For Mutual Aid & Solidarity
Toby Shone walked free from HMP Garth on Monday 11th November after serving his entire sentence. He was released at 8:30am and picked up by friends and comrades. He has no licence conditions or restrictions.
The State made a few last desperate attempts to exercise their spite and misery at losing Toby, including removing another close comrade from his phone list four days before his release, but it was to no avail.
Nothing is over, everything continues.
Drawing by the imprisoned anarchist Sergey Romanov
November 3, 2024
Anarchist Alexei Rozhkov is being charged under the article “terrorist act” for the arson of a military enlistment office in Berezovsky in March 2022, as well as for “justifying terrorism” and “spreading fakes” about the Russian army due to an interview he gave to “Khodorkovsky Live” while in Kyrgyzstan. At the end of May 2023, Rozhkov was illegally transported out of Kyrgyzstan, where he had previously fled, fearing the intensification of the charges. In total, Alexey could face up to 22.5 years of imprisonment.
At one of the court hearings, Lyudmila Reutova, a Russian language and literature teacher and the mother of Alexei’s classmate with whom he had previously lived for six months, testified. The brave woman did not hesitate to say that she knows Alexei as an intelligent, creative, and well-read young man, and also emphasized that he is an empathetic and kind person.
There is much to say about Alexei, but only good things <…> It pains me greatly to see Alexei in the dock. I consider Alexey my son. I am proud that fate brought me together with such a person. He is probably one of the best people I have ever met in my life.” Reutova does not consider Alexei to be a terrorist; she calls him a patriot: “Terrorism is when a plane flies into the Twin Towers and hundreds, thousands of people die. Terrorism is when people come to a concert, and they get shot in the chest. Terrorism is when a mother, with a child in her arms, brought her second child to the first grade, and everyone dies. But Alexey is not a terrorist. Alexei is not an enemy of our country. Alexei is not an enemy of our people <…> Patriotism is not just love for your land, not just for the territory where you live, for the place where you were born, it is love for your people. It is the readiness to sacrifice oneself, to give one’s life for the betterment of the people, for the freedom of the people. And in this regard, I believe that Alexei… he can be called a patriot.
The next court hearing in Alexei’s case is scheduled for November 20.
An 18-year-old antifascist, Yuri Mikheev, faces up to 10 years in prison. A year ago, on November 11, 2023, he and a friend were detained on the territory of a military unit in the Moscow region. The FSB accused the young men of planning to set military equipment on fire. The young men were charged under articles on “preparation for sabotage.” On October 9, the Meshchansky District Court of Moscow extended the detention of Yury Mikheyev and 20-year-old brothers Matvey and Timofey Melnikov in a pre-trial detention center for 1 month. At the hearing, it became known that a new case had been opened against the Melnikov brothers for “treason” (Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and participation in a “terrorist organization” (Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). This is likely related to the fact that they confessed to carrying out a mission for the Free Russia Legion. The charge against Yuri Mikheev has not changed – “preparation for sabotage.” Continue reading “News about some imprisoned comrades in Russia and Belarus. October 2024”
We defend political prisoners, but as long as prisons exist, as long as they torture and kill the most ordinary prisoners, including people who are not the most pleasant, as long as criminal cases are fabricated for the sake of “sticks” and “stars,” no one can consider themselves free.
Information about what happens behind barbed wire is rarely and belatedly received. The Verstka Telegram channel recently published information about the victims of police lawlessness in 2023. This year, at least 50 people have died in pre-trial detention centers, special reception centers, police departments, during arrests, and in police cars. These data were obtained through a thorough analysis of reports from government agencies and the media, and, of course, they are not complete.
The highest number of deaths occurred in pre-trial detention centers (SIZO) – 22 people died there over the year, 14 in police departments, five during detention, four in police cars, two in special detention facilities, and one each in court, a FSIN prisoner transport vehicle, and a hospital after being transported from SIZO.
Among the dead were 48 men and two women. The cause of death for 11 people was allegedly heart problems, another 11, according to official data, committed suicide, and nine died after they “suddenly felt bad.”
At least two people died after being tortured by police officers, one detainee in a pre-trial detention center died from a drug overdose, chronic illness, and deliberate failure to provide medical assistance, and one was killed by cellmates. The causes of death for another 13 people are unknown. Continue reading “Russia: Prisons must be destroyed”
“Unsurprising Fact” – Letter By Anarchist Prisoner Toby Shone
Some things don’t surprise us and for sure the recourse to judicial options I find distasteful but expedient. Anarchism is either illegal or it is not anarchism as our dear comrade Gustavo Rodriguez reminds us. Nevertheless, over the past few months my lawyers were able to obtain a Security Intelligence Report (SIR) produced by the prison’s anti-terror bureaucrats. This disclosure occurred in the course of a parole motion, which was denied in any event. The Secretary of State opposed my release and used a non-disclosure application to prevent me from seeing or being able to respond to “evidence” used against me on grounds of “national security”. The Parole Board disagreed and granted me access to a scant eight pages of intelligence reports. These cover the time period September 2023 – January 2024 and show an incomplete snapshot of the surveillance and censorship of my correspondence and books, the gathering of information on those that I am in contact with and the intel received about the fireworks solidarity demo at Bristol prison last year when I was detained there. The report revealed the collection of all the names, addresses and personal details of all those who communicate with me. For example, it is noted that one comrade writes that he works as a postman, another comrade “has a daughter in prison”, etc. Also listed in the entries are any personal connections and any details related to affiliations to any groups or tendencies. Geographic analysis using Google Maps has been made to view their locations. The Star and Shadow Cinema in Newcastle upon Tyne is designated a “potential meeting point” and BASE in Bristol described as “a heavily graffitied possible squat or commune.
Thus the level of intelligence and analysis displayed is low and crude but we can anticipate that the data is funnelled to the security services and the police state.
The security regime that I am imposed with is directed from outside the prison by a panel* comprising of senior police, Counter Terror Unit, National Security Division, governmental administration and forensic psychology.
We know that the state is afraid and takes step of repression; however it is rare that we see the evidence and its workings, therefore I am giving this account as my response.
I have nothing to justify.
In this situation I already knew perfectly well before disclosure what the secret “evidence” consisted off – the fact that I maintain my perspective and contacts with the anarchist dependency and with the social movement. The stand that I continue to write “and try to receive” letters and I am sent books and publications with critical content.
I will not apologise one sentence for those things.
I send my greetings to Alfredo, Anna, Juan and all the prisoners and those persecuted in Italy.
To Francisco, Monica and all the imprisoned comrades in Chile.
To the comrades imprisonned and those in struggle in Greece.
To Daniela Klette in Germany, strength.
Likewise to all the comrades detained in every territory and to the groups of action, I send a hug and my complicity.
A warm hug to Claudio who is now free.
To the application of practical theory.
For a black international.
Toby Shone
13th October 2024
HMP Garth
North-West
* MAPPA – Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangement
Fallout From Publication Of “Unsurprising Fact”
As the result of Toby Shone having giving the text “Unsurprising Fact” to Brighton ABC, he had a visit from Counter-Terror Prevent duo Ian Turner and Mick McCormack on the morning of October 21st. He was issued 3 administrative sanctions and is now on Basic IEP regime, which means no television and only £5 a week to spend. The sanctions were for: writing an open letter to Joe Black at Brighton ABC on October 13th. [“Unsurprising Fact” was dictacted over the phone]; repeated phone calls to a friend during which she put him on speaker phone so that he could also talk to others in the room; and for speaking disrespectfully about staff including his Probation Offender Manager person Clare Ashton in a conversation with another contact in September. The first two people have been removed from his phone list.
NB: Toby is due to be relased on November 13th, 2024, having served his full sentence. This is just the latest (and hopefully the last) vidictive move by HMP Garth’s “anti-terror bureaucrats” attempt to punish him during his final days at “His Majesty’s pleasure.
Source: Brighton Anarchist Black Cross
Update On Toby Shone’s Situation
Yesterday (19/06/24) Toby was issued with an administrative sanction as a direct result of his “bad attitude” and conveying open letters and audio interventions outside of the prison. This comes after several anarchist comrades were removed from his permitted contact list with the reason being a “threat to national security”. This sanction will reduce the number of visits he can receive as well as reducing the amount of money he can spend on phone calls and groceries. Toby was able to receive a few letters and postcards recently, but he is still facing an enhanced censorship on his correspondence and post. Toby wishes to express that he is well and sends an embrace of fire to all the other imprisoned comrades and to the action groups.
Prisoner Support Now A Threat To National Security
He continues to be persecuted as a direct result of the political views that he holds and at his upcoming parole hearing the State will make a further attempts to restrict his political activities post-release by having highly prohibitive license conditions imposed on him, this despite his having not been convicted on any of the political charges that he was originally charged with.
Write to Toby at:
Toby Shone A7645EP
HMP Garth
Ulnes Walton
Leyland
Preston
PR26 8NE
UK.
It is advisable to send any mail via recorded delivery so that you can have a record that it was received by Garth in case it somehow gets mysterious “lost”.
If you have sent him mail previously and had no response – Toby always replies to any mail he receives – it is likely that it too has been withheld from him. If so, please get in touch with with his legal team by emailing your evidence to: j.bicket@birnbergpeirce.co.uk.
Source: Brighton ABC
For the 5th time, the Lamia Criminal Court has recently rejected my request for conditional release despite the 3rd consecutive positive prosecution. During the last 2.5 years since I have reached the law of suspension by law, Lamia’s judicial councils, including the Lamia Council I had once appealed, have rejected a total of 6 times my request for conditional release. It is now very likely that I will be one of the few prisoners nationwide – if not the only one – with a temporary prison sentence with the maximum sentence of 20 years under the 2019 Presidential Code that will get the entire sentence without parole. And I will probably be the only one of dozens of political (anarchist and other) prisoners who have spent the last 20 years in prison with a sentence of temporary imprisonment, who is exempt from parole. Of course, the reasons for rejection are still political-opinional: that I refuse to recognize as criminal the acts for which I have been convicted, namely the action of the Revolutionary Struggle, as mentioned in the recent rejection decree, but also the precedent of September 2023.
The issue of repentance for the political opponents of the political-economic regime has now been historically established as a necessary criterion and condition for the granting of conditional release, thus continuing the historical tradition of the Greek state in other eras, from the years of the Metaxas dictatorship, the years of the civil war and the post-civil war period to the junta of the colonels.
Of course, the Council of Misdemeanors of Lamia has proven that it has double standards in these cases, as proved by the case of the recent – albeit temporary – release of the “führer” of the neo-Nazi organization Golden Dawn. In a country and a place where many do not have a short historical memory as the state authorities want and hope, the Lamia Misdemeanour Council was irreparably exposed socially and this is not negated by the fact that the release order was overturned by an appellate prosecutor after government-political intervention.
Once again, the historical tradition of the Greek state is confirmed and the political sympathies of several state bodies are not hidden. Just as the collaborators after 1945, the Security Battalions, the Chites, the ancestors of Golden Dawn, were treated favorably by the post-occupation state, few of them were tried and even fewer remained in prison, so today we see their descendants receiving the same favorable treatment from the current state and their “justice”. Of the 28 convicted of the neo-Nazi organization after the murder of Pavlos Fyssas, 21 are already free, while the rest do not have significant time left in detention. After all, they are “their own children”. It was nothing but a parastatal apparatus, i.e. an offshoot of the state apparatus itself, which had been operating for years, since the 1990s, with the tolerance of the police, and did the “dirty” work of the state. That is, anti-immigrant pogroms and racist attacks, beatings, stabbings, assistance of riot police in clashes with anarchists posing as “indignant” citizens, attacks on hangouts, occupations of the anarchist/anti-authoritarian space. Traditionally, the Greek state has always treated the parastatals with the glove, such as these fascists, nostalgics for the colonels’ junta who in 1978 carried out indiscriminate bombings at the Rex and Elli cinemas because they screened films that were not politically correct according to them, with content that was not “nationalist”. It is no coincidence that among them was the later “führer” of Golden Dawn. The same was done to the parastatal assassins – members of ONED-ND – of Professor Nikos Tebonera in January 1991 who had been ordered to break in a “dynamic” way the mathematical occupations of that period. Continue reading “Greece: Nikos Maziotis – On the Latest Rejection of My Parole”
June 8, 2024
Almost a month ago I was transferred to the prison where I will have to serve my sentence, the CPF of Santiago. This prison has a rather atypical structure in comparison to other prisons in this territory, since in some areas it maintains the foundations of the old convent that fulfilled the “correctional work for bad women”, from there different modules and sections have been built. Among the sections that were built to segregate specific groups of women prisoners are the following: Special High Security Section (SEAS), New Hope and Direct Custody.
SEAS was created mainly to house prisoners for crimes of political violence in the 90’s. In those years, those prisoners belonged to political/military/subversive groups (FPMR, MIR, Mapu-Lautaro1). With the release of the political prisoners, little by little, those with a history of escapes and/or refractory to the prison regime and leaders of trafficking gangs began to occupy the High Security Prison. It was not until 2010 that the women prisoners for political violence returned to the SEAS, the first “Bomb Case2” allowed the first anti-authoritarian women to take up the thread of struggle left by the first political prisoners. Over the years the SEAS continued with the same dynamic, until a few years ago where this section is used to keep prisoners while another permanent space is enabled for them.
Upon my arrival at this prison, I was informed that the SEAS would return to the place of yesteryear, so if or if I had to be in it. All this came to nothing because today there is a group of approximately 60 women brought from the San Miguel prison, these women live in deplorable conditions.
Another of these special modules is “Nueva Esperanza”, which has only and exclusively women for crimes against humanity, all these prisoners were responsible for some of the many atrocities that occurred during the dictatorship, I am referring to torture, disappearances, permanent kidnappings, murders, etc. Most of these women are former members of the F.F.A.A.*** and of the security forces. Although I do not know the living conditions of the torturers, since special care is taken in everything that surrounds them, but even so I would dare to say that they live in a place more like a rest home than a prison.
Finally, there is the module that I am currently in, Direct Custody. This section was born out of the need to segregate prisoners for violent and high-profile crimes, and over the years this has been maintained to some extent. This section has also been used to keep very specific cases of women for political violence, among these was a former militant of the FPMR and now me.
Since I entered this prison, both my comrades and I have requested through the different bureaucratic instances of the gendarmerie the authorization to continue my university studies, which I started in 2022 in San Miguel prison. This has not been authorized.
A little more than two years ago, I became the first inmate in Santiago to start university studies while I was in preventive prison. A matter that was not without problems, which one by one were solved thanks to the set of solidary wills that made that until today I am studying my third year as a student in the career of Law.
In this prison I have not been able to resume my studies because according to the information provided by the gendarmerie staff, the only thing missing is the authorization of the Regional Director, who can take as much time as he deems convenient to simply manage the continuity of something that has been going on for years.
It seems incredible that the facilities are not given and that obstacles are put in the way of something that seems to be as basic and essential as studying, we cannot ignore that the power structures are capable of breaking their own rules over and over again, according to their convenience.
What is it that the high command of the gendarmerie fears in order to give course to the authorization that does not allow me to study? Do they have direct orders from the Ministry of Justice or another organism? Or is it that they are apprehensive that if they give the authorization the prison population knows that there is no legal impediment that does not allow them to have higher education while in prison? Or perhaps they are exhausting all instances to prevent a prisoner (which they call common, but they maintain quite “uncommon” regimes) to have legal knowledge? Whatever the answer is, I demand that they comply with their own laws and allow me to maintain my university studies.
For this I appeal to all forms of solidarity that can pressure the regional and national directorate of gendarmerie to give course to the relevant authorizations so that I can continue my studies.
With all this I reaffirm that for greater degrees of autonomy the only option for those of us who choose the path of denial against domination is the persistent struggle, which would remain within these walls if it were not for the dozens of hands of solidarity.
Mónica Caballero Sepúlveda
Anarchist Prisoner
May 2024.
Source: Informativo Anarquista
DN Notes
1. – Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front (in Spanish: Frente Patriótico Manuel Rodríguez, FPMR). Marxist-Leninist guerrilla organisation, the military wing of the Communist Party of Chile, created with the goal of a violent overthrow of the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet.
– The Revolutionary Left Movement (Spanish: Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria, MIR) is a Chilean far-left Marxist-Leninist communist party and former urban guerrilla organization.
– The Lautaro Youth Movement (Spanish: Movimiento Juvenil Lautaro, or MJL) also known as MAPU Lautaro was a left-wing armed organization in Chile. During the military junta in Chile some members of the Popular Unitary Action Movement formed the Movimiento Juvenil Lautaro to pursue guerrilla warfare. The MJL was named after Lautaro, leader of the indigenous resistance in Chile. MAPU Lautaro continued its armed struggle even after the return of democracy to Chile and democratic elections.
2. ‘Caso Bombas’ 2010: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/caso-bombas
3. The Chilean Armed Forces.
¡SIEMPRE FIRMES!
Persistiendo en la propagación de ideas y prácticas que nutran el caminar anárquico
Buscamos con esta instancia -como en otras- contribuir con información, discusión política, reflexión individual y colectiva al sendero anárquico que decidimos transitar sin retorno. Es por eso que lxs dejamos invitadxs a esta nueva jornada que contará con la participación de varixs compañerxs, quienes le darán contenido y vida a la IV cena en Espacio Fénix.
– Danza: Malva Negra
– Poesía: Cidad
– Situación jurídica de la compañera Mónica Caballero
– Presentación libro «El sendero de las Panteras Negras», Claustrofobia Ediciones.
Menú Vegano
– Puré de papas c/ feijoada y ensalada de acompañamiento + Bebida ($3500)
Infusiones y repostería vegan – Feria anárquica (trae la tuya, no comida) – Acopio vegan para presxs.
Jueves 20 de junio, 18:30 hrs.
Juan Martínez de Rozas 3091, Metro Quinta Normal, Santiago Centro.
ESPACIO FÉNIX
espaciofenix.noblogs.org | espaciofenix@riseup.net
11TH JUNE
INTERNATIONAL DAY IN SOLIDARITY WITH LONG-SENTENCED ANARCHIST PRISONERS
At a time when the long arms of power seek out and strike hard at our comrades and surroundings, it is up to us to respond to these blows with greater strength and determination. And one of our most dangerous weapons is anti-prison solidarity. Those concrete acts of support for those who, accused of going on the offensive against this world of bars and cages, have themselves been locked up in the prisons we seek to destroy. But the prison is not only sustained by concrete walls, closed spaces and gendarmes; it is also sustained by the annulment of the wills of those it imprisons, and by intimidating through fear those of us who declare ourselves in open war against all forms of authority.
Therefore, on this new 11th of June, a date that has managed to establish itself as a day of anarchic anti-prison solidarity, we invite you to meet, inform ourselves, discuss and nourish ourselves about the different ways to confront the imprisonment of our comrades and to make our solidarity one more trench of combat against prisons and the society that needs them.
– Judicial update Marcelo Villarroel
– Judicial Update Francisco Solar
– Conversation
– Screening
In addition:
– Vegan collection for prisoners
– Fair and anarchic propa (bring your own – no food)
Tuesday 11 June 2024 – 18:00 hrs.
Juan Martínez de Rozas 3091, metro Quinta Normal, Santiago Centro
ESPACIO FÉNIX
espaciofenix.noblogs.org | espaciofenix@riseup.net
11 DE JUNIO
DÍA INTERNACIONAL EN SOLIDARIDAD CON LXS PRESXS ANARQUISTAS DE LARGA CONDENA
En momentos donde los largos brazos del poder buscan y golpean con fuerza a nuestrxs compañerxs y entornos, queda en nosotrxs responder a esos golpes con mayor fuerza y determinación. Y una de nuestras armas más peligrosas es la solidaridad anticarcelaria. Aquellos actos concretos de apoyo hacia quienes, acusadxs de pasar a la ofensiva contra este mundo de barrotes y jaulas, han sido encerradxs ellxs mismxs en las prisiones que buscamos destruir. Pero la cárcel no se sostiene solamente en muros de concreto, espacios cerrados y gendarmes; también se sostiene sobre la anulación de las voluntades de quienes encierra, y de amedrentar a través del miedo a quienes nos declaramos en guerra abierta contra toda forma de autoridad.
Por ello en este nuevo 11 de junio, fecha que se ha logrado instalar como un día de solidaridad anticarcelaria anárquica, les invitamos a encontrarnos, informarmos, discutir y nutrirnos sobre las distintas maneras de hacer frente al encierro de nuestrxs compañerxs y hacer de nuestra solidaridad una trinchera más de combate contra las cárceles y la sociedad que las necesita.
– Actualización judicial Marcelo Villarroel
– Actualización judicial Francisco Solar
– Conversatorio
– Proyección
Además:
– Acopio vegano para presxs
– Feria y propa anárquica (trae la tuya – no comida)
Martes 11 de junio 2024 – 18:00 hrs.
Juan Martínez de Rozas 3091, metro Quinta Normal, Santiago Centro
ESPACIO FÉNIX
espaciofenix.noblogs.org | espaciofenix@riseup.net
8 e 9 giugno
Tattoo Circus Benefit prigionieri e prigioniere
sabato 8:
dalle 11: apertura ed inizio tattoo
ore 17: discussione per contestualizzare la nuova spinta estrattivista nell attuale scenario di guerra
a seguire: cena e musica con Il tenebroso dal cascinotto – No Chappi?Bourgeois!
__________________________
domenica 9:
dalle 11: apertura ed inizio tattoo
pranzo
ore 17: presentazione dell’opuscolo “Ca Foscari per la guerra” del collettivo Sumud da Venezia dibattito sulla repressione e la militarizzazione delle nostre città e università
alla Ex Latteria Occupata
Stradone Sant’Agostino
Centro storico
Genova
at the Ex Occupied Dairy, Stradone Sant’Agostino, Old Town, Genoa