Report from the action day for the Aachen2

Europe | Solidarity & support for prisoners | Aachen 4

via email, by abc berlin, Oct 23rd, 2007:

[On June, 28 2004, four people were arrested in Aachen, Germany, after a shooting with the police and hostage-taking, while attempting to escape a police control. These four persons are Bart De Geeter, José Fernandez Delgado, Gabriel Pombo da Silva and Begoña Pombo da Silva. Gabriel and Jose were sentenced to 13 and 14 years respectively. More articles on the Aachen2 here]

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The international Anarchist Black Cross network and other anti-prison activists declared the 29th of September as the international day of solidarity for the Aachen2. The Aachen2 are the anarchists Gabriel Pombo da Silva and Jose Fernandez Delgado, who both served many years time in the notorious and inhuman isolation custody system F.I.E.S. in Spain.

Fortunately, they could leave their jail behind, by escaping and going underground. On 28 June, 2004 they got into in a police control in Aachen where they finally got arrested, together with Gabriel´s sister, Begoña Pombo da Silva, and Bart de Geeter, an anarchist comrade from Belgium. On the 28th September, 2005 the sentences were proclaimed, after a contracted and infantile trial, where they got condemned for their anarchist attitude, - José has to stay for 14 years and Gabriel for 13 years behind bars.

To show our solidarity with the prisoners on the streets and to let them be a part of this, we organised demonstrations in Rheinbach and Aachen in front of the respective prisons. Altogether between 60 and 70 solidarity minded people from Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain and Germany showed up. Unfortunately only very few people from Germany came, since both the topic prison and solidarity with arrested comrades still play a subordinated role within the operating fields of the "german radical left". It also seems that only allegedly "innocent ones" are allowed to experience a broader support in Germany. We have been critizing this situation for quite a while now.

Marco Camensich, an eco-anarchist prisoner from Switzerland, decided to take part in the action day with a hunger strike from 16 up to 29 September. Gabriel and José followed him and as well Joaquín Garcés Villacampa, an anarchist F.I.E.S. - prisoner of the Spanish state, supported them between the 28 and the 30 of September.

In Rheinbach we met around 12am in front of the local prison to show our solidarity with José. Armed with a sound system, we tried to overcome the isolation conditions behind the walls and to break the deadly monotony, at least for a short time. Besides this, a vast number of tennis balls, with diverse messages written on, were thrown inside over the walls. Speeches were read about Aachen2 and the current situation of the militante gruppe defendants in Berlin, as well as some greetings from anti-fascist Christian S., imprisoned in Berlin Tegel.

About 4pm we met again in Aachen to send our warmest greetings to Gabriel and all other prisoners in struggle and to give out a shout of our hate and rage, based on the miserable conditions the inmates have to "live" in. Despite a never-ending rain, we moved as a spontaneous demonstration around almost the whole prison, in order to catch the attention of as many prisoners as possible. It was particularly pleasant that the prisoners reacted well to our demonstrations, through screaming slogans and cries of approval.

The local police officers were incapable to break our determination, neither meanwhile we were throwing the tennis balls in Rheinbach, nor while walking around (almost) the whole prison in Aachen. The road around the prison in Aachen was not permitted to us, therefore we had to take it. Except some smaller scuffles with the green spoil-sports, there was however no further contentions. The determination of our appearance towards the police, helped us to perform our demonstration in the way we wanted it.

In the evening of the 28th, up to 30 persons met in front of the german consulate in Bilbao in solidarity with the prisoners, since because of technical problems they were not able to join our common demonstration. Also in England as in other countries many different solidarity actions took place.

On the 21st of September, a demonstration with a live hip hop concert was held in Berlin under the slogan "For more self-determined spaces - against all institutes of coercion". With the help of speeches and strained banners over the road, it was called attention for the imprisonment of Gabriel and José and other ones. Around 150 people participated in this rally.

These will not be the last actions of our fight towards the freedom of the Aachen2, we will also fight on the streets in the future to show our refusal against their arrest and to declare our active solidarity.

Make a hole out of the prisons!

abc berlin

Pictures of the action day:
http://abc-berlin.net/aachen_aktionstag_fotos

Website about the Aachen2:
http://www.escapeintorebellion.info