From Cardiff Squatters Network:

On August 5^th cops in Greece continued their campaign of repression against squats by raiding three squatted spaces in Patras: Parartima, Maragopouleio and the Self-managed Hangout inside the Technological Educational Institute (TEI). 16 comrades were detained in total; 5 squatters and 11 supporters.

While those showing solidarity were later released, the 5 occupants faced charges in court on the 13^th. Therefore the next day we painted a banner to express our solidarity with squatters facing charges and evicted from their homes.

Additionally today we hung another banner to show solidarity with the squat Rigaer 94 and all those arrested during raids in Berlin on the 14^th. The raids were supposedly related to arson attacks of various job centres and a Molotov attack against police, in solidarity with the revolts in Turkey after the eviction of Gezi Park in Istanbul.

We name ourselves ACAB because we are antagonists. We also name ourselves ACAB because we know that all cops are bastards who go to any lengths to attack the squatting movement internationally and the anarchist milieu.

The banners are now hanging from Canton police station that we appropriated for our own use in Cardiff. We squat here to show that not everyone is afraid, that some of us are bored of living in fear, and instead desire to fight back.

Solidarity with squatters facing charges!

Solidarity with squats under attack in Greece!

Solidarity with everyone evicted from their homes!

Antagonistic Collective Against Boredom (ACAB)

From Cardiff Squatters Network:

On Thursday 8^th August, at approximately 10am, High Court bailiffs showed up to join United Welsh representatives, police and contractors booked to secure buildings, in an attempt to evict Rumpoles, Moira Terrace, Cardiff, CF24 0NE (aka: prison squat / 0ne squat). By 12pm, without even attempting to enter, they left the occupiers in possession of the building.

At 9:30am the first few supporters started arriving outside, while some squatters took to the peak of the roof. The outside had been barricaded with furniture, gas bottles, compressed air canisters and a piano, while the inside was  well secured. A ‘Fire 2 the prisons’ banner had also been dropped from the windows the night before, during significant disturbances within Cardiff prison over the road.

Four police officers from Roath arrived warning the resisters that possessions used to barricade would be cleared away by the council, stating ‘Your rubbish makes Roath look poor’, even though the squat is in Adamsdown, but otherwise ignored the situation and promptly left.  At this point neighbouring prisoners began shouting  in support  of the squatters and against the cops.

The rest of the day was spent receiving strong support from, passersby and locals, particularly in the neighbouring Adamscourt, also owned by United Welsh Housing Association. While supporters continued to play piano and eat the skipped bakery goods from the night before.

Prison squat has been lived in for 3 weeks, and has hosted an anti-fascist benefit gig, No Borders film screening, prisoner letter writing, as well as other events. United Welsh plan to demolish the building. This work is to start no sooner than February 2014, in order to build 49 1 to 2 bedroom flats for ‘vulnerable people’, whilst denying the Adamscourt residents access to communal greenland in the process. Attempts from squatters to negotiate with owners have repeatedly failed.

South Wales Echo article – http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/masked-squatters-barricade-themselves-inside-5680263

At 8:00 a.m. 3rd of April, the officers from the Centre Against Extremism came with a search warrant to 4 addresses of Kazan antifascists.

The searches were carried out with clear violations. There was not any documents to substantiate the detentions but four young people: Ruslan Rostov, Oleg Kapustyanov, Dmitry Ilyichev and Artem Sher, were put into a car and taken to the Police Office “for the talks”, threatened with force. During the searches,two anti-fascists, including Artem Sher, who is a citizen of Israel, were beaten. Later a search took place at the workplace of one more antifascist – this time not only search operatives of the Centre Against Extremism, but also members of the FSB (Federal Service of (state) Security) were present. The resolution of a search warrant stated that the suspect “belongs to the informal youth association Antifa”.

For now all the five are in status of suspects. All of them refused to testify, according to the Article 51 (“No one shall be obliged to give evidence against himself or herself…”). According to investigators, late at night on February 24, four boys and a girl allegedly beat two young men. From the words of the police activists realized that they could be charged under Art.116 and Art.213 of the Criminal Code (assault and hooliganism motivated by ideological hatred).
All the detainees are students, they stick to the anti-fascist views, but are not part of any movement or political organization. On the night of February 24 they were other areas of ​​the city. The police is trying to present anti-fascists as aggressive street hooligans who used violence against their political opponents – Nazis.

All the five are well known to Kazan police as they many times participated in various environmental and social actions. The officers of the Centre Against Extremism have already fabricated a criminal case against Oleg Kapustyanov, but due to numerous violations the court sent it back for further investigation. Now, they apparently decided to complete what they initiated.

In Nizhny Novgorod police officers have already fabricated such a criminal case and tried to unite local anti-fascists in an “extremist community”. Therefore, we are concerned that in Kazan the authorities are trying to do the same.

Oleg Kapustyanov, without the presence of his lawyer, was subjected the procedure of identification by the “victims” – Nazis. Nazis and police do cooperate with each other: after Nazis have disclosed personal information of the Kazan antifascists in the internet, the searches and seizures in antifascists’ flats occurred. And the ultra-rights are always ready to give false testimony and to “identify” everybody the operatives will point to.

We are confident that all these police actions are related to the Universiade (University championships), which will be held in the city this summer. Fabricating criminal cases, the government gets rid of dissidents who could spoil the image of unity and peace of the holiday.

April 4 a court trial was held against Oleg Kapustyanov and Ruslan Rostov. Both were remanded in custody until May 4 for the time of investigation until the next trial.

We will need to pay the lawyers’ work (more details will come later).
For today we need about $3000.

You can transfer money to support the anti-fascists in the Kazan-Moscow
ABC fund via paypal: abc-msk (at) riseup.net

Attention! be sure to e-mail to abc-msk (at) riseup.net how much and what kind of goals you send money. Also you can use “Western Union” or bank transfer, for this please write to the abc-msk (at) riseup.net . We would be grateful for any help!

Jock Palfreeman is an Australian who, on the 27th December 2007, on a night out in Sofia, Bulgaria; had the courage to stand up against a group of fascist hooligans. Witnessing the fascists chasing and attacking two young Roma boys, Jock ran to the boys’ aid. He did his best to keep the fascists at bay but they ended up turning on and attacking him. Left with nowhere to run, Jock had no choice but to defend himself. Andrey Monov, one of the racist gang, was stabbed and later died. Another, Anton Zahariev was injured. The Roma boys ran away. Jock has since been tried and sentenced for murder and attempted murder. He was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and has been given a fine running into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It is now more important than ever, that we collectively put as much pressure on the Bulgarian authorities as possible, to accept Jock’s transfer to Australia. Between the 22nd and 28th of April 2013 there will be an, International Week of Solidarity with Jock Palfreeman. We need to let Jock know that he is not alone in his struggle and that we are in it for the long run.

Andrey Monovs father is well known in Bulgaria and at his funeral there were a mixture of judges, police and politicians. Jock’s trial was (not surprisingly) a complete sham – yet another example of corruption, secret handshakes in the judicial system and media bias. The prosecutions case was built on the witness statements made by the other racists that were part of the attacking group, all claiming that Jock randomly attacked and chased them, with the intent of killing somebody. Key people and possible witnesses for Jocks defence were never interviewed by police and CCTV footage from the scene miraculously went missing. Many of the statements made at the time were different to the statements submitted to the court by the prosecution., while Jocks statement has remained consistent from the night in question.

You can read Jocks official statement at http://www.freejock.com You can also watch a documentary about his case that contains interviews with Jock at the following links:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Jock appealed against his sentence and court hearings took place between October 2010 and January 2011. Despite some police officers confirming his version of events, despite one of the fascists making totally incoherent statements in court trying to explain why he changed his original testimony, despite mounting evidence of judicial errors during the initial trial and despite all other factors pointing to his innocence; his sentence of 20 years was upheld.
(For Jocks statement about this please go to: http://anarchistsolidarity.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/ jocks-sentence-upheld-after-an-appeal)

Jock has now lost all his appeals and the only way left for him, is to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. He is also trying to secure his transfer to Australia to serve his sentence, which is proving difficult as the Bulgarian prosecution service is determined to keep him imprisoned in Bulgaria. Authorities refuse to even discuss his possible transfer until his fine is paid, effectively holding Jock to ransom. Jock’s family is currently collecting necessary funds and you can donate by visiting the http://www.freejock.com.

It is now more important than ever, that we collectively put as much pressure on the Bulgarian authorities as possible, to accept Jock’s transfer to Australia. Between the 22nd and 28th of April 2013 there will be an, International Week of Solidarity with Jock Palfreeman. We need to let Jock know that he is not alone in his struggle and that we are in it for the long run. Any solidarity actions can go a long way to assure that. He recently helped create the Bulgarian Association of Prisoners (www.bulgarianprisonersassociation.wordpress.com) and because he is its Chairman, he suffers repression from the prison’s administration, such as a recent refusal of computer access to continue his university education, which pushed Jock into a 30-day hunger-strike. Jock needs us to act and he needs our solidarity. The more creative the actions the better. Don’t let the Bulgarian state bury this courageous man alive in prison! Don’t let them think that they can get away with it!

Another important aspect is, especially for people in Australia , to keep the pressure on their government to do something for Jocks case. His case has been too quiet in his home country for far too long. It is time to change that!

If you are short of ideas why not try one of the following:

Organize solidarity actions outside Bulgarian Embassies, Consulates, etc. (for a list of the Bulgarian Embassies and Consulates please see: http://www.buldir.com/ bulgarian_embassies_abroad.html). Phone/write the Bulgarian Embassies and Consulates with your protests.

Help us to swamp the Bulgarian Authorities with letters of protest, condemnation and requests for Jocks appeal to be accepted. It is also vital that we send protest messages to the prosecutors directly responsible for blocking his transfer to Australia. (Please see below for a list of addresses).

Ideally protest letters are best written in your own words….. BUT, we have provided a sample letter (attached) that can be sent if you do not want to write your own. Just print it, sign it and post it, simple as that. Please feel free to reprint it and distribute it to anyone you think may send a copy. We need to get the pressure up, and keep it up!

Addresses to post, fax and email your letters of protest to:
Krassimira Vocheva
Head Prosecutor-Sofia
No.2 Vitosha blvd
Sofia
BULGARIA
Tel: +359 28051500
Email: [email protected]

Borish Velchev
Head Prosecutor-Sofia
No.2 Vitosha blvd
Sofia
BULGARIA
Tel: +359 28051500
Email: [email protected]

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria
Address: 2 Aleksander Zhendov Str
Sofia 1040
BULGARIA
Tel: +359 2 948 2999
http://www.mfa.bg/en/contact/ (ready form for sending messages from their website, very helpful)

Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria LONDON
186-188 Queen’s Gate
London SW7 5HL
Tel.: (0044) (0) 207 584 9400, (0) 207 584 9433
Fax: (0044) (0) 207 584 4948
Email: [email protected]

Information, Public Relations and European Communication Directorate
Director: Sofia Vladimirova
Tel: +359 2 971 1408. OR +359 2 971 3778. OR +359 2 948 2218.
Fax: +359 2 870 3041
Email: [email protected]

Ministry’s Reception Desk
Tel: +359 2 948 2018 or +359 2 971 1054
(opening hrs 09.30 – 12.00 and 14.00 – 16.00)

Ministry of Justice
No 1 Slavanska st
Sofia 1040
BULGARIA
Email: [email protected]

Finally, please write to Jock, even if it’s only a ‘good luck’ postcard. Any letters and postcards will help to keep Jock’s spirit up and feeling positive. All will be gratefully received. You can write to Jock at the following address:

Jock Palfreeman
Sofia Central Prison,
21 General Stoletov Boulevard,
Sofia 1309,
BULGARIA

————————————————

To Whom it may concern,

I am writing to you regarding the Australian national Jock Palfreeman.

Mr. Palfreeman is currently imprisoned in Sofia Central Prison in Bulgaria. After defending two young innocent boys from a viscous attack by a group of drunken football hooligans; and later being forced to defend himself against the same assailants, he was sentenced to twenty years incarceration under charges of murder and attempted murder.

He is clearly only guilty of accidental homicide in self-defence.

Mr. Palfreeman witnessed a gang of around 16 men, attacking the two boys and ran to their aid. While trying to keep the gang at bay he suffered a viscous attack and was left with no choice but to defend himself. His version of events has remained consistent since the night in question and is supported by numerous witnesses. All of whom are prepared to testify in his defence.

It has since transpired at his trial, to my astonishment, that key people and possible witnesses were never interviewed by police, that the CCTV footage from the scene went missing and that many of the peoples statements submitted to the court by the prosecution were not the same as the statements made on the night in question. Anything favourable of Mr. Palfreeman’s’ defence was completely disregarded by the judge whilst the prosecutions case was built on the witness statements made by the football hooligans that initially attacked the two boys. All claiming that Mr. Palfreeman randomly attacked them and chased them with the intent of killing somebody. The trial was a farce, as so were all appeals.

I ask that the Bulgarian Authorities stop their attempts to keep him imprisoned in Bulgaria, and allow him to be transferred to an Australian prison where he can be closer to his family.

We will continue highlighting Mr. Palfreeman’s case and showing our solidarity with him, until our requests have been satisfied.

Mr. Palfreeman selflessly saved the lives of two young boys, risking his own safety, at the cost of his own freedom. He should be deemed a hero, not deemed a cold blooded killer!

Signed

I have been a Red and Anarchist Skinhead (RASH) for many years, and the
government kept me in isolation (solitary confinement) from 1996 until May 2007. I have been in the general prison population for the past six years and will finish my sentences in July 2013.

But in 1997 the criminal court added the so-called “preventive detention” (PD) to my sentence, based on a Nazi-Law from November 1933 which allows the state to keep a prisoner in custody over and above the end of their regular sentence, if they want to for the rest of the inmate’s life.

Recently the courts opened my files to decide if I will go to PD in July 2013.
In the end there is not much real chance that the judges will set me free, but it would still be helpful and I would appreciate the solidarity, if people could write some letters and e-mails to the court and support my struggle for freedom.

Send letters of support to:

Landgericht
Strafvollstrekcungskammer
Hans-Thoma-Str. 7
D-76133
Karlsruhe
Germany

Or
e-mail: [email protected]

The file number is 15 AR 1/13

Every kind of support is welcome!

Thanks a lot.

Thomas Meyer-Falk
c/o JVA Schoenbornstr.32
76646
Bruchsal
Germany
www.freedom-for-thomas.de
freedomforthomas.wordpress.com

Belarus ABC Infotour in Cardiff

On Friday the 23rd of Feb. @ 6pm there will be an info talk by a member of Belarus ABC at the Wells Hotel.

You will hear about the situation of anarchists facing years in prison, the work being done to support them and resistance to repression in Belarus, Europe’s “Last Dictatorship.”

For more information on the prisoners, Belarus ABC, the international solidarity that they have received  and how it has helped, visit afed.

The Wells hotel can be found at 77 Craddock St. CF11 6EW. It has played host to all manner of awesome events over the past couple of months and we can only hope that there’s more to come.

For the past 30 years John Bowden has been at the forefront of the British prison struggle, and is by far our most prolific prisoner writer. Time and again, John’s articles have shone a searchlight into the State’s murky dungeons, exposing brutality and repression, and challenging the very nature of prison. For many years now, John has been held in jail because of his political views and his willingness to challenge injustice. That has never been clearer than now, as the State attempts to use ‘secret evidence’ to keep him behind bars.

It is relatively rare that prisoners, originally sentenced for non-political offences, become so politicised whilst in jail, that their release is opposed by the prison authorities for exactly that reason.

In the case of life sentence prisoners who have served the “tariff” part of their sentence (or the length of time the judiciary stipulates they should remain in jail), the legal criteria determining their release, or not, are clear and straightforward: Has the prisoner served a sufficient period of time to satisfy the interests of punishment and retribution? Does the prisoner remain a risk to the community? Can the prisoner be safely and effectively supervised in the community post-release?

Of course the prison authorities would never openly admit that apart from the above criteria, there is another “risk factor” that would prevent a life sentence prisoner’s release: Their identification with a progressive or radical political cause. Opposing a life sentence prisoner’s release, purely on the basis of their having exposed and organised against human rights abuse in the prison system, would of course make a complete mockery of the claim that, apart from its punishment function, prison also exists as a place of reform and rehabilitation, a place where supposedly brutal and anti-social criminals are made better people by a system administered by humane and just-minded individuals. The entire legitimacy of the prison system is based on the premise that, essentially it exists to protect the public from individuals who represent a threat , so denying that some life sentence prisoners are kept locked-up solely because they embrace an ideology that actually believes in a society and world free from violence, exploitation, and inequality, is imperative if the myths and fallacy used to justify the existence of prisons is to remain intact.

[read the full article on indymedia]

[read more on John Bowden on Bristol ABC’s wordpress]

[you can contact John and other prisoners through emailaprisoner.com]

or write to him:

John Bowden, 6729,
HMP Shotts,
Cantrell Road,
Shotts,
Scotland,
ML7 4LE.

Last night as part of the international call out for noise demonstrations outside of prisons and detention centers, a group of anarchists and anti-authoritarians assembled at cardiff prison where some people set off fireworks and scattered hundreds of fliers from the top of the multi-storey car park opposite the jail (which is visible from many of the cells in the prison) whilst others sounded a siren, banged drums, threw fireworks over the wall of the prison and participated in anti-prison and anti-police chants with the prisoners who did everything they could to communicate back to the crowd gathered outside.

The fliers read “Solidarity is our weapon – Freedom now!” on one side and “Fire to the prisons, fire to the borders and fire to those who protect the system that’s killing us all. ACAB” on the other.

The initial group made a speedy and tactical retreat after noticing the approaching filth accompanied by a fire engine heading towards the prison. Roughly an hour later a small group returned to set off the last firework and shout some more in support of those inside.

– some anarchists.

 Bute Dock Hotel, West Bute St, Cardiff Bay

From Bristol Indymedia:

We take this opportunity to clarify our position regarding the occupation of the Bute Dock Hotel, which saw two days of successfully resisting eviction in Cardiff, see report here.

Our choice to squat the Bute Dock Hotel, which inter-connects with the largest estate agents in Cardiff, Keylet, was no coincidence – it was carefully chosen. After receiving advice regarding the unique nature of the legal situation, we carefully schemed a plan. This involved confronting Keylet with news of our occupation on the morning of Tuesday 20th November, with delegates from our welcoming committee.

Our intention was to disrupt their business, due to the inconvenience and embarrassment of having their executive offices connected to a squatted social project. To discover they had been storing their ‘personal belongings’ in the hotel was to us, an added bonus. They had a wealth of chairs, storage units, marketing literature, as well as a Christmas tree and popcorn makers we promptly made use of. We had unintentionally taken their tat hostage, and it felt empowering. While people are routinely evicted from their homes and experience difficulty in retrieving their belongings, to have the chairman of the Association of Letting and Management Agents pleading with us to respect and return his belongings was all too ironic.

To give context to who we are dealing with, the executive director of Keylet, Peter Vidler, is a director in twelve different letting and investment companies, including; Cardiff Bay Investment Ltd, Cardiff Property Lettings Ltd and Luxury Lets Ltd. In 2004, he was successfully prosecuted for trying to bully an employee into having an abortion, financially considering her pregnancy as a worst nightmare. She suffered verbal abuse and was repeatedly blamed for computer problems, causing her to contemplate ‘ending it all’, while Mr Vidler attempted to justify his actions publicly.

As a collective fighting against austerity, we feel it should be obvious as to why we targeted an estate agents. They are infamous for keeping buildings empty for their own financial gain, while people are living on the streets, unable to access secure housing. With ever increasing homelessness and the recent criminalisation of squatting residential properties, these property racketeers deserve more than ever to be held accountable, along with the state and their hired thugs. Furthermore, what followed after delivering the news of our occupation is a perfect example of the violence utilized to uphold and reinforce the value of property over people. Hiring heavies and gangs to protect property is second nature to these scumbags.

To elaborate, we wish to re-iterate what the Gremlins expressed in their video communiqué last month:

“The State’s ‘solutions’ to the problem of homelessness are degrading, dehumanising and nothing more than a quick fix. The process is riddled with long waiting lists, poor living standards and often only worsens people’s well being. Countless buildings are left disused and unoccupied, whilst landlords and speculators profit at the expense of the people. The idea that it is a criminal offense to claim a roof over your head on a cold night is offensive and ridiculous.”

Our initial aims were to reclaim this unoccupied space to re-open it for the use of the community, by opening a squatter’s estate agents ‘freelet’, hosting regular café nights, films, talks, discussions, workshops, and much more. It’s naturally disappointing papers have been served for a court date within a week, but also not unexpected. Instead we are using this opportunity to host a few events, express our solidarity with those we identify with and deserve our support, and to call for further  resistance.

Strength and solidarity to anarchist prisoner Kostas Gournas, currently being tried for his participation in the armed group Revolutionary Struggle in Greece, and those accused in the same case. Our thoughts are also with Nikos Maziotis and Pola Roupa who remain at large – stay free comrades!

Solidarity and strength with all those fighting for their lives – from austerity riots in Europe, uprisings in the Middle East, insurrections in Latin America, to clashes everywhere in between.

To all the Bristol rebels plotting their next move, Brighton squatters fighting for homes, and London crew, whatever you’re up to…let’s go on the offensive already??

Bute Dock Squatters

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