INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-PORTUGAL:

SOLIDARITY WITH THE 'LISBON 11':

The following appeal for solidarity with Portuguese anarchists facing charges from a demonstration three years ago (and you thought the Canadian courts moved slowly ) came to Molly's attention via the Winnipeg Wobbly Blog.

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International Call for Solidarity: Support the 11 of Lisbon!

On the 25th of April of 2007, an anti-authoritarian demonstration against fascism and capitalism took place in downtown Lisbon, protesting against the growing influence of fascist groups in Portugal and the attempt to rehabilitate the figure of the former dictator, António de Oliveira Salazar. Several books about Salazar came out back then and a Museum was to be opened in Santa Comba Dão, the place where the dictator was born. A television contest, designed to boost nationalistic and chauvinistic attitudes among the Portuguese people, actually managed to elect Salazar as “the greatest Portuguese of all times”. Besides that, PNR, an ultra right-wing party, involved with nazi skinhead groups, started to show signs of great activity, with a large-scale campaign to increase xenophobia and several street demonstrations, one of which taking place, provocatively, in a known immigrants' quarter downtown Lisbon.

As a response to the growth of reactionary forces and attitudes in Portuguese society, anarchists organized a big demonstration on the day of the celebration of the Carnation Revolution, the 25th of April, when the fascist dictatorship was overthrown. The demonstration gathered over 500 people, crossed downtown Lisbon, always being closely followed by the police, and halted in Largo de Camões, where most people left. From there, a second demonstration started and, when the demonstrators were descending Rua do Carmo, the riot police closed the street exits, trapped them, and then charged violently. Several people were injured, some of them badly, and 11 of the demonstrators were arrested and now stand for trial, for alleged civil disobedience, verbal abuses, and assault on police officers, risking sentences from six months to five years of imprisonment.

We ask for the international support and solidarity of all sections and friend of AIT-IWA to spread the news of what's happening, specially among Portuguese communities in their area, and send protest letters, faxes and emails to local Portuguese Embassies, Consulates and interests, performing, if possible, actions in front of them, specially on the days of the Court hearings, but not limited to them. We also appeal to the sending of protest letters, faxes and emails to the Court where the hearings are taking place.


A model protest letter to be sent:
(it's both in English and Portuguese)

Vimos por meio da presente carta protestar contra a ida a julgamento dos 11 detidos aquando da realização da manifestação anti-autoritária contra o fascismo e o capitalismo, em 25 de Abril de 2007.

Denunciamos o comportamento claramente ofensivo e discriminatório demonstrado pela polícia no decorrer dos acontecimentos, assim como a brutalidade com que a mesma reagiu à manifestação, carregando indiscriminadamente sobre os manifestantes e demais transeuntes presentes na Rua do Carmo, numa acção cujo objectivo manifesto não foi a dispersão da manifestação, mas antes o espancamento do maior número de pessoas possível, posto que todas as saídas da rua foram cortadas pela polícia de forma a não deixar aos manifestantes fuga possível.

Afigura-se-nos que as pessoas detidas o foram de forma aleatória e arbitrária, e que a sua ida a tribunal não serve outro propósito que não seja o de mascarar e ilibar a violência policial, culpando os manifestantes pelo sucedido. Consequentemente, exigimos o encerramento deste processo e a absolvição de todos os arguidos.

Com os melhores cumprimentos,
…

English translation of the letter:

We hereby send you the following letter to protest against the trial of the 11 persons arrested during the anti-authoritarian demonstration against fascism and capitalism, which took place on the 25th of April 2007.

We denounce the clearly offensive and discriminatory behavior displayed by the police during the events and its brutal response to the demonstration, charging indiscriminately on demonstrators and bystanders at Rua do Carmo, in an action clearly intended, not to disband the demonstration, but to beat up as many people as possible, for all the street exits were cut off by the police in order to trap the demonstrators and let them no way to escape.

For us, it seems that the persons arrested during the events were picked randomly and arbitrarily among the demonstrators, and that the charges pressed against them serve no other purpose than to whitewash the police violence, blaming the demonstrators for what happened. Consequently, we demand the closure of this process and the acquittal of all defendants.

Best Regards,
...

Court address:
1º Juízo Criminal
Av. D. João II, nº 1.08.01 - Bloco B
1990-097 Lisboa
Portugal

Email: lisboa.jcr1@tribunais.org.pt
Phone: (+351) 213 505 500
Fax: (+351) 211 545 164

Process Number:
42/07.5PALSB (please mention it on the letters, faxes and emails you send to the Court)

A list of Portuguese Embassies worldwide:
http://www.mne.gov.pt/mne/en/ministerio/organizacoes/embaixadas/

Portuguese Consulates abroad:
http://www.mne.gov.pt/mne/en/infocidadao/pestrangeiro/consulados/


Days of the next Court hearings:
- 20 of April
- 29 of April
- 19 of May

________________________________________

Associação Internacional dos Trabalhadores

Secção Portuguesa
Apartado 50029
1701-001 Lisboa
PORTUGAL

Tel. +351 963 216 840
E-mail: aitport@yahoo.com
http://www.ait-sp.blogspot.com/
http://www.freewebs.com/ait-sp/

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-SERBIA:

TRIAL OF THE 'BELGRADE 6' BEGINS:

Molly has reported on this case before last year (see here, here and here ). The basics are that 6 activists in the Serbian Anarcho-Syndicalist Initiative, the Serbian section of the anarcho-syndicalist international, the AIT, were arrested last fall and charged with firebombing the Greek embassy. As active anarchosyndicalists the comrades, of course, disagree with such tactics of individual vandalism, preferring the open class struggle. The suspicion is that the Serbian government latched on to them because they were the easiest "open targets"(given that the Serbian police force is probably a nest of incompetance to the degree that they couldn't "investigate" tying their own shoes), and they had to prove that they were "doing something".

As we speak here in Winnipeg Manitoba the preliminaries of the trial are already over and done with several time zones over, but the trial will continue. Here's a report from the local Winnipeg Wobbly Blog about this case.

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Six Serbian anarcho-syndicalists are due in court today:‏
Six Serbian anarcho-syndicalists are due in court today charged with international terrorism in what Belgrade academics have condemned as a political trial.

Tadej Kurepa, Ivan Vulović, Sanja Dojkić, Ratibor Trivunac, Ivan Savic and Nikola Mitrovic, were detained on September 4th after a Molotov cocktail broke a window at the Greek Embassy in Belgrade.

Originally arrested for "causing general public danger," an allegation often associated with low-level vandalism, the activists' charges were upped to international terrorism following public comments by Serbian President Boris Tadic that he intended to crack down on "left-wing terrorism.

"The six face up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the latest charges - more than double the sentence handed down for the burning to the ground of the US Embassy in 2008 in which one man was killed.

Academics at Belgrade University have condemned the trial, writing in an open letter: "We fear that this was an arbitrary interpretation of the Criminal Code and a case of its use for political purposes.

"Just in the year 2009 we have witnessed the escalation of violence and numerous threats of violence made by fascist groups. All of this was met with a mild reaction from the state prosecution and the police.

"To name just one example: in the days leading up to the Belgrade Gay Pride Parade (set for September 20th and called off due to security fears) threats of physically liquidating the gay population were called just 'polemics' by a representative of the state."

All of the six detainees are activists in or associates of the Anarcho-Syndicalist Initiative (ASI), the Serbian section of the International Workers' Association (IWA). The ASI is part of a growing, independent union movement in Serbia and supporters say this is a political trial aimed at derailing that growth.

The attack itself has been claimed by a group called Crni Ilja, who said it was in solidarity with a Greek anarchist on hunger strike. No members of that group have as yet been positively identified.

The Anarcho-Syndicalist Initiative has declared that they knew nothing of the attack or the group that carried it out. Ratibor Trivunac has repeatedly stated that throwing molotov cocktails is not a method of struggle used by the group.

A spokesperson for the Solidarity Federation, British section of the International Workers Association, said: "We unreservedly condemn the trial as a political attempt by the rulers of Serbia to silence an effective radical movement. Members of SF and other IWA sections are going to Belgrade for the trial to show support for our imprisoned comrades."

Source: http://libcom.org/news/controversial-terror-trial-belgrade-anarchists-begins-17022010

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-SERBIA:
IWA GENERAL SECRETARY JAILED FOR TEN DAYS:
The following is a notice from the A-Infos website. It seems that the General Secretary of the International Workers' Association/Asociación has been sentenced to 10 days in jail for his actions during a demonstration ie burning a US flag. The mind boggles at this. I wonder if Serbia is the only country in the world to have statutes that ban the burning of other nations' flags. Or is it just the US flag in particular ? In the latter case it is even more bizarre. The history of the past few decades is one in which Serbia and the US have hardly been the best of friends, to put it lightly. I have no doubt that Serbia would like to suck up to the US as much as is possible while, at the same time keeping its Russian trump card, but still.... Maybe this is under the heading od insults to foreign "dignitaries" (cough, cough, cough, hack, hack- oops there's another hairball). In such a case one wonders about the mindset of Serbian judiciary in presuming that the burning a a US flag in a small demonstration would actually ever reach the eyes of the US Vice President, let alone that he would be insulted. The Serbian authorities give far too much credence, undoubtedly more than the demonstartors did, to the power of the demonstartion. It's bet taking time here. Has Biden become aware, or will he become aware in the future, of the 100,000,000th burning of a US flag on this particular occasion ? I give 100 to 1 odds. To say the least I am being conservative and hoarding my money on this one. The actual odds are much higher, more like winning the lottery jackpot. Any takers ? You have 1 year to produce the evidence. Anyways, on to the story.
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Serbia, 10 days of prison for the IWA General Secretary
Ratibor Trivunac, member of the Union Confederation "Anarcho-syndicalist Initiative"( the website of the Serbian Anarcho Syndicalist Initiative is http://inicijativa.org/ -Molly) and General Secretary of the International Workers Association, was convicted yesterday evening to ten days of prison for the burning of the US flag in the center of Belgrade. A group of anarchists organized an illegal protest yesterday as a reaction to the visit of the US Vice President Joseph Biden to Belgrade. During the protest Trivunac burned the US flag and read a statement condemning the role of the USA in reproduction of capitalist relations, wars, exploitation and discrimination in the world.
---- Belgrade district judge Goran Milutinović sentenced Ratibor and ordered him to be immediately sent to prison without giving him a chance for appeal! Other comrades that have been arrested were released without charges. Our lawyer will try to appeal the sentence today.




Burning of the flag is a symbolic act of protest and we find the actions of judge Milutinović to be scandalous. We refuse to obey orders, we refuse to keep quiet! We will always burn the symbols of exploitation and oppression!




We would like to call for international actions of solidarity if Ratibor is not released by Saturday morning. We will keep informing you of developments. The IWA Secretariat can be contacted, as usual, by telephone number +381-63-263-775 or email (we would prefer by telephone as we may not check the email regularly during the following days).
Freedom for Ratibor!
Long live the IWA!
On behalf of the IWA Secretariat,
Nikola Pavlović
--
Secretariat of the International Workers Association
Secretariado de la Asociación International de los Trabajadores
secretariado@iwa-ait.org
http://iwa-ait.org/

INTERNATIONAL SYNDICALISM: THE DEBATE

Molly has pretty well burned her bridges in crossing the Rubicon (how's that for mixed metaphors ?) in previous posts here about the AIT/anti-AIT debate in international syndicalism. Not that I can't swim back across the river if new evidence comes in because Molly, unlike almost all leftists, can form the words "I was wrong and I have changed my opinion" without choking on them. That being said there is a continuing debate on the Lib-Com site that illustrates, more or less, the various positions around the AIT/anti-AIT position, and I urge people who are interested in this matter to go on over to the site to look at it. When Molly visited Spain a few years ago she mostly spoke with people from the CNT ie the "opposition" to what she thinks is the proper way to proceed. All that being said she observed more than a little willingness on the part of some CNT members to put the fight behind them. That is Molly's position in a nutshell. She has more than a little sympathy for the "intransigents" of the CNT, but she thinks their input would be much more valuable in a unified syndicalist movement where they could influence MUCH larger numbers of people. Molly's basic goal is that she thinks that anarchism should provide an alternative to social democracy, and, as such, should fight on the terrain of a gradual approach to anarchism. This is the sort of approach that I consider the only realistic one for this century.

Molly