out.

his year, the International solidarity week for anarchist prisoners
will be spent for the fifth time in 23rd to 30th August and we come
stronger than ever!

Some political prisoners are already supported, but far from all of
them. Also, the supported are usually involved in authoritarian politics
and not grassroots activities. Anarchist prisoners are not often
well-known people, even though they might be long term activists. Their
ways to fight back oppressors and wrongdoings are not necessary
following the current laws of their location, which is judged by some
authoritarian organizations. The vast amount and diversity of cases of
anarchist prisoners is surprising to many.

We wanted to choose a week, so that it would be easy as possible to
organize different kinds of expressions of solidarity, which would be
supported by one another. The beginning of the week was chosen to be the
execution date of Sacco and Vanzetti, two Italian-American anarchists,
in 1927. They were convicted with very little amount of evidence, and
many still consider that they were punished from their anarchist views.

Welcome to join!

Solidarity can express itself in many forms.

Please report us your done actions to the address
tillallarefree@riseup.net. You can also announce your event in advance
in the same address, we list them on our page
http://solidarity.international/. From the pages you can also find
examples and tips of actions and support mail to anarchists, links to
prisoner lists and more.

In August 2014 the nazi group “the swedes’ party” had a meeting in
Limhamn, sweden.  During the counter demonstrations, anti-fascists were
attacked by cops. The cops brutally ran people down with horses and
drove people over with their vans. Many anti-fascists were badly injured
and some hospitalised. Several anti-fascists were arrested, and ten
people were later sentenced for rioting. Most of these people have
already served their sentences, but one of the convicted people chose to
not cooperate with the legal system and skipped prison by not showing up
when they were supposed to begin their prison sentence [1].  In the
beginning of July 2017, two years after they were convicted, they were
unfortunately arrested in a routine control and are now serving a four
month long prison sentence.

The reaction by the state and the cops toward this counter-demonstration
is another clear example of how they not only protect nazis, but also
provide a platform for fascist bigotry and call it “freedom of speech”.
And at the same time, close down the possibilities to protest and
demonstrate against fascist violences in society. This was evident not
least during the so called “super election year” in 2014 (where there
was an election both to the EU parliament as well as to the parliament
of Sweden). During this year we saw how there was an increase in heavy
repression toward people not a part of the White/European order,
including anti-fascists. This is the state’s attempt to make us stop
resisting and this is also why it is so important to make sure that
those who are subject to repression, facing controls, prison sentences,
fines etc are not left alone to deal with it. Together we can share
these responsibilities, and take care of each other.

For our friend in prison, money for rent, bills and other things are
needed. The consequences of a prison sentence does not end at the date
of release, the economic pressure lasts for a long time after that. Help
out if you can by sending money:

by Swish to this (Swedish) number:
0046765600785

or by cash to:
FTP, Bristol ABC, 14 Robertson Rd, Bristol BS5 6JZ

You can also send letters to: ABC Malmö, Poststugan 286, 211 65 Malmö,
Sweden – if you mark the letter with “ftp”, it will be forwarded to the
person being held in prison. [please note so far items other than
letters ie books, pens, even pictures, are not getting through – but if
it doesn’t during the sentence they should receive everything on
release].

* the info above can be found in Swedish @
https://en-gb.facebook.com/abcsthlm/

—
[1] In Sweden, for some shorter sentences a person does not go straight
from court to jail, there is a period after court where they must comply
with meetings with the prison service and then ‘voluntarily’ take
themselves to prison at an arranged date to serve their sentence.

Gianni Scovino is a young man of 33 with Asperger’s syndrome and a member of the Turtle Foundation (Fundación La Tortuga [http://www.fundacionlatortuga.org/]), a participant in the punk scene, and an anarchist media activist using materials from El Libertario [Venezuela’s primary anarchist periodical] on his Youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt5E7TuSaxrHPyoXF07LlZg/videos), where he puts up videos in both Spanish and English.

On July 13, he was savagely assaulted by members of the Bolivarian National Police (Policía Nacional Bolivariana [PNB]) and the Bolivarian National Guard (Guardia Nacional Bolivariana [GNB]) in the parking lot of the Grand Central Commercial Dairy Plaza (Centro Comercial Plaza Mayor de Lecherías) in the state of Anzoátegui while he was on a recycling run for the Turtle Foundation. A video of the attack is available on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5e5NDx7Ues

[Translator’s note: The Chávez regime and now its successor, the Maduro regime, refer to themselves as “Bolivarian,” in an attempt to paint themselves as the successors of Simon Bolivar, the leader of the 19th-century uprising against Spanish colonialism.]

After being brutally beaten by the PNB and GNB with nightsticks and with  shields used as battering rams, he was held for 36 hours at Detachment 521 of the Command of Zone 521 of the GNB, before being transferred to a medical facility for treatment. At present he’s recovering in the Hospital of the Venezuelan Institute of Social Insurance.

Those responsible for the attack on Gianni are GNB first sergeants Osmel Zambrano Márquez and Joel José Díaz Carreño, and second sergeants Julio César Gómez Mata and José Gregorio Trébol Pinto, as well as the PNB attaché Luis Ramón Cova León and PNB officials Xavier Alexander Díaz Salazar, Elio Antonio Díaz Maigua and José Alejandro Villegas Olivero.

The violent assault suffered by Gianni is symptomatic of the constant violence in Venezuela for the last 100 days, in which, since April 1, more than 3,500 people have been detained, an incalculable number have been injured, and there have been police raids on civil and residential sites. Thus far 303 Venezuelan civilians have gone before military tribunals. And more than 100 people have been killed.

We’re making an international call to our overseas anarchist comrades for solidarity in the face of the attacks on the people of Venezuela during this uprising of the people. Silence is complicity with a dictatorship that oppresses, tortures, and jails anarchists.

Let indignation become rage against the oppressor!

With Gianni and all of the Venezuelans rising against the regime, we remain the anarchists in the popular uprising.

Bristol ABC are hosting 3 events over the next few weeks as part of the Smash IPP fortnight of action.

More than 3989 people are serving IPP (Imprisonment for Public Protection) sentences in British prisons. Five years since the sentence was legally abolished, thousands still languish in jails with no release date. Parole board delays, prison overcrowding, and sheer neglect is leading to unprecedented rates of prisoner suicides and self-harm. 80% are over tariff and desperate to be free. THIS FORTNIGHT IS FOR THEM. For more info on the fortnight see here.

Events in the Bristol Area include:

*IPP Solidarity Letter Writing: We will be writing and making cards to send to IPP prisoners in the UK. Help send strength to people surviving the prison system! Solidarity is power – show them they are not alone. Event Link.

*Bristol Probation Office Demo: Since it’s privatisation, the Probation Service is recalling 50 times more people back to prison. Probation Officers play an integral role in controlling the lives of IPPs. We need to show IPPs they are not alone and that the Probation Service, who profit from this system, is responsible for this suffering too! Smash IPP! Set them Free! Event Link.

*Noise Demo at HMP Erlestoke: 1 in 5 of the prisoners at HMP Erlestoke are IPP’s. They are living a nightmare, never knowing when they will be free no matter how many of the ministry of justices ‘hoops’ they jump through. Join us to make some noise and show these prisoners that they have not been forgotten and that we are fighting to set them free. Collective transport will be organised from Bristol, email bristol_abc@riseup.net for a place. Event Link.

SPREAD THE WORD!!!

Update from Antifenix, the movement fighting repression and Operation Fenix:

So the Anarchist Radio Network just released the first episode of its
international news show “B(A)D NEWS – Angry voices from around the world”!

The network website (http://a-radio-network.org) is not ready yet, but
will be up very soon. You’ll find the audio here:
http://aradio.blogsport.de/2017/06/16/bad-news-angry-voices-from-around-the-world-episode-1-062017/

„B(A)D NEWS – Angry voices from around the world“ is a monthly news
program from the international network of anarchist and
antiauthoritarian radios, consisting of short news segments from
different parts of the world. As an international network of radio
projects, we believe in the importance of international solidarity. And
we also recognize the importance and the need to create and disseminate
our own media and counterinformation.

On another note, this prison abolition podcast is well worth a listen.

http://novaramedia.com/2017/05/15/how-to-end-prisons/

Ray Filar is joined by Sam Lamble and Kuchenga to discuss prison abolition, racialised capitalism, transformative justice and Orange is the New Black.