From Belarus to the USA: fighting state repression

The 1st to the 9th of April was the week in solidarity with those facing state repression in the USA. At the same time, we have just seen mass arrests in Belarus, after the biggest protests since 2010. What do we mean by state repression? How can these two governments, one “democratic” and one “dictatorial”, have such similar responses to citizen discontent? And what parallels can we draw with our own island? Ask these questions and more at Cafe Kino next week!

Support a Belarusian antifascist’s family in paying damages

Roman Bogdan is an antifascist from Brest. Arrested on April 1, 2015 on suspicion of participation in the fight with neo-nazis that took place on May 8, 2013. On October 3, 2015 got 8 years of penal colony with reinforced regime (339.3, 147.2) and 3500 euro of damages to be paid to the injured nazis.

On December 15, 2015 a regional appellate court commuted the sentence by 2 years.
The whole amount of damages has been paid by the family of the
antifascist, though later the sum was partly covered by the ABC-Belarus, local movement and a benefit concert in Warsaw. Around 1900 euros are not covered yet, and although we hate to pay anything to the neonazis, we think it’s unfair to have the family pay for the political activity of the antifascist. This responsibility should be placed on the movement and that’s why we appeal to all concerned people to help us collect the money and pay it back to Roman’s family. It is especially crucial now,
because recently he has been transferred back to Brest pre-trial facility to be interrogated about another account of a group fight that happened a few years ago.

Donate to Roman’s family using
PayPal – belarus_abc[at]riseup.net
European bank account (please ask privately)

Write Roman to:
213010 Shklov
p. Molodezhnyj, IK-17, otryad 12
Mogilevskaya obl.

Spread this call wider!

In solidarity,
ABC-Belarus
http://abc-belarus.org/?p=6833&lang=en

Brest antifascist Dzmitry Zvan’ko released on parole

(from ABC Belarus)

Dzmitry Zvan’ko sentenced to 5 years for a fight with neonazis in Brest was released on parole yesterday. All in all he has spent 3 years in jail.

There are two more convicts in this case – Roman Bogdan and Dzmitry Stsyashenka. Don’t forget them, show your solidarity!
Roman Bogdan

213010 Shklov

p. Molodezhnyj, IK-17, otryad 12

Mogilevskaya obl.
Dzmitry Stsyashenka

213800 Bobruisk,

ul. Sikorskogo 1a, IK-2, otryad 14

Mogilevskaya obl.

Call for solidarity with arrested activist of critical mass in Minsk

Critical Mass on 29 April in Minsk ended up with 6 people detained and a
criminal case against one of it’s participants. Dmitry Polienko is
accused of violence against policeman and others charged with minor
offences. The trials for minor offences are schedules for 12 and 16 may.
Dmitry is now in pre-trial prison and requires solidarity from comrades
in form of solidarity actions and money for food parcels. The maximum
penalty for the article he is accussed of is 6 year in prison.

In social networks a flash mob was started
#iamcriticalmass/#якритическаямасса to show solidarity with arrested.
Apart from that you can send us your solidarity actions at
belarus_abc@riseup.net.

You can also donate through paypal with the same address
belarus_abc@riseup.net. Please specify the cause for transfer –
“critical mass”

Till all are free!
ABC-Belarus

Belarusian Political Prisoners Solidarity Demo, London 23/09

From Belarus ABC:

Sunday September 23rd

1pm — 5pm.

Embassy of Belarus

6 Kensington Court. London. W8 5DL.

Nearest Tube: High Street Kensington.

Release All Political Prisoners.

The Belarusian embassy will be open on Sunday September 23rd for voting in the parliamentary elections.

Five anarchists; Ihar Alinevich, Mikalai Dziadok, Artsiom Prakapenka, Pavel Syramolatau, Aliaksandr Frantskievich and another activist, Jauhen Vas’kovich, were arrested over the autumn of 2010 and the winter 2011. They were accused of various actions including participation in an illegal anti-militarist demonstration; physical attacks on symbols of capitalism, an attack on a KGB headquarters and hacking into government websites.

Those activists have been jailed for different terms, varying from 3 to 8 years in prison.

In August 2012 the International of Anarchist Federations asked for solidarity demos:

“We call everybody to protest against these tortures and demand the immediate liberation of the political prisoners of Belarus, including anarchists.”

IFA statement:

http://i-f-a.org/documents/statements/45-call-for-solidarity-with-imprisoned-comrades-from-belarus-iaf-ifa

For more info about the arrests, charges and sentences check Anarchist Black Cross – Belarus:

http://abc-belarus.org/?p=133&lang=en

You may also write to the prisoners by email: belarus_abc ]a[ riseup ]d[ net – emailed letters of solidarity will be printed out and passed to the prisoners by ABC Belarus members. For further details of the prisoners’ addresses check the Autonomous Action page:

http://wiki.avtonom.org/en/index.php/Category:Prisoners_in_former_Soviet_Union

Solidarity with imprisoned Belarusian Prisoners: 22nd-23rd September

Picture from Freedom, click for more info

From International of Anarchist Federations:

It has been a long time since the last call for solidarity with the Belarusian anarchists appeared. Today we have to admit that the new wave of solidarity is needed urgently to help them out from the prison.

That’s why we call you to participate in days of action in solidarity with Belarusian political prisoners on 22nd-23rd of September (parliament election day is 23rd) .

From our comrades at Bristol Afed:

Belarusian anti-authoritarian activists; Ihar Alinevich, Mikalai Dziadok, Artsiom Prakapenka, Pavel Syramolatau, Aliaksandr Frantskievich, Jauhen Vas’kovich were sentenced to 3 to 8 years in prison for a series of attacks on state and capital symbols, and are finishing their second year inside.  In October 2011 they were acknowledged as ‘political prisoners’ by rights-watch organisations. This improved their chances to be freed, as the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, faces pressure from the European Union to free all political prisoners. He has already pardoned more than 30 of them, but none of our anarchist comrades were granted freedom.

There are currently 15 people listed as ‘political prisoners’ in Belarus, Lukashenko has stated that he will freeonly those who write a petition for pardon, admitting their guilt and asking him personally for mercy.  Five of the inprisoned activists have refused to sign, whilst Artsiom Prakapenka signed it under pressure but remains in prison. All the remaining ‘political prisoners’ are under pressure from the prison authorities to sign the petitions. Methods to attempt to force them to do soinclude; transfers to other penal institutions, preventing food supplies coming in, preventing and limiting visits from relatives, denying phone calls, delays and gaps in the receipt of letters, solitary confinement, transfer to a penal facility with a ‘special regime’, etc.

The anarchists federations that met together at the IAF Congress in St. Imier, Switzerland strongly oppose the fact that our comrades are now being traded for benefits from the EU and condemn the pressure that they have been experiencing. We call on everybody to protest on the 22nd and the 23rd of September [the day of the Belarusian elections] against these tortures and demand the immediate liberation of all political prisoners of Belarus, including anarchists and democracy campaigners. (includes excerts from statement by the International of Anarchist Federations).

A demo in London has already been announced, and we hope to have some more actions around the UK, including in Bristol.

London Demo in Solidarity with Anarchist Political Prisoners in Belarus

From London ABC, see also call for action and link to ABC Belarus:

Demonstrate with us at the Belarusian Embassy from 12pm on the 2nd of July!

6 Kensington Court
London W8 5DL.
Tel: 020 7937 3288 – Fax: 020 7361 0005
Nearest Tube: High Street Kensington

June 30th to July 2nd are days of action in solidarity with Belarusian anarchist and political prisoners, so please join London ABC for a demonstration outside the Belarusian Embassy from 12pm. We plan to have a banner and some noise, but we hope others will come down with their own ideas too!

There are now officially 13 explicitly political prisoners in Belarus, some of them inside for attacks against the state and other symbols of capital and oppression. Three of them, Alinevich, Dziadok and Frantskievich, received sentences between 3 and 8 years of ‘hard regime’ in May, despite the fact that evidence of their guilt was lacking at the trial. All of them have been subjected to psychological intimidation and abuse whilst in state custody.

Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko is under pressure from the European Union to free all political prisoners before Belarus can be accepted into the EU ‘community’. However, rather than back down and release the prisoners, Lukashenko is demanding that each one petition him individually, admit their guilt and ask for ‘mercy’. Those currently inside deny their guilt and have not co-operated with the state by giving testimony against others.

ABC Belarus and other supporters of those imprisoned are calling for as many solidarity actions as possible to put pressure on the Belarusian regime; both during the days of action and beyond! We stand in solidarity with imprisoned comrades in Belarus whilst also recognising the many political prisoners in EU countries and the hypocrisy of the EU demand.

Prisoners to write to:

Mikalaj Dziadok, SIZO-1, ul. Volodarskogo 2, 220050 Minsk, Belarus

Aliaksandr Frantskevich, k. 46 SIZO-1, ul. Volodarskogo 2, 220050 Minsk, Belarus

Ihar Alinevich, P.O. Box 8, Glavpochtampt, 220050 Minsk, Belarus
(Unfortunately Ihar is only allowed correspondence in Belarusian and Russian language, but you may send postcards and such)

June 30th – July 2nd: Call for common actions in solidarity with Belarusian anarchists

From Belarus ABC:

It has been a long time since the last call for solidarity with the Belarusian anarchists appeared. Today we have to admit that the new wave of solidarity is needed urgently to help them out from the prison. That’s why we call you to participate in days of action in solidarity with Belarusian political prisoners from June 30 to July 2.

The activists Ihar Alinevich, Mikalai Dziadok, Artsiom Prakapenka, Pavel Syramolatau, Aliaksandr Frantskievich, Jauhen Vas’kovich that were detained in autumn 2010 and winter 2011 and then sentenced to 3 to 8 years of prison in May 2011 for a series of attacks on state and capital symbols are finishing their second year in jail. During this time their comrades and relatives did their best to help them feel comfortable in custody and set them free. In October 2011 they were acknowledged political prisoners by right-watch organizations. This fact gave them bigger chances to be freed as soon as possible, because at the moment the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, faces pressure from the European Union with the demands to set free all the political prisoners and decriminalize them. From August 2011 he has already pardoned more than 30 of them, but none of our comrades was granted freedom. Lukashenko said publicly, that he will pardon only those, who will write the petition for pardon, thus admitting their guilt and asking him personally for mercy. All the rest will remain in prison, he stated. In fact two comrades, Mikalai Dziadok and Alexandr Frantskevich were already asked if they want to sign the petition in August 2011, both refuses to do it. Now there are 13 political prisoners left in Belarus, among them are 5 our comrades and 1 more, imprisoned for the action of solidarity with them. We are sure that none of them will ask for mercy, because it would a shame for an anarchist or any honest person to do so. All the prisoners are experiencing different kinds of pressure from the administration of the prisons they are held in*, because Lukashenko wants to be a winner in this situation and make it as if it is not the EU that forces him to set free the political prisoners in fear of more political and economic sanctions, but as if it is his good will to pardon them, again only if they ask for it. We strongly oppose the fact that our comrades are now traded for benefits form the EU and condemn the pressure that they experience*. We call everybody to protest against this tortures and demand the immediate liberation of the political prisoners of Belarus, including anarchists.

We welcome solidarity actions of ANY kind starting from now on to accumulate amount of it on days of solidarity, we also ask you to make solidarity actions at least once a month if you find it possible even after the days of solidarity. We need constant pressure on the regime and the EU politicians in this situation. Let it be a non-stopping roll of action all over the world, until our comrades are free!

*The cases of pressure on the prisoners include: transfers to another penal institutions, deprivation of food supply from the outside, deprivation and cuts on the dates with relatives, deprivation of phone calls, delays and gaps in letters’ supply, placing to the solitary cell, transfers to a penal facility with special regime, etc.

To know more about the attacks, visit http://abc-belarus.org/?p=6&lang=en

To know more about the sentences, visit http://abc-belarus.org/?p=326&lang=en

Anarchist Black Cross Belarus

Friends and Relatives of the arrested

Check other call translations (German, Polish, Spanish, Italian, Greek)

Political prisoners list July 2011

Here is the monthly list of political prisoners compiled by Bristol ABC, for July 2011.
As an open office doc: prisoner-list_july2011

It is a worrying fact that the list of political prisoners is growing both here in the UK and around the world. The fact of the matter is that we barely scratch the surface of the list of people doing time for their political beliefs and actions. Indeed, if you look through our list, you will note that details of political prisoners across eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and the middle east are almost entirely absent. These peoples’ plights are virtually unrecorded (in the english language at least) , and they number in the tens of thousands, with many disappearing forever, as often as not murdered by their repressive regimes.

Prisoners requesting support December 2010

Here is our updated December 2010 list of international and UK political prisoners welcoming support.

Download a copy:
As a PDF: Prisoners list_Dec 2010
As an open office doc: Prisoners list_Dec 2010

Why not print off a copy and pass it around/pin it up at your workplace, community or social centre, local pub/bar or alternative bookshop/space? Get your friends or campaign group to adopt a prisoner, or just send a few seasonal cards of solidarity? Remember these people are in prison because of acting on their political beliefs. It could be you one day.