Social Control – Page 12

Napoli + Pozzuoli, Italy: Raids on houses of comrades in connection to a 270 bis investigation into attacks in solidarity with revolutionary prisoner Dimitris Koufontinas

Posted on 2023/04/01 - 2023/04/01 by darknights

On March 28, two houses, one in Napoli and one in Pozzuoli, were raided and four comrades were taken to the police station, in connection with a 270 bis investigation (anti-terrorist association), which was officialized in May 2022 following several house-searches.

Although the investigation is still ongoing, one comrade was placed under preventive arrest, accused of an arson attack against the Greek consulate in 2021. The prosecution contextualizes this attack within the campaign in solidarity with revolutionary Greek prisoner Dimitris Koufontinas, who at the time was on hunger strike.

The comrade has now been taken to the Secondigliano prison and is placed in the AS2 section (high security unit), while the three other comrades were released. According to the case’s files, the timing of the arrest was influenced by the relentless solidarity actions with Alfredo Cospito, an anarchist prisoner currently on hunger strike against the 41 bis regime and life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

This operation is part of a witch hunt that wants to frame anarchists as a public enemy to be eliminated. In the context of the countless actions in solidarity with Alfredo in Italy and abroad, we clearly see this repressive blow as part of the state’s attempt is to stifle every and any spark of rebellion.

When faced with repression, our solidarity will never stop.

Assembly against prisons and repression

To write to Zac:

Marco Marino

c.c. di secondigliano

via Roma verso Scampia 350

80144 Napoli (Na)

Italy

For those who wish to support to Zac, anarchist prisoner locked up in Secondigliano following the repressive operation in Napoli and Pozzuoli on March 28, 2023, contributions can be sent here:

Luca D’Esposito

IBAN IT07V3608105138299544199741

BIC PPAYITR1XXX

Italy: “Brenner” trial appeal sentence

Posted on 2023/04/01 by darknights

“Brenner” trial appeal sentence

On March 17, the appeal verdict in the trial for the May 2016 anti-borders demonstration at the Brenner Pass was handed down at the Bolzano court.

While there was a general lowering of the sentences (from 150 to 123 years total, with 8 acquittals due to the statute of limitations of the crime), the balance is still heavy (keep in mind that the trial was in abbreviated form). 28 female comrades and comrades received sentences above 2 years, while 5 comrades took more than 4 years (the highest sentence was 5 years and 1 month in prison) for conspiracy to commit aggravated resistance, private violence, injury, etc. The charge of devastation and looting did not hold up, as it did in the first instance.

Another significant element is that the judge denied all and sundry who applied for it access to the so-called Cartabia reform. Although the sentencing date had been formally postponed to allow defendants and defendants to make use of the new law, the request to access it was denied under the pretext of the criminal records and “social dangerousness” of defendants and defendants. But there is an even more emblematic fact: the main argument for the rejection of “substitute sentences” has been the defendants’ failure to abjure their conduct. The increasingly overtly rewarding nature of sentencing applies not only to the supervisory judiciary, but also to ordinary courts. What makes the difference on the type of sentence is not so much the offense itself, but whether or not the defendant “repents.”

For more than 30 defendants and defendants, therefore, prison doors may open in the future.

This ruling only prolongs the structural violence of state racism, that set of laws, neocolonial practices, administrative detention and police devices that produce massacres, mass deaths and a humanity forced into conditions of semi-slavery. From the harvesting in the fields to the many sectors of the “informal economy,” from the blackmail of the residence permit – which weighs on logistics, construction, catering, “care work”… – to the fat black rental market, the terror exercised by the borders is as strategic as it is unmentionable part of capitalist exploitation.

123 years in prison for a motorcade blatantly tells us that we are at war, that the margins of permissible dissent are shrinking, and that non-negotiated conflict is a desertion from the frontline to be punished in an exemplary fashion.

The anti-immigrant wall at the Brenner Pass-which the Austrian police had called a mere “technical solution” …-was not built. Perhaps also thanks to those who fought with generosity and courage that May 7, 2016.

Solidarity with the convicted comrades and comrades.

[Taken from https://ilrovescio.info/2023/03/19/sentenza-dappello-del-processo-brennero/]

Via: La Nemesi

USA: No Cop City Anywhere: Governor Unveils Cop City NJ Plans

Posted on 2023/04/01 by darknights

We begin by quoting the recent press release from the governor’s office:

“The Governor’s budget continues to support initiatives that keep communities safe, including supporting law enforcement personnel and community-led prevention programs. As part of the Governor’s efforts to reduce violent crime in the State, the budget makes significant investments in the Division of Criminal Justice to staff new units and expand existing units with a focus on reducing gun violence, auto thefts, and exploitation, such as human trafficking and labor cases.

The budget also makes significant investments to strengthen the ranks of the New Jersey State Police, allocating $120 million to begin building a new training center for the next generation of New Jersey State Police and proposing an additional $5 million for the 166th State Trooper recruit class.

In an effort to ensure that the State’s first responders and law enforcement professionals receive the training and equipment necessary to protect and serve the State’s nine million residents, the Governor has proposed doubling the successful Firefighters Grant Program, bringing the total to $20 million.

The Governor is also recommending over $8 million in increased State funds for the first-in-the-nation statewide expansion of the Alternative Responses to Reduce Instances of Violence and Escalation – the ARRIVE Together program – which pairs police officers and State Troopers with mental health professionals when responding to a person who is experiencing a mental health crisis.”

It is our firm belief that what is to be done here is obvious.

The U.S. white power establishment wants to build cop city everywhere.

You are encouraged to heed the call and example from the Welaunee Forest: give them hell, everywhere.

Your courage, creativity, and connections will determine just how badly the U.S. empire will regret their choice to double down on policing the planet after 2020.

No Cop City Anywhere!
Fuck The Police!
Burn Down The Amerikan Plantation!

-some anarchists

Originally posted on Jersey Counter-Info

France: Statement + communiques concerning comrade S., who is in life-threatening condition following the Saint-Soline protest

Posted on 2023/04/01 - 2023/04/01 by darknights

Statement concerning S., comrade who is in a life-threatening condition following the Sainte-Soline protest

On Saturday the 25th of March at Sainte-Soline, our comrade S. was hit in the head by an explosive grenade during the protest against the giant retention basins. Despite his critical condition, the prefecture deliberately prevented the emergency services from intervening at first, and from transporting him to a special care unit in a second phase. He is currently in a neurosurgical intensive care. He is still in a critical condition.

The massive outbreak of violence that the protesters have gone through led to hundreds of wounded, and many of them suffered serious physical injuries, as we can read in the various reports available. The 30 000 protesters came with the aim to block the construction site of the Sainte-Soline giant retention basin, which is a water-appropriation project defended by a minority for the benefit of a capitalist model that has nothing more to defend other than death. The violence of the armed wing of the democratic State illustrates it vividly.

In the sequence initiated by the movement against the pension reform, the police mutilates and tries to assassinate to prevent the uprising, to defend the bourgeoisie and its world. Nothing will dampen our determination to put an end to their reign. On Tuesday March the 28th and on the following days, let’s strengthen the strikes and the blockades, let’s take the streets, for S. and all the wounded and the imprisoned of our movements.

Long live the revolution.
Comrades of S.

PS: If you have any information concerning the circumstances of the injuries inflicted to S., contact us at: s.informations@proton.me

We wish that this statement can be spread as massively as possible.

“In response to the window of possibility that the movement against the pension reform has opened, the police are mutilating people and even trying to assassinate people in order to prevent an uprising, to defend the bourgeoisie and its world.
Nothing will weaken our determination to put an end to their reign.”

Communiqué No. 1 from comrades of S.

“On Saturday, March 26, in Sainte-Soline, our comrade S. was hit in the head by an explosive grenade during the demonstration against the basins [a project of large water reservoirs for industrial farm irrigation]. In spite of his critical condition, the prefecture first intentionally prevented emergency services from intervening, then prevented them from transporting him to an appropriate care unit a second time. He is currently in neurosurgical intensive care. At this time, his life hangs by a thread.

The outburst of violence that the demonstrators suffered inflicted hundreds of injuries, including several serious physical injuries, as announced in the various reports available. The 30,000 demonstrators had come with the objective of blocking the construction of the mega-basins of Sainte-Soline, a project of water monopolization carried out by a small number of people for the benefit of a capitalist model that has nothing left to defend but death. The violence of the armed arm of the democratic state is the most striking expression of this. Continue reading “France: Statement + communiques concerning comrade S., who is in life-threatening condition following the Saint-Soline protest” →

France: Legalization of algorithmic processing of video surveillance images

Posted on 2023/03/25 by darknights

Article 7 of the bill “relating to the Olympic and Paralympic Games and various other provisions”, an article authorizing experimentation with the processing by algorithms of images captured by cameras or drones, was adopted on Thursday by the National Assembly after lengthy discussions. This project, which includes experimentation with so-called “intelligent” video surveillance (i.e., automatically reporting “suspicious” individuals or behavior thanks to their program) had already been adopted by the Senate.

“The Minister of the Interior justified this experimentation with algorithmic video surveillance by saying that “exceptional situations require exceptional means”, referring to the 2024 Summer Olympics. The implementation of this technique will not, however, concern only the Games: it will apply to “sporting, recreational or cultural events” in general, which “by their scale or circumstances, are particularly exposed to risks of acts of terrorism or serious attacks on the safety of people.

Source: Secours Rouge

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” →