Benefit for the animals and Simon Chapman
On Saturday the 21st Feb, the London punks collective bring you a benefit night at Chats Palace 49 Brooksbys Walk, Hackney East London. Punk rock provided to the punters by Drongos For Europe- one for all you who love old school Punx, In The Shit- Classic Welsh HC punk, Terminal City Ricochet- Norwich's best thing since Alan Partridge, seriously though excellent anarcho punk not to be missed and Active Slaughter who were recently described as London's most active punk band- this is a gig that promises to be total full on 2 fingers in the air protest music.

This time round we are giving all proceeds to Simon Chapman, one of 7 people who were imprisoned following demonstrations against the EU meeting In Thessaloniki, Greece in June 2003. The prisoners were tortured and beaten by Greek Police and went on Hunger Strike for well over a month at serious risk of death. Simon an activist from Essex was blatantly framed by the police on the demo evidence from Greek TV shows Simon was forced to take a rucksack from the police, which he did not previously have, and conveniently contained petrol bombs. The prisoners have thankfully been released on bail however they have to stay in Greece until their trial. So proceeds from the gig will go to Simon as a gesture of Solidarity. In addition we are using the gig as a chance to raise some funds for Arkangel, without a doubt one of the finest Animal rights magazines around, very much coming from the grass roots activist approach with in-depth information on issues of animal abuse, however this great magazine has been lacking in funding and this has delayed the next issue coming out so we will also share the proceeds of the gig with Arkangel.

Everyone should support this gig, Simon Chapman's imprisonment and framing by the police is a stark reminder that this could happen to any one of us and that information is one of our most valuable tools in fighting back against the mass of exploitation that animals and humans are facing. This gig is for the punks and anyone who supports the movement, Chats Palace is decent venue with bar as a separate area so even if you can't be bothered with the gig you can just come down to support a very worthy cause.

The gig is £4 in on the door starts 7.30 PM sharp and has to unfortunately finish at 11.30 PM sharp, for those who want more punk rock there is another gig on directly after down the road at the poison club. Chats Palace is nice and near to Homerton BR station with a definite end time of 11.30 it's convenient enough time for people outside London who don't want to stick around to get back home. For full directions to the gig go to www.londonpunks.co.uk other than that please support this benefit


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can anyone give an update on how Simon and the others are? Everything went very quiet after their release, which felt a bit abrupt after the intensive attention a lot of us were giving to their situation. Be really good to hear whats the latest. Sending them good wishes.

Hi all

Simon here. Sorry it all went quiet after our release: we needed a bit of time to sort ourselves out, medically and mentally. The situation at the moment is as follows:

Myself, Fernando and Carlos are required to stay in Greece until the trial. The three other greek men have returned to live with their families. Kastro is still in Greece too. As far as I know there have been no medical problems for any of the hunger strikers.

We have had no news about when the court date could be. There will be a general election in Greece on March 7th, and so it is unlikely there will be any announcement on a possible court date before then. And then there is the Olympics in Athens... so as you can imagine the authorities have other things on their mind at the moment.

It is entirely possible we will be forced to remain in Greece until the trial date, which could be this time next year. We will make further applications to leave Greece until the trial, but our hopes are not high at the moment. I had made repeated attempt to gain permission to leave the country to see my dad (who was seriously ill with leukemia) before Christmas, but the court in Thessaloniki was not interested. They waited until he died just before New Year, and THEN allowed me to go home to attend the funeral for fifteen days. I did this and duly returned.

The funds that have been raised by everyone's hard work so far are being held onto to cover the substantial legal costs for when the total of 29 people charged as a result of the Thessaloniki events finally come to trial. While the lawyers are working for free, making applications to the courts requires fees to be paid to the judiciary.

So while we're here we are visiting groups that supported us throughout the imprisonment, and trying to make the best of a bad situation. We are staying with supporters, and I'm looking for work. But my Greek is very poor (OK, I'm trying!) so its not easy to find anything. Its tough enough for Greek people!

Recently a few of the 7 attended a trial of two comrades in Katerini (who were unanimously acquitted) to gain experience of the legal process in action. (Its pretty similar to the UK, really, but with a bit more shouting).

We really appreciate everything that everyone has done and continue to do. I stay in touch with what is happening in the UK though indymedia, and there are so many great people here to help us. Thanks again.

Thanks for the update simon, it's good to hear some of the greek political background to the case - and am very sorry to hear your sad news.

But please take strength from the number of people who have been following the outrageous situation, you, and the others, find yourself in.

I know you are innocent. Justice should prevail, it just takes time.