Posts Tagged ‘Letter’
Anarchist prisoner John Bowden denied parole and kept as political hostage (UK)
Thursday, April 4th, 2019
On the 22nd January 2019 after almost forty years in prison the Parole Board considered the case for either my release or continued imprisonment. In the case of life sentence or indeterminately sentenced prisoners once such prisoners have been detained for the length of time originally recommended by the judiciary or Secretary of State, in my case 25 years, then the Parole Board has a statuary and legal obligation and responsibility to review the case for either the release or the continued detention of such prisoners. At three previous parole hearings my release had been denied by the Parole Board on the grounds that I was a “difficult and anti-authoritarian” prisoner, and insufficiently obedient to prison authority; my actual risk or danger to the public, the prime official criteria for denying the release of life sentence prisoners, was never cited as a reason for my continued imprisonment.
(more…)
Tags: John Bowden, Letter, Repression, UK
Posted in Prison Struggle
Italy : Words from anarchist comrade Anna Beniamino
Tuesday, March 26th, 2019
Translated by Act for freedom now!
via: parolealvento.
Anna
Degenerations – Between pride and gender victimhood
(An article Degenerazioni – Tra orgoglio e vittimismo di genere
Published in issue 3 of the anarchist paper Vetriolo)
I am anarchist, I am not feminist because I see feminism as a sectorial and victimist withdrawal, I have never made any gender discrimination although I don’t use gender-friendly linguistic conventions, on the contrary I often use dirty politically incorrect language. I think that the annulment of gender privilege and similar oppression is already contained in the search for anarchy, that is to say in the practice of antiauthoritarian relations, and should be cultivated there. Ah, I forgot, I loathe consciousness-raising in public meetings and I also consider assemblies to be blunt instruments. I understand and also have the will to meet. But I see how all too often the assembly degenerates into sterile self-representation. (more…)
Tags: Anna Beniamino, Gender, Italy, Letter, Vetriolo
Posted in Cognitive Liberty
‘We Will Never Abandon Rojava’ by Keith Malik Washington (USA)
Tuesday, March 26th, 2019
From AMW:
“Revolutionary change will not come as a singular event, nor an immediate exchange of power, but an ongoing struggle to free us all from the bonds of oppression and distribute power to communities of resistance. The illusion that a small group can seize state power and enact the will of the majority has dried up in the gulags, prisons, and killing fields of nation-states around the world. The Cantons of Rojava, a network of councils without the State, has introduced a new revolutionary paradigm… As we formulate our next steps, we harken to Rojava as a model. Just as it is grounded in the Kurdish liberation movement in Rojava, we here must ground ourselves in the black liberation movement against slavery.”
–Burn Down the American Plantation (What We’re Working Towards), pg 68-69, Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement
Revolutionary Greetings Comrades!
Did you really think for one moment that I was going to remain silent?
I began working with RAM because of Rojava. The Kurdish struggle struck home. Do you realize that these Sisters and Brothers in Northern Iraq and Syria helped fight and defeat ISIS? Yeah! That is right! These beautiful people, who Donald Trump wants to abandon, sacrificed their lives for the good of all. I was careful when I decided to speak out. Right around the time Trump made his announcement that the U.S. would pull out of Syria – George W. Bush had died. It wasn’t really good for me to say what I needed to say but now I am going to say it!! (more…)
Tags: International Solidarity, Keith Malik Washington, Kurdish Struggle, Letter, Rojava, USA
Posted in Prison Struggle
Free and dangerous by Elisa and Gabriel – EN/SP/IT
Wednesday, March 20th, 2019
Ardire, Scripta Manent, Operation Buyo … Do they mean anything to you? These are only a few of the police judicial “operations” that our “clan” has lived on its own skin for being and remaining anarchists to the extreme consequence.We are a nomadic clan that goes from country to country in search of accomplices who practice anarchism without asking for approval or consensus, who act without worrying about the “politically correct” discourse (so much in vogue in our times) that haunts our little shops today. We are also not interested in “aesthetics”, but “ethics”, the practical, the real… (more…)
Tags: Elisa Di Bernardo, Gabriel Pombo da Silva, Letter, Operation Ardire, Operation Buyo, Operation Scripta Manent, Repression
Posted in Cognitive Liberty
Scripta Manent Trial Statement by Comrade Gioacchino Somma (Italy)
Thursday, March 14th, 2019
Two years after the beginning of this trial, which I am facing with my comrades, anarchist brothers and sisters, and after letting the prosecutor speak, with a sick fantasy that does not surprise anyone, today more than ever I reaffirm with even more force the fact that I am an anarchist, an individualist and an insurrectionist.
Having read thousands of pages of court files, written by the different inquisitors of Turin and Naples, has made me even more convinced that it is better to sometimes have problems with justice, rather than for it to agree with you.
I keep my ideas, which you do not like because they aim at the destruction of everything that has to do with your miserable world.
If I could have chosen, I would never have been born, but others chose for me and I was only able to live in this world in my own way. I will never be part of the herd to which you dictate the path of grazing… I am different. I prefer to leave the trails and walk with the wolves. (more…)
Tags: CNA Italia, Gioacchino Somma, Italy, Letter, Operation Scripta Manent, RadioAzione, Trial
Posted in Prison Struggle
Palabras del compañero Joaquín García en prision (Chile)
Thursday, December 27th, 2018
“Antes, oh astro, matinal brillabas sobre los Vivos. Ahora, al extinguirte, vespertino brillas sobre los Muertos”
-Platón-
“Murió Adonaïs y por su muerte lloro.
Llorad por Adonaïs, aunque las lágrimas
no deshagan la escarcha que les cubre.
Y tú, su hora fatal, la que, entre todas,
fuiste elegida para nuestro daño,
despierta a tus oscuras compañeras,
muéstrales tu tristeza y di: conmigo
murió Adonaïs, y en tanto que el futuro
a olvidar al pasado no se atreva,
perdurarán su fama y su destino
como una luz y un eco eternamente”
-P.B. Shelley-
Quería escribirle a un tú ausente, tal vez inexistente; pensaba contribuir a las palabras de Shelley y darle vida a esta hermosa elegía, pero nunca le he escrito a un muerto y esta no será la excepción.
Cae sobre mí una falsa responsabilidad; muchos, consciente o inconscientemente, creen que nosotros, sus compañeros, poseemos el derecho o la autoridad de decir quien fue realmente nuestro hermano, y la verdad es que es una tarea imposible, tanto porque dicho derecho no existe, como por la complejidad que supone escribir en palabras sobre nuestro compañero; tal vez podríamos, como aquel alemán, destruir a martillazos la imagen que de él se ha construido. Es difícil comprender la falta de vergüenza de quienes revindican el nombre de Kevin, aun tal vez sin nunca haberlo leído/conocido, han acomodado a su interés la imagen del nuevo mártir, ni siquiera hace falta preguntarse cuantos realmente estuvieron, no hace falta porque aquí no existe ni existió nunca la mendicidad, la misericordia le pertenece a las víctimas y quien murió fue un guerrero: como bien lo recordó un hermano; “Él era solo él, Kevin contra el mundo”. (more…)
Tags: Chile, Joaquín García Chanks, Kevin Garrido, Letter, Santiago
Posted in Prison Struggle
Palabras del compañero Marcelo Villarroel Sepúlveda para Almuerzo Solidario
Monday, December 17th, 2018
Desde la kárcel de alta seguridad hago llegar estas palabras de saludo en Resistencia para este encuentro de Solidaridad Antikarcelaria en donde konfluyen la konciencia aktiva de lucha kontra el poder y la insistencia en la konstruxión kolektiva de una memoria antiautoritaria ke no olvida a sus presxs, kaídxs y a todxs kienes no renuncian ni abandonan el konflikto por la liberación total.
Los tiempos son de lucha konstante, de definiciones permanentes en kuanto a nuestra existencia komo individuxs ke nos rebelamos frente a lo existente. El miedo y la indolencia, el oportunismo, el silencio y olvido no pueden ganar terreno entre kienes entregan lo mejor de sus días kombatiendo la totalidad de la oferta de vida ciudadana ke nos impone la democracia, el estado y el kapital.
La kárcel, komo destino posible para kienes se rebelan, es un espacio ke el poder usa para intentar domestikar, a lxs de espíritu libre e indómito. No hay lugar de encierro trankilo, ni kárcel buena, no hay nada en estos lugares ke se pueda replikar salvo la voluntad de Resistir toda la estruktura podrida de cemento y metal penitenciario. (more…)
Tags: Chile, Letter, Marcelo Villarroel Sepúlveda, Santiago
Posted in Prison Struggle
‘De negras balas y sensibilidades revolucionarias’ – Escrito de Juan Aliste (Chile)
Friday, November 16th, 2018
(Recibimos y difundimos)
Una de las significancias de ser revolucionario, creo yo, pasa por la sensibilidad. Sensibilidad que te permite fijar una posición dentro de esta forma de vida actual impuesta he incrustada bajo la supremacía capitalista de una clase dominante y el conjunto de eslabones estructurales que perpetúan un control sobre la vida de millones de niñas, niños, mujeres y hombres. Hoy el dominio se expande y buscan controlar sus espacios, territorios, tiempos, sentimientos y cualquier atisbo de libertad que aun quede.
La sensibilidad revolucionaria nos permite tomar posición consciente y no solo constatar realidades. Somos enemigos de este Estado, ya con varias décadas de lucha y convicción en la piel, revindicamos el continuo histórico de este hacer subversivo y hoy, 2018 nos situamos en un tránsito de más de una década desde la caería-persecución y posterior prisión que enfrentamos como enemigos de este Estado kapitalista.
Todos estos años como rehenes en sus cárceles dan cuenta de un caminar ininterrumpido donde se han forjado complicidades fértiles en esta decisión de lucha que nos sitúa en la certeza de nuestro hacer subversivo permanente, reinventándonos y apañándonos en un latir libertario. (more…)
Tags: Chile, Juan Aliste Vega, Letter, Santiago
Posted in Prison Struggle
Operation Scripta Manent – Statement to the court by Alfredo Cospito (Italy)
Sunday, November 26th, 2017
Corrected version received from Anarhija (27/11/2017)
Benevento 14 August 1878 – Turin 16 November 2017
The Trial Against Malefactors[1]
“The Union of Egoists is your instrument, it is the sword with which you increase your natural strength; the Union exists thanks to you. Society, on the other hand, demands much from you and it exists without you; in short, society is sacred, Union is yours; society uses you, the Union–you use it “ – Stirner
“Gentlemen, the time of life is short … if we live, we live to tread on kings” – Shakespeare, Henry IV
“I work for every crime I have committed in my life, I’m afraid of every desire I have not satisfied in my life” – Senna Hoy
I want to be as clear as possible, my words sound like an admission of guilt. As far as it is possible to belong to an instrument, to a technique, I claim with pride my affiliation with FAI-FRI. With pride I recognize it throughout its history. I belong in full and my contribution is signed by the “Olga Cell”. If this farce was limited to me and Nicola I would be silent today. But you have involved a significant part of all those who have shown solidarity in these years, among them my dearest friends.
At this point I cannot refrain from telling my own story, by silence I would be complicit with the attempt by you to strike at an important part of the anarchist movement. Comrades dragged behind bars and tried not for what they did but for what they are: anarchists. Processed and arrested not for having claimed, like I did, an action with the acronym FAI-FRI, but for having participated in assemblies, written in newspapers and blogs even more simply giving solidarity to their comrades during a trial. I will not take shelter behind these comrades.
(more…)
Tags: Alfredo Cospito, Analysis, Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI), International Revolutionary Front, Italy, Letter, Nicola Gai, Nucleo Olga FAI/FRI, Operation Scripta Manent, Roberto Adinolfi
Posted in Prison Struggle
‘Ready or Not…’ by anarchist hostage Alfredo Cospito (Italy)
Thursday, November 23rd, 2017
In these three years I was faced with choices which led me by the hand through a path fraught with crossroads and bifurcations.
Like on a minefield, I had to decide carefully where to step, with my pride and my self-respect at stake. The first choice I had to face with was whether I should continue to contribute, or let the prison overflow me, patiently waiting to get out. As limited as my situation is, I chose to continue to contribute through the written word. Once I made this decision I faced another crossroad: whether to confine myself — ecumenically — from this “high point” of my “status” (sic.) of a “revolutionary” prisoner — to bestowing blessings in each directions, applauding to every anarchist practice, paying attention not to make any enemies; or to use the weapon of critique, ever more harshly, trying to outline some analysis, to open some discourses. I chose the easier way (at least for me): openly push my critique to the extremes, at the cost of isolation (less letters, less information, less generic solidarity).
But always aware of the abyss between the thought and the action.
Words, strong as they may be, always carry something that sounds phony, even when they pose real, concrete risks, which may effectuate in years of prison for apology or incitement. (more…)
Tags: Alfredo Cospito, Analysis, CNA Italia, Italy, Letter
Posted in Cognitive Liberty
Statement of anarchist comrade Gioacchino Somma – Start of the “Script Manent” trial (Italy)
Wednesday, November 22nd, 2017
16/11/2017
To the Court of Turin
Today, as well as for all the future hearings of this trial that sees me accused along with my brothers, sisters, but above all anarchist comrades, I will not give you the satisfaction of seeing my face in a courtroom of this tribunal.
I have never gone to the courtrooms where my funeral was being prepared in the past and I will not do so now!
I am anarchist, individualist, anti-authoritarian and above all I am for the insurrection, which has as one of its primary goals that of destroying places of death like this one and the prisons.
I will not be part of the spectacle set up by a judge who, suffering from hunger cramps, has put himself the payroll of a State that I do not recognize, being a citizen of the world in flight from its borders; I will not be there to listen to his delusions nor wait for the end to hear someone judge me “guilty or innocent.” (more…)
Tags: CNA Italia, Counter-info, Gioacchino Somma, Italy, Letter, Operation Scripta Manent, RadioAzione, Repression, Trial, Turin
Posted in Prison Struggle
Letter from Nataly Casanova, Enrique Guzmán and Juan Flores (Chile)
Sunday, November 19th, 2017
Translation note: the following letter written by the imprisoned anarchist comrades Nataly, Enrique and Juan, was written for the SOLIDARIDAD A FLOR DE PIEL tattoo and body art convention that was held in solidarity with the prisoners of the social war in Santiago on November 4th.
These words were born and flew from the prison cells of San Miguel, the special high security unit and the former pententiary, to send a greeting of complicity that we dedicate to the comrades who have organized and given life to the SOLIDARIDAD A FLOR DE PIEL tattoo and body art convention…
With these first words from within the torture centres, we would like to send fraternal and complicit greetings to those who, at the intersection of rebellion and insubordinate creativity, organized and participated in this anti-prison initiative…a solidarity initiative for those who feel the bitter taste of prison every day – the anger, the frustration and the indignation of not being able to materialise the war because they are surrounded by bars, cameras and guards… (more…)
Tags: Chile, Enrique Guzmán, Juan Flores Riquelme, Letter, Nataly Casanova, Santiago, Trial
Posted in Prison Struggle
Letter from imprisoned anarchist comrade Alfredo Cospito (Italy)
Sunday, November 19th, 2017
Originally published in Vetriolo, anarchist journal, number 1 / Autumn 2017 (this text is also online here).
Note from Insurrection News: This English version of Alfredo’s text was translated by us from the French language translation by the comrades from Attaque.
Note from Vetriolo: Alfredo wrote this text of salutation for the number zero edition of Vetriolo, in November-December 2016. This letter, as is well known, was blocked by the prison censorship. Now we can publish it. We recall that in recent months the censorship has increased a lot, a tightening vise obviously ordered by the Prosecutor Sparagna, and not just the simple zeal of the prison guards. Apparently there are definite orders about what can and cannot be sent or received (Vetriolo, for example, was not received by anybody) [comrades imprisoned for Operation Scripta Manent]. To protest the censorship,
Alfredo went on a hunger strike from May 3 to 13.
Break the isolation!
******
With charges that could lead to 30 years of prison time hanging over my head like a sword of Damocles, the need to communicate projects and reflections may seem absurd. Under the influence of censorship, which modifies all that I write and say, the fact that I am continuing imperturbably to communicate and write reflections that inevitably lend themselves to repression, may seem stupid and insane. It is stupidity and madness that I cannot do without, to feel alive and active.
One choice, back against the wall: continue the fight. Continue with all means at my disposal.
The inspiration for writing this article was given to me by the inquisitor Sparagna, who during his ‘monologue-interrogation’, maintained, with barely concealed embarrassment, that he would have broken us [the 22 comrades under investigation from Operation Scripta Manent] by isolation, thanks to the ‘scorched earth’ that the anarchist movement would have made around us in Italy.
(more…)
Tags: Alfredo Cospito, Italy, Letter, Operation Scripta Manent, Repression, Trial, Vetriolo
Posted in Prison Struggle
‘What It Looks Like To Be Anti-Fascist In Prison’ by Eric King, anarchist prisoner (USA)
Tuesday, November 14th, 2017
via itsgoingdown:
Below is a statement written by anarchist prisoner Eric King in October. For more info on how to support Eric, go here.
What does it look like to be antifascist in federal prison in 2017? It may not be what you think.
If you picture coming into the feds with your fist swinging, taking on every racist, swastika wearing trash you see, that is not a reality. That line of thinking will get us nowhere. Racism at the federal level is very real and played out in a very archaic way. At CCA Leavenworth I pictured going into ANY spot guns blazing, taking on bigots in a very macho, aggressive, violent way. At CCA that was actually somewhat doable, even at Englewood-FCI (low security) it was somewhat a reality because you could dog them out and clown them for their ridiculousness… the reality is though, that the higher up in custody you go and the further west coast you end up, the more serious the game gets and the less likely you are to be able to express your own antifascist ideas without facing some serious backlash. (more…)
Tags: Anti-Fascism, Antifa, Eric G. King, Letter, Racism, USA
Posted in Prison Struggle
‘Security Threat Groups: The Industry of Gangs’ by Sean Swain, anarchist prisoner (USA)
Tuesday, November 14th, 2017
via itsgoingdown:
This following essay is written by anarchist prisoner, Sean Swain, and was originally released on the Final Straw Radio show. For more info about how to support Sean, go here.
In Ohio prisons, pretty much everyone is in a gang whether they’re in a gang or not. If you’re an Ohio prisoner and you’re not in a gang, prison administrators will put you in one. And if there’s no gang for you, they’ll just create a new one.
The reason is, it’s a federal bloc grant swindle. Here’s how it works:
The U.S. Department of Justice keeps a kind of database on what it calls “Security Threat Groups,” or STGs, not to be confused with STDs, or “sexually transmitted diseases.” The Department of Justice does not monitor chlamydia or gonorrhea. Yet. At least, as far as I know.
(more…)
Tags: Gangs, Letter, Racism, Sean Swain, USA
Posted in Prison Struggle