here's the blurb for Vahtang Devitlidze:

"Vahtang Devitlidze, ul. Libbedova 42, UO 68/2, otryad 14, brigada 142, g. Hagyshensk, Krasnodarskiy Kray, 352680 Russia.

On May 2006, Vahtang Devitlidze, a member of the Russian Federation of Revolutionary Anarchists, was attacked by a gang of fascists in the centre of Krasnodar. In defending himself Vahtang stabbed one of the neo-Nazis in the leg. Despite being hospitalized himself, Vahtang was charged with causing grievous bodily harm and sentenced to a two and a half year probation order. As a result of this he went on the run, but was arrested while visiting his family and sentenced to prison. Vahtang escaped, but was caught and badly beaten up, before being sent to a more secure prison. Anarchists in Krasnodar are raising money to support Vahtang in prison, as in Russia relatives and friends of prisoners have to feed them. Vahtang welcomes correspondence, but can only read and write in Russian."

133 words and plenty of detail on what he is charged with and what he did.

Here's the blurb for John Bowden:

"6729, HMP Noranside, Fern By Forfar, Angus, DD8 3QY. Scotland.

Please send letters/cards expressing your support. Long time prison resister, currently facing increased persecution from the prison authorities. John would especially welcome cards, letters, SAEs etc."

26 words. There is no detail on anything there. I actually think that John should be supported in the face of religious/political victimisation, but if you don't lay the facts out i'm amazed you find the controversy at all surprising. People find it really weird that ABC list constantly say so little about the guy.

Here's what i would write:

Convicted in 198x for a murder he describes as stupid and a terrible mistake, John has spent his entire adult life inside. Politicised by his incarceration and has long been an opponent of the dehumanising prison regime (see he book 'xxxxxxx' from leeds abc). John has served well over his sentence and is now being held purely because of his anarchist beliefs and his contact with the Anarchist Black Cross. So although john's crime was apolitical, his continued incarceration is entirely political. Please send letters/cards expressing your support. Long time prison resister, currently facing increased persecution from the prison authorities. John would especially welcome cards, letters, SAEs etc

That's a rough approximation but you can see what i'm getting at - the same amount of detail for John (and considering his written output, more) as the other prisoners.

What are your thoughts?

he's not actually an anarchist. And where did 'religious/political' come from. John is NOT persecuted cos of his belief in anything but because he has spent his time in prison organising, resisting, campaigning... His communication with ABC springs from that and it is that they hate. They don't like ABC's political views but it is John's refusal to bow to the system he is being penalised for.

Obviousl;y its a fact that the blurb about Vahtang is a couple of scentences more - i don't know why, but it makes sense to me as its only from last year, and everything in Vahtang's blurb is extremely relevant to why he is in prison.

This is the same as John's blurb - everything in it is relevant to why he is still in prison.

Maybe if he was still inside for his conviction of over 25 years ago, it would be worth-while writing a lot about it, but i think the statement /blurb they have done says enough and includes ENOUGH RELEVANT DETAIL - i don't agree there is "no detail on anything there" - it makes it clear that he is a long-term prison resister, who, at this time is facing increased persecution - it seems he has since a year or two into his time, and this has increased - i think we can agree that being in an open, and breaking no 'rules',etc, yet being suddenly sent back to a closed prison, when your just coming up to your parole, all on the say so of a 'social worker' who is now being prosecuted, i believe, can easily be described as increased persecution.
And even though he is back in an open, i think he is being treated as though the whole thing was his fault, and left still being penalised , especially through being moved so far away from his support, wife and friends,etc.

The ABC groups and/or individuals have put original posts on forums i saw a few months back - similar to your example, in fact, even longer, with heaps of detail, including from john's past, which is pretty irrelevant today imo, so it is not really true they "constantly say so little about the guy" - i'm not in an ABC, but i guess they are supporting him cos of what he has done since and now, not what he done then.


i agree with the post from 'communist' - although started thru matt stillman calling the ABC's , esp the couple of members from brighton who visited him, 'terrorists', and john refusing to vilify them but still saying he agreed with most of their politics, and wrote heaps for them and the R.C.G.'s paper F.R.F.I, SchNEWS and others - the screws and the whole system were never gonna let him leave unbowed and unbroken after all his time spent inside 'organising, resisting, campaigning...' without having one last shot to try and break a man they worked on and brutalised for this long, without little noticeable effect on his resistance and solidarity.

However, i think it is also a kinda political hostage situation also, cos i think maybe his politics informed and shaped the nature of his resistance, and from his writings and various things, he seems very class-conscious and aware and knowlegeable politically - whether he's a libertarian communist' (what i been told) or anarchist - what i've seen him described as in a writing list in a prisoners zine

"The ABC groups and/or individuals have put original posts on forums i saw a few months back - similar to your example, in fact, even longer, with heaps of detail, including from john's past"

so put it in the list! Whats the harm of some detail? It would help enormously.

"john's past - which is pretty irrelevant today" - no it isn't. It must be at least acknowledged, or its going to look really werid when people find out themselves.

The whole matter would be completely uncontroversial if the lists had originally gone into a bit of detail on a) his crime b) his reform c) his activism in jail.

I'm guessing it's C which amakes him relevant to the ABC, so lets hear about it.