Urgent solidarity needed with 4F anarchist prisoners in Barcelona
anarchist | 22.12.2007 08:21 | Repression | Social Struggles | World
From 7th to 11th of January 2008 there will be the long awaited trial of the 4F-prisoners Juan, Rodrigo and Alex, imprisoned nearly 2 years (arrested 4th of February 2006), because of the false accusation to hurt heavily a municipal police officer of Barcelona. For 2 years now they had to suffer tortures, prison, the changing of the oficial versions of "their case", the threats of the judge against witnesses of the defense and the fact that the justice ignores the statements of specialists which excuses our comrades. If that wouldn't be enough, now the fiscal demands 520.000 euro + 11 years of prison for each defendant and between 4 and 8 years of prison for 6 other accused comrades!
And not just we anarchists accuse the Spanish state, also Amnesty International presented on 15th of November in Barcelona their "Informe 2007" and between other "scandalous-cases" about torture in the Spanish state, there's also a statement about the 4F-case:
"The investigation about their denouncement of torture against the police-officers needed 18 months to present to Rodrigo a bad A4-bw-copy with old photos of 20 police-officers, asking him to decide who were the torture-cops... After that the denouncement was shelved..."
Police in the Spanish state always use in cases of denouncements of torture the "defense" of contra-denounces against the victims of their brutality.
The government of Barcelona don't care about who really hurt the police-officer (and we too!), they don't care what Amnesty International says. The mass-media are lying and the judges are doing their job for the government...
So they just leave us to the streets!
We will squat the streets of Barcelona from 22th of December until the trial, or better until Juan, Rodrigo y Alex are free!
FREE JUAN, ALEX Y RODRIGO!
STOP THE FARCE-TRIAL!
PRESXS A LA CALLE!
SOLIDARIDAD & ACCION DIRECTA!
22th of DECEMBER 2007: DEMONSTRATION,
BARCELONA, ARC DE TRIUMF
21 + 22th of DECEMBER INTERNATIONAL ACTION-DAYS
4th of February 2006 - Barcelona, Spain
In the early morning hours of February 4th, a group of young people left the house of some friends after a night of celebration. Some were on their way to the metro, others were on their way to another party that was being held in the closeby street of Sant Pere Mes Baix.
Once in Sant Pere, they saw a group of people having a discussion with the Guardia Urbana (one of the many police forces in this area) outside of the Anarko Penya, the squat where the other party was taking place. As the group approached this discussion, the police charged suddenly and without warning, beating people severely. The young people tried to leave the area, but could not escape the police blows. In the midst of this, all kinds of objects were being thrown from the balconies of the Anarko Penya. When the initial chaos of the situation had passed, seven people had been arrested and a policeman was in a coma. Two more people were arrested later in hospital, where they had gone to seek treatment due to bicycle accidents. They had not been in Sant Pere Mes Baix at all that night, they were simply arrested due to their "squatter-like" appearence (or so perceived by the police) and the fact that they had injuries. All of the nine who were arrested were tortured by two different police forces : the Guardia Urbana and the Mossos d'Esquadra. They were beaten and tortured at the moment of their arrest and continuously in the police station, hospitals and police vans. They suffered multiple injuries all over their bodies, blows to the head, black eyes, and two have broken arms.
The first "official" press release from the city council said that a flower pot, thrown from the balcony of the Anarko Penya, had hit the policeman. The "official" version then went through a variety of changes before arriving at the final conclusion that the three people still in prison had supposedly thrown stones at the police from the street with the intention to kill.
The only evidence -stones- were gathered outside of the direct crime scene and were "chosen in an arbitrary manner", as stated by the police officer in charge; they containted no fingerprints, tissue, or blood. The "crime" scene wasn't cordoned and the local city cleaners actually came and cleaned the street before scientific evidence could be taken. Furthermore, specialists opinion is that the wound received by the policeman is too serious to have been caused by a stone thrown from the street.
How can the police keep three people in jail with such a lack of evidence? The police blatantly lie in their declarations about the incident in order to cover up the responsability of the Council, who is the owner of the Anarko Penya building. If the policeman was actually injured by an object thrown from the building, this too would be their responsibility. Another factor is the Anarko Penya itself. A mafia-style operation more than an "anarko" squat, the building had been controlled for some years by two or three individuals who had used it to frequently mount huge commercial raves for their own gain. Furthermore, these individuals had little or no contact with political squatters in the area. Despite these mafia-style practices, or maybe specifically BECAUSE of these mafia-style practices, the Council had spent nearly four years turning a blind eye to the ongoing complaints from neighbours fed up with constant problems caused by the raves. How convenient that this same passivity on the part of the Council now allows them to criminalize the more political part of the Barcelona squatting movement, of which the Anarko Penya formed little part.
Shortly before the 4th of February, the Council gained new legal powers in the form of a new set of so-called "civic" laws, aimed at eleminating unsightly elements of the city such as skateboarders, squatters, prostitutes, graffiti, etc. These laws give new impunity to the police to act in whatever manner they choose against people who they are suspicious of (see above list of undesirables).
The City Council has taken advantage of the suffering of four families (the three families of the detainees and the family of the police officer) to advance their political agenda. The president of "The Popular Party of Barcelona", Alberto Fernandez Diaz, together with the Mayor of Barcelona, Joan Clos, are trying to rid Barcelona of the "squatter menace" and whatever other group of people who goes against the established order.
What happened in Sant Pere Mes Baix is a "carte blanche" for increased repression in Barcelona.
What happened in Sant Pere Mes Baix could have happened to any one of us.
We are all guilty of being poor, immigrant, excluded, dispossessed, exploited, and marginalized.
FREEDOM FOR THE PRISONERS OF THE 4TH OF FEBRUARY !!!
To collaborate - Bank account :
LA CAIXA 2100-3002-01-2105267123
BIC/SWIFT : CAIXESBBXXX
IBAN : ES66
And not just we anarchists accuse the Spanish state, also Amnesty International presented on 15th of November in Barcelona their "Informe 2007" and between other "scandalous-cases" about torture in the Spanish state, there's also a statement about the 4F-case:
"The investigation about their denouncement of torture against the police-officers needed 18 months to present to Rodrigo a bad A4-bw-copy with old photos of 20 police-officers, asking him to decide who were the torture-cops... After that the denouncement was shelved..."
Police in the Spanish state always use in cases of denouncements of torture the "defense" of contra-denounces against the victims of their brutality.
The government of Barcelona don't care about who really hurt the police-officer (and we too!), they don't care what Amnesty International says. The mass-media are lying and the judges are doing their job for the government...
So they just leave us to the streets!
We will squat the streets of Barcelona from 22th of December until the trial, or better until Juan, Rodrigo y Alex are free!
FREE JUAN, ALEX Y RODRIGO!
STOP THE FARCE-TRIAL!
PRESXS A LA CALLE!
SOLIDARIDAD & ACCION DIRECTA!
22th of DECEMBER 2007: DEMONSTRATION,
BARCELONA, ARC DE TRIUMF
21 + 22th of DECEMBER INTERNATIONAL ACTION-DAYS
4th of February 2006 - Barcelona, Spain
In the early morning hours of February 4th, a group of young people left the house of some friends after a night of celebration. Some were on their way to the metro, others were on their way to another party that was being held in the closeby street of Sant Pere Mes Baix.
Once in Sant Pere, they saw a group of people having a discussion with the Guardia Urbana (one of the many police forces in this area) outside of the Anarko Penya, the squat where the other party was taking place. As the group approached this discussion, the police charged suddenly and without warning, beating people severely. The young people tried to leave the area, but could not escape the police blows. In the midst of this, all kinds of objects were being thrown from the balconies of the Anarko Penya. When the initial chaos of the situation had passed, seven people had been arrested and a policeman was in a coma. Two more people were arrested later in hospital, where they had gone to seek treatment due to bicycle accidents. They had not been in Sant Pere Mes Baix at all that night, they were simply arrested due to their "squatter-like" appearence (or so perceived by the police) and the fact that they had injuries. All of the nine who were arrested were tortured by two different police forces : the Guardia Urbana and the Mossos d'Esquadra. They were beaten and tortured at the moment of their arrest and continuously in the police station, hospitals and police vans. They suffered multiple injuries all over their bodies, blows to the head, black eyes, and two have broken arms.
The first "official" press release from the city council said that a flower pot, thrown from the balcony of the Anarko Penya, had hit the policeman. The "official" version then went through a variety of changes before arriving at the final conclusion that the three people still in prison had supposedly thrown stones at the police from the street with the intention to kill.
The only evidence -stones- were gathered outside of the direct crime scene and were "chosen in an arbitrary manner", as stated by the police officer in charge; they containted no fingerprints, tissue, or blood. The "crime" scene wasn't cordoned and the local city cleaners actually came and cleaned the street before scientific evidence could be taken. Furthermore, specialists opinion is that the wound received by the policeman is too serious to have been caused by a stone thrown from the street.
How can the police keep three people in jail with such a lack of evidence? The police blatantly lie in their declarations about the incident in order to cover up the responsability of the Council, who is the owner of the Anarko Penya building. If the policeman was actually injured by an object thrown from the building, this too would be their responsibility. Another factor is the Anarko Penya itself. A mafia-style operation more than an "anarko" squat, the building had been controlled for some years by two or three individuals who had used it to frequently mount huge commercial raves for their own gain. Furthermore, these individuals had little or no contact with political squatters in the area. Despite these mafia-style practices, or maybe specifically BECAUSE of these mafia-style practices, the Council had spent nearly four years turning a blind eye to the ongoing complaints from neighbours fed up with constant problems caused by the raves. How convenient that this same passivity on the part of the Council now allows them to criminalize the more political part of the Barcelona squatting movement, of which the Anarko Penya formed little part.
Shortly before the 4th of February, the Council gained new legal powers in the form of a new set of so-called "civic" laws, aimed at eleminating unsightly elements of the city such as skateboarders, squatters, prostitutes, graffiti, etc. These laws give new impunity to the police to act in whatever manner they choose against people who they are suspicious of (see above list of undesirables).
The City Council has taken advantage of the suffering of four families (the three families of the detainees and the family of the police officer) to advance their political agenda. The president of "The Popular Party of Barcelona", Alberto Fernandez Diaz, together with the Mayor of Barcelona, Joan Clos, are trying to rid Barcelona of the "squatter menace" and whatever other group of people who goes against the established order.
What happened in Sant Pere Mes Baix is a "carte blanche" for increased repression in Barcelona.
What happened in Sant Pere Mes Baix could have happened to any one of us.
We are all guilty of being poor, immigrant, excluded, dispossessed, exploited, and marginalized.
FREEDOM FOR THE PRISONERS OF THE 4TH OF FEBRUARY !!!
To collaborate - Bank account :
LA CAIXA 2100-3002-01-2105267123
BIC/SWIFT : CAIXESBBXXX
IBAN : ES66
anarchist
Homepage:
http://www.karcelona.revolt.org/