Comrades in crisis, Greece & Spain

from London ABC, 25 February 2008

Anarchist prisoners in crisis. Be prepared for solidarity as these cases continue. Updates and calls for action will be posted on our website, http://www.myspace.com/londonabc

Greek Anarchist Nikos Kountardas on a hunger strike!

Solidarity actions are required to show our concern and support for our imprisoned comrade Nikos Kountrardas. Since 21/2/2008 Nikos is on a hunger strike. He is in isolation, at Kassandra Prisons, in Halkidiki, Northern Greece.

He got beaten by prison guards who tried to make him stand out in the yard and provoked other prisoners to spit on him etc. No one did so.

He requests that he gets out of prison and the current case against him (for lifting an anti-repression banner in a soccer stadium) is dropped, and also the accusations against him for an arson at ETE bank in Ksanthi. Also he wants his personal stuff back, and all limitative clause for an older case concerning the beating of former government party-allied union president.

He also wants the stopping of tortures in Kassandra's prison, and his moving to Alikarnassos prison.

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Vaggelis Botzatzis remanded into custody

Urgent ELP! Bulletin (26th of February 2008)

ELP has learnt of a new eco-prisoner in Greece. Vaggelis Botzatzis has been remanded into custody accused of setting fire to two company cars owned by a energy/power company. It is believed that the person or persons unknown who carried out the arson did so in protest at the destruction of the natural environment and in support of two workers who died at the power plant.

Vaggelis is also accused of setting fire to a bank and starting a fire inside a car yard.

Vaggelis denies all the allagations against him and maintains his innocence.

Please send letters of support to:

Vaggelis Botzatzis
Komotini Juridical Prison
("Dikastikes Fylakes Komotinis")
T.K. 69100
GREECE

Vaggelis can receive short messages of support written in English. When writing to Vaggelis please remember the authorities do censor his mail so please do not write anything that could be regarded by the authorities as "dangerous".

Also the exact charges against Vaggelis, due to a lack of evidence, have not been filed. Therefore do not write anything which could influence the setting of charges.

For more information about Vaggelis or the Greek legal system please contact Greek Earth Liberation Prisoners Support!
greekelp@yahoo.gr
http://greekelp.blogspot.com

from Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network
BM Box 2407
London
WC1N 3XX
England
www.spiritoffreedom.org.uk

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Barcelona 4F: Action Needed. Spanish Comrades in crisis

On 4 February 2006, 9 squatters and anarchists were arrested after a riot in the neighborhood of El Forat de la Vergonya in central Barcelona. El Forat is the site of a powerful community resistance, uniting young and old, squatters and renters, that defeated a city project to construct a parking lot, and maintained the two year occupation of a community garden that the neighbors had set up themselves. Barcelona is subject to an extremely violent gentrification process, and this victory is historic.

During the resistance, a new squat appeared in the area, with no connection to the movement. "El Teatro" was the scene of huge parties and drug dealing, and also the home of suspected police informers.

For a longtime the Barcelona police had been protecting the squat from its legally mandated eviction. On 4F, four cops were provoking an incident at El Teatro, where a major party was raging. Rodrigo, Alex, and Juan, three squatters, were passing by on their way home. All three are from Latin America. The police began yelling racial insults at them and started a fight. The fight turned into a riot, with drunken party-goers inside taking part. One of them threw or knocked off a flower pot, onto the head of one of the cops, who was seriously injured and went into a coma.

The cause of the injury was confirmed by medical examiners, on-the-scene witnesses, and the mayor of Barcelona (who later changed his story). Riot police who happened to be on call in the neighborhood showed up and began attacking and hunting squatters.

Rodrigo, Alex, and Juan were beaten down to the ground, taken into custody, and disappeared for several days,tortured viciously in a police van before being admitted into the prison. 6 other squatters and anarchists were arrested and blamed for the riot.

Two were not even in the vicinity - they had checked themselves into a hospital after a bike accident. The police cleaned up the riot scene before a forensics crew could arrive, and the three police first on the scene contradicted themselves in court, unable to say how their coworker was injured (they ultimately settled on the story that Rodrigo threw a brick that gave the cop a light injury on the front of his head but propelled him backwards and precipitated the major injury on the back of his head when he hit the ground). The judge meanwhile denied nearly all of the defense witnesses, and threatened to charge people who witnessed the riot as participants.

The three squatters given the heaviest charges waited in prison 2 years until trial, denied bail.

Trial finally occurred in January 2008. All were found guilty. Rodrigo received a sentence of 4.5 years, plus a 900.000 euro fine, Alex and Juan got sentences of 3.5 years each, and the remaining six received sentences of between 1 and 3 years. All are currently out of prison on provisional liberty, and are appealing the conviction.

More on the Barcelona 4F case here

London ABC

Email: abclondon@riseup.net -
See: http://www.myspace.com/londonabc

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