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A Call for International Days of Action in Support of Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov (en, fr, de, tr, es)
In English: http://khimkibattle.org/?lang=en
Français: http://khimkibattle.org/?lang=fr
Deutsch: http://khimkibattle.org/?lang=de
Türkçe: http://khimkibattle.org/?lang=TR
Español: http://khimkibattle.org/?lang=es
English below, for other languages follow links
September 17—20, 2010
On July 28, 2010, more than two hundred young antifascists and
anarchists carried out a spontaneous demonstration outside the town
administration building in Khimki, a suburb of Moscow. They
demonstrated in defense of the Khimki Forest, which was at that time
in the process of beings cutting down for the needs of big business.
The demonstration, during which several windows were broken, received
a great deal of public attention. The authorities responded with a
wave of repressions. The day after the demonstration, two well-known
social activists, Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov, were arrested.
They are now threatened with up to seven years in prison for
disorderly conduct, although there is no evidence of their complicity
in illegal activities. Meanwhile, the police continue to hunt down and
harass other activists, especially those involved in the antifascist
movement.
The campaign to save the Khimki Forest has been going on for the past
three years. The authorities had decided to build a segment of a
planned Moscow—Saint Petersburg toll highway, the first of its kind in
Russia, through the forest. This would lead to the deterioration of
environmental conditions in the region, and local residents and
Muscovites would be deprived of yet another recreation zone. Despite
the availability of alternative routes that would not require
clear-cutting the forest and vigorous protests by environmentalists
and ordinary citizens against the planned route, the authorities f0r a
long time ignored the voice of society and on several occasions took
measures to suppress their critics.
Khimki authorities and the highway project contractor have used
violence and other tactics against Khimki Forest defenders. They
refused to give permission for protest demonstrations, recruited
nationalist thugs to break up a peaceful protest camp organized by
environmentalists and local residents, and illegally arrested and beat
up journalists covering the story. Nearly two years ago, Mikhail
Beketov, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Khimkinskaya Pravda and a
critic of the local administration, was severely beaten by persons
unknown; the attack left Beketov permanently disabled. Sergei
Protozanov, the layout designer of another local opposition paper, was
murdered in similar circumstances six months later.
After the July 28 demonstration, the Russian police and secret
services unleashed an unprecedented dragnet against antifascists.
People who had even just once come to the attention of the Center for
Extremism Prevention and FSB for their involvement with the
antifascist movement have been forcibly taken in for questioning. In
several cases they have been subjected to harsh physical coercion in
order to compel them to give the testimony required by investigators.
In addition, illegal searches have been carried out in their
apartments. All these actions on the part of law enforcement
authorities are violations of Russian and international law.
Frightened by the numerous and growing protests against the
clear-cutting of the Khimki Forest, the authorities have finally made
concessions by agreeing to review the advisability of the planned
route for the toll highway. But this does not mean victory. Alexei
Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov are still in police custody for no reason
at all. They are hostages of the authorities.
In late September, the next hearing in their case will take place. The
judge will decide whether to keep them in police custody pending
completion of the investigation and trial. Everyone who cares about
the fate of these two young men must do everything in their power to
see that they are set free. The Campaign for the Release of the Khimki
Hostages calls on people around the world to organize days of action
on September 17, 18, 19, and 20 to pressure the Russian authorities to
release Alexei and Maxim.
We ask you to hold protests outside of Russian Federation embassies,
consulates, trade missions, and cultural centers, as well as at public
events and concerts connected to Russia. We also ask you to send
faxes, e-mails, and protest letters to the court, the prosecutor’s
office, and the country’s political leadership. In the very near
future we will inform you of addresses where you can send these
protests as well as more details about the ongoing repressions in
Russia. Look for this information on our website
http://khimkibattle.org in English, German, Russian, and French.
Join our campaign!
Campaign for the Release of the Khimki Hostages
+7 (915) 053-5912 • info@khimkibattle.org • http://khimkibattle.org
Français: http://khimkibattle.org/?lang=fr
Deutsch: http://khimkibattle.org/?lang=de
Türkçe: http://khimkibattle.org/?lang=TR
Español: http://khimkibattle.org/?lang=es
English below, for other languages follow links
September 17—20, 2010
On July 28, 2010, more than two hundred young antifascists and
anarchists carried out a spontaneous demonstration outside the town
administration building in Khimki, a suburb of Moscow. They
demonstrated in defense of the Khimki Forest, which was at that time
in the process of beings cutting down for the needs of big business.
The demonstration, during which several windows were broken, received
a great deal of public attention. The authorities responded with a
wave of repressions. The day after the demonstration, two well-known
social activists, Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov, were arrested.
They are now threatened with up to seven years in prison for
disorderly conduct, although there is no evidence of their complicity
in illegal activities. Meanwhile, the police continue to hunt down and
harass other activists, especially those involved in the antifascist
movement.
The campaign to save the Khimki Forest has been going on for the past
three years. The authorities had decided to build a segment of a
planned Moscow—Saint Petersburg toll highway, the first of its kind in
Russia, through the forest. This would lead to the deterioration of
environmental conditions in the region, and local residents and
Muscovites would be deprived of yet another recreation zone. Despite
the availability of alternative routes that would not require
clear-cutting the forest and vigorous protests by environmentalists
and ordinary citizens against the planned route, the authorities f0r a
long time ignored the voice of society and on several occasions took
measures to suppress their critics.
Khimki authorities and the highway project contractor have used
violence and other tactics against Khimki Forest defenders. They
refused to give permission for protest demonstrations, recruited
nationalist thugs to break up a peaceful protest camp organized by
environmentalists and local residents, and illegally arrested and beat
up journalists covering the story. Nearly two years ago, Mikhail
Beketov, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Khimkinskaya Pravda and a
critic of the local administration, was severely beaten by persons
unknown; the attack left Beketov permanently disabled. Sergei
Protozanov, the layout designer of another local opposition paper, was
murdered in similar circumstances six months later.
After the July 28 demonstration, the Russian police and secret
services unleashed an unprecedented dragnet against antifascists.
People who had even just once come to the attention of the Center for
Extremism Prevention and FSB for their involvement with the
antifascist movement have been forcibly taken in for questioning. In
several cases they have been subjected to harsh physical coercion in
order to compel them to give the testimony required by investigators.
In addition, illegal searches have been carried out in their
apartments. All these actions on the part of law enforcement
authorities are violations of Russian and international law.
Frightened by the numerous and growing protests against the
clear-cutting of the Khimki Forest, the authorities have finally made
concessions by agreeing to review the advisability of the planned
route for the toll highway. But this does not mean victory. Alexei
Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov are still in police custody for no reason
at all. They are hostages of the authorities.
In late September, the next hearing in their case will take place. The
judge will decide whether to keep them in police custody pending
completion of the investigation and trial. Everyone who cares about
the fate of these two young men must do everything in their power to
see that they are set free. The Campaign for the Release of the Khimki
Hostages calls on people around the world to organize days of action
on September 17, 18, 19, and 20 to pressure the Russian authorities to
release Alexei and Maxim.
We ask you to hold protests outside of Russian Federation embassies,
consulates, trade missions, and cultural centers, as well as at public
events and concerts connected to Russia. We also ask you to send
faxes, e-mails, and protest letters to the court, the prosecutor’s
office, and the country’s political leadership. In the very near
future we will inform you of addresses where you can send these
protests as well as more details about the ongoing repressions in
Russia. Look for this information on our website
http://khimkibattle.org in English, German, Russian, and French.
Join our campaign!
Campaign for the Release of the Khimki Hostages
+7 (915) 053-5912 • info@khimkibattle.org • http://khimkibattle.org
Rhythm, Rhymes and Revolution: Artist Benefit for Carlos Alberto Torres
Friday September 17th, 2010 at 7:30pm
East Harlem Cafe 1651 Lexington Avenue (btwn. E104-105th St.)
Take the 6 train to E. 103rd St.
Join us for a night of incredible poetry, rap and spoken word as we unite to help
our brother former Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres!
Carlos Alberto, freed from 30 years in jail this July, is trying to open up a
ceramics workshop in Puerto Rico! He needs our help to pay rent, buy supplies and
many other expenses!
Come through and Help our brother Carlos Alberto, make his dream a reality!
Featured artists:
The Welfare Poets
Prisionera
(not4)Prophet
Sandra Maria Estevez
Papoleto Melendez
SPIRITCHILD
Steve Bloom
The Mahina Movement
Rafael Landron
East Harlem Cafe 1651 Lexington Avenue (btwn. E104-105th St.)
Take the 6 train to E. 103rd St.
Join us for a night of incredible poetry, rap and spoken word as we unite to help
our brother former Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres!
Carlos Alberto, freed from 30 years in jail this July, is trying to open up a
ceramics workshop in Puerto Rico! He needs our help to pay rent, buy supplies and
many other expenses!
Come through and Help our brother Carlos Alberto, make his dream a reality!
Featured artists:
The Welfare Poets
Prisionera
(not4)Prophet
Sandra Maria Estevez
Papoleto Melendez
SPIRITCHILD
Steve Bloom
The Mahina Movement
Rafael Landron
Israeli Shin Bet Electrocuted Child Prisoners to Extract Confessions
Share Wednesday, 01 September 2010 intifada-palestine.com
Abdul Hamid Abdul Latif Sa’id Abu Haniyeh was beaten up severely before being hit hard by a large jolt of electricity.
Abdul Hamid Abdul Latif Sa’id Abu Haniyeh was beaten up severely before being hit hard by a large jolt of electricity.
Following a visit yesterday to some young prisoners being held at the Megiddo Prison, lawyers for the Ministry of Detainees have stated that the young prisoners testified under oath that they had been interrogated and systematically electrocuted and tortured by Israeli intelligence officers in settlements near to Palestinian cities.
According to Salim Redouane who was arrested near Qalqilya on 08.05.2010, he was kept in a camp near Tzofin for 3 hours before being transferred to the settlement of Ariel where he was questioned by Shin Bet interrogators. His head was repeatedly hit against the prison room wall in an effort to get him to confess and he was beaten severely. The investigators threatened to burn his skin if he did not confess to the accusations against him.
Another detainee, Mohamed Ali Radwan, informed the lawyers that he was arrested at his home in Qalqilya Azzun on 3/8/2010 and one of the soldiers forced him to take off his shirt in order to use it as a blindfold. He was handcuffed and then taken somewhere near the village where he was told to hand in what was in his possession before he was hit in the back with a rifle butt and kicked repeatedly in the stomach and on the back. One of the soldiers then dragged him across the ground which resulted in deep wounds on his hands and he was taken to the Ariel settlement where he was questioned for several hours and was hit on the head, in the face and all over his the body.
According to the testimony of Yahya Ali Abdel-Hafez, born 03.07.1995 and a resident of the Qalqilya Governorate of Azzoun, he was arrested on 05.08.2010 near the city of Qalqilya and taken to a camp near Tzofin where he was kept for 3 hours before being transferred to the settlement of Ariel and interrogated. During the interrogation, he did not recognize some of the charges against him and so he was beaten in the face several times and repeatedly electrocuted. Under duress, Yahya eventually signed the statement to avoid further torture.
Lawyers also visited Abdul Hamid Abdul Latif Sa’id Abu Haniyeh who is currently in year 10 and was born on 12/11/1994. A resident of Azzun, he was arrested on 05.08.2010 near Qalqilya, where was also taken to the Ariel settlement and interrogated by Shin Bet interrogators. He was beaten up severely before being hit hard by a large jolt of electricity. A terrified Abdul Hamid who thought he would be imprisoned at the Megiddo prison along with his brothers, signed the statement he was given.
Lawyers for the Ministry of Prisoners also visited Ahmed Hussein Mustafa who was born on 10/01/1994 and is from Jalazoun, north of Ramallah. He was arrested from his home at three in the morning on 11.02.2010 and was beaten up inside his house before being taken to the Beit El settlement. Ahmed remained in the settlement until daybreak when he was transferred to Benjamin where he was fined 2000 NIS and sentenced to 20 months in detention. His two brothers were detained in the Negev prison
Source: News of Palestine – Agencies via Middle East Monitor
Danish Court: Climate activists are innocent
Aug. 31, 2010 8:42 p.m.
Climate Collective
(PRESS RELEASE) The Copenhagen City Court has today ruled that Natasha Verco and Noah Weiss are innocent. The two climate activists were charged for organizing illegal activities during the COP15 summit in Copenhagen in 2009. But the charges didn't stand in court. The verdict discredits the violent methods adopted by police during the climate summit, when politically active people were denied their democratic right to criticize the climate negotiations.
Natasha Verco feels that the entire process has been absurd:
There has been a very clear political purpose behind these court cases, and the verdict is totally absurd. In the whole case the evidence has been related to fully legal activities, that the police has tried to manipulate, in order to make them appear illegal. It has been all from prints of posters, to finding parking lots fors sound equipments and participating in open information meetings for hundreds of people.
Both Natasha and Noah feel, that the case should put an end to the police undemocratic methods:
I see this as a victory, not only for us, but for the legal rights in Denmark. And it also means that no longer can the police use manipulation of evidence and lies to repress politically active people. I assume that also Tannie and Stine, who are going to court in October, will be acquitted as well, says Noah Weiss.
Contact Climate Collective- Phone: +45 50 58 87 51
- media@climatecollective.org
- www.climatecollective.org
2000 people have been arrested during the climate summit in December, and many were preventively arrested during the big climate demonstration on December 12th, 2009. These incidents, has later been criticized, among others, by Amnesty International. Now there are four people charged for having, according to police, planned actions during the summit. Among them are Natasha Verco, 32 years old Australian woman, and the American student Noah Weiss.
Natasha Verco and Noah Weiss are accused to having planned violence against police, disturbance of public order and vandalism. These are the charges, that could lead to several years of prison and deportation.
Background articles on the court cases Articles in DanishAlle midler i brug mod miljøaktivister
Surveillance, secret investigation and eventually custody were all employed against people that according to the police was planning illegal actions during the climate summit. Now it has to be decided, if they can be sentenced.
The prosecutor saw one of the charges against the two defendants dropped. They are now only accused of planning criminal activities during the climate summit.
Video: Tash & Noah's freedom speech outside the city court of CopenhagenFormer Federal Prisoner Frederick Fisher
I am forwarding on this message from Frederick Fisher on his behalf,
please do what you are able to assist him and his partner in what they
are doing up in Minnesota for the community and getting resistance from the
authorities.
(Date of letter 8/15/2010)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
TO ALL RADS IN THE WORLD;
I TRUST THAT THIS LEAF WILL FALL INTO YOUR LAPS AND HEAR WHAT I HAVE TO SAY!
AND IN RETURN, HOPEFULLY GAIN YOUR SUPPORT AND RESOURCES FOR AN ACTION OF REDRESS.
BACK IN JUNE I WAS HARASSED
BY THE LOCAL POLICE IN MY TOWN, AND UPON THE FINDING THAT I COMMITTED NO CRIME, WAS
RELEASED. BUT, NOT WITHOUT FIRST BEING SCRUTINIZED, QUESTIONED CONTINUOUSLY BECAUSE
OF MY CONDITIONS OF PROBATION AND RACE.
AFTER REALIZING THAT THE OFFICER HAD NO LEGAL BASIS TO ARREST, DETAIN OR QUESTION
ME, HE BECAME ANGRY AND INSISTED I NOTIFY MY P.O. WITHIN 72 HOURS THAT I WAS PULLED
OVER. AND COMMENTS TO FOLLOW, "...OH MR. FISHER, BE SURE TO TELL YOUR P.O. THAT YOU
SMELL OF ALCOHOL ALSO." WHICH WAS A TACTIC EMPLOYED BY THE OFFICER TO INFER THAT I
VIOLATED CONDITION OF MY PROBATION.
WHICH I HAD NOT.
I WAS NOT DRIVING MY VEHICLE, AND WAS A PASSENGER, THEREFORE I DID NOT NEED TO
LEGALLY COMPLY WITH ANYTHING THE KOP ASKED OF ME. THESE KOPS IN PARTICULAR KNOW OF
MY PROBATION STATUS AND WERE TRYING TO AGITATE ME BECAUSE I HAVE PLACED PRIOR
COMPLAINTS AGAINST THEM.
NEEDLESS TO SAY, I WAS VIOLATED ON MY PROBATION, AND UNKNOWINGLY A WARRANT WAS
ISSUED BY MY P.O. (SHE BELIEVED THE KOP), AND WAS ARRESTED AT MY HOME BY GUN POINT,
BY THE SAME KOPS IN QUESTION, AND WHO PULLED ME OVER A WEEK BEFORE. GO FIGURE THAT
ONE.
I WAS ULTIMATELY SENTENCED TO 90 DAYS IN THE COUNTY JAIL, LOST MY JOB AND REINSTATED
18 MONTHS PROBATION. IN ORDER FOR ME TO AVOID A LONGER JAIL TERM OF 22 MONTHS, I HAD
TO STEP ON MY BELIEFS AND CONSCIENCE, AND LIE TO THE JUDGE THAT I HAD CONSUMED
ALCOHOL "SOMETIME" THAT DAY. I THEN RECEIVED THE FULL FILE OF PAPERWORK AND SEEN
THAT IN WRITING, THE WHOLE KOP STATION KNEW OF MY CONDITION AS A PROBATIONER. THUS
GIVING RISE TO THE ELEMENTS OF OF A HARASSMENT COMPLAINT, WHICH I COULD'VE USED IN A
CONTESTED HEARING. NONE OF THIS WAS DISCLOSED TO ME EARLIER AND HAD IT BEEN, I
COULD'VE WON THE ALLEGED, FABRICATED VIOLATION THE KOP MADE TO MY P.O.! WITH THIS, I
AM PLANNING FOR [1] PUBLIC PROTEST AT THE KOP SHOP ONCE I AM HOME, AND ANYONE
INTERESTED OR WHO CAN PROVIDE SUPPORT, PLEASE CONTACT ME @
ironhousecreations@yahoo.com or at:
FREDERICK FISHER,
ANOKA COUNTY JAIL,
325 E. JACKSON STREET,
ANOKA, MN. 55303
(UNTIL 9/12/10)
I'LL BE HERE...IN SOLIDARITY, FREDERICK FISHER
please do what you are able to assist him and his partner in what they
are doing up in Minnesota for the community and getting resistance from the
authorities.
(Date of letter 8/15/2010)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
TO ALL RADS IN THE WORLD;
I TRUST THAT THIS LEAF WILL FALL INTO YOUR LAPS AND HEAR WHAT I HAVE TO SAY!
AND IN RETURN, HOPEFULLY GAIN YOUR SUPPORT AND RESOURCES FOR AN ACTION OF REDRESS.
BACK IN JUNE I WAS HARASSED
BY THE LOCAL POLICE IN MY TOWN, AND UPON THE FINDING THAT I COMMITTED NO CRIME, WAS
RELEASED. BUT, NOT WITHOUT FIRST BEING SCRUTINIZED, QUESTIONED CONTINUOUSLY BECAUSE
OF MY CONDITIONS OF PROBATION AND RACE.
AFTER REALIZING THAT THE OFFICER HAD NO LEGAL BASIS TO ARREST, DETAIN OR QUESTION
ME, HE BECAME ANGRY AND INSISTED I NOTIFY MY P.O. WITHIN 72 HOURS THAT I WAS PULLED
OVER. AND COMMENTS TO FOLLOW, "...OH MR. FISHER, BE SURE TO TELL YOUR P.O. THAT YOU
SMELL OF ALCOHOL ALSO." WHICH WAS A TACTIC EMPLOYED BY THE OFFICER TO INFER THAT I
VIOLATED CONDITION OF MY PROBATION.
WHICH I HAD NOT.
I WAS NOT DRIVING MY VEHICLE, AND WAS A PASSENGER, THEREFORE I DID NOT NEED TO
LEGALLY COMPLY WITH ANYTHING THE KOP ASKED OF ME. THESE KOPS IN PARTICULAR KNOW OF
MY PROBATION STATUS AND WERE TRYING TO AGITATE ME BECAUSE I HAVE PLACED PRIOR
COMPLAINTS AGAINST THEM.
NEEDLESS TO SAY, I WAS VIOLATED ON MY PROBATION, AND UNKNOWINGLY A WARRANT WAS
ISSUED BY MY P.O. (SHE BELIEVED THE KOP), AND WAS ARRESTED AT MY HOME BY GUN POINT,
BY THE SAME KOPS IN QUESTION, AND WHO PULLED ME OVER A WEEK BEFORE. GO FIGURE THAT
ONE.
I WAS ULTIMATELY SENTENCED TO 90 DAYS IN THE COUNTY JAIL, LOST MY JOB AND REINSTATED
18 MONTHS PROBATION. IN ORDER FOR ME TO AVOID A LONGER JAIL TERM OF 22 MONTHS, I HAD
TO STEP ON MY BELIEFS AND CONSCIENCE, AND LIE TO THE JUDGE THAT I HAD CONSUMED
ALCOHOL "SOMETIME" THAT DAY. I THEN RECEIVED THE FULL FILE OF PAPERWORK AND SEEN
THAT IN WRITING, THE WHOLE KOP STATION KNEW OF MY CONDITION AS A PROBATIONER. THUS
GIVING RISE TO THE ELEMENTS OF OF A HARASSMENT COMPLAINT, WHICH I COULD'VE USED IN A
CONTESTED HEARING. NONE OF THIS WAS DISCLOSED TO ME EARLIER AND HAD IT BEEN, I
COULD'VE WON THE ALLEGED, FABRICATED VIOLATION THE KOP MADE TO MY P.O.! WITH THIS, I
AM PLANNING FOR [1] PUBLIC PROTEST AT THE KOP SHOP ONCE I AM HOME, AND ANYONE
INTERESTED OR WHO CAN PROVIDE SUPPORT, PLEASE CONTACT ME @
ironhousecreations@yahoo.com or at:
FREDERICK FISHER,
ANOKA COUNTY JAIL,
325 E. JACKSON STREET,
ANOKA, MN. 55303
(UNTIL 9/12/10)
I'LL BE HERE...IN SOLIDARITY, FREDERICK FISHER
Surge in government repression: FBI visits, warrants, more
by Voice of the Voiceless ( info [at] voiceofthevoiceless.org )
Tuesday Aug 31st, 2010 indybay.org
A roundup of recent FBI visits, subpoenas, and other government assaults on the animal liberation movement:
Tuesday Aug 31st, 2010 indybay.org
A roundup of recent FBI visits, subpoenas, and other government assaults on the animal liberation movement:
New AETA 4 DNA warrant
This week, Joseph Buddenberg of the AETA 4 was the target of a warrant for his DNA. A quote from the agent who authored the affidavit:
"I believe probable cause exists that Buddenberg was involved in the February 24, 2008 altercation at the L.H./J.R. residence in Santa Cruz.... The samples from the bullhorn found in Khajavi's vehicle will yield evidence that Buddenberg was involved in force, violence, and threats involving animal enterprises, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 43 & 371" Read the full affidavit here.
Buddenberg submitted himself to FBI agents this week, who took four swabs of DNA.
While the AETA 4 indictment was recently thrown out, this recent government offensive indicates the case is not yet over. The case , if continued, stands to be a precedent-setting Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act case with implications for all activists.
Carrie Feldman Re-subpoenaed
Last week, Carrie Feldman was approached by FBI agents in Rock Island, IL, and handed a subpoena,ordering her to testify at the trial of Scott DeMuth. DeMuth is charged with a conspiracy role in the A.L.F. raid of the University of Iowa, in which 401 animals were rescued. The trial is set to begin on September 13th.
Feldman was previously jailed for four months after refusing to testify to the grand jury investigating the Iowa raid.
FBI visit
The FBI reportedly visited a former east coast activist last week, inquiring about an animal rights activist in Utah. The questioning appears to be related to the recent raid of an activist house in Salt Lake City.
Rod Coronado sent back to prison
Rod Coronado has been sentenced to four months in prison for a probation violation. A judge found him guilty of adding well-known Earth First! co-founder Mike Rosselle as a friend on Facebook, which the judge found violated his probation conditions. The conditions bar Coronado from associating with anyone involved with Earth First. He was also found to have used a computer which was not approved by the probation department.
Another FBI Visit
An activist in Minneaoplis was approached by two FBI agents at a gas station August 16th. The report does not specify what the agents were investigating, or what information was sought. The person refused to speak to them, and drove away. Read the full report below.
****
Here’s what I recall about my encounter with the FBI today: I was topping off a full tank of gas at the Holiday Gas Station in Plymouth (Rockford Road and HWY 169) at 10:28am this morning when two FBI agents approached me. They identified themselves. One was heavset with dark short hair. The other was skinnier with a goatee and shorter dark hair. The skinnier agent did all the talking. I mostly ignored their presence by looking at them and stating, “I have nothing to say to you guys.” I then hung up my gas pump and walked into the Holiday Gas Station to pay. The two agents followed me as I walked across the parking lot to pay inside the gas station. They stopped at the door and waited for me when I went inside to pay.
After I paid and exited the building, the two agents followed me to my vehicle. They were persistenly asking me to cooperate with them and repeatedly mentioned that they wanted to give me an “opportunity.” Again, I ignored their presence as I walked to my vehicle, opened my door, and drove away. It was 10:32am when I left the parking of the gas station. To my knowledge, they did not follow me.
They were standing by a red (metallic red) four door (pontiac?) with licence plate # MNB 615 (or a combination of those letters and numbers).
Dialogue I remember them saying to me as I was ignoring them:
“Dominoes are starting to fall all around,” and “we want to give you an opportunity,” and
“it would be shame if you didn’t talk to us.” My daughter was concerned because she heard them say the word “kids” when I was getting into the car and shutting the door. I don’t know what exactly they said, but it was probably something to push my buttons. My two children were with me when the agents approached me today. All three of us are fine now.
Feel free to pass this info on to any lists or groups that you wish.
Dr. Toxic
If you have been conctacted by he FBI, call the National Lawyers Guild Green Scare Hotline at: 1-888-NLG-ECOL.
- Peter Young
http://www.voiceofthevoiceless.org/Sundiata Acoli Freedom Campaign Legal Update
Sundiata Acoli Freedom Campaign
Legal Update
Black August 30, 2010
On March 4, 2010 Sundiata Acoli, who is 73 years old, was denied
parole for the third time by the New Jersey State parole board.
Sundiata has served 37 years in prison as he was convicted in the May
2, 1973 shooting of a New Jersey State Trooper on the NJ Turnpike.
Sundiata was last denied parole in 1994, the parole board continues
to cite among other things, that "He was not rehabilitated." Sundiata
has maintained an infraction free prison record since 1996.
Over a thousand letters and petitions from a diverse group of
influential people, including psychologists, lawyers, clergy,
professors, journalists and community members were sent to the parole
board expressing love from the community and support for his release.
Nevertheless, Sundiata was denied parole just minutes after an in-
person review by two members of the board. No time was taken to
deliberate the decision, and notice of the denial was given to him on
a sheet with barely legible hand-written notes on it. Not only was he
denied but he was told his case would be referred to a 3-member panel
to establish a FET ("hit") outside the guidelines. In mid July,
Sundiata received written notice that a three member panel, two of
which included the two members who denied him, had decided to give
him a 10 year hit which means he must serve an additional 6 years in
prison before he will again be eligible for a parole hearing. He will
be 79 years old.
The "hit" is particularly harsh since on August 1, 2010 a new law was
passed in New Jersey capping to 36 months, the number of years the
parole board can establish a FET. The New Jersey Parole Board rushed
to send this letter to Sundiata to avoid the August 1st deadline. As
of this posting, Sundiata has not yet received any explanation from
the board for this 10 year "hit".
The Sundiata Acoli Freedom Campaign continues to be vigilant in
seeking justice for Sundiata and his right to freedom. Sundiata's
legal advisors have consulted with a NJ attorney to appeal the
decision. The attorney has been retained and has prepared and filed
an administrative appeal to the NJ Parole Board outlining in very
clear terms, the errors made by the panel in denying Sundiata's
parole. The appeal was filed on August 27, 2010.
We believe the case for appealing the NJ Parole Board's decision is
strong! SAFC will continue to keep pushing for Sundiata's release and
raising awareness about his case. Members of SAFC are available to
speak and share information with any group who requests it. Simply
email mailto:thesafc@gmail.com.
Sundiata needs your love and support and SAFC needs to raise funds to
cover Sundiata's legal expenses. Regular commissary donations to keep
Sundiata smiling and knowing he is loved are also encouraged. We
understand the financial limitations of people during these times and
we appreciate anything you can give.
Please take a moment and give what you can to support his release:
To make a contribution to Sundiata's legal expenses, please send a
check or money order payable to SAFC:
PO BOX 766
HARLEM STATION
New York, New York 10027
Please be sure to note in the memo field that your check is for Legal Fees
To send money directly to Sundiata's commissary send money orders
only made out to:
Clark Squire #39794-066 and mail to:
Federal Bureau of Prisons
Clark Squire #39794-066
Post Office Box 474701
Des Moines, Iowa 50947-0001
Do not send a note with your money order or it will be returned.
Commissary donations can also be made online or by phone using a
debit or credit card through Western Union Quick Collect. For more
instructions on that just email mailto:thesafc@gmail.com .
To send Sundiata a card, a photo, a poem, artwork or just a simple
letter saying you are thinking about him, write him:
Sundiata Acoli #39794-066 (Squire)
PO Box 3000
FCI Otisville
Otisville, NY 10963-1000
Any one of these things is a great way to show your love and support.
Thank you in advance!
A message from Sundiata to his supporters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-DPqbSTs5Q
Legal Update
Black August 30, 2010
On March 4, 2010 Sundiata Acoli, who is 73 years old, was denied
parole for the third time by the New Jersey State parole board.
Sundiata has served 37 years in prison as he was convicted in the May
2, 1973 shooting of a New Jersey State Trooper on the NJ Turnpike.
Sundiata was last denied parole in 1994, the parole board continues
to cite among other things, that "He was not rehabilitated." Sundiata
has maintained an infraction free prison record since 1996.
Over a thousand letters and petitions from a diverse group of
influential people, including psychologists, lawyers, clergy,
professors, journalists and community members were sent to the parole
board expressing love from the community and support for his release.
Nevertheless, Sundiata was denied parole just minutes after an in-
person review by two members of the board. No time was taken to
deliberate the decision, and notice of the denial was given to him on
a sheet with barely legible hand-written notes on it. Not only was he
denied but he was told his case would be referred to a 3-member panel
to establish a FET ("hit") outside the guidelines. In mid July,
Sundiata received written notice that a three member panel, two of
which included the two members who denied him, had decided to give
him a 10 year hit which means he must serve an additional 6 years in
prison before he will again be eligible for a parole hearing. He will
be 79 years old.
The "hit" is particularly harsh since on August 1, 2010 a new law was
passed in New Jersey capping to 36 months, the number of years the
parole board can establish a FET. The New Jersey Parole Board rushed
to send this letter to Sundiata to avoid the August 1st deadline. As
of this posting, Sundiata has not yet received any explanation from
the board for this 10 year "hit".
The Sundiata Acoli Freedom Campaign continues to be vigilant in
seeking justice for Sundiata and his right to freedom. Sundiata's
legal advisors have consulted with a NJ attorney to appeal the
decision. The attorney has been retained and has prepared and filed
an administrative appeal to the NJ Parole Board outlining in very
clear terms, the errors made by the panel in denying Sundiata's
parole. The appeal was filed on August 27, 2010.
We believe the case for appealing the NJ Parole Board's decision is
strong! SAFC will continue to keep pushing for Sundiata's release and
raising awareness about his case. Members of SAFC are available to
speak and share information with any group who requests it. Simply
email mailto:thesafc@gmail.com.
Sundiata needs your love and support and SAFC needs to raise funds to
cover Sundiata's legal expenses. Regular commissary donations to keep
Sundiata smiling and knowing he is loved are also encouraged. We
understand the financial limitations of people during these times and
we appreciate anything you can give.
Please take a moment and give what you can to support his release:
To make a contribution to Sundiata's legal expenses, please send a
check or money order payable to SAFC:
PO BOX 766
HARLEM STATION
New York, New York 10027
Please be sure to note in the memo field that your check is for Legal Fees
To send money directly to Sundiata's commissary send money orders
only made out to:
Clark Squire #39794-066 and mail to:
Federal Bureau of Prisons
Clark Squire #39794-066
Post Office Box 474701
Des Moines, Iowa 50947-0001
Do not send a note with your money order or it will be returned.
Commissary donations can also be made online or by phone using a
debit or credit card through Western Union Quick Collect. For more
instructions on that just email mailto:thesafc@gmail.com .
To send Sundiata a card, a photo, a poem, artwork or just a simple
letter saying you are thinking about him, write him:
Sundiata Acoli #39794-066 (Squire)
PO Box 3000
FCI Otisville
Otisville, NY 10963-1000
Any one of these things is a great way to show your love and support.
Thank you in advance!
A message from Sundiata to his supporters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-DPqbSTs5Q
Support Russian anti-fascists in the fight for the Khimki forest
Forwarded message (in Swedish below)
This has today been sent to several political weeklies in Sweden...
The news that President Medvedev have ordered a halt to the highway
construction through the Khimki forest close to Moscow until further
investigation has been made has taken the environmental movement by surprise
on Thursday. The fight against corruption behind the project and to increase
political pressure in seemingly hopeless situations has been very hard.
Chief editor Mikhail Beketov for a local newspaper who stood on the
barricades against the highway and the corrupt politicians in Khimki was
attacked and injured for life with one leg and several fingers amputated and
his ability to speak lost. Anarchists have collectively been assigned the
blame for a direct action against the center of the political corruption in
Khimki and are now hunted by the police with torture. Witnesses said as
according to the relief organizayion Anarchist Black Cross of Moscow that
Nikita Nikolaevich Chernobaev in the hand of FSB security service suffered
blows to the head and other parts of the body, dressed head
bag and blocked the air for breathing. Thus he was forced to make
confessions of guilt and self-testimony of others participating in the
campaign against Khimki's town hall.
Many more than the anarchists are currently threatened in the witch hunt in
the attempt to demonstrate the ability to act in the State response to the
action against the Khimki town hall, an action not directed against persons
but resulting in damage in the form of graffiti against deforestation, a few
broken windows and a door broken up. People who police think may have had
contact with anarchists who may have had with the action to do have their
computers seized and are taken to hearing. Many are afraid for both their
own sake and their families far beyond anarchist circles. Not least are the
journalists who interviewed anarchists who participated in the operation
vulnerable. Biggest is the fear for the destiny of Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim
Solopov who were arrested and then detained against normal procedure in
realtion to the action against the town hall. The two known representatives
of Antifa in Moscow, as the largest anarchist movement in Russia is called,
could easily be found by the police but no evidence that they participated
in the action was proposed as the basis for their detention which made
several human rights organizations reacting strongly against the arrest. The
two Anti-fascists have been lost to an unknown location and there is great
concern for what as happened to them.
Solidarity with anti-fascists and other victims of repression in
connection with the defense of Khimki forest is now important for both
democratic reasons and for protecting the Khimki forest permanentely.
Read more in Friends of the Earth Sweden statement: Khimkiskogen have
rescued - Save now also activists! On www.mjv.se. You can also join the
facebook groups Khimki Defense Of The Forest,
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=ru #! / pages /
Zasita-Himkinskogo-lesa-Defense-of-the-Khimki-Forest/152500571430115? ref =
ts and Freedom for Russian antifascists Alexei Gaskarov & Maxim Solopov!
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=ru #! / group.php? gid = 123233894390151 & ref =
ts where much of the material is in English. With the help of Google
translation function can also be passably read Russian texts.
A background article on why the need for solidarity with links can be found
at social forum journey blog on www.aktivism.info where more material on
Khimki conflict will be posted.
Tord Björk, active in the Friends of the Earth Sweden
Few minor corrections
>The two
> known representatives of Antifa in Moscow, as the largest anarchist
I would not call Antifa in Russia an anarchist organisation. There are many
anarchists, but in many regions (including Moscow), they are a minority.
Russian Antifa has people with a wide variety of opinions, from anarchists
and socialists to liberals and even conservatives, practically anything else
except fascists. From the arrested, Gaskarov considers himself as anarchist
and Solopov as leftist.
> movement in Russia is called, could easily be found by the police but no
> evidence that they participated in the action was proposed as the basis for
> their detention which made several human rights organizations reacting
> strongly against the arrest. The two Anti-fascists have been lost to an
> unknown location and there is great concern for what as happened to them.
Their location is not unknown, they are held in Mozhaisk remand prison in
Moscow region. This far they have not wanted to have the mail addresses
published.
Below in Swedish
Stöd ryska antifascister i kampen för Khimkiskogen
Nyheten om att president Medvedev beordrat stopp för motorvägsbygget genom
Khimkiskogen vid Moskva till dess att ytterligare prövning genomförts tog
miljörörelsen med överraskning i torsdags. Kampen mot korruptionen bakom
projektet och för att öka det politiska trycket i till synes hopplösa lägen
har varit mycket hård. Chefredaktören Michail Beketov för en lokaltidning
som stått på barrikaderna mot motorvägen och de korrupta politikerna i
Khimki attackerades och skadades för resten av livet med ett ben och flera
fingrar amputerade och förlorad talförmåga. Anarkister som kollektivt
tillskrivs skulden för en direkt aktion mot den korrupta politiska maktens
centrum i Khimki jagas nu av polisen med tortyr. Vittnen uppger enligt
hjälporganisationen Anarkistiska Svarta Korset i Moskva att Nikita
Nikolaevich Chernobaev av säkerhetstjänsten FSB utsatts för slag mot
huvudet och andra delar av kroppen varpå en huva träddes över huvudet och
lufttillförseln stoppades för att framtvinga bekännelse om egen skuld och
vittnesmål om andras deltagande i aktionen mot Khimkis kommunalhus.
Många fler än anarkister drabbas nu i den klappjakt som pågår för att
uppvisa handlingskraft i statens reaktion på aktionen mot kommunalhuset som
inte riktade sig mot personer men ledde till skador i form av graffitti mot
skövlingen av skogen, ett fåtal krossade fönster och en uppbruten dörr.
Personer som polisen kan tänka sig haft kontakt med anarkister som kan ha
haft med aktionen att göra får sina datorer beslagtagna och blir tagna till
förhör. Många är rädda för sig och sina familjer långt utanför
anarkistkretsarna. Inte minst blir journalister som intervjuat anarkister
som deltagit i aktionen utsatta. Störst är oron för Alexei Gaskarov och
Maxim Solopov som greps och sedan häktades utan normal bevisföring först av
alla efter aktionen mot kommunalhuset. De två är kända företrädare för
antifas i Moskva som den största anarkiströrelsen kallas i Ryssland och
kunde därför lätt hittas av polisen men några bevis för att de deltagit i
aktionen lades inte fram som grund för häktningen vilket flera
organisationer för mänskliga rättigheter kraftigt reagerat mot. De två
antifascisterna har försvunnit till okänd plats och oron är stor för vad
som lkffrskett med dem.
Solidaritet med antifascister och andra som drabbas av förföljelser i
samband med försvaret av Khimkiskogen är nu viktigt både av demokratiska
skäl och för att skyddet av Khimkiskogen ska bli bestående.
Läs mer iMiljöförbundet Jordens Vänners uttlalande: Khimkiskogen har
räddats Rädda nu också aktivisterna! På www.mjv.se. Du kan också gå med i
facebookgrupperna Defence of the Khimki Forest,
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=ru#!/pages/Zasita-Himkinskogo-lesa-Defence-of-th
e-Khimki-Forest/152500571430115?ref=ts och Freedom for Russian antifascists
Alexei Gaskarov & Maxim Solopov!
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=ru#!/group.php?gid=123233894390151&ref=ts där
mycket av materialet är på engelska. Med hjälp av googles
översättningsfunktion kan man också hjälpligt läsa ryska texter.
En bakgrundsartikel om varför solidaritet behövs med länkar finns på
bloggen social mforum journey på www.aktivism.info där mer material om
Khimkikonflikten kommer läggas upp.
Tord Björk, aktiv i Miljöförbundet Jordens Vänner
This has today been sent to several political weeklies in Sweden...
The news that President Medvedev have ordered a halt to the highway
construction through the Khimki forest close to Moscow until further
investigation has been made has taken the environmental movement by surprise
on Thursday. The fight against corruption behind the project and to increase
political pressure in seemingly hopeless situations has been very hard.
Chief editor Mikhail Beketov for a local newspaper who stood on the
barricades against the highway and the corrupt politicians in Khimki was
attacked and injured for life with one leg and several fingers amputated and
his ability to speak lost. Anarchists have collectively been assigned the
blame for a direct action against the center of the political corruption in
Khimki and are now hunted by the police with torture. Witnesses said as
according to the relief organizayion Anarchist Black Cross of Moscow that
Nikita Nikolaevich Chernobaev in the hand of FSB security service suffered
blows to the head and other parts of the body, dressed head
bag and blocked the air for breathing. Thus he was forced to make
confessions of guilt and self-testimony of others participating in the
campaign against Khimki's town hall.
Many more than the anarchists are currently threatened in the witch hunt in
the attempt to demonstrate the ability to act in the State response to the
action against the Khimki town hall, an action not directed against persons
but resulting in damage in the form of graffiti against deforestation, a few
broken windows and a door broken up. People who police think may have had
contact with anarchists who may have had with the action to do have their
computers seized and are taken to hearing. Many are afraid for both their
own sake and their families far beyond anarchist circles. Not least are the
journalists who interviewed anarchists who participated in the operation
vulnerable. Biggest is the fear for the destiny of Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim
Solopov who were arrested and then detained against normal procedure in
realtion to the action against the town hall. The two known representatives
of Antifa in Moscow, as the largest anarchist movement in Russia is called,
could easily be found by the police but no evidence that they participated
in the action was proposed as the basis for their detention which made
several human rights organizations reacting strongly against the arrest. The
two Anti-fascists have been lost to an unknown location and there is great
concern for what as happened to them.
Solidarity with anti-fascists and other victims of repression in
connection with the defense of Khimki forest is now important for both
democratic reasons and for protecting the Khimki forest permanentely.
Read more in Friends of the Earth Sweden statement: Khimkiskogen have
rescued - Save now also activists! On www.mjv.se. You can also join the
facebook groups Khimki Defense Of The Forest,
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=ru #! / pages /
Zasita-Himkinskogo-lesa-Defense-of-the-Khimki-Forest/152500571430115? ref =
ts and Freedom for Russian antifascists Alexei Gaskarov & Maxim Solopov!
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=ru #! / group.php? gid = 123233894390151 & ref =
ts where much of the material is in English. With the help of Google
translation function can also be passably read Russian texts.
A background article on why the need for solidarity with links can be found
at social forum journey blog on www.aktivism.info where more material on
Khimki conflict will be posted.
Tord Björk, active in the Friends of the Earth Sweden
Few minor corrections
>The two
> known representatives of Antifa in Moscow, as the largest anarchist
I would not call Antifa in Russia an anarchist organisation. There are many
anarchists, but in many regions (including Moscow), they are a minority.
Russian Antifa has people with a wide variety of opinions, from anarchists
and socialists to liberals and even conservatives, practically anything else
except fascists. From the arrested, Gaskarov considers himself as anarchist
and Solopov as leftist.
> movement in Russia is called, could easily be found by the police but no
> evidence that they participated in the action was proposed as the basis for
> their detention which made several human rights organizations reacting
> strongly against the arrest. The two Anti-fascists have been lost to an
> unknown location and there is great concern for what as happened to them.
Their location is not unknown, they are held in Mozhaisk remand prison in
Moscow region. This far they have not wanted to have the mail addresses
published.
Below in Swedish
Stöd ryska antifascister i kampen för Khimkiskogen
Nyheten om att president Medvedev beordrat stopp för motorvägsbygget genom
Khimkiskogen vid Moskva till dess att ytterligare prövning genomförts tog
miljörörelsen med överraskning i torsdags. Kampen mot korruptionen bakom
projektet och för att öka det politiska trycket i till synes hopplösa lägen
har varit mycket hård. Chefredaktören Michail Beketov för en lokaltidning
som stått på barrikaderna mot motorvägen och de korrupta politikerna i
Khimki attackerades och skadades för resten av livet med ett ben och flera
fingrar amputerade och förlorad talförmåga. Anarkister som kollektivt
tillskrivs skulden för en direkt aktion mot den korrupta politiska maktens
centrum i Khimki jagas nu av polisen med tortyr. Vittnen uppger enligt
hjälporganisationen Anarkistiska Svarta Korset i Moskva att Nikita
Nikolaevich Chernobaev av säkerhetstjänsten FSB utsatts för slag mot
huvudet och andra delar av kroppen varpå en huva träddes över huvudet och
lufttillförseln stoppades för att framtvinga bekännelse om egen skuld och
vittnesmål om andras deltagande i aktionen mot Khimkis kommunalhus.
Många fler än anarkister drabbas nu i den klappjakt som pågår för att
uppvisa handlingskraft i statens reaktion på aktionen mot kommunalhuset som
inte riktade sig mot personer men ledde till skador i form av graffitti mot
skövlingen av skogen, ett fåtal krossade fönster och en uppbruten dörr.
Personer som polisen kan tänka sig haft kontakt med anarkister som kan ha
haft med aktionen att göra får sina datorer beslagtagna och blir tagna till
förhör. Många är rädda för sig och sina familjer långt utanför
anarkistkretsarna. Inte minst blir journalister som intervjuat anarkister
som deltagit i aktionen utsatta. Störst är oron för Alexei Gaskarov och
Maxim Solopov som greps och sedan häktades utan normal bevisföring först av
alla efter aktionen mot kommunalhuset. De två är kända företrädare för
antifas i Moskva som den största anarkiströrelsen kallas i Ryssland och
kunde därför lätt hittas av polisen men några bevis för att de deltagit i
aktionen lades inte fram som grund för häktningen vilket flera
organisationer för mänskliga rättigheter kraftigt reagerat mot. De två
antifascisterna har försvunnit till okänd plats och oron är stor för vad
som lkffrskett med dem.
Solidaritet med antifascister och andra som drabbas av förföljelser i
samband med försvaret av Khimkiskogen är nu viktigt både av demokratiska
skäl och för att skyddet av Khimkiskogen ska bli bestående.
Läs mer iMiljöförbundet Jordens Vänners uttlalande: Khimkiskogen har
räddats Rädda nu också aktivisterna! På www.mjv.se. Du kan också gå med i
facebookgrupperna Defence of the Khimki Forest,
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=ru#!/pages/Zasita-Himkinskogo-lesa-Defence-of-th
e-Khimki-Forest/152500571430115?ref=ts och Freedom for Russian antifascists
Alexei Gaskarov & Maxim Solopov!
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=ru#!/group.php?gid=123233894390151&ref=ts där
mycket av materialet är på engelska. Med hjälp av googles
översättningsfunktion kan man också hjälpligt läsa ryska texter.
En bakgrundsartikel om varför solidaritet behövs med länkar finns på
bloggen social mforum journey på www.aktivism.info där mer material om
Khimkikonflikten kommer läggas upp.
Tord Björk, aktiv i Miljöförbundet Jordens Vänner
Moscow anti-fascist hospitalised with a brain injury following a torture by police
26th of August, three plain-clothed officers detained anti-fasict Nikita
Nikolaevich Chernobaev in Moscow suburb of Ramenskoye, born 1991. According
to lawyer and human rights activist Mikhail Trepashkin.,Nikita was taken to
local premises of Ministry of Interior, where an employee of the security
service FSB, began to demand from him a confession for his participation to
an action at the administrative building of the city of Khimki July 28, 2010.
During his first interrogation he succeeded to make a phone call to his
mother, saying that he was not allowed legal counsel and that he will sign
anything police demands. The mother asked: "Are they beating you up?". Nikita
answered: "Yes." Chernobaev was only released at 1 AM 27th of August , after
having signed a "confession" and an agreement on further cooperation.
After leaving the police station, mother called an ambulance. Nikita told
that they demanded him to sign a confession about having been in Khimki and
witnessed some people having participated to the action, and when he
refused, they beat him to the head and other parts of the body, dressed head
bag and blocked the air for breathing.
After such torture, he signed everything without reading it. After release, he
had visible traces from the handcuffs on his hands, traces from suffocation
around his neck and a black eye.
Paramedics brought Chernobaev to a hospital where doctors reported traces of
torture ito the local police station. They recorded a statement. After that,
the same three officers who beat Chernobaev attempted to pick up Nikita from
the hospital. For security reasons, he was transferred to a hospital in
Moscow However, this step does not guarantee him a calm treatment.
According to Trepashkin, these three police officers first declared to
Chernobaev that they are from the criminal investigation, and during
interrogation they claimed to be from the FSB,. They flatly refused to give
their names.
Please call to number +7-496-46-342-10, and ask names of the people who
tortured him. It is with this phone they called mother of Nikita and tried to
find out to which hospital Chernobaev was moved.
Anarchist Black Cross of Moscow
P.O. Box 13 109028 Moscow Russia
abc-msk AA riseup DD net
http://www.avtonom.org/abc
http://www.myspace.com/abcmsc
We are now also in facebook - please like both of our pages if you have an
account!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anarchist-Black-Cross-of-Moscow/144050225617540
(in English)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anarhiceskij-Cernyj-Krest-Moskva/146337378727567
(in Russian)
(source: http://avtonom.org/en/node/13141)
Nikolaevich Chernobaev in Moscow suburb of Ramenskoye, born 1991. According
to lawyer and human rights activist Mikhail Trepashkin.,Nikita was taken to
local premises of Ministry of Interior, where an employee of the security
service FSB, began to demand from him a confession for his participation to
an action at the administrative building of the city of Khimki July 28, 2010.
During his first interrogation he succeeded to make a phone call to his
mother, saying that he was not allowed legal counsel and that he will sign
anything police demands. The mother asked: "Are they beating you up?". Nikita
answered: "Yes." Chernobaev was only released at 1 AM 27th of August , after
having signed a "confession" and an agreement on further cooperation.
After leaving the police station, mother called an ambulance. Nikita told
that they demanded him to sign a confession about having been in Khimki and
witnessed some people having participated to the action, and when he
refused, they beat him to the head and other parts of the body, dressed head
bag and blocked the air for breathing.
After such torture, he signed everything without reading it. After release, he
had visible traces from the handcuffs on his hands, traces from suffocation
around his neck and a black eye.
Paramedics brought Chernobaev to a hospital where doctors reported traces of
torture ito the local police station. They recorded a statement. After that,
the same three officers who beat Chernobaev attempted to pick up Nikita from
the hospital. For security reasons, he was transferred to a hospital in
Moscow However, this step does not guarantee him a calm treatment.
According to Trepashkin, these three police officers first declared to
Chernobaev that they are from the criminal investigation, and during
interrogation they claimed to be from the FSB,. They flatly refused to give
their names.
Please call to number +7-496-46-342-10, and ask names of the people who
tortured him. It is with this phone they called mother of Nikita and tried to
find out to which hospital Chernobaev was moved.
Anarchist Black Cross of Moscow
P.O. Box 13 109028 Moscow Russia
abc-msk AA riseup DD net
http://www.avtonom.org/abc
http://www.myspace.com/abcmsc
We are now also in facebook - please like both of our pages if you have an
account!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anarchist-Black-Cross-of-Moscow/144050225617540
(in English)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anarhiceskij-Cernyj-Krest-Moskva/146337378727567
(in Russian)
(source: http://avtonom.org/en/node/13141)
Support Parole for PRican PP Oscar Lopez Rivera
The ProLibertad Freedom Campaign's New Campaign
In solidarity with the National Boricua Human Rights Network's (NBHRN) new campaign
to ask for parole for Oscar Lopez Rivera, one of our two Puerto Rican Political
Prisoners, ProLibertad has started an online petition to pressure President Brack
Obama to give Oscar parole or to commute his sentence.
We are asking all freedom loving people to support both the online petition, which
will be sent to President Barack Obama once we have reached our goal of 10,000
petitioners, and to support the letter writing campaign by the NBHRN. Our letters
and online support will help us bring one of the longest held political prisoners
home!
Both campaigns are important! We must use all avenues available to help win
parole/commutation for Oscar.
Sign our petition: http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/Parole4OscarLopezR/
and send a letter out: http://boricuahumanrights.org/
"Agitation, organization, resistance, struggle and love are the ingredients that
will guarantee us VICTORY!" -Oscar Lopez Rivera, Puerto Rican Political Prisoner
For more information on Oscar Lopez Rivera and to write to him:
http://www.prolibertadweb.com/id40.html
In solidarity with the National Boricua Human Rights Network's (NBHRN) new campaign
to ask for parole for Oscar Lopez Rivera, one of our two Puerto Rican Political
Prisoners, ProLibertad has started an online petition to pressure President Brack
Obama to give Oscar parole or to commute his sentence.
We are asking all freedom loving people to support both the online petition, which
will be sent to President Barack Obama once we have reached our goal of 10,000
petitioners, and to support the letter writing campaign by the NBHRN. Our letters
and online support will help us bring one of the longest held political prisoners
home!
Both campaigns are important! We must use all avenues available to help win
parole/commutation for Oscar.
Sign our petition: http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/Parole4OscarLopezR/
and send a letter out: http://boricuahumanrights.org/
"Agitation, organization, resistance, struggle and love are the ingredients that
will guarantee us VICTORY!" -Oscar Lopez Rivera, Puerto Rican Political Prisoner
For more information on Oscar Lopez Rivera and to write to him:
http://www.prolibertadweb.com/id40.html
international Day of Action for Jock on 19th of October
Anti-fascist in prison in Bulgaria
Jock Palfreeman is a 23 year old Australian who had the courage to stand
up against 16 Nazis on a night out in Sofia, Bulgaria. He witnessed the
fascists chasing and attacking two young Roma boys. Jock ran to the boys'
aid, he did his best to keep the Nazis at bay by waving a knife at them but
they attacked him. Jock was left with nowhere to run and had no choice but to
defend himself. Andrey Monov, one of the Nazis, was stabbed and killed and
another, Antoan Zahariev was injured. The Roma boys ran away.
Jock has since been tried and sentenced for murder and attempted murder.
He has been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and has been fined 375,000
Australian dollars.
Andey Monovs Father is well known in Bulgaria and at the funeral there
were a mixture of judges, police and politicians.
Jock's trial was a complete sham-yet another example of corruption and
secret hand shakes in the judicial system. The prosecutions case was built on
the witness statements made by the other Nazis that were there that night,
all claiming that Jock randomly attacked the group and chased them with the
intent of killing somebody. Key people and possible witnesses were never
interviewed by police and CCTV footage from the scene miraculously went
missing and many of the statements made at the time were not the same as the
statements submitted to the court by the prosecution. Jock has two appeals
before his sentence becomes final.
We must campaign to free Jock and put pressure on Bulgarian authorities to
accept his appeal. If his charges were downgraded to excessive use of force
during self-defence, he would be already out. We must make sure that this
judicial farce is highlighted and that they will not be able to repeat it
again.
Jock has its appeal on 21st of October- it is his only chance to walk free. We
need to do everything we can in order to get him out of there. There is going
to be an international Day of Action for Jock on 19th. If you can organise an
event in your are please get in touch with us
anarchosolidarity(at)yahoo.com . It is also of vital importance to keep
pressure with protest messages and smaller actions up till this time.
More messages to follow. Please distribute this appeal widely, put it on your
blogs, websites, forums, email lists.
Anarchist Solidarity
more information about the case on: www.freejock.net
What you can do:
-write to Jock – letters help him survive this difficult time and keep his
spirits high:
Jock Palfreeman, Sofia Central Prison, 21 General Stoletov Boulevard,
Sofia 1309, BULGARIA
- Organise solidarity actions outside Bulgarian embassies, consulates etc.-
use your creativity !
-Write messages of protest to Bulgarian authorities. It can be letters,
faxes, emails or you can even even phone calls.
We include sample letter, but you are welcome to write your own message.
Sample message:
To whom it may concern
We are writing in regards to Australian national Jock Palfreeman currently
imprisoned in Bulgaria. Palfreeman had been sentenced to 20 years of prison
for defending a passer-by and later on, himself from a vicious attack by a
group of drunken football hooligans. As a result one of the attackers died
and another got injured. Despite it being a clear case of self-defence and
his version of events being supported by numerous witnesses, his trial was a
farce. Anything working in favour of his defence was completely ignored by
the judge.
We demand that Bulgarian authorities grant him appeal and that he will be
acquitted of murder charges. We will be watching the next actions of the
Bulgarian Ministry of Justice. We will not rest until Jock Palfreeman will
get his appeal and is acquitted from those absurd charges.
Addresses to send your protests:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria
Address: 2, Aleksandar Zhendov Str., Sofia 1040, Bulgaria
Tel.: +359 2 948 2999 +359 2 948 2999
Information, Public Relations and European Communication Directorate
Director: Sofia Vladimirova
Tel.: +359 2 971 14 08 +359 2 971 14 08 g, 971 37 78, 948 22 18
Fax: +359 2 870 30 41
e-mail: iprd@mfa.government.bg
Ministry's Reception Desk
Tel.: +359 2 948 20 18 +359 2 948 20 18 971 10 54
In the work days from 9.30 to 12.00 h and from 14.00 to 16.00 h
Ministry of Justice:
pr@justice.government.bg
Jock Palfreeman is a 23 year old Australian who had the courage to stand
up against 16 Nazis on a night out in Sofia, Bulgaria. He witnessed the
fascists chasing and attacking two young Roma boys. Jock ran to the boys'
aid, he did his best to keep the Nazis at bay by waving a knife at them but
they attacked him. Jock was left with nowhere to run and had no choice but to
defend himself. Andrey Monov, one of the Nazis, was stabbed and killed and
another, Antoan Zahariev was injured. The Roma boys ran away.
Jock has since been tried and sentenced for murder and attempted murder.
He has been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and has been fined 375,000
Australian dollars.
Andey Monovs Father is well known in Bulgaria and at the funeral there
were a mixture of judges, police and politicians.
Jock's trial was a complete sham-yet another example of corruption and
secret hand shakes in the judicial system. The prosecutions case was built on
the witness statements made by the other Nazis that were there that night,
all claiming that Jock randomly attacked the group and chased them with the
intent of killing somebody. Key people and possible witnesses were never
interviewed by police and CCTV footage from the scene miraculously went
missing and many of the statements made at the time were not the same as the
statements submitted to the court by the prosecution. Jock has two appeals
before his sentence becomes final.
We must campaign to free Jock and put pressure on Bulgarian authorities to
accept his appeal. If his charges were downgraded to excessive use of force
during self-defence, he would be already out. We must make sure that this
judicial farce is highlighted and that they will not be able to repeat it
again.
Jock has its appeal on 21st of October- it is his only chance to walk free. We
need to do everything we can in order to get him out of there. There is going
to be an international Day of Action for Jock on 19th. If you can organise an
event in your are please get in touch with us
anarchosolidarity(at)yahoo.com . It is also of vital importance to keep
pressure with protest messages and smaller actions up till this time.
More messages to follow. Please distribute this appeal widely, put it on your
blogs, websites, forums, email lists.
Anarchist Solidarity
more information about the case on: www.freejock.net
What you can do:
-write to Jock – letters help him survive this difficult time and keep his
spirits high:
Jock Palfreeman, Sofia Central Prison, 21 General Stoletov Boulevard,
Sofia 1309, BULGARIA
- Organise solidarity actions outside Bulgarian embassies, consulates etc.-
use your creativity !
-Write messages of protest to Bulgarian authorities. It can be letters,
faxes, emails or you can even even phone calls.
We include sample letter, but you are welcome to write your own message.
Sample message:
To whom it may concern
We are writing in regards to Australian national Jock Palfreeman currently
imprisoned in Bulgaria. Palfreeman had been sentenced to 20 years of prison
for defending a passer-by and later on, himself from a vicious attack by a
group of drunken football hooligans. As a result one of the attackers died
and another got injured. Despite it being a clear case of self-defence and
his version of events being supported by numerous witnesses, his trial was a
farce. Anything working in favour of his defence was completely ignored by
the judge.
We demand that Bulgarian authorities grant him appeal and that he will be
acquitted of murder charges. We will be watching the next actions of the
Bulgarian Ministry of Justice. We will not rest until Jock Palfreeman will
get his appeal and is acquitted from those absurd charges.
Addresses to send your protests:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria
Address: 2, Aleksandar Zhendov Str., Sofia 1040, Bulgaria
Tel.: +359 2 948 2999 +359 2 948 2999
Information, Public Relations and European Communication Directorate
Director: Sofia Vladimirova
Tel.: +359 2 971 14 08 +359 2 971 14 08 g, 971 37 78, 948 22 18
Fax: +359 2 870 30 41
e-mail: iprd@mfa.government.bg
Ministry's Reception Desk
Tel.: +359 2 948 20 18 +359 2 948 20 18 971 10 54
In the work days from 9.30 to 12.00 h and from 14.00 to 16.00 h
Ministry of Justice:
pr@justice.government.bg
Moscow antifascist needs help for treatment
Anarchist and anti-fascist from Moscow, who was attacked by nazis at 15th of
August 2010 after the football match
(https://antifa-action.org.ua/en/node/863), needs financial help for
treatment. His life isn't menaced, the harm to the health can be assessed as
moderate, treatment requires significant amounts of money.
You may read here how to donate:
http://wiki.golosa.info/en/index.php/Donate
In article in website of Ukrainian Helsinki group in Ukrainian language you
may see photos of the damages:
http://helsinki.org.ua/index.php?id=1282207351
Anarchist Black Cross of Moscow
P.O. Box 13 109028 Moscow Russia
abc-msk AA riseup DD net
http://www.avtonom.org/abc
http://www.myspace.com/abcmsc
We are now also in facebook - please like both of our pages if you have an
account!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anarchist-Black-Cross-of-Moscow/144050225617540
(in English)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anarhiceskij-Cernyj-Krest-Moskva/146337378727567
(in Russian)
(source: https://avtonom.org/en/node/13135)
August 2010 after the football match
(https://antifa-action.org.ua/en/node/863), needs financial help for
treatment. His life isn't menaced, the harm to the health can be assessed as
moderate, treatment requires significant amounts of money.
You may read here how to donate:
http://wiki.golosa.info/en/index.php/Donate
In article in website of Ukrainian Helsinki group in Ukrainian language you
may see photos of the damages:
http://helsinki.org.ua/index.php?id=1282207351
Anarchist Black Cross of Moscow
P.O. Box 13 109028 Moscow Russia
abc-msk AA riseup DD net
http://www.avtonom.org/abc
http://www.myspace.com/abcmsc
We are now also in facebook - please like both of our pages if you have an
account!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anarchist-Black-Cross-of-Moscow/144050225617540
(in English)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anarhiceskij-Cernyj-Krest-Moskva/146337378727567
(in Russian)
(source: https://avtonom.org/en/node/13135)
New Oscar Lopez Rivera campaign letter
From: Alejandro Molina alejandrom@boricuahumanrights.org
Subject: New Oscar Lopez Rivera campaign letter-40,000 by January 2011!
Date: Sat, 28 Aug 2010
Dear compañeros/as, we’ve written a new letter to
the president for the campaign, based on a
decision Oscar has made, in response to a call
that he come home, whether by presidential
commutation or by parole. In the U.S., the
compañeros/as of National Boricua will be
collecting signatures and sending them to
Chicago, so that at the appropriate time we can
send them to the president and/or the parole
commission. A parole hearing is scheduled for January.
We also attach a call... National Boricua will be
collecting signatures from elected officials, as
well as leaders from the various sectors (community, artists, religious, etc.).
Finally, some new talking points about Oscar.
If you have any questions, please call Alejandro
at 312/296-7210 or at the above email.
Queridos compañeros/as, hemos escrito una nueva
carta al presidente, para el uso de la campaña,
basada en una decisión que ha tomado el
compañero, en respuesta a un llamado que aceptara
salir ya de la odiséa carcelaria, por conmutación
presidencial ó por salida bajo palabra, como ya
saben. En los eeuu, los compañeros/as del
National Boricua van a recoger firmas en la
calle, para que, en el momento apropiado, la
campaña se las enviémos al presidente y/ó la
junta de salida bajo palabra. Habrá una vista de la junta en enero.
Adjunto también un llamado... National Boricua
esta recogiendo firmas de los líderes electos,
comunitarios, artísticos, religiosos, etc., en ello.
Finalmente, unos “talking points” sobre Oscar.
Cualquier pregunta, favor de contactar a
Alejandro al 312/296-7210 o al correo electronico arriba.
Subject: New Oscar Lopez Rivera campaign letter-40,000 by January 2011!
Date: Sat, 28 Aug 2010
Dear compañeros/as, we’ve written a new letter to
the president for the campaign, based on a
decision Oscar has made, in response to a call
that he come home, whether by presidential
commutation or by parole. In the U.S., the
compañeros/as of National Boricua will be
collecting signatures and sending them to
Chicago, so that at the appropriate time we can
send them to the president and/or the parole
commission. A parole hearing is scheduled for January.
We also attach a call... National Boricua will be
collecting signatures from elected officials, as
well as leaders from the various sectors (community, artists, religious, etc.).
Finally, some new talking points about Oscar.
If you have any questions, please call Alejandro
at 312/296-7210 or at the above email.
Queridos compañeros/as, hemos escrito una nueva
carta al presidente, para el uso de la campaña,
basada en una decisión que ha tomado el
compañero, en respuesta a un llamado que aceptara
salir ya de la odiséa carcelaria, por conmutación
presidencial ó por salida bajo palabra, como ya
saben. En los eeuu, los compañeros/as del
National Boricua van a recoger firmas en la
calle, para que, en el momento apropiado, la
campaña se las enviémos al presidente y/ó la
junta de salida bajo palabra. Habrá una vista de la junta en enero.
Adjunto también un llamado... National Boricua
esta recogiendo firmas de los líderes electos,
comunitarios, artísticos, religiosos, etc., en ello.
Finalmente, unos “talking points” sobre Oscar.
Cualquier pregunta, favor de contactar a
Alejandro al 312/296-7210 o al correo electronico arriba.
Man pleads guilty to gross misdemeanor in RNC protest case, gets 91 days
By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com08/27/2010 twincities.com
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egurnon@pioneerpress.com08/27/2010 twincities.com
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From a bang to a whimper.
The criminal case against Republican National Convention protester Erik Oseland was resolved this afternoon, when he pleaded guilty to third-degree conspiracy to commit criminal damage to property, a gross misdemeanor.
The other charges against him were dismissed.
The former member of the RNC 8 admitted to talking with several other people before the 2008 event about knocking over newspaper boxes, thus "impeding the flow of convention traffic," said his attorney, Ted Dooley.
"You understand when you tip over these things, it damages the property," Dooley asked Oseland.
"Yes," Oseland said.
Oseland didn't damage any property; he was arrested two days before the convention began.
Ramsey County District Judge Teresa Warner sentenced Oseland to the time agreed upon in the plea agreement: 91 days in the workhouse — with the condition that he not be called to testify against any other RNC defendants.
It was a far cry from two years ago, when investigators raided the homes of two would-be protesters and Sheriff Bob Fletcher displayed at a press conference what they had found: sharp objects to pierce delegates' buses, buckets of alleged urine to throw at police and materials to make Molotov cocktails, among other things, he asserted.
Fletcher said at the time that plans were under way "to both shut down the Republican National Convention and actually harm the officers that are working this convention" and added that what was found "is only a portion of what is out there."
Eventually, eight members of the RNC Welcoming Committee, an anarchist protest group, were charged with second-degree conspiracy to commit riot in furtherance of terrorism — a charge that carried a potential five years in prison.
The county attorney's office later dropped the terrorism charges. But the eight still faced charges of first-degree conspiracy to commit property damage and second-degree conspiracy to commit riot, both felonies.
The 2008 criminal complaint against the group alleged that Oseland put a video on YouTube entitled "Video Map of the St. Paul Points of Interest," which featured prominent buildings and hotels in downtown St. Paul. It alleged that he and another man had discussed making Molotov cocktails to use during the RNC protests. It also accused him of planning to disable delegates' buses.
Oseland, 23, of Nisswa, Minn., declined comment after the hearing.
County Attorney Susan Gaertner said that whenever a case involves multiple defendants and conspiracy charges, "you're going to have varying degrees of culpability.
"You're also going to have varying degrees of evidence to support the charge of conspiracy," Gaertner said. "That certainly was an aspect of resolving the case against Mr. Oseland."
She said she did not know whether any other plea offers were on the table for the remaining defendants.
Dooley said the fact that Oseland would not have to testify against his co-defendants was "pivotal" to his agreeing to the plea.
"He wouldn't do that if you burned his feet," Dooley said.
At least two of the other RNC defendants attended the hearing.
"The seven of us are still committed to taking it all the way to trial," said defendant Garrett Fitzgerald.
Asked if they were disappointed in today's plea, defendant Max Specktor said, "Conspiracy charges create these situations where the state tries to divide us. That's the greater disappointment."
Critics have derided law enforcement and the county attorney's office for prosecuting the protesters, saying the focus on them has been an attempt to "criminalize dissent."
"This is clearly not about criminalizing dissent," Gaertner said. "It's about criminalizing destructive behavior and prosecuting destructive behavior. He pleaded guilty to that, and I think that's appropriate."
Oseland must report to the Ramsey County workhouse on Oct. 20.
Emily Gurnon can be reached at 651-228-5522.
Free the Scott Sisters March and Rally Sept, 15, 2010
Free the Scott Sisters March and RallyWhen: Sep 15, 2010 11:00am
Where: Beginning at Farish St. Park and ending at the Mississippi State Capitol,
Jackson, MS
Contact: The Committee to Free The Scott Sisters, freethescottsisters.blogspot.com,
1-601-353-4455
On December 24, 1993, the Scott County Sheriff's Department arrested Jamie and
Gladys Scott for armed robbery even though three young males, ranging from ages 14
to 18, confessed to committing the crime and the women have unwaveringly maintained
their complete innocence.
The corrupt Mississippi Sherriff used coercion, threats, and harassment to compel
them to turns state's evidence against the Scott sisters due to a long standing
vendetta against a family member. The judge in the case, Marcus Gordon, has an
extensive racist past that includes granting bail to the KKK murderer of 3 civil
rights workers (Chaney, Goodman & Schwerner) in 1964.
In October 1994, the Scott sisters were sentenced to extraordinary double life terms
each, despite the fact that no one was harmed, neither sister had prior convictions
and the amount allegedly taken was $11.00.
The punishment does not fit the alleged crime!
The Scott Sisters are now in their 15th year of unjust imprisonment. Jamie Scott's
kidneys have recently failed and she is currently undergoing dialysis at the prison
3 times a week. On at least one occasion, it was reported that the catheter
(originally placed in Jamie's chest) became infected. It was also reported that
Jamie was rushed to the emergency room due to reports of chest pain. Jamie's health
is fading fast.
Please forward letters of support addressed to governor Haley Barbour to:
Free the Scott Sisters
c/o Attorney Chokwe Lumumba
440 N. Mill Street
Jackson, MS 39202
For more information:
The Committee to Free The Scott Sisters
1-601-353-4455
freethescottsisters.blogspot.com
Where: Beginning at Farish St. Park and ending at the Mississippi State Capitol,
Jackson, MS
Contact: The Committee to Free The Scott Sisters, freethescottsisters.blogspot.com,
1-601-353-4455
On December 24, 1993, the Scott County Sheriff's Department arrested Jamie and
Gladys Scott for armed robbery even though three young males, ranging from ages 14
to 18, confessed to committing the crime and the women have unwaveringly maintained
their complete innocence.
The corrupt Mississippi Sherriff used coercion, threats, and harassment to compel
them to turns state's evidence against the Scott sisters due to a long standing
vendetta against a family member. The judge in the case, Marcus Gordon, has an
extensive racist past that includes granting bail to the KKK murderer of 3 civil
rights workers (Chaney, Goodman & Schwerner) in 1964.
In October 1994, the Scott sisters were sentenced to extraordinary double life terms
each, despite the fact that no one was harmed, neither sister had prior convictions
and the amount allegedly taken was $11.00.
The punishment does not fit the alleged crime!
The Scott Sisters are now in their 15th year of unjust imprisonment. Jamie Scott's
kidneys have recently failed and she is currently undergoing dialysis at the prison
3 times a week. On at least one occasion, it was reported that the catheter
(originally placed in Jamie's chest) became infected. It was also reported that
Jamie was rushed to the emergency room due to reports of chest pain. Jamie's health
is fading fast.
Please forward letters of support addressed to governor Haley Barbour to:
Free the Scott Sisters
c/o Attorney Chokwe Lumumba
440 N. Mill Street
Jackson, MS 39202
For more information:
The Committee to Free The Scott Sisters
1-601-353-4455
freethescottsisters.blogspot.com
Death penalty backers join calls for Ohio man to be spared
Doubts over murder conviction of Kevin Keith fuel demands for reconsideration of
death penalty in Ohio
An unlikely coalition of death penalty backers and opponents, including conservative
politicians and former judges, is attempting to prevent the execution of an Ohio man
they say was wrongly convicted of murdering a young child and two women.
Suggestions that police fabricated evidence against Kevin Keith, 46, has led the
group to urge Ohio's governor to spare him should his parole board hearing fail.
The case is also fuelling demands for a rethink of the death penalty in Ohio, which
carries out the second highest number of executions in the US.
The group is urging the Ohio governor, Ted Strickland, to spare the life of Keith,
who is scheduled to plead for a pardon or a new trial.
If the board rejects the appeal, Strickland will have to decide whether Keith will
be executed by lethal injection in September after 16 years on death row.
The case is fuelling demands for a rethink of the death penalty in Ohio, which
carries out the second highest number of executions in the US after Texas.
More than 30 former prosecutors and judges are pressing Strickland to free Keith or
order a new trial.
Among them is Jim Petro, a former Ohio attorney general and Republican who supports
the death penalty. "I am gravely concerned that the state of Ohio may be on the
verge of executing an innocent person," he said in a letter to the governor.
Herbert Brown, a former justice in Ohio's supreme court, also wrote to Strickland.
"There is a mass of exculpatory evidence, suppressed evidence, faulty eyewitness
identification and forensic reports that support legitimate claims of innocence," he
said.
Keith was convicted of breaking into a flat and spraying it with bullets. Police
found four-year-old Machae Chatman dead alongside her mother and aunt. Two other
children survived, as did Richard Warren, who provided the eyewitness testimony that
convicted Keith.
At the trial, Keith was accused of murdering the Chatmans because one of their
relatives was an informant who had identified him as a drug dealer.
Keith said he had a watertight alibi – four people said he had been at his aunt's
house, 12 miles from the crime scene. But the jury convicted him.
Critics have suggested police fabricated a crucial piece of evidence. Keith's trial
was told a nurse who treated Warren said he had identified his attacker as someone
called Kevin.
After the trial, however, no nurse could be found with the name given by the police
officer who made the claim, and the nurse who treated Warren said she had never had
any such conversation.
Keith is optimistic that he will be saved from execution. "I don't want to die, but
I don't want life without parole either," he told Ohio's Columbus Dispatch
newspaper.
"I want out. I'm innocent. I want a life, but I'm afraid to let myself think about
what that might be like ,because it will hurt that much more if it doesn't happen."
miscarriage of justice primarily is the conviction and punishment of a person for a
crime they did not commit. The term can also apply to errors in the other
direction—"errors of impunity", and to civil case. Most criminal justice systems
have some means to overturn, or "quash", a wrongful conviction, but this is often
difficult to achieve. The most serious instances occur when a wrongful conviction is
not overturned for several years, or until after the innocent person has been
executed or died in jail. "Miscarriage of justice" is sometimes synonymous with
wrongful conviction, referring to a conviction reached in an unfair or disputed
trial. Wrongful convictions are frequently cited by death penalty opponents as cause
to eliminate death penalties to avoid executing innocent persons. In recent years,
DNA evidence has been used to clear many people falsely convicted.
Scandinavian languages have a word, the Norwegian variant of which is justismord,
which literally translates as "justice murder." The term exists in several languages
and was originally used for cases where the accused was convicted, executed, and
later cleared after death. With capital punishment decreasing, the expression has
acquired an extended meaning, namely any conviction for a crime not committed by the
convicted. The retention of the term "murder" represents both universal abhorrence
against wrongful convictions and awareness of how destructive wrongful convictions
are.
Also, the term travesty of justice is sometimes used for a gross, deliberate
miscarriage of justice. The usage of the term in a specific case is, however,
inherently biased due to different opinions about the case. Show trials (not in the
sense of high publicity, but in the sense of lack of regard to the actual legal
procedure and fairness), due to their character, often lead to such travesties.
The concept of miscarriage of justice has important implications for standard of
review, in that an appellate court will often only exercise its discretion to
correct plain error when a miscarriage of justice (or "manifest injustice") would
otherwise occur.[1]
[Causes of miscarriages of justice include:
Plea bargains that offer incentives for the innocent to plead guilty
Confirmation bias on the part of investigators
Withholding or destruction of evidence by police or prosecution
fabrication of evidence or outright perjury by police (see testilying), or
prosecution witnesses (e.g. Dr Charles Smith)
Biased editing of evidence
Prejudice towards the class of people to which the defendant belongs
Poor identification by witnesses and/or victims
Overestimation/underestimation of the evidential value of expert testimony
Contaminated evidence
Faulty forensic tests
false confessions due to police pressure or psychological weakness
Misdirection of a jury by a judge during trial
perjured evidence by the real guilty party or their accomplices (frameup)
Perjured evidence by supposed victim or their accomplices
Conspiracy between court of appeal judges and prosecutors to uphold conviction of
innocentRisk of miscarriages of justice is one of the main arguments against the
death penalty. Where condemned persons are executed promptly after conviction, the
most significant effect of a miscarriage of justice is irreversible.
Wrongly-executed people nevertheless occasionally receive posthumous pardons—which
essentially void the conviction—or have their convictions quashed. Many death
penalty states hold condemned persons for ten or more years before execution, so
that any new evidence that might acquit them (or, at least, provide reasonable
doubt) will have had time to surface.
Even when a wrongly-convicted person is not executed, years in prison can have a
substantial, irreversible effect on the person and their family. The risk of
miscarriage of justice is therefore also an argument against long sentences, like
life sentence, and cruel sentence conditions.
Relief Urgently Needed for Innocent Man on Ohio's Death Row
Targeting: Ohio Parole Board and Governor Ted Strickland
Started by: Supporters of Kevin Keith
The State of Ohio is poised to execute Kevin Keith on September 15, 2010, in spite
of overwhelming evidence supporting what Mr. Keith has maintained from the time of
his arrest – he is actually innocent, wrongfully convicted of a crime based on
faulty eyewitness identification. The Ohio Innocence Project, the National Innocence
Network, and a group of leading eyewitness and memory experts all support relief for
Mr. Keith. Help urge the Ohio Parole Board and Governor Ted Strickland to grant
clemency to Kevin Keith by adding your name to this letter.
Report close You must be signed in to report content.
Petition Text
Clemency For Kevin Keith
Hello,
The State of Ohio is poised to execute Kevin Keith on September 15, 2010, in spite
of overwhelming evidence supporting what Mr. Keith has maintained from the time of
his arrest – he is actually innocent, wrongfully convicted of a crime based on
faulty eyewitness identification.
Mr. Keith has an alibi for the time of the crime supported by four witnesses.
The Ohio Innocence Project, the National Innocence Network, and a group of leading
eyewitness and memory experts all support relief for Mr. Keith.
I urgently appeal to the Ohio Parole Board and Governor Ted Strickland to grant
clemency to Kevin Keith to prevent the State of Ohio from doing the intolerable:
putting a man to death for a crime he did not commit.
The primary evidence against Mr. Keith was the erroneous eyewitness identification
of one of the surviving victims of the crime, who identified Mr. Keith in spite of
initially telling at least four witnesses that he was unable to identify the
perpetrator. This identification of Mr. Keith relied on the very procedures
recognized to be unreliable and inaccurate by Governor Strickland and the Ohio
Legislature when the State passed into law in April new requirements for eyewitness
identification procedures.
New evidence recently uncovered by counsel for Mr. Keith further discredits the
identification. Thirteen years after he was convicted, Mr. Keith discovered that one
of the State’s supposed “witnesses” – who was critical to corroborating the
legitimacy of the eyewitness identification – does not actually exist.
Additional new evidence also implicates an alternative suspect who told a police
informant that he was paid to carry out the crime for which Mr. Keith stands to be
executed.
No court has ever had the entirety of new evidence before it.
More information on the case can be found at: www.kevinkeith.org.
Mr. Keith has steadfastly maintained his innocence from the time of his arrest and
throughout his 16 years on death row. The State of Ohio now risks putting to death
an innocent man with no jury ever hearing the entirety of evidence of innocence.
I appeal to the Ohio Parole Board and Governor Strickland to grant clemency to Kevin
Keith.
[Your name]
Signatures
Tweets
Raymond Grenier (Woonsocket, RI)
Signed letter
about 4 hours ago
Echo G. (Ashland, OH)
Signed letter
about 5 hours ago
Tina Neylon (Cork, Ireland)
Signed letter
about 8 hours ago
Michael Richardson (Hawthorne, CA)
Signed letter
about 12 hours ago
Robert Humphrey (Brookings, OR)
Signed letter
about 15 hours ago
Martina Rocha (Houston, TX)
Signed letter
about 17 hours ago
Patricia M Johnson (Columbus, OH)
Signed letter
about 23 hours ago
James Neagley (Leesburg, NJ)
Signed letter
Aug 14
Phoebe Murphy (norwich, United Kingdom)
Signed letter
Aug 14
Candice Barnett (Santa Monica, CA)
Signed letter
Aug 13
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
...
147
phensmans
Take Action @change: Relief Urgently Needed for Innocent Man on Ohio's Death Row
http://chn.ge/cBASpN
3 days ago
Michael L. Love
Relief Urgently Needed for Innocent Man on Ohio's Death Row | Criminal Justice |
Change.org http://ping.fm/0rY40
3 days ago
Amanda Williams
Take Action @change: Relief Urgently Needed for Innocent Man on Ohio's Death Row
http://chn.ge/aW79Dg
4 days ago
Badweather Crow
Take Action @change: Relief Urgently Needed for Innocent Man on Ohio's Death Row
http://chn.ge/a0khHY
5 days ago
Hans Lussenburg
Take Action @change: Relief Urgently Needed for Innocent Man on Ohio's Death Row
http://chn.ge/br1H9r
5 days ago
GO VEGAN Radio
@ACCADP: Stop OH execution of #KevinKeith convicted on faulty eyewitness I.D. SIGN
PETITION & PLEASE RT!! http://tinyurl.com/2aut7c2
5 days ago
ALFⓋAnimalLib
@ACCADP: Stop OH execution of #KevinKeith convicted on a eyewitness that DOESN'T
EXIST. Sign&Pls RT Thanx http://tinyurl.com/2aut7c2
5 days ago
ALFⓋAnimalLib
Take Action @change: Relief Urgently Needed for INNOCENT Man on Ohio's Death Row
http://bit.ly/awmy52
5 days ago
Bruce Eggum
Take Action @change: Relief Urgently Needed for Innocent Man on Ohio's Death Row
http://bit.ly/awmy52
5 days ago
Darcy Delaproser
RT @ACCADP: Stop OH execution of #KevinKeith convicted on faulty eyewitness I.D.
SIGN PETITION & PLEASE RT!! http://tinyurl.com/2aut7c2 ...
6 days ago
death penalty in Ohio
An unlikely coalition of death penalty backers and opponents, including conservative
politicians and former judges, is attempting to prevent the execution of an Ohio man
they say was wrongly convicted of murdering a young child and two women.
Suggestions that police fabricated evidence against Kevin Keith, 46, has led the
group to urge Ohio's governor to spare him should his parole board hearing fail.
The case is also fuelling demands for a rethink of the death penalty in Ohio, which
carries out the second highest number of executions in the US.
The group is urging the Ohio governor, Ted Strickland, to spare the life of Keith,
who is scheduled to plead for a pardon or a new trial.
If the board rejects the appeal, Strickland will have to decide whether Keith will
be executed by lethal injection in September after 16 years on death row.
The case is fuelling demands for a rethink of the death penalty in Ohio, which
carries out the second highest number of executions in the US after Texas.
More than 30 former prosecutors and judges are pressing Strickland to free Keith or
order a new trial.
Among them is Jim Petro, a former Ohio attorney general and Republican who supports
the death penalty. "I am gravely concerned that the state of Ohio may be on the
verge of executing an innocent person," he said in a letter to the governor.
Herbert Brown, a former justice in Ohio's supreme court, also wrote to Strickland.
"There is a mass of exculpatory evidence, suppressed evidence, faulty eyewitness
identification and forensic reports that support legitimate claims of innocence," he
said.
Keith was convicted of breaking into a flat and spraying it with bullets. Police
found four-year-old Machae Chatman dead alongside her mother and aunt. Two other
children survived, as did Richard Warren, who provided the eyewitness testimony that
convicted Keith.
At the trial, Keith was accused of murdering the Chatmans because one of their
relatives was an informant who had identified him as a drug dealer.
Keith said he had a watertight alibi – four people said he had been at his aunt's
house, 12 miles from the crime scene. But the jury convicted him.
Critics have suggested police fabricated a crucial piece of evidence. Keith's trial
was told a nurse who treated Warren said he had identified his attacker as someone
called Kevin.
After the trial, however, no nurse could be found with the name given by the police
officer who made the claim, and the nurse who treated Warren said she had never had
any such conversation.
Keith is optimistic that he will be saved from execution. "I don't want to die, but
I don't want life without parole either," he told Ohio's Columbus Dispatch
newspaper.
"I want out. I'm innocent. I want a life, but I'm afraid to let myself think about
what that might be like ,because it will hurt that much more if it doesn't happen."
miscarriage of justice primarily is the conviction and punishment of a person for a
crime they did not commit. The term can also apply to errors in the other
direction—"errors of impunity", and to civil case. Most criminal justice systems
have some means to overturn, or "quash", a wrongful conviction, but this is often
difficult to achieve. The most serious instances occur when a wrongful conviction is
not overturned for several years, or until after the innocent person has been
executed or died in jail. "Miscarriage of justice" is sometimes synonymous with
wrongful conviction, referring to a conviction reached in an unfair or disputed
trial. Wrongful convictions are frequently cited by death penalty opponents as cause
to eliminate death penalties to avoid executing innocent persons. In recent years,
DNA evidence has been used to clear many people falsely convicted.
Scandinavian languages have a word, the Norwegian variant of which is justismord,
which literally translates as "justice murder." The term exists in several languages
and was originally used for cases where the accused was convicted, executed, and
later cleared after death. With capital punishment decreasing, the expression has
acquired an extended meaning, namely any conviction for a crime not committed by the
convicted. The retention of the term "murder" represents both universal abhorrence
against wrongful convictions and awareness of how destructive wrongful convictions
are.
Also, the term travesty of justice is sometimes used for a gross, deliberate
miscarriage of justice. The usage of the term in a specific case is, however,
inherently biased due to different opinions about the case. Show trials (not in the
sense of high publicity, but in the sense of lack of regard to the actual legal
procedure and fairness), due to their character, often lead to such travesties.
The concept of miscarriage of justice has important implications for standard of
review, in that an appellate court will often only exercise its discretion to
correct plain error when a miscarriage of justice (or "manifest injustice") would
otherwise occur.[1]
[Causes of miscarriages of justice include:
Plea bargains that offer incentives for the innocent to plead guilty
Confirmation bias on the part of investigators
Withholding or destruction of evidence by police or prosecution
fabrication of evidence or outright perjury by police (see testilying), or
prosecution witnesses (e.g. Dr Charles Smith)
Biased editing of evidence
Prejudice towards the class of people to which the defendant belongs
Poor identification by witnesses and/or victims
Overestimation/underestimation of the evidential value of expert testimony
Contaminated evidence
Faulty forensic tests
false confessions due to police pressure or psychological weakness
Misdirection of a jury by a judge during trial
perjured evidence by the real guilty party or their accomplices (frameup)
Perjured evidence by supposed victim or their accomplices
Conspiracy between court of appeal judges and prosecutors to uphold conviction of
innocentRisk of miscarriages of justice is one of the main arguments against the
death penalty. Where condemned persons are executed promptly after conviction, the
most significant effect of a miscarriage of justice is irreversible.
Wrongly-executed people nevertheless occasionally receive posthumous pardons—which
essentially void the conviction—or have their convictions quashed. Many death
penalty states hold condemned persons for ten or more years before execution, so
that any new evidence that might acquit them (or, at least, provide reasonable
doubt) will have had time to surface.
Even when a wrongly-convicted person is not executed, years in prison can have a
substantial, irreversible effect on the person and their family. The risk of
miscarriage of justice is therefore also an argument against long sentences, like
life sentence, and cruel sentence conditions.
Relief Urgently Needed for Innocent Man on Ohio's Death Row
Targeting: Ohio Parole Board and Governor Ted Strickland
Started by: Supporters of Kevin Keith
The State of Ohio is poised to execute Kevin Keith on September 15, 2010, in spite
of overwhelming evidence supporting what Mr. Keith has maintained from the time of
his arrest – he is actually innocent, wrongfully convicted of a crime based on
faulty eyewitness identification. The Ohio Innocence Project, the National Innocence
Network, and a group of leading eyewitness and memory experts all support relief for
Mr. Keith. Help urge the Ohio Parole Board and Governor Ted Strickland to grant
clemency to Kevin Keith by adding your name to this letter.
Report close You must be signed in to report content.
Petition Text
Clemency For Kevin Keith
Hello,
The State of Ohio is poised to execute Kevin Keith on September 15, 2010, in spite
of overwhelming evidence supporting what Mr. Keith has maintained from the time of
his arrest – he is actually innocent, wrongfully convicted of a crime based on
faulty eyewitness identification.
Mr. Keith has an alibi for the time of the crime supported by four witnesses.
The Ohio Innocence Project, the National Innocence Network, and a group of leading
eyewitness and memory experts all support relief for Mr. Keith.
I urgently appeal to the Ohio Parole Board and Governor Ted Strickland to grant
clemency to Kevin Keith to prevent the State of Ohio from doing the intolerable:
putting a man to death for a crime he did not commit.
The primary evidence against Mr. Keith was the erroneous eyewitness identification
of one of the surviving victims of the crime, who identified Mr. Keith in spite of
initially telling at least four witnesses that he was unable to identify the
perpetrator. This identification of Mr. Keith relied on the very procedures
recognized to be unreliable and inaccurate by Governor Strickland and the Ohio
Legislature when the State passed into law in April new requirements for eyewitness
identification procedures.
New evidence recently uncovered by counsel for Mr. Keith further discredits the
identification. Thirteen years after he was convicted, Mr. Keith discovered that one
of the State’s supposed “witnesses” – who was critical to corroborating the
legitimacy of the eyewitness identification – does not actually exist.
Additional new evidence also implicates an alternative suspect who told a police
informant that he was paid to carry out the crime for which Mr. Keith stands to be
executed.
No court has ever had the entirety of new evidence before it.
More information on the case can be found at: www.kevinkeith.org.
Mr. Keith has steadfastly maintained his innocence from the time of his arrest and
throughout his 16 years on death row. The State of Ohio now risks putting to death
an innocent man with no jury ever hearing the entirety of evidence of innocence.
I appeal to the Ohio Parole Board and Governor Strickland to grant clemency to Kevin
Keith.
[Your name]
Signatures
Tweets
Raymond Grenier (Woonsocket, RI)
Signed letter
about 4 hours ago
Echo G. (Ashland, OH)
Signed letter
about 5 hours ago
Tina Neylon (Cork, Ireland)
Signed letter
about 8 hours ago
Michael Richardson (Hawthorne, CA)
Signed letter
about 12 hours ago
Robert Humphrey (Brookings, OR)
Signed letter
about 15 hours ago
Martina Rocha (Houston, TX)
Signed letter
about 17 hours ago
Patricia M Johnson (Columbus, OH)
Signed letter
about 23 hours ago
James Neagley (Leesburg, NJ)
Signed letter
Aug 14
Phoebe Murphy (norwich, United Kingdom)
Signed letter
Aug 14
Candice Barnett (Santa Monica, CA)
Signed letter
Aug 13
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
...
147
phensmans
Take Action @change: Relief Urgently Needed for Innocent Man on Ohio's Death Row
http://chn.ge/cBASpN
3 days ago
Michael L. Love
Relief Urgently Needed for Innocent Man on Ohio's Death Row | Criminal Justice |
Change.org http://ping.fm/0rY40
3 days ago
Amanda Williams
Take Action @change: Relief Urgently Needed for Innocent Man on Ohio's Death Row
http://chn.ge/aW79Dg
4 days ago
Badweather Crow
Take Action @change: Relief Urgently Needed for Innocent Man on Ohio's Death Row
http://chn.ge/a0khHY
5 days ago
Hans Lussenburg
Take Action @change: Relief Urgently Needed for Innocent Man on Ohio's Death Row
http://chn.ge/br1H9r
5 days ago
GO VEGAN Radio
@ACCADP: Stop OH execution of #KevinKeith convicted on faulty eyewitness I.D. SIGN
PETITION & PLEASE RT!! http://tinyurl.com/2aut7c2
5 days ago
ALFⓋAnimalLib
@ACCADP: Stop OH execution of #KevinKeith convicted on a eyewitness that DOESN'T
EXIST. Sign&Pls RT Thanx http://tinyurl.com/2aut7c2
5 days ago
ALFⓋAnimalLib
Take Action @change: Relief Urgently Needed for INNOCENT Man on Ohio's Death Row
http://bit.ly/awmy52
5 days ago
Bruce Eggum
Take Action @change: Relief Urgently Needed for Innocent Man on Ohio's Death Row
http://bit.ly/awmy52
5 days ago
Darcy Delaproser
RT @ACCADP: Stop OH execution of #KevinKeith convicted on faulty eyewitness I.D.
SIGN PETITION & PLEASE RT!! http://tinyurl.com/2aut7c2 ...
6 days ago
Women Detainees Sexually Abused as ICE Polices Itself
Photo: Standing FIRM
For some of the women at the T. Don Hutto Residential Center, the indignity of immigrant detention became a full-blown nightmare when Donald Charles Dunn got his way, according to criminal charges recently filed in Texas.
The ACLU reports that Dunn, an employee of the infamous Corrections Corporation of America, “is accused of abusing the detainees as he was transporting them to the airport after they had been released on bond.” An announcement from the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office reveals more disturbing details:
Three women that were interviewed told detectives that they were inappropriately touched outside of their clothing on their breast, vaginal or buttocks areas. Two of the three victims said they were unlawfully restrained. The two charges of unlawful restraint occurred when Mr. Dunn took the victims to the above location against their will. One victim told officers she thought she would be either “killed or violated.”The allegations are particularly striking in light of the fact that Hutto underwent a major face-lift when it transitioned from a notoriously cruel “family” facility to a women-only institution. In a letter sent to Homeland Security in June, the ACLU argued:
The ICE Assistant Secretary had long made clear that ICE has a “zero tolerance” policy for sexual abuse. Hutto had been refurbished in recent years (pursuant to litigation brought against Hutto when it was used to detain families with children) and ICE had assigned a Detention Services Manager to Hutto to ensure oversight of daily operations. This raises a troubling question: if sexual abuse of detainees could take place under these ideal circumstances, how then is the detention system today functioning any more securely or humanely than it did under the previous administration? The ICE failure at Hutto ultimately points to a fundamental flaw in ICE’s detention system - ICE cannot regulate itself.The letter also listed other sexual abuse cases in the detention system. Last September, for instance, “a former guard at the Port Isabel detention center in Texas admitted to forcing female detainees to strip in isolation cells so he could molest them.”
Dunn now resides on the other side of law enforcement, facing counts of official oppression and unlawful restraint. But that’s hardly comforting to the women who harbor stories of exploitation that may never see the light of day. According to the Sherriff’s press release, “Several women who were interviewed denied any contact with Mr. Dunn,” and “Several women could not be located for questioning because of out of date addresses with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”
We’ll never know how many survivors were too terrified to come forward. As for the missing women, even if authorities located them, what incentive would they have to cooperate with the same criminal justice system that flagrantly exposed them to sexual coercion?
The detention system may well have released many victims of sexual abuse over the years, either deporting them or returning them to their communities in America to live again as second-class citizens. Whatever their fate, they’re forced to live in silence with the trauma, knowing that whatever they say, they’ll always been seen as criminals, not survivors.
1st Annual Black August Independent Film Festival
"Where we live and work, we must Not only escalate discussion and study Groups, we
must also organize on the ground level. The landlords must be contested through rent
strikes and rather than develop strategies to pay the rent, we should develop
strategies to take the buildings. We must not only recognize the squatters movement
for what it is, but support and embrace it. Set up communes in abandoned buildings,
sell scrap cars and aluminum cans. Turn vacant lots into gardens. When our children
grow out of clothes, we should have places where we can take them, clearly marked
anarchist clothing exchanges and have no bones about looking for clothing there
first. And of course we should relearn how to preserve food; we must learn
construction and ways to take back our lives, help each other move and stay in
shape."
~Kuwasi Balagoon
---
THE MALCOM X GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT presents the 1st Annual Black August Independent
Film Festival at the National Black Theatre in Harlem, NY:
The 1st annual Black August Independent Film Festival highlighting OUR resistance to
OUR oppression. ON August 28th from 1pm-10pm as a way to continue to commemorate the
month of Black August as a month to commemorate OUR resistance to oppression, the
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement will be hosting a one day-film festival highlighting
films that showcase OUR resistance to Our oppression. We hope you can join us at the
National Black Theater 2031 5th avenue (between 125th and 126th Street) for this day
of films and discussions highlighting OUR resistance to our oppression. The entry
fee is only 10 dollars and all proceeds raised go towards our political prisoners
and freedom fighters in the United States.
National Black Theatre
Film times:
1pm Introduction
1:30pm-1:40pm I Am Sean bell
1:40pm-2:40pm Operation Small Axe
2:50pm-3:20pm Panel on Organizing against Police Brutality:
On Panel: JR Valery POCC, (Director of Operation Small Axe),
Stacey Muhammad (Director of I am Sean bell)
Lalit Clarkson (Malcolm X Grassroots Movement)
3:35pm-4:00pm Sping break in Haiti
4:00pm-4:30pm Panel on concrete ways to support Haiti
On Panel: Jesus LUC (Director of Spring Break in Haiti)
Natalie Pierre (Malcolm X Grassroots Movement)
Dr. Kwame Easterling (Malcolm X Grassroots Movement)
JR Valery (POCC)
4:30pm-5:15pm Dinner/Lunch
5:15pm Introduction for second half
5:30pm-6:50 Slingshot Hip-hop
7:00pm-8:30pm Ni Wakati
8:30pm-9:15pm Panel on International Resistance thru Hip-hop
On Panel: Nancy Mansour (Existance is Resistance)
Michaeal Wanguhu (Director of Ni Wakati)
The 2 Videos below is a piece of what you will see at the Film Festival:
I Am Sean Bell
Operation Small Axe
must also organize on the ground level. The landlords must be contested through rent
strikes and rather than develop strategies to pay the rent, we should develop
strategies to take the buildings. We must not only recognize the squatters movement
for what it is, but support and embrace it. Set up communes in abandoned buildings,
sell scrap cars and aluminum cans. Turn vacant lots into gardens. When our children
grow out of clothes, we should have places where we can take them, clearly marked
anarchist clothing exchanges and have no bones about looking for clothing there
first. And of course we should relearn how to preserve food; we must learn
construction and ways to take back our lives, help each other move and stay in
shape."
~Kuwasi Balagoon
---
THE MALCOM X GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT presents the 1st Annual Black August Independent
Film Festival at the National Black Theatre in Harlem, NY:
The 1st annual Black August Independent Film Festival highlighting OUR resistance to
OUR oppression. ON August 28th from 1pm-10pm as a way to continue to commemorate the
month of Black August as a month to commemorate OUR resistance to oppression, the
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement will be hosting a one day-film festival highlighting
films that showcase OUR resistance to Our oppression. We hope you can join us at the
National Black Theater 2031 5th avenue (between 125th and 126th Street) for this day
of films and discussions highlighting OUR resistance to our oppression. The entry
fee is only 10 dollars and all proceeds raised go towards our political prisoners
and freedom fighters in the United States.
National Black Theatre
Film times:
1pm Introduction
1:30pm-1:40pm I Am Sean bell
1:40pm-2:40pm Operation Small Axe
2:50pm-3:20pm Panel on Organizing against Police Brutality:
On Panel: JR Valery POCC, (Director of Operation Small Axe),
Stacey Muhammad (Director of I am Sean bell)
Lalit Clarkson (Malcolm X Grassroots Movement)
3:35pm-4:00pm Sping break in Haiti
4:00pm-4:30pm Panel on concrete ways to support Haiti
On Panel: Jesus LUC (Director of Spring Break in Haiti)
Natalie Pierre (Malcolm X Grassroots Movement)
Dr. Kwame Easterling (Malcolm X Grassroots Movement)
JR Valery (POCC)
4:30pm-5:15pm Dinner/Lunch
5:15pm Introduction for second half
5:30pm-6:50 Slingshot Hip-hop
7:00pm-8:30pm Ni Wakati
8:30pm-9:15pm Panel on International Resistance thru Hip-hop
On Panel: Nancy Mansour (Existance is Resistance)
Michaeal Wanguhu (Director of Ni Wakati)
The 2 Videos below is a piece of what you will see at the Film Festival:
I Am Sean Bell
Operation Small Axe
The Khimki forest is saved Now save the activists!
To friends of Russia and forests everywhere:
The Khimki forest is saved Now save the activists!
Thanks to an impressive solidarity and historically courageous struggle,
activists in Russia from all parts of society supported by people in common
have been able to save the Khimki forest close to Moscow. The plan was to
build a toll high way through one of the last forests in the green belt
surrounding the city. Direct action to save the forest and wider and wider
support at street rallies and in opinion polls made president Medvedev
decide in favour of protecting the forest for the moment.
Russian democratic culture has shown its strength in a historically
important battle. Journalists exposing corrupt economic interests with
political support in the project of the high way through the Khimki forest
have been attacked and crippled for life. Environmentalists, antifascists,
human rights activists and liberal and left wing parties have together with
many others been able to confront the interests of the exploiters of the
forest.
No to new Moscow trials against activists!
Russia brought literature to the world that inspire generations everywhere
and Soviet Union brought us the great victory over German fascism. Cultural
inspiration and sacrifice for which we are grateful. Moscow brought us also
trials in the 1930s built mostly on fraud and sometimes on grossly
exaggerated charges.
The news about the successful outcome of the Khimki forest conflict is
accompanied with the information that the activists Alexei Gaskarov and
Maxim Solopov still are in jail facing trials which we fear will be built on
fraud evidence. They were arrested after a protest action at the Khimki
administration building causing some material damage in July in defence of
the Russian forest without evidence against them and against normal
procedure. The reason why they were arrested was not that they were
present at the action but that they were well-known spokespersons for
antifascists in Moscow in other matters. They are threatened by many years
in the dangerous Russian prison system.
The Khimki forest is saved but it has happened before in Russia in other
environmental cases that promises have been given and then not kept. There
is only one way to make the victory in the battle for the Khimki forest a
victory in the struggle for all forests in Russia and the world. That is to
turn the victory into a struggle for the defenders of the forest and all
those that have been arrested as the result of the conflict. Only by showing
our seriousness in continuing to defend the victory and those that made it
possible can we be for sure that the forest will be protected and make our
commitment a warning to anyone exploiting forest anywhere in disrespect of
ecological and social concerns.
This is why we call upon organizations and individuals everywhere to
continue the struggle.
Free the activists Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov!
Save the Khimki forest for ever and protect forests everywhere!
Statement by Friends of the Earth Sweden, August 27th 2010
The Khimki forest is saved Now save the activists!
Thanks to an impressive solidarity and historically courageous struggle,
activists in Russia from all parts of society supported by people in common
have been able to save the Khimki forest close to Moscow. The plan was to
build a toll high way through one of the last forests in the green belt
surrounding the city. Direct action to save the forest and wider and wider
support at street rallies and in opinion polls made president Medvedev
decide in favour of protecting the forest for the moment.
Russian democratic culture has shown its strength in a historically
important battle. Journalists exposing corrupt economic interests with
political support in the project of the high way through the Khimki forest
have been attacked and crippled for life. Environmentalists, antifascists,
human rights activists and liberal and left wing parties have together with
many others been able to confront the interests of the exploiters of the
forest.
No to new Moscow trials against activists!
Russia brought literature to the world that inspire generations everywhere
and Soviet Union brought us the great victory over German fascism. Cultural
inspiration and sacrifice for which we are grateful. Moscow brought us also
trials in the 1930s built mostly on fraud and sometimes on grossly
exaggerated charges.
The news about the successful outcome of the Khimki forest conflict is
accompanied with the information that the activists Alexei Gaskarov and
Maxim Solopov still are in jail facing trials which we fear will be built on
fraud evidence. They were arrested after a protest action at the Khimki
administration building causing some material damage in July in defence of
the Russian forest without evidence against them and against normal
procedure. The reason why they were arrested was not that they were
present at the action but that they were well-known spokespersons for
antifascists in Moscow in other matters. They are threatened by many years
in the dangerous Russian prison system.
The Khimki forest is saved but it has happened before in Russia in other
environmental cases that promises have been given and then not kept. There
is only one way to make the victory in the battle for the Khimki forest a
victory in the struggle for all forests in Russia and the world. That is to
turn the victory into a struggle for the defenders of the forest and all
those that have been arrested as the result of the conflict. Only by showing
our seriousness in continuing to defend the victory and those that made it
possible can we be for sure that the forest will be protected and make our
commitment a warning to anyone exploiting forest anywhere in disrespect of
ecological and social concerns.
This is why we call upon organizations and individuals everywhere to
continue the struggle.
Free the activists Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov!
Save the Khimki forest for ever and protect forests everywhere!
Statement by Friends of the Earth Sweden, August 27th 2010
