Dear friends,
Europe, 9 August 2001

Appeal: Demand for the immediate release of members of the
PublixTheatreCaravan. Protest against miscarriage of justice and for
freedom of expression!
(Enclosed: model protest letter & details of Italian embassies)

On 22 July 2001, 25 members of the PublixTheatreCaravan (from Germany,
Australia, the US, Austria, Slovakia, Swedish) were arrested by the
Italian police 15 km from Genoa. As part of a European theatre tour,
they had visited the Italian city of Genoa during the G8 summit, in order
to create a public discussion forum about the European border policies
with their play “No Border No Nation”. Without any connection to
specific events, the Italian police stopped the van of the theatre group,
and declared that some possessions (pen knives, black T-shirts) they
found in the theatre bus indicated that they were part of a criminal
organisation, the so-called ‘black bloc’. These possessions are also the
sole basis for the charges of vandalism and endangering public safety,
which the theatre group is now facing.

The prisoners have been treated badly, and are now on remand, which
under Italian law implies they can stay imprisoned for up to six months,
until a trial date is set. This Monday (13th August) however, there is
second hearing, the first hearing having been invalidated due to
apparent bias of the judges. We are appealing to you to protest against
the arrest and planned trail against the PublixTheatreCaravan. Please
help us to avert a severe miscarriage of justice. Please fax and/or
e-mail the Italian embassies in your countries and/or the responsible
Italian Ministers immediately. Please write your own protest letters,
but send the model letter if pressed for time.

Freedom of speech
At a time in which our political leaders are facing growing public
concerns about the organisation of our society, it seems that their
response is not to open a public forum of discussion, but to stifle
freedom of speech. Walls are erected around conference centers where
political meetings are held, police forces are gathered to prevent
demonstrations to come near the political discussion fora, preventative
arrests are taking place without any indications of violent behaviour
(Amsterdam 1997, Gothenburg 2001). The democratic right to demonstrate,
the cornerstone of our free democratic society, is criminalised and now
violently suppressed. Media strategies are used to avoid any public
discussion and to stifle influence of the concerned public, in
particular through the portrayal of peaceful demonstrators as violent
thugs.

This strategy is now reaching its height in targeting artists: the
PublixTheatreCaravan aspires to be an alternative concept to
institutionalised theatre: it wants to connect places of political
discussion and action. The caravan started at Nickelsdorf on the
Austrian-Hungarian border and visited the World Economic Form in
Salzburg (Austria), a bordercamp in Petisovci (Slovenia), a festival in
La Spezia (Italy) before heading to Genoa (Italy). In all these
different places, performances were held and streetparties organised.
The Caravan uses artistic expression to encourage public and transparent
ways of discussing current affairs.

Their arrest (but also of others in and around Genoa in conjunction with
the demonstrations against the G8 - over 40 people are still in prison)
and the accusations of the Italian authorities that they are violent,
are ludicrous. They need to be released immediately.

We Demand:
The immediate release of the 25 arrested as part of the Publix Theatre
Caravan.
An official apology by the Italian authorities for the violent treatment
of the prisoners.
An immediate return of the confiscated prop material of the theatre
group and a reimbursement of any damage occured during its confiscation.

For more information, contact the:

Campaign to Free the PublixTheatreCaravan
Tel/Fax: 00-43-676-324 38 20 e-mail: {HYPERLINK
"MAILTO: noborder@no-racism.net"} noborder@no-racism.net or  tb@t0.or.at
url:  http://www.no-racism.net/nobordertour/index_uk.html

Name of sender

Italian embassy

August 2001

Dear representative of Italy,

Re: Arrest of performance artists of the PublixTheatre Caravan after the
Genoa protests. Demand for immediate release.

I have learned with astonishment and disbelief, that 25 theatre artists
have been arrested, beaten and imprisoned after the G-8 meeting in
Genoa. The Italian law enforcement agencies are now accusing members of
the theatre group who were on a European performance tour under the name
PublixTheatreCaravan, to be part of the so-called black bloc.

There has been no specific incident, which could connect the performance
artists to any violence. The sole basis for the Italian authorities’
accusations are pen knives and black T-shirts found in the van of the
theatre group. One person who was hitchhiking and caught a lift with the
PublixTheatreCaravan was arrested alongside the group and is now facing
the same charges!

I hereby protest strongly against the Italian authorities’ conduct and
demand the immediate release of the 25 artists, who have clearly been
falsely arrested and imprisoned. This is an evident case of arbitrary
arrest, it portrays the criminalisation of peaceful protest and
furthermore, it is an example of a severe curtailment of freedom of
speech: the theatre group consists of artists who had been touring
Europe to create public discussions around the concerns which were
central to the G-8 meeting in Genoa.

In a democratic society, the freedom of speech has to be safeguarded. I
appeal to you to support this goal and defend our civil liberties.

Yours sincerely,

********************
Adresses:

Italian responsible Ministers:

President of the Republic (H.E. Carlo Azeglio Ciampi) PRESIDENZA DELLA
REPUBBLICA Palazzo del Quirinale 00187 Roma Italy Tel. (6) 46991
Fax (6) 46992384
e-mail {HYPERLINK
"mailto: presidenza.repubblica@quirinale.it"}presidenza.repubblica@quirinale
.it


Prime Minister (H. E. Silvio Berlusconi) Piazza Colonna, 370 00187
Roma Italy Tel: (6) 67791 Fax: (6) 6783998 or (6) 6796894 Homepage:
{HYPERLINK " http://www.palazzochigi.it"}www.palazzochigi.it


Foreign Affairs (Min. Renato Ruggiero) Ministery of Foreign Affairs
P.le Farnesina, 1 00194 ROMA Tel. (6) 36911 Fax (6) 3222850 or (6)
36914246 Homepage: {HYPERLINK
" http://www.esteri.it"}http://www.esteri.it


Interior (Min. Claudio Scajola) Ministery of Interior Affairs Palazzo
Viminale Via A. Depretis 00184 ROMA Tel. (6) 4651 Fax (6) 4827630 or
(6) 4740945
e-mail:  scajola@mininterno.it Homepage: {HYPERLINK
" http://www.mininterno.it"}www.mininterno.it


Justice (Min. Roberto Castelli) Ministery of Justice Via Arenula, 70
00186 ROMA Tel. (6) 68851 Fax (6) 52278550
e-mail:  stass@giustizia.it Homepage: {HYPERLINK
" http://www.giustizia.it"}www.giustizia.it