Category Archives: English

Greece: Police allege helicopter escape attempt by revolutionary comrades held hostage in Korydallos Prison, implicate comrade in clandestinity Pola Roupa of Revolutionary Struggle

Over the last days an anti-terrorist media spectacle is unfolding in Greece. Police released a statement about an incident of attempted helicopter hijack on 21 February; a woman using a fake ID card and apparently with the description of Pola Roupa, clandestine member of R.O. – Revolutionary Struggle attempted to hijack a helicopter departing from Thebes with a pistol. The woman had booked a flight to pick up 5 people at a pre-arranged route, but caused the pilot at gunpoint to change direction towards Attica. At one point, the pilot fought back, being an ex-policeman, who claimed to have recognised Roupa through media photographs. He tried to take the pistol, leading to a struggle which ended in the helicopter being brought down with two bullet holes in the windshield and one in the instrument panel. The woman then escaped and so far has not been captured. Police recovered a pistol mag, headphones and a wig which were sent for forensic analysis. The police believe that this was an attempt to spring imprisoned member of Revolutionary Struggle, Nikos Maziotis, from Korydallos Prison, and they also speak as well of anarchist comrade Antonis Stamboulos, bank robber Giorgos Petrakakos and “at least 2 to 3 members” of R.O. – Conspiracy of Cells of Fire who are suspected of participating. The police now attempt to reconstruct the “synchronisation” of the imprisoned comrades and locate the woman who made the defeated hijacking operation.

Maziotis is held in the isolation dungeon which is the basement of the Woman’s Section of Korydallos, where members of R.O. – November 17 and R.O. – Conspiracy of Cells of Fire are also held. Searches by the security forces took place in all parts of the isolation basement yesterday night revealing absolutely nothing.

http://325.nostate.net/?p=18994

USA: Albert Woodfox is Freed Today on his 69th Birthday!

Friday, April 19, 2016 – Louisiana, USA

Just moments ago, Albert Woodfox, the last remaining member of the Angola 3 still behind bars, was released from prison 43 years and 10 months after he was first put in a 6×9 foot solitary cell for a crime he did not commit. After decades of costly litigation, Louisiana State officials have at last acted in the interest of justice and reached an agreement that brings a long overdue end to this nightmare. Albert has maintained his innocence at every step, and today, on his 69th birthday, he will finally begin a new phase of his life as a free man.

In anticipation of his release this morning, Albert thanked his many supporters and added: “Although I was looking forward to proving my innocence at a new trial, concerns about my health and my age have caused me to resolve this case now and obtain my release with this no-contest plea to lesser charges.  I hope the events of today will bring closure to many.”

Over the course of the past four decades, Albert’s conviction was overturned three separate times for a host of constitutional violations including prosecutorial misconduct, inadequate defense, racial discrimination in the selection of the grand jury foreperson, and suppression of exculpatory evidence. On June 8th, 2015, Federal Judge James Brady ordered Albert’s immediate release and barred the State from retrying Albert, an extraordinary ruling that he called “the only just remedy.” A divided panel of the 5th Circuit Court of appeals reversed that order in November with the dissenting Judge arguing that “If ever a case justifiably could be considered to present ‘exceptional circumstances’ barring re-prosecution, this is that case.” That ruling was on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court when news of his release broke.

On behalf of the Angola 3 – Albert Woodfox, Robert King, and in memory of Herman Wallace – we would like to sincerely thank all the organizations, activists, artists, legal experts, and other individuals who have so graciously given their time and talent to the Angola 3’s extraordinary struggle for justice. This victory belongs to all of us and should motivate us to stand up and demand even more fervently that long-term solitary confinement be abolished, and all the innocent and wrongfully incarcerated be freed.

Please direct all media enquiries to Albert’s legal team: laura.burstein@squirepb.com,
202-626-6868(o)
202-669-3411(c)

http://angola3.org/

Korydallos: Prisoners’ Initiative demand an explanation from the Minister of Justice (Greece)

1. Aspiotis’ lawyer comments on the torture his client endured in prison

2. Tameio-Athens statement on the assault of Panayotis Aspiotis

Today, Saturday Feb 6th, at 6:30 in the morning, counter-terrorism units intruded the D section of Korydallos prison, in order to remove our fellow prisoner Fabio Dusco, who was brought here the day before from Trikala Prison in order to be present at his trial which commences on the 15th of February. Fabio faces charges as a member of the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire for an attempt to escape from prison.

After his kidnap by the counter-terrorism officers he was taken to the Removal Centre on Petrou Ralli street where he is expected to remain for as long as the trial lasts, which could take months. All of these have happened during an ongoing organizing in Korydallos prison against the authoritarian regime of the prison management and the squalid conditions of detention.

Most importantly, these are happening during a left-wing administration which has shown complete disregard for prisoners’ issues and the rest of the problems faced by society. These are the same people who promised prison reform and improvement in conditions of detention. These are the same people who promised to abolish special conditions of detention.

In the end it seems that even the abolition of Type C prisons was in effect only on paper (this was also the only promise that was apparently kept by the government). Because if the Ministry of Justice is not responsible for the abduction of our fellow prisoner, then who is? Would it be the police and the counter-terrorism units who made this prison their stomping ground by intruding to conduct searches at any time, or would it be the prison management itself that turns away unwanted prisoners? Are going to witness once again the representatives of the two ministries blaming each other so that the whole issue could be forgotten?

We can all identify with our fellow prisoner, because it might have been him today but tomorrow it could be any of us who gets arbitrarily labelled dangerous and unwanted.

This is why prisoners in sections A and D staged a protest today by remaining outside in the yard after the scheduled prison lock-up (17:10-18:10). We demand the abolition of any special conditions of detention and the return of our fellow prisoner back to Korydallos prison.

P.S. While our protest was in progress, our worst fears were confirmed in the worst possible way…

Our fellow prisoner Panayotis Aspiotos was going to be transferred to Korydallos from Nauplio for his interrogation on Monday 8th of February. Instead, he was also taken to the Removal Centre, he was isolated from other prisoners and was led to an area with no cctv where he was assaulted by counter terrorism officers in balaclavas who attempted to violently (and currently illegally) get a sample of his DNA. Our fellow prisoner resisted and as a result he was hit multiple times on the head and his entire body. He remains seriously injured inside the Removal Centre until now.

We demand his immediate transfer to Korydallos Prison and a public explanation from the Minister of Justice for everything these prisoners were subjected to during the past few days.

Prisoners’ Initiative

http://325.nostate.net/?p=18847

Japan: Police raid Chūkaku-ha base over long-time Shibuya riot fugitive, arrest two

On January 18th, police raided a small apartment in Kita ward in Tokyo, where they uncovered hints on the whereabouts of Masaaki Ōsaka. Now aged 66, Ōsaka was an activist in the far-left radical group Chūkaku-ha and is named as a suspect in the death of a police officer during a riot in Shibuya 45 years ago.

Police announced that the apartment was a Chūkaku-ha ajito, or secret base, and that they believe Ōsaka is had been living there until a few years ago. This is the first known raid on a place where he is suspected to have resided. Ōsaka has been on the lam the longest among the most-wanted fugitives in Japan. His image remains a common sight on wanted posters at police substations, especially in Tokyo.

Police perennially make announcements about Ōsaka as they find the crumbs left behind on his fugitive trail. In 2012, an ajito was exposed in Tachikawa City, west Tokyo, and items seized from it revealed possibilities that Ōsaka was hiding out somewhere in Kita ward. The raid on January 18th was carried out by police on suspicion of fraudulent signed private documents, and security police are now checking if there were any items left behind that could provide clues on Ōsaka’s current status. (This is a common tactic, raiding locations or arresting radical activists on minor charges that it is hoped will lead to other pieces of information.)

During the January 18th raid, two men in their forties and fifties who resisted the search were arrested on suspicion of interfering with police officials carrying out an investigation. The police say they are members of a “revolutionary army” secret wing of the radical organisation that carries out terrorist activities and supports fugitives. They are both remaining silent in police custody (the usual Japanese New Left tactic ofkanmoku) and the Chūkaku-ha organ, Zenshin, has yet to make a public comment. (This post is based solely on mainstream media reports.)

Ōsaka is a suspect in the death of a young police officer during the so-called Shibuya Riot Incident on November 14th, 1971. The riot escalated out of a protest against the continued occupation of Okinawa by United States (at the time, the bases in Okinawa were heavily used as part of the United States war machine operating in Vietnam). It came at the end of the most intense series of large-scale protests in Japan, and in a year that saw multiple bombings and “guerrilla” activity by both radical factions and also non-sectarians. Ōsaka is accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail that set the officer on fire.

Ōsaka was one of seven Chūkaku-ha activists named as suspects in the killing; all the others have been arrested and charged. Among them is Fumiaki Hoshino, who was arrested in 1975 and remains in prison on a full life sentence, though the evidence to link him to the actual death of the police officer is based on police confessions on six other activists (three of whom were minors) that were later retracted. His campaigners have been fighting for a retrial for many years, as well as two civil suits over “lost” evidence and censored letters between Hoshino and his wife. They regularly hold demonstrations, including in Tokushima around the prison where Hoshino is held.

Since late 2014 there has been a conspicuous resurgence in police raids on Chūkaku-ha facilities and arrests of activists, though none have been charged as yet.

http://325.nostate.net/?p=18636

Grussbotschaft der RHI-Arbeitskonferenz 2015

Grussbotschaft an die militanten revolutionären Gefangenen – Zürich 12/14 November 2015

In diesen Tagen fand in Zürich die regelmässig stattfindende Arbeitskonferenz der Roten Hilfe International statt. Wir können aus der Arbeit der letzten sechs Monate eine positive Bilanz ziehen. Zu betonen ist das Niveau von Homogenität und Koheränz in der Zusammenarbeit verschiedener Organisationen, mit jeweils eigenen nationalen Schwerpunkten. In der politischen Einheit und organisatorischen Methode wurde ein verbindendes und zufriedenstellendes Gleichgewicht erarbeitet.

Dies ist nicht zu unterschätzen, das es sehr schwierig und über Krisen zu erreichen war. Möglich wurde diese durch die Akzeptanz der Widersprüche und eine Methode zur Überwindung derselben, nämlich in einer Praxis ständiger Überprüfung in den jeweiligen Mobilisierungen.

Hinzu kommt die aktuelle Situation der wachsenden imperialistischen Krise, welche die sozialen und internationalen Widersprüche verschärft. Deshalb wächst seit einigen Jahren die Bedeutung der Kampagnen der RHI. Diese führen verschiedene Interessen zusammen. So war es auch bei der Befreiungskampagne für Georges Abdallah, die im Zusammenhang mit dem andauernden Krieg im Nahen Osten und der antiimperialistischen Frage steht. Diese Kampagne wurde weltweit von vielen politischen und gesellschaftlichen Organisationen unterstützt und hat eine sehr grosse Tragweite erreicht. Sie wurde mit anderen Kampagnen zur Unterstützung palästinensischer, marokkanischer, iranischer Gefangener verknüpft und natürlich auch mit dem aktuellen Auge des Sturms in Türkei-Kurdistan.

Rojava hat sich die Namen „Hoffung“ und „Weg für den Befreiungskampf der Völker“ verdient. Die RHI hat viel Arbeit und Solidarität in dessen Richtung geleistet. In dieser Arbeit und dem Projekt Rojava fanden wir eine ausserordentliche Energie- und Erfahrungsquelle, wie sie auch viele Militante erleben, die neue Seiten in der Geschichte des proletarischen Internationalismus schreiben. Entsprechend erleben wir auch in dieser Konferenz einen qualitativen Sprung in der konstruktiven Zusammenarbeit mit den türkischen Militanten.

Weitere Kampagnen zeigen ihre Wichtigkeit durch ihren neuen Aufschwung. Der Kampf für die Langzeitgefangenen, unter anderem bei den spanischen GenossInnen, Marco Camenisch in der Schweiz oder Mumia Abu Jamal und andere AfroamerikanerInnen in den USA eröffnet ein breites proletarisches revolutionäres Feld. Die neuen Gefangenen in Griechenland und dem Ukraine-Donbass leisten durch ihren Kampf wichtige Beiträge für die Sache und im Versuch, vorwärts zu kommen. Sie tun dies durch eine Verinnerlichung des aktuellen sozialen Aufruhrs und der politisch organisatorischen Erfahrungen.

Überall und für alle. Somit bestätigt sich die Wichtigkeit der Mobilisierungen gegen die Haftbedingungen, besonders die brutalsten wie die verschiedensten Formen der Isolationshaft und Verelendung. Die Anwendung des Art. 41-bis in Italien wurde hier als eins der abartigsten Beispiele genommen. Aber auch als Beispiel einer eskalativen Antwort der Bourgeoisie auf eine Verstärkung des revolutionären Kampfes. Deshalb lanciert die RHI nochmals die Kampagne gegen den Art. 41-bis und berücksichtigt neue Möglichkeiten, diesen Kampf in Europa zu verbreiten. Dieser Kampf ist ein Symbol gegen Sonderhaft, die sich auf die Isolation und andere Folterformen stützt.

Es steigt die Bedeutung einer Antwort auf die Repression gegen die Klassenkämpfe. Diese Repression offenbart sich mit Massenverhaftungen und Sanktionen bis hin zur Anwendung von Antiterrorgesetzen. Diese Erfahrung teilen viele Länder und sie trägt schliesslich dazu bei, das Bewusstsein innerhalb der kämpfenden Sektoren und Bewegungen zu erhöhen. Bekannte Beispiele sind die italienische No-TAV-Bewegung, die radikalen Arbeitskämpfe in Belgien, Türkei, Spanien / Euskadi und natürlich auch in Griechenland. Das sind wichtige Erfahrungen, die teuer zu bezahlen sind, für das Wachstum politischen Bewusstseins und eine Neudefinierung der Dialektik zwischen den Massen und den revolutionär organisierten Kräfte. Eine Situation voller Spannungen und Verschärfungen der Konflikte, mit vielen Schwierigkeiten und Hürden, die es zu überwinden gilt. Die RHI kann, wie alle anderen Wirklichkeiten, die eine revolutionäre Perspektive entwickeln, wichtige Impulse für die Dynamik der Klasse geben. Es ist wichtig, sich dabei den Hürden und Schwierigkeiten zu stellen, denn nur so kommt man voran.

DER WIDERSTAND UND DIE IDENTITÄT DER REVOLUTIONÄREN GEFANGENEN SIND KRAFT FÜR DIE BEWEGUNG DER KLASSE

DIE KLASSENKÄMPFE UND IHRE REVOLUTIONÄRE TENDENZ SIND DIE WAHRE SOLIDARITÄT FÜR DIE GEFANGENEN

SOLIDARITÄT AUFBAUEN – IN RICHTUNG REVOLUTION SCHREITEN

ARBEITSKONFERENZ DER RHI

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Message of solidarity to the militant revolutionary prisoners – Zürich 12/14 November 2015
The regular work conference of the International Red Help took place in the past days in Zürich. Our findings are positive if we take stock of our work in the past six months. We must emphasize the degree of homogeneity and coherence in the collaboration of different organizations with distinct national emphases. A balance that is uniting and satisfying has been achieved in our political unity and the organizational methods.
This should not be underestimated as the path to this achievement was very difficult and various crises had to be surpassed. This was managed by accepting contradictions and finding a method to overcome them by continuously verifying them in our actions during the various mobilizations.
An additional factor is the increasing imperialist crisis which aggravates the social and international contradictions even more. For this reason, the importance of the campaigns of the IRH has increased. The campaigns connect different interests. This was the case in the campaign of liberation for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, this campaign is linked to the continuing war in the Middle East and the anti-imperialist question. The campaign has been supported globally by many political and social organizations and was therefore able to achieve a broad range. This campaign was connected to others for the support of Palestinian, Moroccan and Iranian prisoners and evidently also to the current focal point in Turkey / Kurdistan.
Rojava has earned its place to be called “Hope” and “Path for the Struggle of Liberation of the People”. The IRH has been very active concerning this topic. In this work and the project Rojava we found a vast source of energy and experiences. Many militants have experienced this when they were writing new pages in the history of proletarian internationalism there. Subsequently, we can note a qualitative leap forward in the presence of Turkish militants in our work.
Other campaigns demonstrate their importance via their renewed upturn. The struggle for long-term prisoners such as the Spanish comrade, Marco Camenisch in Switzerland, or Mumia Abu Jamal and other Afro-Americans in the United States opens up a large field of proletarian and revolutionary struggle. The newer prisoners in Greece and the Ukraine / Donbass contribute to the cause and the attempts to move forwards with their very own experiences. They do this by being a part of the current social uprisings and the political-organizational experiences around them.
Everywhere and for all. The importance of mobilizing against conditions of imprisonment is confirmed, especially in the most brutal forms such as isolation and impoverishment. The use of the article 41-bis in Italy is one of the most abhorrent examples. But it is also an example for an escalating response by the bourgeoisie against the power of revolutionary struggles. That is way the IRH will relaunch the campaign against 41-bis and will find new ways to disseminate across Europe. This struggle is a symbol against special conditions of imprisonment which are based on isolation and other forms of torture.
The importance for a response to increased repression against class struggles has risen. This repression is displayed in mass arrests and sanctions leading up to the use of anti-terror laws. Many countries have such experiences and can contribute in increasing awareness of this topic in the fighting sectors and movements. Known examples are the Italian No-TAV-movement, the radical labor struggles in Belgium, Turkey, Spain / Basque region and of course in Greece. These are valuable experiences for the development of political consciousness and a new definition of the dialectics between the masses and the organized revolutionary forces which carry a dear price. A situation full of tensions and increasing conflict with many difficulties and barriers that must be overcome. As all others, the IRH can develop a revolutionary perspective and give important impulses to the dynamics of the class. Difficulties and barriers must be confronted, this is the only way to overcome them.
THE RESISTANCE AND IDENTITY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY PRISONERS STRENGTHEN THE CLASS MOVEMENT
CLASS STRUGGLES AND THEIR REVOLUTIONARY TENDENCIES ARE TRUE SOLIDARITY WITH THE PRISONERS
CONSTRUCT SOLIDARITY – STEP BY STEP TOWARDS REVOLUTION

WORK CONFERENCE OF THE IRH

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SALUTO AI MILITANTI RIVOLUZIONARI PRIGIONIERI – ZURICH 12/14 NOVEMBRE 2015

La periodica riunione plenaria delle strutture di Soccorso Rosso Internazionale si é tenuta in questi giorni a Zurich. Momento di bilancio e sintesi del lavoro svolto nell’ultimo semestre, é stato decisamente positivo. Si puo’ sottolineare, in particolare, il livello di omogeneità e coerenza nella cooperazione fra strutture che, agendo in contesti nazionali differenti , sono giunte a trovare una linea di equilibrio soddisfacente. In sintesi politica ed in metodo organizzativo.

Acquisizione non da poco, quando si consideri la fatica per arrivarci, passando per diverse crisi. E questo anche grazie all’assunzione delle contraddizioni e ad un metodo per il loro affrontamento, basato principalmente su una prassi di continua verifica, nel vivo delle mobilitazioni.

Ed in un contesto generale, di precipitazione della crisi imperialistica, che acuisce tutte le contraddizioni sociali ed internazionali. Per cui le stesse campagne condotte dal SRI, qualche volta da alcuni anni, acquisiscono ancora piu’ valenza e significato. Situandosi alla convergenza di diversi elementi di portata generale.

E’ il caso per la campagna di liberazione per Georges Abdallah, in evidente rapporto con lo stato di guerra vigente in Medio Oriente e con la questione antimperialista. Campagna che, fatta propria ormai da tantissimi organismi, politici ed associativi, nel mondo, ha acquisito grande dimensione. In connessione peraltro con le altre, ricorrenti, in sostegno dei  prigionieri palestinesi, o del Marocco, dell’Iran, fino ovviamente all’attuale epicentro delle tempeste mediorientali: Kurdistan e Turchia.

Rojava é diventata, legittimamente, nome di speranza e riscatto per le aspirazioni rivoluzionarie dei popoli. SRI ha sviluppato molta attività e solidarietà in sua direzione. Trovandovi, come i /le tanti militanti che stanno scrivendo nuove pagine dell’Internazionalismo Proletario , una eccezionale fonte di energie e di confronto. Non a caso anche in questa Conferenza registriamo un salto di qualità nella partecipazione costruttiva da parte dei militanti di Turchia.

Altre campagne si confermano nella loro vitalità : quella contro le lunghe carcerazioni, fra cui alcune – quelle dei compagni spagnoli, di Marco Camenisch in Svizzera, quella di Mumia Abu Jamal e di altri afroamericani negli USA – sono di ampia portata per il campo proletario rivoluzionario.

Mentre prigionieri piu’ recenti, quelli in Grecia e quelli in Ucraina-­Donbass, per la loro forte internità al generale sommovimento sociale in corso e per l’interesse delle loro esperienze politico­organizzative, costituiscono un sicuro apporto alla causa ed alle ricerche per avanzare.

Ovunque e per tutti.

Cosi si conferma l’importanza della mobilitazione contro le condizioni carcerarie, segnatamente quelle piu’ violente come le varie forme di isolamento e deprivazione. Il regime ad art. 41Bis, in Italia, é stato assunto come esempio fra i piu’ aberranti ; ma anche come dimostrazione, nel suo riscontro in negativo da parte borghese, della potenzialità della lotta rivoluzionaria. Percio’ SRI ne ha rilanciato fortemente la campagna per la sua abolizione. Trovando, o coinvolgendo, altri organismi disponibili a farne agitazione a scala europea. E come simbolo della lotta contro i regimi speciali, basati sull’isolamento ed altre forme di tortura.

Ancora molta importanza sta prendendo la risposta alla repressione contro le lotte di classe, con la massificazione di arresti ed altre sanzioni. Fino all’utilizzo delle leggi antiterrorismo. Esperienza fatta ormai in molti paesi ma che, infine, permette pure l’elevamento della coscienza entro i movimenti e settori in lotta. E’ il ben noto caso del no­tav italiano, oppure delle recenti manifestazioni operaie radicali in Belgio, in Turchia, in Spagna ed Euskadi e, ovviamente, in Grecia. Sono grandi occasioni, seppur pagate a caro prezzo, per la crescita della coscienza politica e per il rideterminarsi di una dialettica fra le istanze di massa e quelle organizzate rivoluzionarie .

Insomma, una situazione di tensioni e crescita dei conflitti, in cui tra tante difficoltà elimiti da superare, SRI come ogni altro organismo volto allo sviluppo della prospettiva rivoluzionaria possono dare degli impulsi alle dinamiche di classe. Situandosi proprio sul filo di queste difficoltà e limiti da superare, perché solo cosi si puo’ avanzare.

LA RESISTENZA E L’ IDENTITA’ DEI RIVOLUZIONARI PRIGIONIERI SONO FORZA PER IL MOVIMENTO DI CLASSE

LE LOTTE DELLA CLASSE E LA SUA TENDENZA RIVOLUZIONARIA SONO LA VERA SOLIDARIETA’ VERSO I PRIGIONIERI

COSTRUIRE SOLIDARIETA’ – AVANZARE VERSO LA RIVOLUZIONE

CONFERENZA DI LAVORO DEL S.R.I.

Italy: Billy, Costa and Silvia sent to trial again

On July 17th 2015, the preliminary hearing against Silvia Guerini, Costantino ‘Costa’ Ragusa and Luca ‘Billy’ Bernasconi took place in Turin, Italy. The three have been previously arrested and jailed for several years in Switzerland, accused of having organised an act of sabotage against a nanotechnology research centre of IBM, under construction at the time. On April 15th 2010, they were stopped and arrested by Swiss police who searched their car and found explosives, as well as leaflets claiming the imminent action under the name ‘Earth Liberation Front Switzerland’.

They have now been indicted according to the article 110 of the Italian penal code, which is used to punish offenses of criminal association. Particularly they’re accused of having conspired together to plan the action in Italy, of having illegally obtained the materials needed to assemble and prepare explosive devices, and of having smuggled such devices between the Italian and Swiss border. All charges include the aggravating circumstance of the ‘purpose of terrorism’, historically used in political trials in Italy to obtain long pretrial detention, and longer prison sentence if found guilty.

The judge at the preliminary hearing accepted the thesis proposed by the deputy prosecutor Enrico Arnaldi Di Balme and found irrelevant that Billy, Costa and Silvia have already been tried and convicted in the Swiss Confederation.

The trial will commence on January 13th 2016 in Turin. Let’s use it as an occasion to relaunch the struggle against environmental destruction.

In view of the trial, the three comrades are facing a hard time and need to cover several legal expenses, so they’ve shared a call for support. Any help is much appreciated. Donations can be made to: conto corrente postale intestato a (postal current account payable to) Marta Cattaneo, IBAN: IT11A0760111100001022596116, BIC: BPPIITRRXXX. Please specify donation reason: solidarietà a Silvia Billy Costa (solidarity with Silvia Billy Costa).

More info on the case and updates (in Italian):
silviabillycostaliberi.noblogs.org

http://en.contrainfo.espiv.net/2015/10/10/italy-billy-costa-and-silvia-sent-to-trial-again/

Greek prisons: Text of Revolutionary Struggle prisoner Kostas Gournas about the hunger strike undertaken by Evi Statiri

September 15th 2015:

It is a longstanding as well as an infamous tactic of the State — particularly of the police-judicial mechanism — to use fabricated charges against relatives so as to hold them hostage and put pressure on fighters and political prisoners. It was done in 2002 [against Angeliki Sotiropoulou, wife of 17N prisoner Dimitris Koufontinas], it was done in 2010 [againstMarie Beraha, wife of Revolutionary Struggle prisoner Kostas Gournas], and it was done again in March 2015 [against Evi Statiri, wife of CCF prisoner Gerasimos Tsakalos, but also against Athena Tsakalou, mother of the Tsakalos brothers]. This is because the repressive policy applied against imprisoned members of armed organisations is an ongoing process of political extermination by any means.

After its capitulation on February 20th, the SYRIZA-led government was faced with the first class confrontation — that is, the hunger strike of political prisoners during Spring — and was compelled to vote favorably — among others – on an amendment that theoretically opened the way for the relatives of CCF members to be released. Today, after being refused her liberation six times by judicial councils, Evi Statiri, companion of an imprisoned member of the organisation, is still in prison. Her case is the clearest proof, not only of the acceptance of a state of emergency surrounding the memorandum by the government of the Left, but also of the strict application of a state of exception for political prisoners.

For those in society who had the clarity and determination to approach the ‘no’ vote in the referendum in a class manner and to oppose every memorandum, though without being able to take the next step forward, the question of an alternative way other than the one of delegation or relinquishment, which all the bourgeois parliamentary forces are charting, is more pressing than ever. And this is no other way than struggle and solidarity. Evi’s way…

SOLIDARITY WITH EVI STATIRI
on hunger strike since September 14th 2015

Source: http://en.contrainfo.espiv.net/2015/09/25/text-of-kostas-gournas-about-the-hunger-strike-undertaken-by-evi-statiri/

Demonstration in Lannemezan (France) on 24 October 2015 for the liberation of Georges Abdallah !

Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, a 64 year-old Lebanese communist, was arrested in Lyon (France) on 24 October 1984 and sentenced to life imprisonment for actions for which the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions (LARF) claimed responsibility.

In 1978 he fought with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) to push back the Israeli invasion of the Lebanon.

He was due for release in 1999, and keeping him in jail responds to a political decision on the part of the French State, with the backing of Israel and the United States. The latest request for parole for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah filed in 2014 was once again turned down. But we will not be deterred by this decision; it will only make us all the more determined! We will not be silenced by this decision; we will make our voice heard!

Georges Ibrahim Abdallah is an antiimperialist, pro-Palestinian militant held in jail by the French State.

At a time when hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are fighting against their imprisonment and the occupation of Palestine, it is our duty as antiimperialist militants in France and around the world to join forces more than ever for the release of Georges Abdallah so that he can return to the Lebanon.

The 24 October 2015 will mark the 32nd anniversary of his detention, when a large demonstration is being organised in France and around the world:

– National demonstration in front of Lannemezan prison on Saturday 24 October 2015 at 2 p.m.

– Actions, rallies and demonstrations in towns and cities around the world around the 24 October 2015.

“The best solidarity for a political prisoner is to get increasing involvement on the ground in the fight against the system of exploitation and domination.” Georges Abdallah.

An open-price coach will be leaving from Toulouse (Basso Cambo metro station at 11 a.m.).

First signatories: Action Antifasciste de Périgueux (24), Association Solidarité avec le Peuple Marocain (44), Collectif “Bassin minier” pour la libération de Georges Ibrahim Abdallah (62), Collectif Coup Pour Coup 31, Collectif pour la Libération de Georges Ibrahim Abdallah (Paris), Collectif Palestine Libre (Toulouse), Collectif de soutien à la résistance palestinienne (CSRP 59), Collectivo Palestina Rossa (Italie), Comité « Libérez-les ! » (59 – 62) de soutien aux prisonniers et réfugiés politiques, Comité Solidarité Georges Abdallah Lille, Fronte Palestina (Italie), Gers-Palestine, GUPS Aix-Marseille, OCML Voie Prolétarienne, Samidoun, Secours rouge Arabe, Secours Rouge International, Sortir du Colonialisme

To sign the call, send an e-mail to: couppourcoup31[at]gmail.com

Greece: Evi Statiri has announced a hunger strike after being denied release

From March 2nd to April 4th 2015, the ten imprisoned members of the anarchist urban guerrilla group Conspiracy of Cells of Fire/FAI-FRI, Gerasimos Tsakalos, Christos Tsakalos, Olga Ekonomidou, Michalis Nikolopoulos, Giorgos Nikolopoulos, Haris Hadjimihelakis, Giorgos Polidoros, Panagiotis Argirou, Damiano Bolano and Theofilos Mavropoulos — along with anarchist captive Angeliki Spyropoulou — conducted an exhaustive hunger strike demanding the release of their relatives, Athena Tsakalou (mother of the Tsakalos brothers) and Evi Statiri (wife of Gerasimos Tsakalos), who were arrested six months ago and absurdly charged in connection with the CCF escape plan, which was foiled in January 2015.

On April 6th, Athena Tsakalou walked out of prison under extremely harsh and restrictive measures.

Half a year after her arrest, Evi Statiri is still being held in pretrial detention in Koridallos women’s prison, solely on the basis of being the life companion of CCF member Gerasimos Tsakalos.

On September 7th, it became known that a judicial council chaired by judge Chalevidou rejected Evi Statiri’s latest motion to be released. On the same day, Evi published an open letter announcing that she will commence a hunger strike on September 14th, demanding her immediate liberation from prison.

Below are excerpts from a letter titled “From the Country of The Forgotten; Against Oblivion” which was recently written by CCF member Olga Ekonomidou as a contribution to Tamara Sol Farías Vergara and Natalia “Tato” Collado, compañeras imprisoned in Chile, as well as a gesture of solidarity with captive Evi Statiri (the full text is being translated from Greek into Spanish):

« For the domination, the extension of Evi’s detention is of double significance. On the one hand, the endurances of urban guerrillas and the tolerances of solidarians are being put to the test, and on the other hand the broader tactic of criminalising family relations is thus being legitimised. It is the psychological game of Power that, among other things, invades the consciences as a battering ram. It aims at the minds of relatives so as to wear them down, dismay them, make them feel frustrated and eventually turn them against us, corrupting the relationship of trust we have with them because they find themselves paying the price of our own choices. And if in the path of every personal history some comrades, friends or close ones stayed by our side and others gave up on us, this is because one easily stands next to people when they succeed in doing something, but hardly in their difficult times. However, the domination has not won this game. They placed a bet on the weakening of emotional ties and their conversion, a bet they lost already. Because, even six months later, the persons who are close to us, either from inside the prison or from the restrictive, delimited areas where they find themselves due to judicial orders, continue to give us smiles of patience and trust while maintaining their own dignity.

So, the wager is ours to make, of every anarchist cell and individuality that promotes the continuous attack, the insurgency, to prove that there will be no truce with the enemy, neither now nor ever. Especially amid repressive operations, one does not back down, but instead reignites the outbreaks of attack so as to become truly dangerous; to remain a threat as an internal enemy of the heart of the system. Because everything that rolls downhill can only be stopped when a barrier is erected in front of it, otherwise it will continue to do so indefinitely by continuously increasing speed, sweeping away anything that’s inferior to the proportions. It is a live wager, without end but with duration, advance and tension, having only one direction… liberation, anarchy.

“I do not need, nor do I want your discipline. With regards to my experiences, I want to have them for myself. It is from them, and not from you, that I will draw my rules of conduct. I want to live my own life. Slaves and lackeys terrify me. I hate those who dominate, and those who let themselves be dominated sicken me. He who bends before the whip is worth no more than he who wields it. I love danger, and the unknown, the uncertain, seduces me. I’m filled with a desire for adventure, and I don’t give a damn for success. I hate your society of bureaucrats and administrators, millionaires and beggars. I don’t want to adapt to your hypocritical customs nor to your false courtesies. I want to live out my enthusiasms in the pure, fresh air of freedom. . . . I’m going to follow my own path, according to my passions, changing myself ceaselessly, and I don’t want to be the same tomorrow as I am today. I stroll along and I don’t let my wings be clipped by the scissors of any one person. . . . I hate every chain, every hindrance; I love to walk along, nude, letting my flesh be caressed by the rays of the voluptuous sun. And, oh, old man! I will care so very little when your society breaks into a thousand pieces and I can finally live my life.
— Who are you, little girl, fascinating like a mystery and savage-like instinct?
— I am Anarchy.”
(Émile Armand, French individualist anarchist)

Olga Ekonomidou
member of the C.C.F.-F.A.I.
Koridallos women’s prison

http://en.contrainfo.espiv.net/2015/09/08/greek-prisons-evi-statiri-has-announced-a-hunger-strike-after-being-denied-release/

‘Concerning the New Memorandum and the Elections of 20 September’ by Nikos Maziois of R.O.- Revolutionary Struggle (Greece)

The 3rd Memorandum signed by the SYRIZA government marks the complete political bankruptcy of the left regime and the chimerical aspirations for a more “humane” capitalism. After taking office last January, this marks the collapse of the attempted Syriza management of the defeat of the popular social movements from the period 2010-2012. For those who had no illusions, this whole period until the adoption of the 3rd Memorandum represents simply a waiting period for the predicted backtracking, where the campaign promises to repeal or renegotiate the Memorandum and partial cancelling of the debt along with a parallel policy for the relief of the poor was first followed by the agreement of February 20 which extended the second memorandum, and then came (despite the disapproval of 62% of the voters in the referendum of July 5 rejecting the proposals of lenders) the third memorandum which is much worse than the measures rejected in the referendum.

Within a few months, Syriza crossed over its “red lines” in complete retreat and acceptance of the creditors’ demands, towards the acceptance of a Memorandum far more brutal than that which was voted by the previous Samaras government.

“First time left” [note: πρώτε φορά αριστερά- a popular Syriza slogan claiming that they were for the first time a left government in Greece’s history, as if they were somehow different from PASOK] and the total humiliation of the will of the social majority to get rid of Memorandum policies that make them serfs of the markets is unprecedented.

“First time left” and there was a quicker and more resounding denial and betrayal of expectations than all prior governments in political memory.

“First time left” and the Troika, now called “the institutions”, became officially quadripartite, since besides the EU, the ECB and the IMF who are the real masters of the country, now we also have the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) from which the SYRIZA government requested new loan agreements and signed the third memorandum.

“First time left” and the robbery against the people and the poor continues to further reduce wages and pensions, to increase the retirement age, for more savage taxation, and further accepting the privatization of public property. The left regime appropriately continues the politics of societal genocide launched in 2010 by the Papandreou government [the left of PASOK] with the first memorandum and which continued with the Samaras government signing the second memorandum.

The names of Tsipras, Varoufakis, Dragasaki, Skourletis, Pappas, Voutsis, Lafazanis, are added to the list of criminal policians such as Papandreou and Venizelos, Papaconstantinou, Loverdos, Chrisochoïdis, Samara, Mitsotakis, Vroutsi, Georgiadis and others who acted as puppets for the international economic elite.

With the passage of the third memorandum, SYRIZA signed in reality their political bankruptcy and condemnation, because in order to pass the new agreement with the lenders, support was based more on the votes of the opposition pro-European parties ND, Potami, PASOK, which led to the Syriza split which forced them to early elections on 20 September. These developments demonstrate the disgrace of bourgeois parliamentarism and that the political system is more destabilized than ever.

The social majority, the hungry, the poor, the destitute, the unemployed, the homeless, workers and youth have nothing to hope for from these elections as well. As I said before referring to the previous elections of January 2015, the solution is not given by elections, but by the people in arms.

No one has anything to hope from the criminals of political parties, the useful idiots and puppets of the international economic elites and the European Union, the implementers of the memorandum policies. No one has anything to hope from the new “anti-memorandum saviors” that emerged from the breakup of SYRIZA, Popular Unity, the former Left Platform of SYRIZA, supporters of adopting a national currency who present themselves as consistently anti-memorandum.

Popular Unity (LAE) is itself insolvent and unreliable, just as insolvent and unreliable as was Syriza well before taking power- when it appeared with anti-memorandum rhetoric and an unrealistic social-democratic and Keynesian program. These developments of the new “left Memorandum” have justified our prediction as Revolutionary Struggle concerning the transformation of SYRIZA into a neoliberal party, which we made long before they came into power. With almost all the political parties discredited, with PASOK and ANEL not far from inexistence as parties, with SYRIZA bankrupt within seven months and becoming a purely neoliberal party, with ND shrinking because of the second memorandum, with LAE not persuading anyone by adopting the old unworkable social-democrat program of SYRIZA, with a large part of society turning its back on the political system by abstaining from electoral illusions, and without any chance of a majority government, the country is in a status of permanent political instability, which those who want a revolutionary overthrow should exploit.

The bankruptcy of SYRIZA dispelled illusions about solving social problems due to the crisis within the existing system, because saving the system requires the enslavement and destruction of large sections of the population.

The country is a powder keg and needs only a spark or a detonator to blow up capital and the state

The fact that the 3rd left Memorandum passed amid general social apathy, with only a few people coming to the streets on 15 and 22 July for clashes, is the result of the deadlock of the major social and popular movements of the period of the First Memorandum from 2010-2012, a deadlock due to the lack of perspective and proposals for the revolutionary overthrow of capital and the state and the lack of an organized political-military force that will attempt to undertake the overthrow, that is to say, a revolutionary movement. But this situation should not disappoint us.

Revolutionaries have never acted by waiting for the masses to rise up spontaneously or get mobilized; rather they made their way by first giving the example of antagonistic action and taking advantage of turmoil at the base of society. There have never been more favorable objective conditions for action, for struggles, for revolution, because of the devaluation and instability of the regime; and there were never were worse subjective conditions, apathy, deadlock, and resignation, due to a lack of perspective and hope.

Our duty is to act in order to change the unfavorable conditions, to inspire hope and strength to revolt and overthrow. This action consists in destabilizing and undermining an already unstable system, the sabotage of the ruling policies for the implementation of memoranda and rescue programs, the sabotage of the policy that aims for investments of multinational capital in the country by privatizations and sell-offs of public property, the sabotage of the ongoing social theft and societal genocide.

The adoption of dynamic forms of action, guerrilla war and armed struggle, is a necessary choice for the sabotage of the ruling policies. Bombings or armed action on a massive scale, against offices, facilities, structures or entities of government and of local and international capital could destabilize even more the regime to deter investment and halt the selling off of public property, in making the country unsafe for investors.

Our struggles, besides the adoption of the guerrilla and armed struggle, connect with other forms of action- such as the violent protests of this July 15, with squats or relief actions of the socially weak and vulnerable, these may have social and popular acceptance and so be footholds on the path to revolutionary overthrow. But the overthrow of the capitalist state can only be guaranteed by the recourse to arms, the armed seizure of enemy strongholds, parliament, ministries, banks, the Bank of Greece and the disarming of the police stations.

At a time when all illusions dissolve, armed social revolution is the only way forward, the only way to save ourselves from societal genocide imposed by the international economic elites and the state…

To avoid counting other deaths from suicides, diseases, shortages of basic goods.
To prevent children fainting from hunger and malnutrition.
To abolish social classes and the state.
To socialize collective wealth.
To live with dignity and to take our life in our hands.

Let us not delude ourselves that all this can be done without having goals or proposals, or by being unable to popularize our proposals and confined to a sterile insurrectionism or having alternative illusions concerning peripheral self-managed “islands of freedom” and ventures that will surround the state and make the market economy disappear.

Let us not delude ourselves that all this can be done without risking our lives for freedom …For as history has shown, the tree of liberty grows only with blood.

NO ELECTORAL ILLUSIONS
ARMED SOCIAL REVOLUTION

N. Maziotis,
Member of Revolutionary Struggle,
Korydallos Prison

Source: http://325.nostate.net/?p=17298