Poland, Bialystok, ABC Supplement

NABAT
Issue #1 August 2001-

Hi! The following is meant to act as an information sheet for the ABC and other initiatives connected with state repression, prioners, etc. The level of repression against anarchists and other revolutionaries is growing all around the world. It can be seen everywhere, especially at anti-globalization protests. As we get further absorbed into EU structures. we can expect more repression. It is important therefore that we better organize mutual aid networks so that nobody who is repressed is left to
stand alone and so that our movement can withstand the impending storm.

The beginning of this network grew out of a meeting during the anti-border camp in Krynki in July 2001. We already have an ABC network in Poland but lately it has not always worked effectively and therefore we decided to try another way. We would like there to be more autonomous groups and to have a much quicker flow of information. We'll see how this works in practice.

This issue was made by the Bialystok ABC group. You can contact us at:
ACK Bialystok PO BOX 43, 15-662 Bialystok 26, soja2@poczta.onet.pl.

Information:

Bialystok: Rafal Rusilowski, and 18-year old anti-fascist, was released from jail on July 27. His trial has been postponed to September 24 since he wasn't brought to court last time due to some bureaucratic screw up by the cops. For those
unfamiliar with this case, Rafal was accused of assault with a dangerous weapon against some nazis in March 2001.
In reality, they were beaten by someone else. He was accused because he happened to walk by the place of the incident an hour later (coming back from a visit) and because the nazis know him. The prosecutor did not like the way he looked or his ideas. The police were not able to find the real attackers and the media was in a frenzy and all this made him the scapegoat. Rafal spent 4 months under arrest. There were 3 solidarity pickets, one at the court and two at the jail. There were dozens of letters and faxes sent and a petition with over 300 names. More than a dozen people are charged with misdemeanors for the
last picket. In the end, thanks to our efforts and Rafal's lawyer, he was released from custody. But charges haven't been dropped yet.

Another thing. We don't accept the categories the system creates of "guilty" or "not guilty". He is an antifascist fighting a war and therefore deserves our support.

Szczecin: Dominik S., anarchosyndicalist, member of the FA and worker at the Szczecin Shipyards. He was accused by authorities of enciting people to commit crimes. The crime turns out to be that he was giving out newpapers.
"Shipworker" is a radical paper for workers. It criticizes the rich financiers who run the shipyard. Apparently the paper was so influential they decided to silence him. Szczecin anarchists are organizing protests.

Bialystok: Early in the morning of August 7, police raided the De Centrum squat with a search warrant. There were about 10 plain clothes officer and a police van. The police broke down the doors to the squat with an axe and entered waving guns. Two people in the squat were taken in.

Their official pretext was that they were looking for stolen goods. They didn't find any. The narcs also searched the premises but came up empty-handed - the squatters didn't have any drugs. The police calmed down a bit because the press reacted and came to the scene quickly, smelling a juicy story. Police were ridiculed in the local papers. On the evening of the 7th, squatters
took back control of the building. There was a complete mess there. Everything was destroyed, even ceilings and floors were torn up and there were big holes made in the walls. The police also confiscated all sorts of equipment like bikes, tape recorders, teapots, etc. - they even confiscated 2 kilos of onions! We held a press conference at the squat and showed them what the police had done. This led to further articles in the papers. We will keep you updated on this case.

The Situation after the Anti-Border Camp

The situation is not the worst. 4 people were charged with misdemeanors as a result of the arrests when the police attacked them without any reason before a happening in Krynki. Other than this and the constant annoyance of having documents checked by police, there were no big problems. The only thing was that the Bialystok activists experienced more controls around the squat. This was especially noticeable the day after the camp when even undercover cops were taking down
people's names. I guess that blew their cover.

The Situation in Goteborg

The repression in Goteborg were very serious. Over a dozen people were sentenced to between 3 months and 4 years in jail. Others are still waiting to go to trial. About half of them are foreigners. There are Germans, Danes and English among them. The sentences were conveniently handed down right after Genoa when everybody was paying attention to that and it seemed that everybody had forgotten about Sweden. The 19-year old Swede who was shot by the police has undergone an operation
and had a kidney and part of his spleen removed. He is recovering and is very active in the prisoner support group.

The Situation in Genoa

After the protest against the G8 summit in Genoa, there remain (as of writing this), 30 people in jail. Almost half are foreigners, most from Germany.The others were released as there were no grounds to hold them but still they were deported and are forbidden to enter Italy (and in some cases the EU) for 5 years.

Lawyers are working non-stop but the situation is difficult because there are only a couple to deal with all the arrested. Almost all are being accused of belonging to a criminal group planning destruction and pillage. These are new accusations; before they were things like "belonging to a terrorist organization, intending to attack public officials". Pressure on the Italian government is increasing. A mass trial against Italian police is also being planned based on the precendent of a case in Amsterdam after a EU meeting in the early 90s. Then, a large amount of compensation was awarded to the victims. More than a dozen police have been sacked following their brutal behaviour during the demos and the murderer of Carlo Guiliani is being charged with
premeditated murder. However, we don't believe in miracles. We will keep you informed.

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