Latin American pages being updated!

Dear anti-prison blog readers,

our Latin American pages are in the process of being updated. We’re translating new articles and information on anti-prison struggles and anarchist/activist prisoners. Keep in mind that most of the links are in Spanish only, and most of the prisoners can’t write in English. A short file on common greetings and phrases to write on cards is on its way…in the meantime, have a look at the page! Comments and suggestions welcome.

Saludos rebeldes

Urgent update as Bristol EDO Decommissioner Elijah Smith moved to new prison

The Bristol EDO Decommissioner Elijah Smith has been moved from HMP Lewes to another prison. No reasons are known for the move, so it seems likely that its just down to the pure bloody-mindedness of the British state in dealing with a political prisoner.

Elijah was transferred to Elmley Prison in Kent around Friday 22nd January and will probably remain there until March we understand. Letters of support remain really important as he’s likely to have less visitors now he’s been moved away from Brighton. Solidarity as ever remains vital for political prisoners.

Elijah Smith, VP 7551, HMP Elmley (Sheppey Cluster), Church Rd, Eastchurch, Sheerness, Kent, ME12 4DZ.

For those who can visit, times are 2pm-4.15pm daily, book a visit on 01795882272. HMP Elmley visiting info

HMP Elmley prison regime info

See the support campaign website

Greece in chaos as killer cops trial delayed

You don’t hear much about Greece in the news these days, just the odd snippet buried away on the inside pages of the ’serious’ newspapers, or perhaps on their on-line business/economic sections. If you check those then you may be aware that the Greek economy is in such a mess they may be kicked out of the eurozone, which is one reason the euro has dropped so much in value these last few weeks.

You may be aware of a degree of unrest amongst the workers, faced by severe austerity measures proposed by the ’socialist’ government. You probably wont have heard about the massive mobilisations by farmers that have brought much of the country to a halt and closed its borders to the north. You almost certainly wont have heard about the trial of the killer cops that was due to start this week. Thats the cops who shot to death the 15 year old kid, that started the insurrection on 6 December 2008, that led to 17 days rioting across much of the country, and led to the ongoing low-level insurrection happening ever since.

Updated guide to public order situations

We are a prisoner support group, and that includes people on remand. Its fairly slow, unglamorous work, but it has to be done (so come on down!). In an ideal world, the one that will exist shortly after the social revolution, there will be no political & radical prisoners who need our support.

Until then we think its a good idea for people to do their best to not end up arrested by the police, and sent to prison. Which means people need to prepare a bit before going off on protests and actions! This following guide is an updated version from December 2009, published on the Manchester EF website:

The lifelong struggle of eco-anarchist Marco Camenisch

Marco Camenisch, 58 years old this Thursday, has spent 20 of the last 30 years in prison for his political actions, and has at least another 8 years to do. For the 10 years he was not in prison, he lived on the run, clandestinely, in Italy, Switzerland and elsewhere. Recently, in late December, he participated in a global hungerstrike by some 15 anarchist prisoners to draw attention to their struggle and affirm their resistance to state repression.

The following article has been translated from the Italian website set up to support Marco, and gives a brief history of his life and motivation (any links & highlighting have been added by translator):

“Marco Camenisch was born on 21 January 1952 in Switzerland, in a small village of the Graubunden region. At the beginning of 1980 Marco was arrested for damaging electricity pylons and transformers, once against the NOK company (which ran nuclear power plants in Switzerland) and once against their distributors, the Sarelli company. The sentence was very harsh: 10 years. Marco was well aware this reflected the seriousness of what was at stake: the ecocide perpetrated by the the power industry as part of the wider system of destruction, which formed the target of his own struggle.

Bristol EDO Decommissioner Elijah Smith a prisoner of war for one year

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

International prisoner solidarity on NYE

As we slowly reassemble ourselves back here in Bristol after the winter holidays, news filters in of some New Years Eve prisoner solidarity actions here and abroad.

(Update: news of more NYE prison solidarity protests here, and report from Lewes prison near Brighton here).

Here in Bristol it is confirmed that at least 20 anarchists paid a late night visit to Bristol prison up in Horfield, where a quantity of fireworks were let off. Comrades then melted off into the cold night. We understand this action was carried out specifically in solidarity with those activists still locked up after the Copenhagen climate protests earlier in December, and more generally with all political prisoners. Nice one!

Letter from Elijah James Smith Bristol EDO Decommissioner on remand

Back on 20 December, at the Bristol EDO Decommissioners solstice fundraising cafe at kebele social centre, a card was produced for Elijah (James) Smith by a Bristol ABC activist, and all present were asked to send him a seasonal and new year message. Elijah of course is still locked up in prison, now nearly for 1 whole year on remand, innocent until proven guilty – but locked away anyway by the state.

Well the card was sent, and on xmas eve Elijah penned a reply, that has now been received in the post. Here’s what he had to say:

Update on international hunger strike

Update on the hungerstrike (translated from Italian): “Around 7 people were arrested and 2 “Carabineros” injured at a demo in Santiago, Chile. According to Chilean press there were around 70 people at the demo, which was organised in solidarity with the prisoners on hunger strike in Europe and Chile itself. 2 Chilean anarchists, Matías Castro and Pablo Carvajal, are under “preventative arrest” since September after an arson attack at a police station and have both joined the hunger strike. The “Carabineros” Special Force intervened to stop the demo and 2 of them were injured. Buildings and cars were also damaged.

To my knowledge, pickets outside jails will be taking place in the next few days and New Year’s Eve in Italy and Switzerland in solidarity with the strikers and all prisoners.”
And here is a later update at the end of the stike.

International hunger strike till January 1st

hungerstrike poster in Spanish

Following Gabriel Pombo Da Silva’s call for an international hunger strike 13 anarchist prisoners from all over the world have so far joined in. The strike started on December 20th and will carry on till January 1st.

The initiative comes spontaneously from the prisoners themselves, in particular to remember the Chilean anarchist Mauricio Morales who died in May this year while he was trying to place a bomb outside a local penitentiary police’s school.

In his initial communiqué Gabriel writes: “To me hunger strike is a strategic tool of struggle…in the situation we are – kidnapped by the State and the Capital – we only have this form of struggle seen as we all are spread in different jails and countries.”

The prisoners who have so far joined in are: Gabriel Pombo Da Silva (Germany), Marco Camenisch (Switzerland), Juan Carlos Rico Rodriguez, Francisco Maya Fernandez, Honorio and Alberto (Spain), Diego Petrissans (Argentina), Sergio, Mike, Evelin, Luca and Pasquale (Italy), Matias Castro (Chile).

Notes: Gabriel Pombo Da Silva is a Spanish anarchist who escaped from the notorious FIES prison system in Spain, but was subsequently recaptured in Germany. You can read some background info about him, and some of his writings, here (small pdf). Here is a callout for solidarity with him in 2007. He has now spent 24 of his 40 years in prison. You can write to him here: Gabriel Pombo da Silva, JVA Aachen, Krefelder Str. 251, 52070 Aachen, Germany

For further information on the hungerstrike (not in English) have a look here or here.