Solidarity & support for prisoners

from email, 31 January 2010: "Excellent news for the Space team, but remember others have not been so lucky. A number of protesters are still facing charges, whilst 1 protester is currently in prison: Mindaugus Lenartavicius XT6221, HMP Wandsworth, Heathfield Road, London, SW18 3HS..." more

from bristolabc, updated 31 January 2010: "Elijah (James) Smith has now been locked up on remand for one year, ever since his arrest last 18 January 2009 after the EDO/MBM ITT factory in Brighton was trashed by 6 campaigners from Bristol. His and the other 5’s trial for that action commences on May 17 in Brighton (along with 3 other people from Brighton allegedly implicated in the action), however he faces being held on remand at least until his trial for the Raytheon 2 (formerly 3) starts in Bristol in early September..." more

from infoshop, 27 January 2010: "The Tarnac Ten have been closely surveilled. This isn't a scoop. But there's a problem: the phone taps and videos were made outside of any legal framework. The Tarnac Affair hasn't ceased to resound. And the echoes have caused trouble for a prosecution that has already been amply attacked by the lawyers for the defense. On Wednesday, two new stones were thrown into Judge Thierry Fragnoli's pool. Two components that could weaken the entire proceedings..." more

from infoshop, 27 January 2010: "Next February 10, a month after the unrest in Rosarno that showed the whole world the conditions under which poor foreigners live in Italy (exploited, hounded, rejected, deported), the appeal trial in Lecce of some anarchists who fought against modern slave masters a few years ago will come to an end..." more

from aftertrikala, 27 January 2010: "As you already know Alfredo Bonanno and Christos Stratigopoulos were transferred to Korydallos prison one day before the transfer of the murderer Korkonea to the prison of Amfissa. There, the pharmacy refused to grant him his medication for diabetes and severe pain in the shoulder caused by a tumour diagnosed by doctors at the health centre of Amfissa..." more

from infoshop, 13 January 2010: "Today marks the fourth year of Eric's incarceration. These are not the kind of milestones we would like to be writing about to you. While other people have been celebrating the New Year, we have been incredibly conscious of the passage of time in an entirely different way. For four years, New Years has served as a reminder to us – as it probably does to millions of others - of how long we have been separated from our loved one... more

from no-racism.net, 8 January 2010: "January 25th, 26th and 27th 2010: trial of the revolt that set the detention centre of Vincennes on fire. Action Week, January 16th to 24th 2010. The revolt, which led to the fire that destroyed the largest prison for foreigners in France, is a concrete and historical response to the existence of detention centres and to the whole of the policy of control of the migratory flows..." more

from wca, 1 January 2010: "Further below is an edited version of the statement collectively released by the 11 remaining Cop15 Prisoners. Meanwhile, a website has just appeared solely concerned with repression in Copenhagen.

"Something is rotten (but not just) in the State of Denmark. As a matter of fact, thousands of people have been considered, without any evidence, a threat to society. Hundreds have been arrested and some are still under detention, waiting for judgement or under investigation..." more

from bristolabc, 20 December 2009: "Today 20 December 2009 marks 11 months on remand for EDO Decommissioner Elijah (James) Smith. That’s 11 months locked away in a shitty little cell, deprived of all his freedom, and without any opportunity to argue his case in court. 11 months in prison without actually being found guilty of anything..." more

from email, 19 December 2009: "Jeff “Free” Luers, political prisoner and environmental activist, was released from the Columbia River Correctional Institution this morning (Dec 16, 2009) after serving nine and half years. Luers was originally sentenced in 2001 to twenty two years and eight months for the politically motivated arson of three SUV's at a car dealership in Eugene, OR. This sentence was deemed grossly disproportionate to the damage sustained by the car dealership and was condemned by legal professionals, human rights groups and activists worldwide. At an appeal hearing in 2007 it was ruled that Luers' original sentence was illegal, and was consequently reduced to ten years..." more

via irr, 16 December 2009: "Since it opened earlier this year, the UK's newest and biggest immigration prison has barely had a day without trouble. However, Corporate Watch has learnt that things have become "much worse" lately, both for the detainees and for their visitors. Meanwhile, the G4S management is apparently recruiting new security guards as staff shortages have led many detainees to repeatedly miss doctors' and court appointments..." more

from davenportgrandjury, 14 December 2009: "For those late in the game, I was recently subpoenaed to a grand jury in Davenport, Iowa and was subsequently charged with conspiracy under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA). Grand juries are secret proceedings, and those subpoenaed do not have a right to an attorney or a judge during questioning by the prosecutor. Historically, this legal process has been used in abusive ways to investigate and intimidate social movements..." more

from ainfos, 4 November 2009: "The IWA/AIT Secretariat and Serbian comrades have just informed us of some terrible news - the 6 anarcho-syndicalists from Belgrade, arrested and held in confinement since 5th September last, are to be tried for international terrorism. They face 15 years in prison. They are accused of being the authors of graffiti painted on the Greek embassy last 25th August, and of having thrown a petrol bomb which only damaged a window..." more

from tortuga, 3 November 2009: "In the face of a PR nightmare, Pennsylvania authorities have withdrawn all charges against two members of Tortuga accused of using Twitter to aid protesters at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh. At a hearing today, instead of oral arguments regarding a defense motion to unseal the secret 18-page affidavit authorizing the arrests of Elliott Madison and Michael Wallschlager at a motel just outside of Pittsburgh, the prosecution immediately moved to withdraw all charges against the two before the defense had a chance to argue its case..."  more

from occupied london, 1 November 2009: "Translators’ note: The interview below was published in an Athens paper today (November 1st 2009).

It contains some very powerful words by a comrade who has managed to deal with the barbarity of incarceration with endless dignity, sobriety and the will to keep fighting. Our warmest greetings to Yiannis Dimitrakis and all other victims of the incarceration machine: until all are free, none of us truly is..." more