Genua: Update zu den Leuten im Knast





Siamo tutti rebelli!

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More than 23 people were arrested by the Carabinieri of the ROS (Reparti Operativi Speciale -- a special-operations investigative corps of the Carabinieri, a body of military police that is equivalent to the National Guard) and the DIGOS police (Dipartimento Investigazioni Generali Operazioni Speciali; an investigative police corps connected with the Ministry of the Interior) during a series of 40 home raids on the night of December 4, 2002. Today, five of them are still under house arrest. Deprived of all freedom of movement, they are also subjected provocation by the Carabinieri, who make night-time visits to their apartments.

Maria Cugnaschi, a 38-year-old Milan resident, is accused of being the leader of a Black-Bloc cell. She has refused to answer the judge's questions, and Marina has never been recognized committing any acts of destruction in photos. Marina risks ten years or more of hard prison time. After having spent three months in the Pontedecimo women's prison near Genoa, she was assigned to house arrest in her parents' home in a village near Leccho. She is not allowed to go out into the yard to get her mail. She is also forbidden to answer the telephone. She is allowed only one visit per week, always by the same person. Born into a family of poor peasants, Marina has always worked to assist sick, dependant, and elderly people. She has never been convicted of any crime, and has never had any previous legal trouble. You can write to her at the following address:
Marina Cugnaschi
Via Gramsci N 22
BALLABIO 23811
(LECCHO) ITALY

Vincenzo Vecchi, a 30-year-old Milan resident, was arrested with the same charges as Marina. He has never answered the questions of the examining magistrate, Elena Daloisio, and has not been recognized in any of more than 80 photos. The photos presented to him show no proof that he has participated in any violent or destructive acts whatsoever. Since April, Vince has been sentenced by the Rome Appeals Court to house arrest at his parents' home in Ghisalba, a small village near the city of Bergamo. You can reach Vincenzo by writing to him at the Casa Circondariale Marassi, Piazzale Marassi - 16139 Genova, Italy.

Alberto Funaro, is a young activist who works with Radio Rossa in Rome. He is accused only of property damage and looting. Alberto has been under house arrest since March at his parents' house, where he can receive visits and telephone calls. Like Marina and Vincenzo, he has never been convicted of any crime.

Carlo Cuccomarino is a University professor who is more than 50 years old. He is accused of having broken windows. He has been under house arrest since April.

Francesco Puglisi, is a 23 years old, resident of Catania, Sicily. On July 1, 2003, he had a judiciary hearing and was sentenced to remain in prison awaiting trial. According to the French Collective for Solidarity with the Prisoners, he is the only Genoa defendant still in pre-trial detention, two years after the events that he is charged with. Francesco has already been sentenced on unrelated charges to one and a half years of prison time, without parole, and spent eighteen months in the Catania prison, and has another trial still pending. Francesco is accused of property destruction, looting, theft, and assaulting a police officer during the Genoa G8 summit. Shortly after his arrest, he was beaten by police batons. This beating was followed by threats against him and his mother. Francesco is still in prison in Messina-Grazzi, a town that is 100 kilometers from Catania, Sicily. The only visitor he is allowed to see, for 30 minutes a week, is his elderly mother. Francesco was born to an extremely poor family; after his father's death, Francesco's mother his only family left. In his letters, Francesco says that the opposition movement in Sicily is very weak, and that he is essentially alone in this matter. Active support for Francesco is therefore truly necessary. Letters to Francesco permit him to break his solitude and dissuade the prison authorities from mistreating him.
You can contact Francesco at the following address:
FRANCESCO PUGLISI
Casa Circondariale
Via Contrada Consolare Valeria 2
98100 Messina-Grazzi
SICILIA, ITALIA

Francesco's mother lives alone and, now that Francesco is in prison, is without financial support. Francesco and his mother are in urgent need of immediate financial solidarity. You can reach her at the following address:
Signora Pace GUIDITTA
Via Zurlia 37
1500 Catania
ITALY

For all further information or donations that you would like to make for the people mentioned above, please contact the Collective for Solidarity with the Prisoners,
C/O Le Laboratoire
8, Place Saint Jean
26000 VALENCE
 laboratoire@no-log.org or  solidarite@no-log.org

Further updates :

It is difficult to count the number of Italians arrested because of the G8 summit in Genoa. They are often arrested discreetly, long after the facts. This was the case for the 23 people arrested during a series of 40 raids made by Italian police on December 4, 2002. Among those arrested were at least two foreign nationals, a German and an American, who had not even been in Italy during the G8 summit. The American, Dave, was placed in an immigrant detention center near Milan and subsequently deported.
Dave has been organizing legal and financial solidarity within the USA for Genoa defendants; you can reach him at  bicycletramp@yahoo.com

French defendants:
Valerie Vie's first trial was held on April 14, and postponed until July 15, 2003. Her trial has since been postponed again. She is accused of having entered the Red Zone, destroyed public property (the red zone wall), and violently resisted arrest. There are five other French defendants, who still have not received trial dates; four of them have been called before the prosecutor to depose their complaint against the Italian Police.

The French collective to support those arrested in Genoa has changed its address, and can now be reached at the following address :

Collectif de Soutien aux Inculpes de Genes
2, rue Saint Victor
30200 Bagnols sur Ceze
FRANCE

[Collectif de Soutien aux Inculpes de Genes]


e-Mail::  gipfelsoli@nadir.org ¦