Surveillance – Page 3

Germany: All my friends are bad kids! – about a (meanwhile discontinued) §129-proceeding against anarchists in Hamburg and Bremen

Posted on 2022/10/22 - 2022/10/22 by darknights

In the following we want to inform you about a procedure according to §129 in Hamburg and Bremen, describe the collective handling of it and give space to individual voices of affected people.

In summer, some people in Hamburg and Bremen opened their mailboxes and there they were again: letters from the Chief Public Prosecutor Schakau of the General Prosecutor’s Office in Hamburg. From 26.05.2020 to 25.07.2022 investigations of different authorities in a §129-procedure against anarchists in Hamburg and Bremen took place. It was about an association construct to which direct actions, mainly in Hamburg, should be assigned over a longer period of time.
Three of the five people against whom the investigations were mainly directed had already been convicted in 2020 in the so-called Parkbank proceedings and were the three official defendants in these proceedings. In the course of the investigation, two other people were selected as potential members of the constructed association, who were similarly investigated.
It all starts (for us) with a report from the BKA to the Attorney General’s Office suggesting proceedings under §129a (formation of a terrorist organization) against the three defendants. However, this is rejected by Attorney General Geilhorn, as are proceedings under §129 (formation of a criminal organization) at the federal level.
One day later, proceedings under §129 begin in Hamburg, led by Chief Public Prosecutor Schakau. In the course of these investigations, measures are initiated against all five suspects of membership; these run from the beginning of May to the beginning of August 2021 and include observations with photo and video recordings, telecommunications surveillance (tapping telephone conversations and reading text messages), the use of IMSI catchers and silent text messages, as well as Internet surveillance (especially the reading of all known and accessible e-mail inboxes).

In the course of this, a large part of the environments of the five defendants were investigated and a large number of people were affected by almost all of the measures. In this context, it should be mentioned that there were at least two people who were not constructed as (potential) members, whose phones were tapped separately with harebrained explanations. It should also be mentioned that the observations and wiretapping measures took place across federal states (Hamburg, Bremen, Berlin, Bavaria and Saxony) and in several cases by administrative assistance also in other European countries (Austria, Belgium and Spain).
Ultimately, the proceedings are discontinued on 25.07.2022, officially for lack of evidence. “Officially”, because of course – as we know – parallel surveillance against some defendants also took place according to other paragraphs, also under the sign of police “danger defense”. A more detailed processing of the investigations in the sense of “files for all” will be given elsewhere and at a later time. Continue reading “Germany: All my friends are bad kids! – about a (meanwhile discontinued) §129-proceeding against anarchists in Hamburg and Bremen” →

Italy: 25/09 in Genoa against Anti-Anarchist Repression EN/IT

Posted on 2022/09/18 - 2022/09/18 by darknights

Squeezed in the grip of health emergencies, wars, increasingly fierce domestic repression, energy crisis, economic recession, systematic erosion of individual freedoms, dismantling of acquired rights and widening social gaps, we are asked for an act of blind loyalty like that of the dog that, though clubbed, does not shy away from its master’s oppression, of resigned submission to the inevitability of these events: the chorus of politicians of all colors, of masters, of regime shouters re-propose to us the fatuous promise of the solution of the problems that grip the daily lives of most, of the common well-being, to be obtained, as it happens, through “tears and blood” sacrifices to which we should also, ironically, grant our consent in the electoral ballet. It seems to us that this spectacle is a painful rerun. The assent and social cohesion demanded of us are aimed more at feeding the interests of political apparatuses and the business dealings of the masters of the economy, these already closely coalesced at several levels for some time, who thrive on the backs bent by the chain of labor and necessity. To us anarchist comrades, libertarians, rebels, refractory to authority, the way forward seems clear: to resolutely oppose against this power that suffocates us and against the state, the men and women who represent it, against prisons and all places where anyone is imprisoned, against the political and economic institutions that speculate, plundering the planet’s natural resources and degrading our lives. We claim the necessity of the conflict against this state of affairs because we are aware that the oppression we experience is the result of processes that unfold historically in a well-defined way, that this system of exploitation will not exhaust itself, that it is up to us, here and now, to pursue the idea of freedom to which we aspire. And it is to this clash that we bring back, without victimhood, the meaning of repression when it targets us: repression and prisons will continue to exist as long as there is a state to bring down and that will do everything not to fall, exposing any illusion of democratic justice. This confrontation is burying in prison so many and so many of our most generous comrades, Anna, Alfredo, Juan, Monica, Francisco, Davide, Claudio, decades in jail, whole lives facing isolation, censorship, physical and psychological violence of rigid detention regimes. Yet they defend tooth and nail the idea they keep alive in their beleaguered hearts. We do not want to be outdone; their courage and determination inspire our paths out here. Since May 5, our comrade Alfredo Cospito has been locked up in the Bancali prison near Sassari in 41 bis, an extremely severe detention regime that involves almost total isolation, absence of sociability, and almost complete censorship of correspondence, the recording of the monthly 10-minute phone call and the interview reduced to one hour a month behind a partition screen without the possibility of any physical contact, constant body and cell searches, the very reduced availability of even everyday objects (clothes, books, paper and pen) and always subject to the arbitrariness of the jailers. Such a penalizing and fundamentally vindictive measure is clearly aimed at silencing the voice and ideas of a comrade who, over the years, has made a decisive contribution, with his theoretical critique and practice, to the anarchist debate; to annihilate him because he perseveres with determination and dignity in his path of struggle; to dampen, with the specter of exemplary punishment, the initiative of comrades outside in solidarity. In Genoa, three comrades who did not spare themselves in supporting Alfredo and the other imprisoned comrades are affected by special surveillance orders requested by the usual prosecutor Federico Stalker Manotti, in an attempt to isolate them and inhibit those close to them; a further request for surveillance has been issued for another comrade in Genoa, and a hearing against him will be held on September 28. These are the reasons why we have decided to take to the streets in Genoa next September 25, a date, that of the elections, which is symbolic of the farce of the social contract being renewed on the skin of all of us; if the machine of domination advances with all its apparatuses to engulf the lives of comrades, in our most disruptive desire for freedom, hatred of authority and active solidarity we can find adequate levers to crack the enemy’s front. We invite you to join us. When repression becomes tight and lashing, the response must be clear, determined and consistent. Let us break the isolation into which they would like to plunge our comrades. Let us deploy ideas, forces, strategies in response to the anti-anarchist campaign that the state has been waging for almost a decade now.

Solidarity is a weapon, let’s use it!!!

Out Alfredo from 41bis. Against all prisons

Continue reading “Italy: 25/09 in Genoa against Anti-Anarchist Repression EN/IT” →

Athens, Greece: Anarchist comrade Nikos Romanos denounces deep parastate with far-right tendencies

Posted on 2022/06/23 - 2022/06/23 by darknights

Our anarchist comrade Nikos Romanos releases a text denouncing the parastate and fascist actions of the Greek cops inflicted upon him, his family, friends and comrades. The comrade has been under surveillance on and off since his release three years ago by the fascist scum of the Anti-Terrorist Unit, which has now hit a new level since the beginning of the hunger strike by his friend and anarchist comrade Giannis Michailidis, who has been subject to further imprisonment despite serving the required amount of time that would trigger his release.

The repression our comrade is facing should be considered and analysed within the international context of repressive tactics by states against those who dare to fight back without fear. With the current international environment, such as the war in Ukraine, the impending economical crisis threatening on the horizon, technological developments, the repressive apparatus of all states is entering a new stage to counter the struggles that are coming.

Nothing is over, the conflict continues…

Without further hesitance, we let our comrade’s words speak for themself:

The events that I am about to recount took place on Monday 20/6 in the afternoon outside my friend’s house in the centre of Athens. They concern yet another incident where police surveillance by the anti-terrorist police crosses the boundaries and red lines that exist and defines the peculiar relationship between a secret service and its potential target victims.

So let’s get to the facts. The hunger strike of our friend and comrade Giannis Michailidis, who is fighting against the arbitrariness and methods of the bourgeois justice system by putting his body in a barricade, has been going on for the last period of time. He is in a regime of preventive detention because while he has served the sentence imposed on him, the judicial councils, acting as thought police, reject his requests for release, foreseeing his future behaviour as other Pythias*. In essence, they are punishing him not for what he has done and for which, according to their laws, he has served his sentence, but for what they think he will do, based on interpretations that have nothing to do with reality.

During this period, the surveillance of the anti-terrorist police against me has become a daily occurrence, while their presence outside my family’s house has become daily and provocative, with large groups of anti-terrorist police officers defiantly rushing around in their vehicles. This event was interrupted following an engagement with these police officers on Saturday 18/6, where it was emphatically stressed to them that their defiance must end and that their continued presence there would not be accepted. Which was accepted and they ceased their defiant presence, so there is no point in me expanding on evidence that exists and will not be published unless there is a substantial reason. Continue reading “Athens, Greece: Anarchist comrade Nikos Romanos denounces deep parastate with far-right tendencies” →

China: Robo-Cop smart helmet

Posted on 2022/05/03 - 2022/05/03 by darknights

The fast-scanning, infrared camera is connected to an AR (augmented reality) headset, allowing cops to measure people’s temperature in real-time. If thats not enough it can scan up to 13 people at once and 200 in a minute. The helmet can also be paired with contact-tracing apps and facial recognition software.

KC Wearable was started by Chinese students of Oxford and Duke universities (because theres nothing better than colonising the world with knowledge of smart technologies from the West!), becoming a “global leader in industries such as AI, AR/VR, smart wearable helmet, smart watches, smart glasses as well as new wireless communication technology, which provide comprehensive solutions for a variety of scenarios in smart city and smart life….

We believe that today people are wearing our technology on the outside and, one day on the inside, too.”

Trialed in India and Italy. Coming to a smart prison city near you soon!

The Uncivilized

Italy: Social Credit Score – Rome & Bologna testing new app that monitors & rewards behavior

Posted on 2022/05/03 - 2022/05/03 by darknights

In line with recommendations being laid out by the World Economic Forum and the UN 2030 Agenda, Bologna, Italy, plans to launch a social credit style app that has striking similarities with Communist China’s social credit system. The app rewards or punishes its citizens for their behavior. Dubbed “Smart Citizen Wallet,” the app will track activities such as recycling, public transportation use, and energy management.

The primary argument for the program is to “save resources” and promote climate-friendly behavior. Those displaying good behavior will collect digital coins and receive discounts at local shops based on the given scores.

The app is already active and in experimental stages in Rome and is set to go live in Bologna in Autumn. Bologna Mayor Matteo Lepore and Massimo Bugani, director of the city’s “Digital Agenda,” discussed the project at a March 29 conference. Bugani indicated the app was part of a more comprehensive effort by the city to invest in digital innovation.

In 2020, Italy and six other nations signed an agreement to become “Agile Nations” in partnership with the WEF. Besides Italy, the deal—co-organized by the OECD—includes Canada, Denmark, Japan, Singapore, UAE, and the UK and sets “each country’s commitment to creating a regulatory environment in which new ideas can thrive.” Expressly—with the Fourth Industrial Revolution front and center. Continue reading “Italy: Social Credit Score – Rome & Bologna testing new app that monitors & rewards behavior” →

Santiago, Chile: Sabotage and demolition of surveillance cameras in the Simón Bolívar neighborhood + Claim of “Some shadows in the night”

Posted on 2022/04/28 - 2022/04/28 by darknights

Source: Noticias de la Guerra Social

On April 10, an anonymous group decided to demolish a huge metal structure located in the Simon Bolivar square, on San Pablo avenue, destroying a series of cameras and surveillance infrastructure that was installed to observe the population.

The action took place before the commemoration of the fall in combat of Erick and Ivan Palacios, which is remembered every April with fire and street agitation. The action was vindicated by “Some shadows in the night”.

Claim

Sabotage to the panopticon of power

In the early morning of Sunday April 10 we went to the Simon Bolivar square in Quinta Normal to demolish several cameras of the power and police that were on a 2-story metal pole in which there were 3 cameras.

We claim this sabotage a few days before commemorating 33 years of the fall in combat of the combatants Erick Rodriguez and Ivan Palacios at the hands of the C.N.I.* in an ambush in an attempted action to knock out an eletric transformer in the San Pablo and Radal avenues, this in the same neighborhood Simon Bolivar on April 18, 1989. Continue reading “Santiago, Chile: Sabotage and demolition of surveillance cameras in the Simón Bolívar neighborhood + Claim of “Some shadows in the night”” →

Bristol, UK: Soldarity Demo for imprisoned anarchist comrade Toby Shone, 6th May 2022

Posted on 2022/04/23 - 2022/05/02 by darknights

Paris, France: Text by Some of the participants at the Libertad anarchist library

Posted on 2022/04/14 - 2022/04/14 by darknights

Police bug found at Libertad anarchist library

Hi everyone,

Although my designers pompously christened me “RISO comcolor 7050” when I left the factory, I am better known as the Libertad Anarchist Library’s printer-copier. My move away from the filthy mouth of the real estate speculators who initially employed me gave me a bit of a thrill two years ago: goodbye invoices, rent receipts and other advertising leaflets to be reproduced… and long live subversive ideas! Just imagine if I had had to end my days in yet another branch of domination, printing indigestible university dissertations or insipid democratic petitions addressed to the authorities. In short, in this Belleville library, it was rather posters, leaflets, newspapers, brochures and other anti-authoritarian gems that began to parade before my eyes at a jerky rhythm, when I wasn’t snoozing in my corner in the middle of books and heated discussions against the old world.

Until this beautiful spring afternoon…

Tuesday, March 29, 2022, after having removed about fifteen screws to remove several casings and finally access my entrails, some curious individuals suddenly found themselves face to face with a small red light. While they were trying for the umpteenth time to solve a recurrent failure, they came across a well-hidden listening device. I don’t know how long it had been there, but the police lackeys must have at least entered the library when no one was there, before choosing my gut to hide it in and to do some tinkering. To do so, they directly soldered two cables to my power socket, which they then connected to a transformer (220v/12v), itself connected to a small box containing a modified RB800 router card, a battery, a 64 GB micro SD card, an Orange sim card… from which were protruding an antenna and two microphones (left and right), fixed as close as possible to the slots opening onto the outside. The imposing stature of my carcass preventing it from going on the road, they didn’t consider it necessary to add a GPS, although the connectivity is present inside the box. Finally, after a little autopsy, it turns out that this device was manufactured by one of the suppliers of various intelligence services: Innova, located in Trieste (Italy)*.

As for the background, there is nothing surprising in the fact that those who intend to destroy all authority are the object of the indiscreet attention of the State, whether in libraries or homes, in vehicles or via cell phones, in the context of judicial investigations as well as in the context of the “white notes” of the intelligence services. Even if it is more widely any individual who does not fall into line who can enter into their sights. And so, it is neither the first nor the last time that some and others will unearth surveillance devices here or there.

To continue to defend and spread one’s subversive ideas without falling into paranoia, while finding ways to deepen affinities far from any electronic device, remains a challenge. As for making this discovery public so that it can be useful to all -according to the good advice that our friend Riso immediatly provided-, it seems to us the minimum to do in this kind of situation.

Some of the participants at the Libertad anarchist library
19 rue Burnouf – 75019 Paris
Permanences every Tuesday from 5pm to 8pm

* See here : https://earsandeyes.noblogs.org/innova/

PS : you will find attached all the pictures of the spy device, as well as the technical sheet of the RB800.

Source: bibliothequelibertad.
Via & Translated by Act for freedom now!

Buenos Aires, Argentina: Arrested comrades accused of participating in the arson attack against the newspaper El Clarin.

Posted on 2022/03/26 - 2022/03/26 by darknights

On November 22, 2021 Molotov bombs hit the façade of the newspaper El Clarin in Buenos Aires. The action was not vindicated, and a few days later, according to the press, the police had come across a series of surveillance cameras where the attackers were identified on their way to the action.

In December, the police arrested a comrade accused of the attack and he is still in custody.

On March 21, 2022, in various repressive operations carried out by the DUIA (Departamento Unidad de Investigaciones, DN: Anti-terrorist), the police arrested five suspects in the attack. According to police versions, through the use of public transportation cards used in the sector, geo-referencing the use of cellular antennas and surveillance cameras, they were able to build the route of the attackers.

The dubious police astuteness allowed them to use social networks to observe the links between some of the suspects and decide to launch the hunt. In order to define the houses to be raided and the links of the detainees, the police installed a surveillance camera around the home of one of those under investigation.

Five arrests were finally made, but one person was released shortly after, and three comrades and one comrade were brought to justice. All of them charged with the crime of “public intimidation”.

Internationalist solidarity with those arrested for the attack on Clarin!

Source: Publicacion Refractario

Continue reading “Buenos Aires, Argentina: Arrested comrades accused of participating in the arson attack against the newspaper El Clarin.” →

Athens, Greece: Responsibility claim for attack on luxury altenative tourist appartments ‘Graffiti Boutique’ in Exarcheia

Posted on 2022/02/27 by darknights

A new condition is shaping everyday life in the neighbourhoods of the city centre. The pre-election “promises” of Mayor Bakoyannis* for the complete transformation of the centre of the Athenian metropolis into a tourist zone are being put into practice with the fencing of the last squares and their conversion into metro stations.

The displacement of oppressed populations from the neighbourhood of Exarchia, the foundations of which have been laid under the Syriza government, through the evacuation of migrant squats, continues in terms of class warfare through the appropriation of the neighbourhood.

The unaffordable rents, the posh shops with expensive goods and services, the cameras on every corner and face controls at the entrance of shops make it impossible for the social base to stay.

Housing becomes a commodity and capital is called upon to exploit it to the fullest. Houses and former squats are being converted into airbnb and luxury housing, which local and international capital is throwing into the real estate market at the expense of the needs and burdening the lives of those below. Continue reading “Athens, Greece: Responsibility claim for attack on luxury altenative tourist appartments ‘Graffiti Boutique’ in Exarcheia” →