Ukraine: arrests and repressions of anarchists
January 9th: This article was originally published in Ukrainian media outlet Zaborona.
Manchester union picket attacked by fascists
January 6th: Far-right thugs imitating the French yellow-vest movement launched a racist attack on an RMT picket yesterday, reports the Merseyside Anti-Fascist Network: Striking transport workers were attacked on their picket line at Manchester Victoria by a bunch of yellow vest fascists.
Activist legal update: Notorious ‘Common Assault’ penalty doubled
January 6th: From November 19th 2018 an new offence of “Assaulting an Emergency Worker” has been created, which doubles the maximum penalty for Common Assault (Section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988).
Gallery: New Year celebrations at HMP Pentonville
January 1st: Among the London anarchist events that see out the year are annual noise demos at HMP Brixton and HMP Pentonville, where pots are rattled, whizzers whizzed and bottle rockets set off as people walk around the jail reminding prisoners that they’re not forgotten.
Breaking: ADM squatted centre evicted
January 7th: Dutch authorities ignored a UN ruling protecting the social centre today to brutally clear the area with riot police, private security and heavy machinery.
Poland: Striking refugee centre cleaners win
January 7th: Cleaners at a refugee centre near Warsaw have scored a major victory after bosses agreed to all their demands over contracts and working rights.
ADM eviction: Amsterdam ignores UN request
January 4th: Last week we reported that, following a years-long legal battle, ADM squat in Amsterdam has been granted an interim measure request by the UN Human Rights Council requesting the City of Amsterdam not to evict the site until the Council considers its residents’ case.
Interview: The anarchists of Chile
January 8th: In a new initiative designed to give an overview of the balance of libertarian socialism in the Americas, the Black Rose Federation has conducted a series of round table interviews, the first of which sees them talk to Juan and Pablo about their involvement in anarchist group Solidaridad.
The Freedom 2018 roundup
December 31st: Over the last year Freedom News has covered, and in many cases broken, hundreds of stories, run a wide range of feature and analysis pieces and backed anarchist activity worldwide — below is just some of the news from around Britain that we picked up.
Book Extract: Invisible
December 16th: In the following extract from Invisible: A Diary of Rough Sleeping in Britain released today by Freedom Press, Andrew Fraser writes on the phenomenon of “angry charitable giving” which many homeless people experience.
Portugal: The dockers’ struggle
January 2nd: Pedro Friere takes a deep dive into the background of dockworker strikes in Portugal, which kicked off spectacularly in November with casualised workers taking action in Setúbal and overtime bans linked to proposed pay cuts holding across most of the country’s major ports. In Portugal, this past year has been a year of intermittent dockworker strikes,
The Movement as Battleground Fighting for the Soul of the Yellow Vest Movement
December 27th: This analysis of the happenings in France was originally published by Crimethinc on 6th December 2018.
Building coalitions outside SUTR/SWP: London Anarchist Federation write up on 9th December Antifascist mobilisaton
December 20th: Stand Up To Racism/Unite Against Fascism (which I will treat as interchangeable from this point) already has a less than stellar reputation among anti-fascists, and their behaviour on the mobilisation against Tommy Robinson on the 9th of December has done nothing to challenge that reputation.
