Social Control – Page 10

UK: London’s secretive “smart stations” roll-out

Posted on 2023/03/25 by darknights

The digital slave-system of the Fourth Industrial Repression is being imposed on us by stealth.

Various aspects of the sinister technology have gradually crept in over the years under the excuse of fighting crime or terrorism or, more recently, of combating the spread of a so-called pandemic.

As we saw in our recent article on “15 Minute Cities”, we are now being told that it is all about urban planning and making life generally more pleasant for everyone by reducing traffic congestion and pollution.

Anyone who sees through this greenwashing attempt is dismissed as a paranoid fool or as a dangerous conspiracy theorist spreading fear and disinformation.

And yet the whole premise of this official spin is blown out of the water by the fact that smart infrastructure (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) is being rolled out in contexts that have nothing to do with private vehicle use.

We have got hold of a very interesting document from Transport for London on the current testing of smart surveillance at Willesden Green tube station, which is due to continue until March 31, 2023.

If this project were really about “providing the best possible service” to passengers on the British capital’s underground railway network, as claimed, then you would think that it would be loudly and proudly announced and discussed, with information widely available in a democratic public consultation.

But the fact that the document, entitled “Smart Station Proof Concept”, is marked “restricted” for internal TfL use reveals the secrecy being deployed to sneak through this new stage of the incremental theft of our freedom.

In the public interest, we have decided to publicise its contents.

The “exciting” project for the Jubilee Line station combines existing CCTV cameras with “visual analytics technology” to provide 24-hour real-time monitoring, via a “Smart Stations Dashboard”.

As well as counting everyone entering and leaving the station, the smart spies will be issuing “notifications” for a range of “triggers” including not just gate-jumping or smoking, but also “loitering” or a “person sat on a bench (Excessive Time)”, which turns out to be anything more than ten minutes! Continue reading “UK: London’s secretive “smart stations” roll-out” →

Chile: The Wound is still bleeding and the fuse is still burning. A new March 29th. Text of the anarchist prisoner Aldo Hernandez

Posted on 2023/03/18 by darknights

The Wound is still bleeding and the fuse is still burning. A new March 29th. Text of the anarchist prisoner Aldo Hernandez.

Metal against metal, heavy blows at the entrance of the building where that night I slept with my beloved daughter and my brother, the reaction I had before their machine guns and imminent violence to which we would be subjected was to wake up and dress my daughter and tell her that the police were coming for me, I managed to tell her that I loved her forever and ever, to be strong and be calm. I stood in front of her in the face of their weapons and arrogance.

Damn cowards, they investigated me for more than a year, followed me, placed cameras, photographed me, listened to me …while they were on my heels and preferred to expose a minor to the violent raid that we lived that early morning of December 22, 2022. Despicable beings that only because of their fear did not stop me before, they were clear that this individual would not receive them in a good way, but on the contrary, with all the courage that those of us who carry the confrontation to power and its servants carry, that courage that runs through our veins, that the enemies will never be able to understand. In the pure style of the fascism of the D.I.N.A or the C.N.I. they came to me, I cannot forgive and even less forget that they subjected my daughter to a “subtle interrogation”. I hate them every second a little more, remember that my body is the one that is imprisoned today, my ideas and projects continue to travel illegally through the streets of this territory with the desire to concretize in action what I have reflected with different comrades and sisters and brothers.

I send hugs in this month marked with our blood in the history of which I am also a part. Encouragement and strength to those who make memory a daily exercise to nourish us. On certain dates the streets are ours and we can give way to the possibility of attack against the different police, those who carry in their history and uniforms the blood and pain that we have been forced to feel for the loss of beautiful loved ones.

FIRE AND EXPLOSIONS TO THE LAIRS OF THE ENEMY. SHOT BY SHOT AND BLASTS TO THEIR UNIFORMS. YOUNG COMBATANTS OF YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW WILL CONTINUE TO BE PRESENT, IN THE STREETS WITNESS OF OUR COURAGE AND INSURRECTIONAL CONVICTION. MARCH 29TH NOBODY IS FORGOTTEN.

My warmest greetings and complicity to the beautiful and historic population of La Victoria, to the beloved Villa Francia where the words of Luisa Toledo and Manuel Vergara are echoes that resound loudly in every passage and avenue forever, to the brothers and sisters of Lo Hermida and Peñalolen who create scenarios of confrontations, to La Pincoya that does not forget its subversive and rebellious character.

Aldo Hernández Valdés
Anarchist Prisoner
Extermination and isolation center “La Gonzalina”.
Rancagua-$hile March 2023

Source: Publicacion Refractario

Perugia, Italy: Update on the review hearing for re-examination of the precautionary measures in ”operation Sibilla” and statements of some of the comrades under investigation

Posted on 2023/03/16 - 2023/03/16 by darknights

Source: La Nemesi
Via & translated to English by Act for freedom now!

————–

Update on the review hearing for re-examination of the precautionary measures in operation Sibilla and statements of some of the comrades under investigation (Perugia, 14th March 2023)

The hearing for re-examination of the precautionary measures for anarchists in operation Sibilla of 11th November 2021 took place on March 14th in the bunker courtroom inside the prison of Capanne in Perugia. It concerned the comrades for whom measures were ordered on charges of incitement to commit a crime (414 criminal code), aggravated by the aim of terrorism, in connection with the drafting, publication and distribution of the first six issues of the anarchist newspaper “Vetriolo” and other articles and interventions.

Among the comrades under investigation are Alfredo Cospito, on hunger strike for over 140 days, and Gianluca, currently under house arrest for a year now for the investigation Diamante.
This second re-examination resulted from the Court of Cassation’s ruling last June granting the prosecutor Manuela Comodi’s request, annulling the previous order of the review court which had revoked the precautionary measures in December 2021.

Alfredo Cospito participated in the hearing by video link from the Milan prison of Opera and three comrades under investigation were present in the courtroom in the Peurugia prison of Capanne. The hearing took place behind closed doors, while there were around 40 comrades in solidarity outside. The three comrades under investigation who attended the hearing in the bunker courtroom spoke (two of them with written statements) and each greeted Alfredo warmly. Alfredo made a long statement, in which he was very lucid and was loaded with his usual sarcasm (‘I prefer comedy to melodrama’).’I want to start with the words of my instigator,’ he began, quoting a stance of the current minister of justice Nordio going back to 2019 concerning 41 bis. The comrade then reiterated the meaning and perspective of the hunger strike against the detention regime, which he called a ‘medieval muzzle’ and a ‘metastasis that will spread to political dissent’. Alfredo said he does not accept this non-life and will go on until the end. “For anarchists, who have no organisation, the given word is everything.” That is why he will keep his word, going on to the bitter end. “I will leave with dignity. I hope that those who love me understand that.” The comrade wished to point out that, in the situation in which he is imprisoned, “the only remnants of light I see are the acts of my anarchist brothers and sisters around the world”, “Thank you anarchists. I love you”. Finally, he concluded: “Abolition of the 41 bis regime. Abolition of life imprisonment without parole. Solidarity with all anarchist, communist and revolutionary prisoners in the world”.

Unfortunately, due to the peculiarities of 41 bis, designed specifically to gag prisoners, Alfredo’s full statement is not currently available. We will release it as soon as possible.

After a ridiculous intervention by prosecutor Manuela Comodi who swore that the ‘Perugia public prosecutor’s office is totally uninvolved in the 41 bis measure’, in open contradiction with the words of her boss Cantone (also present in court today), the hearing was closed and the court reserved its decision on the precautionary measures against the investigated comrades.

The decision to move the venue of the hearing to the bunker courtroom of Capanne prison was an obvious attempt to remove the initiative in solidarity with Alfredo away from the city centre. This aim was not achieved because after the hearing the solidarity presence reconvened at the canteen of the University of Perugia, where a banner was unfurled, leaflets were distributed and megaphone interventions were held for over an hour.

Awaiting the release of Alfredo Cospito’s text, we attach below the statements of two comrades under investigation.
Continue reading “Perugia, Italy: Update on the review hearing for re-examination of the precautionary measures in ”operation Sibilla” and statements of some of the comrades under investigation” →

Italy: About the recent searches ordered by prosecutors of Rome and Massa as part of the investigations concerning some initiatives in solidarity with Alfredo Cospito (March 3 and 9, 2023)

Posted on 2023/03/12 by darknights

We publish in English two updates on recent investigations by the prosecutors of Massa (searches and precautionary measures of March 9th) and Rome (searches of March 3rd).

Searches and precautionary measures for the demonstration in solidarity with Alfredo Cospito and all revolutionary prisoners on September 10, 2022, in Marina di Carrara

Yesterday, March 9th, searches were carried out against three comrades in Crotone, Lecce and Spoleto. The three were also given the precautionary measure of being obliged to present themselves daily at the police station for facts dating back to last September in Carrara where, during a demonstration in solidarity with Alfredo, a Lega electoral stand was encountered. There are seven suspects in total, five for robbery, two for defacement and all seven for election campaign interruption.

Some of those under investigation

Searches in Rome and Umbria in connection with two initiatives in solidarity with Alfredo Cospito on hunger strike (March 3, 2023)

At dawn on March 3rd, a conspicuous number of agents of the repressive forces – including DIGOS of the state police and ROS of the Carabinieri, on a warrant from the Rome Public Prosecutor’s Office in the person of the public prosecutor Francesco Dall’Olio, already responsible for other investigations against the anarchist movement – appeared at the doors of some homes in Rome and Umbria to carry out searches on eight anarchists, all under investigation in connection with two initiatives in solidarity with Alfredo Cospito held in Rome last November. In addition to carrying out house searches against the suspects, we learn that other comrades present in the same homes and, lastly, a space (Circolo Anarchico ‘La Faglia’, in Foligno) were also searched.

The charges against the suspects are ‘manufacture or possession of explosive materials’, ‘unannounced demonstration’ and ‘private violence’. The searches involved seizures inside the homes, especially of anarchist and revolutionary publications.

We publish the communiqué circulated on the morning of March 3rd and – in order to give an overview of the initiatives on which this new ‘incursion’ by the servants of the state focused – the text read during the interruption of the play at the Argentina Theatre on November 26th.

Searches in Rome and Umbria

Searches have been in progress since the morning of today, March 3rd, in Rome, Spoleto and Foligno against eight anarchist comrades, on charges relating to an initiative in front of the RAI headquarters in via Romagnoli in Rome on November 13rd (art. 435 of penal code and art. 18 TULPS) and the interruption of a play at Teatro Argentina, also in Rome, on the following November 26th (art. 610 of penal code). Both initiatives took place in the context of the mobilisation in solidarity with anarchist comrade Alfredo Cospito, on hunger strike against 41 bis prison regime and life imprisonment without possibility of parole since October 20th. Furthermore, in the context of the same repressive operation, anarchist space Circolo Anarchico ‘La Faglia’, in Foligno, is currently being searched.

Solidarity with the investigated and searched comrades.

Alfredo out from 41 bis! Solidarity with all imprisoned anarchists and revolutionaries! Continue reading “Italy: About the recent searches ordered by prosecutors of Rome and Massa as part of the investigations concerning some initiatives in solidarity with Alfredo Cospito (March 3 and 9, 2023)” →

Italy: ‘To burning hearts’ Statement of the anarchists accused at the trial for Operation Renata

Posted on 2023/02/21 - 2023/02/21 by darknights

Four years after the repressive operation Renata on February 19, 2019, we publish – not for an aseptic “exhumation” of recent history, but because these are texts that address the profound social and individual reasons for the anarchists’ thought and action – the statement of the seven comrades accused during the first-degree trial (“To Burning Hearts”) and a second statement distributed during the appeal trial. In addition, we believe it is important and necessary to find and disseminate the statements of comrades who, during the trials, take the floor continuing to support the ideas and practices of attack against the state and capital.

To burning hearts

Statement of the anarchists accused at the trial for Operation Renata

The anarchist does not look to success, to victory, to competition. He fights, because it is right. And in any struggle loss is part of life. He does not change his mind because he loses, much less give up the next struggle. The System is self-feeding because of the people who do not fight, not because they are invincible. The anarchist’s job is to instill in the people revolt, not in segments but continuous. Like a wave that recedes and then returns. You ask me if we will win? You ask me the wrong question. Ask me if we will fight and I will answer yes.
Luigi Galleani

Today we decided to have our say on the “Renata” operation. In other writings, the investigation has been analyzed, both in its general repressive aspects of the state and with regard to the technological, inquisitorial and legal tools used to hit those who still dare to fight for something different and still blow on the wings of freedom.

We have decided not to turn to the court that will try us nor to the diligence of our repressors. A courtroom is not the place where we choose to speak today.

We want to speak in those places where there is struggle, where there is still critical spirit, wherever there are women and men who are aware that so many things must be changed now, that this state of affairs must be revolutionized.

So we are going to talk about the actions that we are accused of or that are included in the investigation.

These actions-night or day, individual or collective-are part of a conflict that goes far beyond the specific facts or the territory in which they are located. They are the result of a broader clash, that between the exploited, the exploiters and those who defend them.

Of these actions we share the spirit, the ethics, the method, the goals, regardless of who carried them out. They speak for themselves, they are understandable to most, they point to a path – that of liberation. They point the finger at those who live by exploitation and war, hatred and violence, they wish for something more, something that will put an end to the worst atrocities and barbarities, but above all they aim to destroy the wall of resignation, in times so poor in human solidarity, rebellion, critical thinking.

Those who in recent years have said and still say that such actions serve no purpose, that the game is not worth the candle, that nothing will change, that human beings have permanently lost their wits by reducing life to a constant fratricidal war, have stopped dreaming, have stopped questioning those responsible for injustice and the causes that have brought society to a moral, environmental and material level that is disturbing to say the least. Continue reading “Italy: ‘To burning hearts’ Statement of the anarchists accused at the trial for Operation Renata” →

Italy: Update on Operation Sibilla: hearing set for Alfredo Cospito and other comrades under investigation at Perugia review court

Posted on 2023/02/21 by darknights

On Feb. 13, the setting of the review hearing on precautionary measures was notified for comrades targeted for measures in the November 11, 2021 Sibilla repressive operation (including Alfredo Cospito, who has been on hunger strike for more than 120 days, and Gianluca, who is currently under house arrest in the Diamante investigation by the Genoa prosecutor’s office). The hearing is set for March 14 at the court in Perugia.

This second re-examination stemmed from the hearing held on June 22 in Rome at the court of cassation, which concluded by granting prosecutor Manuela Comodi’s request, thus annulling the previous order of the review court (which on Dec. 16, 2021 had resulted in the revocation of the precautionary measures). The court of cassation, in spite of what had been expressed by the attorney general (who had called for the rejection of the Perugian prosecutor’s appeal), had thus “exhumed” the investigation by annulling the revocation of the measures and ordering a new review hearing.

Operation Sibilla, carried out by the Carabinieri’s Special Operational Group and the Perugia prosecutor’s office under the coordination of the National Anti-Mafia and Counterterrorism Directorate, played a key role in the genesis and application of the 41 bis detention order for comrade Alfredo Cospito.

Eight comrades (including Alfredo himself), previously investigated by the ROS and the Milan Prosecutor’s Office in another case for 270 bis c. p. (subversive association for the purpose of terrorism and subversion of the democratic order) and 414 c. p. (incitement to commit a crime, with the aggravating factor of the purpose of terrorism) in connection with the editing, publication and distribution of the anarchist newspaper “Vetriolo,” had been the subject in September 2021, by the Perugia prosecutor’s office, of a request for precautionary measures in prison on the same charges, plus other charges for various reasons relating to additional articles, leaflets and documents, as well as wall writings and for one comrade to a damage to some Poste Italiane cars (Foligno, June 6, 2019) in solidarity with anarchist comrades on hunger strike over the closure of the High Security 2 section of the L’Aquila prison.

At the same time as this request for arrest, a three-month censure order on correspondence was ordered for comrade Alfredo Cospito, which was subsequently renewed several times. The reasons for this censure became clear only a couple of months later, when – with the November 11 operation – the Sibilla investigation “emerged” and PM Comodi’s original request was downgraded by the Judge for Preliminary Investigations. Thus, a new order established no longer eight arrests in prison but six precautionary measures in relation only to the charge of incitement to commit crimes with the aggravating factor of the purpose of terrorism: an arrest warrant for Alfredo Cospito (at the time imprisoned in Terni Prison); house arrest with all restrictions for a comrade from Spoleto; and an obligation to stay in the municipality of residence jointly with the obligation to sign three days a week for four comrades. In addition, other comrades turned out to be under investigation at large, countless searches were carried out, and two websites (roundrobin.info and malacoda.noblogs.org) were subjected to preventive seizure and blacked out (a practically unprecedented fact as far as the Italian-speaking anarchist movement is concerned), remaining unreachable to this day with conventional search engines. Continue reading “Italy: Update on Operation Sibilla: hearing set for Alfredo Cospito and other comrades under investigation at Perugia review court” →

Athens, Greece: Acquittal of comrade Kostas K

Posted on 2023/02/16 by darknights

With a significant presence of comrades continued and was completed today the trial of our comrade Kostas K, for the 2007 attack on the vehicles of Minister Voulgarakis (until recently the Minister of Public Protection and with a recent transfer to the Ministry of Culture) and his entourage.

Despite the prosecution’s conviction, the comrade was acquitted by a vote of 5-2 (with the acquittal votes of the four jurors and the president).

Another episode of this ill-conceived hoax of dna excuses ended up in the trash bin, not even convincing those who fabricate them: the monkeys of state security and anti-terrorism.

No comrade is ever alone in the face of the state’s methods.

Solidarity is our weapon

Antifascist Network in the South

Source: athens.indymedia

Spain: “Bark, then ride” About the discovery of a new police infiltrator.

Posted on 2023/02/14 by darknights

In these days of commotion at the discovery of the new police infiltrator, from security culture, by allusions also, we want to launch some reflections.

Blame leads nowhere

First of all, we would like to send a warm greeting to the people who have had to deal closely with this situation. We know what it means to give our trust, time, support, affection and body to our loved ones and what it means when we are betrayed and instrumentalized. Especially if it is a case like this one, in which some of our colleagues have also been involved in more intimate relationships with this subject.

But it is useless to whip ourselves now that we already know it, when suddenly comments and ideas appear that, in the past, come out quickly, but are not very visible when the infiltration is taking place. We have to bear in mind that these tasks are part of police and state tactics with many years of experience that, in most cases, will surpass us. Either because of the means used, because of the intentions that lead the State to infiltrate someone, because we are a visible target, because they are trained for it and because we are human and we cannot always detect it easily. We count on the fact that this is something recurrent and permanent, that there have been, will be and will be more infiltrations that we have and that, until the hare jumps (in the cases in which it happens), it is complicated to find out. That is what it is all about and that is what they work hard at, however, they also have failures and letdowns of guard that allow us to pull the thread of some detail that, as unnoticed as it may seem to us, can lead to discover someone. What can be done now is to learn from the mistakes made, analyze the path of this person with us and see how it can affect us in the future. And at the same time, take into consideration the investigative work that has been done, the sensitivity in detecting suspicious behavior and the rapid dissemination of information to avoid further damage. Without forgetting the set of repressive tools that the state has at its disposal, infiltration being just one more and certainly less common compared to others.

Let’s take responsibility, let’s acquire good practices

But despite the fact that all this seeks to whip, the feeling of guilt and mistrust, it is true that it is in our hands to continue implementing a culture of security that safeguards our spaces of struggle and the people who are part of it. This goes through many axes, some of which have been exposed in these cycles of talks that were made from this project, with special emphasis on police work and forms of repression and highlighting the figure of infiltrators and whistleblowers as a tactic used. Continue reading “Spain: “Bark, then ride” About the discovery of a new police infiltrator.” →

Athens, Greece: On the first day of the trial of comrade Kostas K. Second hearing today 14th February

Posted on 2023/02/14 by darknights

The trial of Kostas K for the attack on the vehicles of Minister Voulgarakis and his police escort in July 2007 started on 18 January at the Mixed Jury, with the significant presence of comrades and women.

( https://athens.indymedia.org/post/1622704/ )

The proceedings started with the testimonies of cops (state security, Voulgarakis’ guard, the ministerial guard). Despite the fact that one of the subpoenaed cops (Voulgarakis’ personal bodyguard who had opened fire on the comrades who had carried out the attack) was not present, the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses were completed in an orderly manner, more deconstructing the indictment than adding anything to it.

Next came the defence witnesses: a biologist who thoroughly demonstrated the inconsistencies and inadequacy of the prosecution’s case, which has dna as its sole “evidence”, and a comrade-sister of Kostas K.

And while the comrade was preparing to apologize, the prosecutor practically interrupted the proceedings, calling for the forcible bringing in of the last cop witness to testify, hoping that in him the last lifeline could be found, in order to save the deconstructed indictment.

The next hearing set for February 14 (9am) will begin with the cop’s testimony, if he eventually attends. This will be followed by the “apology” of comrade Kostas K

To break the codes of repression

Solidarity with comrade Kostas K

Tuesday 14 February – 9am, MOD Degleri Street

Source: athens.indymedia

France: Some initial notes on the investigation file against Ivan

Posted on 2023/01/25 - 2023/01/25 by darknights

The following information comes from an initial quick reading of the investigation file. Therefore, it is necessarily incomplete.

First of all, how did this investigation start?

The Anti-Terrorism Sub-Directorate (SDAT) of the judicial police began an investigation on its own initiative, at the beginning of January 2022, following “confidential information collected by [the] service” (in another document, a judge speaks of “anonymous intelligence”). The police “gathered” the names of two comrades who, according to this information, were likely to be responsible for the incendiary attacks, claimed by anarchists, which had been targeting vehicles in Paris and the surrounding area for years. In the past, different local police stations and the anti-terrorism group of the DPJ 1 (a section of the Parisian Judicial Police) had already carried out investigations, notably for “criminal association”, without success.

The National Division of Research and Surveillance (DNRS, which can be understood as the “operational unit” of the SDAT) set up an operation for tailing the two comrades. They planned to follow Ivan from January 10 to February 3, 2022, and the other person from January 17 to February 3. Concretely, this part of the file includes the statements of the DNRS agents who, in the morning, placed themselves in front of the homes of the two comrades and followed them (on foot or by car) in their movements, at work, photographed them at the supermarket, etc. It should be noted that they often lost sight of their “target” when the latter was moving on foot or by bicycle.

The second comrade was quickly cleared. The DNRS agents say that they saw and photographed Ivan putting up posters in Paris and Montreuil late in the evening of January 18. On the evening of January 21, they followed him again when he went to Paris. The comrade used his bike and the cops lost sight of him almost immediately. They then deployed four “surveillance devices” (cars come to mind). Suspecting that the comrade was still headed towards Montreuil, they placed them at four transportation corridors between Paris and this suburb. One of these “devices” recorded him on the commune of Montreuil (they lost sight of him immediately afterwards). The police used this as an indication that the comrade was responsible for the arson that occurred that night of a SFR van, in Montreuil, and of an Enedis vehicle in the twelfth Parisian district.

On February 23, the SDAT contacted the Bobigny court, which officially tasked it with investigating the comrade. Continue reading “France: Some initial notes on the investigation file against Ivan” →