THE DEFIANT

PRISONERS IN THE GLOBAL RESISTANCE

Edited by Rob los Ricos and
the Anarchist Prisoners’ Legal Aid Network
THE DEFIANT

Prisoners in the Global Resistance

Edited by Rob los Ricos and the
Anarchist Prisoners’ Legal Aid Network

March 2001

Cover printed by Blackberry Press
Portland, OR

Introduction

The Anarchist Prisoners’ Legal Aid Network

‘The Anarchist Prisoners’ Legal Aid Network (APLAN) is a prisoner-
guided initiative, formed to provide legal aid and outside support for impris-
oned anarchists. We believe that anarchists need to support those who are ar-
rested and already in jail. This isn’t always easy, yet is a challenge our move-
ment needs to take on.

“There are dozens of anarchists in prison, many of whom face abuses
by the prison authorities. Some are even held in segregation units with violent
‘white racists. We can fight epressive action taken against anarchist prisoners,
but it willtake effort from inside and outside the prisons o do thi.

‘Anarchist prisoners can contribute to struggles on the outside, but
need outside contact to do this. APLAN aims to facilitate these efforts and thus
strengthen anarchist practice as a whole.

‘We hope to provide sound legal advice and aid for anarchist prisoners.
“This suppor for imprisoned comrades is not based upon respect for the judicial
apparatus, bu is provided in the spirit of mutual aid and solidarity in struggle.
The sharing of research material and resources will be an immediate goal. We
welcome contact with those who have specific knowledge of legal maters.

‘We hope for broad involvement, in multiform ways, from throughout
the anarchist movement. Write for information about current actvities and how
0 get involved.

ONERS.
QRS RS,

Anarchist Prisoners’ Legal Aid Network
818 SW 3rd Ave. PMB 354/ Portland, OR 97204 / USA
aplan@tao.ca

Anarchists and the Prison Issue

by Ali Khalid Abdullah

Many, many people are incarcerated, especially here in Amerikkka.

There are clos to or over two million people in prison,jails or juvenile facili-
ties. Disproportionately, the vast majority of these people are people of color,
‘mainly Black and Latino. There are many professed Anarchist/ anti-
authoritarians who aren't reaching inside these prisons to cither work with us
Known anarchists o to establish ties with politically active/conscious prisoners
50 they can be utilized in the struggle. This is sad. A sad statement, yet one
‘which is rue and must be discussed openly if we aro to change our present day

. thinking. There are Anarchistprisoners scattered all over the world who aren't
geting the eal supportthey need. This says much about where we are headed

| as Anarchist anti-authoritarians.

\ In Spain, there are many Anarchists languishing in prisons under to-

. tally inhumane conditions. These brave and dedicated prisoners are staging

hunger strikes and open rebellious protests hoping to draw the attention of An-

archists globally. Are you listening?

In Germany, we have an anarchist comrade, Thomas Meyer Falk, who
is in total isolation. Living in a éold, damp prison cell. He needs help. s the
Global Anarchist Community listening?

‘ In taly, Anarchists are repressed and arrested for all manner of
| trumped up charge... I the Global Anarchist Commnty listening?

In Mexico, Anarchist students ar protesting the government's attempt
o privatize education - arc you listening? In Poland, the Czech Republic, Aus-
tria, and, and, and - Anarchists are subject to brutality, murder, beatings, incar-
cerations... Ate you listening to those of s who languish in prisons and
still believing in the spirit of Anarchy yet getting ltle to no support? It s vital
that the Anarchist Collective World Wide begins to make the words anarchy
and anti-authority mean what they say by action! But again I say, this move-
‘ment cannot and wil not be toally effective until the overall Anarchist Collec-
tive includes, endorses and has more people of color deeply involved. Anar-
chists must reach out o the people needing the most help and work diligently
with them.

—————————————
“There are many professed Anarchist/ anti-

authoritarians who aren't reaching inside these prisons to
either work with us known anarchists or to establish ties
with politically acuvelconsclous prisoners so they can

Sounds

In this steel and concrete tomb,
Pondering on things missed.
Foremost is a loving touch,

the feelings after being kissed.

Sounds of night in a woodland,
the sun’s warmih on a free day.
The cry of a flying bird,
Gleeful laughter of children at play.
But what is real in these hellish places

are the many sounds of anguish,

m emotionally drained

pain numbed faces.

Sounds of the frustrated,
Missing those loved.
A fact stands out it seems.
Freedom is a mysterious lady,
We only make love in our dreams.

20 June 96
Harold Thompson

THE UNDEFEATED

Whitings from

Will Never Get Us All!
by Harold Thompson

They

“These two essays are written by Anarchist Prisoner Harold HL. Thomp-
son. They are taken from a pamphiet of his writings called *...they il never
‘gt us lll” published by Huddersfield Anarchist Black Cross, Bradford, U.K.,
1996

The Importance of Supporting Prisoners

First it is important to stress that none of us is immune from arrest and
prosecation for any number of alleged crimes. Bspecially once we have placed
ourselves into the eye of the storm of struggle against the masters of capital,
‘Who believe their station in lfe gives them the legitimate power to enslave us
in whatever form they choose, to use us up, throw us away and profit by the
blood and sweat we shed in their wage slave shops, factories and mills of capi-
talism. Once we step out in any form of protest then the power of the state
may fall upon us with unrclenting force. We are subject o arrest and impris-
onment at any time, most of us, simply because we choose to be who wé are,
because we want tolive the lives we choose in spite of the plans others make
for us, because we dare to be different or because our eyes are open to the re-
aities of ou likely future, wearing the yoke of capitalism around our necks
{ike beasts of burden, not equal human beings, unless we throw off the weight
on our back to stand in the sun in our rightful place. Look at the person beside
you, across the way from you and then fully realize thatindividual may one
Jny bo arrested and so may you because you dare to be differnt,threatening
thase who seek to control us, especially if your lfeis govemed by the princi-
ples of anarchism or you believe in / have undertaken dircct action agalnst your
Gppressors. Getting arrested i no joke so without geting 0o paranoid, find
ot what o do in such situation and also wise up about the police. 1am often
blunt o the point of pain 5o 1 do apologize if my words have made anybody
uncomfortable but think one sobering thought eally needs to bring a wake-up
cal, fecling of discomfort with i That thought i that am hero today stting
2 secl and concrete, tomblike cage writing these words t0 you but sometime
i the futare it might sctually be you behind prison walls, writing comparable

bothered with of worthy any degree of outside concern or support. It amazes
e how many intelligent people, including anarchists, active in political tTus”
Sles, have to varying degrees bought into the disinformation put out by the &Y+

e

tem. The majority of the residents of the gulags are for the most part just like
other working class people on the outside, only through a twist fate they were
arrested, stood trial and were imprisoned. The system provides the sensation-
alist image of those behind gulag walls being a bad lot, best steered clear of
because the system fears association between those inside and outside.

Inside is a potential army waiting to happen, which needs education,
direction and support. The system desires nothing more than to maintain a
wall of ilence around the gulags isolating prisoners to break their minds and
spirts. have seen many men reach out to the struggles outside with heartfelt
letters, eager for information about the various movements, education about
them. Prisoners secking companionship and comradeship. 1 have seen only a
few of those who make contact, who are encouraged o learn, to grow, to real-
ize who they are, their potential value to themselves and to the communities
outside the gulag walls. I have seen far many more give up and somefimes
‘even gravitate towards the hate groups which are now in abundance within the
gulags as they are out there. These eventual recruits to the ranks but those who
claim to be revolutionaries outside chose to ignore their very existence.

T myself have tried in vain for over a decade “inside” to make contact
‘with like-minded people embracing anarchist politics. 1 was determined to
reach out and refused to give up, unlike a lot o other prisoners around me.
reached out at every opportunity and continued to reach out when there was no.
response, though many letters requesting politicallterature and anarchist
books but above all, comradeship with other anarchists. My unanswered let-
ters began in the late seventies, continued throughout the eighties and into the
carly nircies. Finally an anarchist solidarity letter was handed to me by a
faceless clone of a guard at a Tennessec gulag in 19921 That letter and letters
since have been like a welcome breeze of fresh ai blowing through a place
‘where the air and lie stands dormant. The mere fact a fellow anarchist both-
ered to write brought tears to my eyes, eyes [ was long convinced would never
feeltearful moisture again. I've worked hard since that first communication o
break down the walls between us, you and I, to reach out, to show those who
write 'm not differcat except for my circumstances of being within the belly
of the beast.

.T'am here today sitting in a steel and concrete, tomb-
like cage writing these words to you but sometime in the
future it might actually be you behind prison walls, writ-
ing comparable thoughts to the outside.” -Harold Thompson

1 am not saying the gulags do not hold their fair share of social preda-
tors but many prisoners do become politiized within gulag walls often due to
their own learning efforts. Through direct experience of the systemtself,
‘which generally treats prisoners with such blatant injustice that many soon feel

only resentment, contempt and anger towards it. Repression breeds resistance.
Tam merely trying to point out the obvious pitfall of not supporting those scek-
ing the tools to become politicized.

‘Sadder stil than these social prisoners ignored by the revolutionary
movements are those souls captured during direct or other politcal sctions
only to discover once in captivity that they appear to have somehow not been
decmed worthy of support and are hence soon forgotien by their so called
“comrades”. One conceptual truth screams out in my heart to be voiced so 1
wil sate it now. Any political movement or people’s struggle, which fals to
‘provide support o fallen comrades is doomed to failure as certain as day fol-
lows night. Prisoner support should be considered as a top priority within all
political movements and with all activists, as we, you or I, never know when
gulag gates will slam shut behind us or when those gates to the outside will
open again to allow our passage back out once the system has us in it's grasp.

“Inside is a potential army waiting to happen, which
needs education, direction and support. The system de-
sires nothing more than to maintain a wall of silence
around the gulags isolating prisoners to break their
minds and spirits.” -Harold Thompson

Thave endured many hard years, over a decade and a hal, within the
gulags of this state. As I've already said I spent the first decade banging thy
head and heart against a wall of silence, attempting to reach out to cars that
appeared to be deaf and eyes which appeared to be blind to my existence in
hell. Tnever gave up and have cared the right o point these issues out now. T
have earned the right to speak out with the shedding of my blood, the pain of
thi, in past beaten, tred body and my spirit of anarchism has never been bro-
ken by my keepers and never will be! It has only been in recent years that I
have been acknowledged by my anarchist brothers and sisers out there. From
my heart I state to you that I love you all! I will close now with these final
words. Take care of each other, keep each other sae in the struggles which
‘you face and never forget those in captivity because tomorrow's captive of the
‘monsters of this carth may well be you. Our common enemies are the same
from country to country being only different in name and face. They represeat
the same ideology, which sees this planct and it's populace as throwaway com-
‘modities. They threw away their humanity in exchange for power and profits.
Stay strong and know in your heart I am with you in revolutionary spiritin
every act you undertake against those who oppress us. We only want the carth,

they will never get us alll
18 April 95

Where There is a Will, There is a Way

Years ago in the now closed Tennessee State Prison, Nashville, an
individul, or group assigned to the prison's sheet metal slave labor shop man-
aged to get hold of one .38 caliber pistol cartridge and this single shell sparked
atleast one creative imagination, Covertly making use of the prison’s machine
shop equipment and while under direct observation of cagle cyed shop guards,
.38 caliber, single shot pistol with a slencing device was made by one or
more prisoners. It was discovered before it could be put o use but s existence
did prove one thing, that you are only limited by your imaginations and crea-
tivity. Another example, during WW2 the alies produced and dropped from
planes what was known as “Woolworth .45 pistols over various portions of
Nazi occupied Europe where parisan forces were very short of arms, The
‘Woolworth .45 was ‘a weapon 10 get a weapon" as it was meant for close range
use only being single shot, not much more than a barrel, simple firing mecha-
nism and three shells within a grip compartment. Ideally, the user had to get
close enough to.a Nazi soldier t0 shoot him and steal his weapons. Then they
‘would pass on their Woolworth 45, ‘thir gun to get a gun’ to another partisan.
‘These examples and countless others should serve as sparks of inspiration as
they illustrate what can be accomplished with a bit o creativity and resource-
fulness when resources are scarce.

Red, White and Blue Fascism

by Rob los Ricos

Rape in U.S. prisons is so much a part of American culture, comedi-
ans and TV sitcoms refer to it s a way to score a quick laugh. This is a sad
reflection of the state of our sciety. The issue of prison rape points to many
related concerns about the civilrights, health and safety of prisoners and the

‘build em and fill em" mania which has the U.S. political system moving in a
seriously dangerous direction,

‘The incredible growth of the punishment industry has made it an inte-
‘gral part of the economy, similar to the way the production of war materials is
essential for economic growth. This continual expansion requires ever more
People 1o be incarcerated, for longer periods of time. It about jobs.

My intention in writing this was originally to call attention to the
plight of a woman prisoner I know - Barrilee Bannister at the Eastern Oregon
Correctional Institution. Her story is 50 typical of the conditions abused prison-
ers face, though, it impossible to separate from the larger social and political
issues which created and perpetuate these conditions.

Though many states were already headed in the direction of tough-on-
crime politics before then, George Bush brought it to the forefront of the pol
cal arcna as a central part of his campaign strategy in ‘88. The alternative can-
didate retorted, not by challenging Bush's alarmist thetoric, but by showing just
how tough on crime he could be. Since then, attacks on women's access fo
abortions, anti-flag burning legislation and tough-on-crime posturing have all
been essential elements in winning election campaigns for much of the coun-
try. This viification of the general public as flag-burning-abortion-having
criminals has led to the ascendance of a corporate-run sate in which the
masses are horrified at “violence” directed at corporate property, but indis-
criminate assaults on anyone and everyone by the police are tolerated as a just
aspect of imposing order, as happened during the so-called Batte of Scattie
when the World Trade Organization conferred there last year. The overly shrill
denunciation of therioters is but one exampl of the attitudes which have, un-
surprisingly, created an atmosphere of self-repression in the gencral public.
Voters unthinkingly pass new legislation into law in ther cagemess to repress.
themselves: three stikes, mandatory sentencing and upward reclassification of
lesser crimes are others. This has led to a dramatic increase in the number of
people incarcerated in the U.S. Earler his year, the prison population here cx-
eeded 2 million men, women and children. Worldwide, there are 8 million
people in prison. With five percent of the world's population, the U.S. has 25
percent of it prisoners. Land of the free, my ass

-

Justas the U.S. holds a disproportionate number of the world's prison-
ers, a disproportionate number of those prisoners are Black and Latino. Most of
us are poor too - as are most of the white prisoners. With token exceptions,
‘mainstream America s ily white and worships wealth. Anyone outside the
‘mainstream is objectified as "others," as opposed to friends, neighbors, and
relatives. This makes their vilification casier to accept. Youth is also a targeted
segment of society. Despite the fact that juvenile crime has been in decline
since the 1970s, the media and the poliicians are in hysterics about how to bet-
ter control youths. Control, o the forces of order and power, means prisons.

T ——————— e —
“Voters unthinkingly pass new legislation into law in
their eagerness to repress themselves: three strikes, man-
datory sentencing and upward reclassificatior of lesser

crimes are others. “Rob los Ricos
D ——— L —

So many people are being incarcerated these days that building and
running prisons constitute two of the fastest growing industries i the U.S.
economy. This awful situation is made even more 50 when one considers that
this was done deliberately by the corporations and the governments —city,
county, state and federal. Their cooperation has led to the development of a
corporate state. Get it? Just o clrify: I am in no way implying the U.S. A. re-
sembles a fascist nation/stae; I'm saying that the U.S. is in fact a real, actual

fascist country.
If you think I'm exaggerating to make a point, consider:
1) Aright-wing, fascist sympathizer (who would display this by

honoring his fallen heroes - Hitlers SS, the Nazi-party army -
this, a week after addressing a gathering of Spanish fascists,

where he told them the U.S. fought on the wrong side during

WWIL And he did this while in office!) was elected president,
then promptly declared his victory a “revolution”.

2) His first act as president was to fire striking air traffic controllers.
He later had the savings and loan industry deregulated 50 that
board members could plunder them. He used the General Ac-
counting Office to withhold funds for “anti-business” projects —
like enforcement of O.HLS.A. and EPA regulations — and
rected the money to his friends and allies in the defense industry
‘and to raise private armies to wage “secret” wars.

3) Atthe end of their first puppet regime, the corporate state is 50
entrenched in power that no politicians dare speak or run against
it They only slightly disagree on how to manage it. A contro-
ersy in legislatures usually involves debate about whether to
give corporations all the power they demand or o give them even
‘more.

4) Laws are passed to encourage industries to shut down and relo-
cate their operations. This leads to hundreds of thousands of peo-
ple losing their jobs. Many of these relocations are done in re-
taliation for city and state governments passing regulations favor-
ing workers and protecting the eavironment.

5) o prepare for the conditions massive unemployment will cause
their communites, many begin to build jils and prisons, both to
house the people whose lives were devastated by the loss of the
industries and to provide jobs for the select few.

6) International treaties are ratified to force nations to submit to the
domination of their economies by the corporate state.

Fascismis a socialstic form of rule whereby institutions are every-
thing and the people are nothing — except for the rling elite. Though fascist
‘governments function most efficiently under a dictatorship, there have been
instances where fascists were voted into power ~ E Salvador and Argentina
come to mind. Racism s usually associated with fascists, though it certainly
isn'ta definiive characteristic. Two of the most recogaizable traits of fascism
are extreme nationalism and intolerance of opposition.

Just because American fascists don’t opealy goose-step at mass ral-
lies, they aren’t any less recognizable. It will be interesting to see how they
react to an unexpected tum of events — the recent emergence of genuine 0ppo-
sition to their iron-clad rule, as is being demonstrated by massive street actions
in First World countrics. So long as these actions lead t0 1o real changés, they
will be tolerated - even welcomed —as & newfound tool to control the masses.
‘Though this oppositional movement shows some promise, the utterly dismal
failure of the IMF / World Bank protests shows how casily the opposition can
be co-opted and/or silenced. We can look
back o the last worldwide period of unrest -
68 72~ 10 see that much of what pacified
the militants then is already happening now —
the well-trained professional activists call for
restraint in exchange for photo ops with and
meaningless promises from politicians.
‘Those not satsfied with this amrangement
wil face harsh treatment from the police —
which makes the leaders of the oppositional-
like organizations all the more eager to com-
‘promise with the forces of order and power.
For now, however, it scems possible that this
could change, should the opposition solidify its position against capitalism and
keep pressure on the capitalit politcians.

How wil the corporate state respond to real, determined opposition in
the First World to it policies and goals? If one listens to the mouthpieces of
the ruling class, the prospects are not encouraging. Elected officials have basi-
cally exonerated the out-of-control Seattle Police Department fo is savage
attack on everyone in the sircets of downtown and the Capitol Hill neighbor-

SR S—

hood, yethave denounced the people who attacked and damaged corporate
‘property. The loyal opposition has joined them, too, leaving an isolated minor-
ity vulnerable to reprisals from th forces of order and power.

Notice my deliberate us of the phrase "order and power” rather than
the cliché *law and order." Much of the actions by the SPD during their all-out
assault on the poople in and out of Seatle were illegal in many respects - viola.
tions of the U.S. and Washington constiutions; human rights treaties city,
state and federal laws. At issue is notthe respect for law, but who has power -
People in the community, or corporations and their hired mercenaries? 1t is the
orporations who have the economic power to control the actions of the gov-
emment and police, and with the exception of the stret vandals during the Bat.
e of Seatte, fow people have yet o challenge that power.

I'm going o briefly mention corporate crime. Despite massive and
blatant distegard for health, safety and environmental laws and regulations, T
see no politicians or government officials calling for long jal sentences for
these crimes, nor for the plunderers of the savings and loan indusiry, which has
costthe taxpayers over a trilion dollars so far. Under a ascist government, the
ruling lit is beyond the reach of the law,

Given the current "ant-crime" hysteria in the politcal scene these
days, the future for political dissenters Iooks quite grim. One group who has
recognized this gocs by the name of Future Political Prisoners of America.

‘When is Rape Legal?

My friend Barrilee is involved in a scenario worthy of the most
twisted imaginings of Franz Kafka.

‘This young, working class single mother (there's three strikes against
her already) lost her temper. In fit o rage, she beat up another woman. She is
‘currently serving a 12-year sentence for her crime, under the supervision of the
Oregon Department of Corrections.

Unprepared for the drastic increase in prisoners due to mandatory sen-
tencing laws, the 0.D.0.C. decided to send a number of prisoners out of state.
78 women ended up at the Corrections Corporations of America's Central
2ona Deteation Center in Florenc. This facility was not set up to accommo-
date women prisoners. The all-male staff was quick to take advantage of their
position of power over these women to force them into performing erotic acts
for them, when they weren't actually raping the prisoners. Women who tried
1o callthis o the attention of the warden were subjected to partcalarly harsh
retaliation. This was not a matter of a few bad apples abusing their authority.
Somewhere between 27 (according to CCA staff) and 50 (according to the pris-
‘oners) guards joined in.

‘This s not a lone example of sexual abuse of women in prison.
‘Women in Washington D.C.'s Department of Corrections reported they were
forced to dance naked for the guards. This after the D.C. D.O.C. had settled a
lawsuit for $8 million over scxual harassment of women prisoners.

As s typical in such incidents, the women's complaints were not re-
ported to law enforcement agencies or to the proper courts. Instcad, the women

_ B

were identified to the staff s “loud mouths” and subjected to disciplinary ac-
ion, like being put into scgregation units — the hole — good time taken away

and somefimes the women were fined, in addition t0 a continuation of even an
escalation of their abuse.

'How far will governments and prison officials g0 to protect thir rap-
st guards? Rather than punishment for their crimes, guards have sometimes
been promoted after being accused. The state legislature of Michigan even
passed a law to prevent a lawsit from being filed against the Michigan D.0.C.
by victims of sexual abuse by M.D.O.C. staff.

"All this has not gone unnoticed, even if the American public s, for the
most past, unconcerned. Human Rights Watch has begun documenting these
‘abuses and has a report on the M.D.O.C. titled "Nowhere to Hide: Retaliation
‘Against Women in Michigan State Prisons.”

‘When Barrilee and other women finally decided to take drastc action
against C.C.A. to put an end to thir torture and humiliation, thir story created
‘ media sensation, first in local Oregon newspapers, then on TV, until it ex-
ploded nationally. Eventually, the women were returned to Oregon and the C.
C.A. fired or suspended three dozen staff members.

If this were a Hollywood story, Barrlee would have been released due
sympathetic court system. In the real world,
the supervision of people whose jobs and ca-
reers she has pu standing up for her rights. She was repeatedly
{old to keep quict by the prisoncrats at the Oregon Women's Correctional Cen-
e, If there are three words that can describe Barilee, though, they are “fight
fight, fight* Uttcly unintimidated, she continues to speak her mind and stand
her ground. -

This is where I entér the picture.

‘Asa lifelong activist, when mutual friends introduced us through the
mail, T became not only outraged over her abuse but also jmpressed by her
Srong spirit. Her story became known to me ove several months’ correspon-
ence 1 10ld her I would try to get some outside support for her, which I did.
‘A an anarchist organizer, acivist and writer, T have numbe of contacts in
the anarchist community. One man in particular stands out n ths part of the
Story - Anthony Rayson, one of the strongest supporters of sarchist and oher
prisoners n the U.S. He is Midwest Coordinator of the Political Prisoners of
Var Coalition and also participates in the Anarchist Black Cross ~ another sup-
‘port group that sends literature to prisoners.

“Anthony sent Barriles lettes of solidarity and reading material.
Alarmed that she was getting the attention of politica actvists outside, the ad-
‘ministrtion quickly moved against Barrilee. She was assigned to Security
Threat Group (anarchist) status - adesignation used to keep gang members -
der closer supervision than general population prisoners. Since this was &
e o mention fictitious - developmeat, Barrlee was put i the hol. had
12 days of accumulated good ime einstated to her sentence and was ined.
Sihe s also fired from her job. When another packet of lierature rom An-
\hony arived, the O.W.C.C.rejected it as a security threat. Then they threw

: R

.

Barrilee - who had just been released from the hole - back into disciplinary
segregation. She has been warned not to contact Anthony or me. She has also
‘been instructed to stop referring to O.W.C.C. staff as “gestapos” in her leters.

Human Rights Watch's report - All too Familiar: Sexual Abuse of
‘Women in the U.S. State Prisons" - along with dozens of individual and class
action lawsuits, suggests that sexual abuse of women prisoners is not only evi-
dent, but rampant in U.S. prisons. Estimates run as high as 70 to 80 percent of
‘women prisoners experience sexual abuse. The apathy of the general public to
this horror has pushed some women prisoners to suicide, particularly in the
states of Florida and Connecticut.

“If this were a Hollywood story, Barrilee would have
been released due to massive public outrage and a
sympathetic court system. In the real world, [she] is still
in prison, under the supervision of people whose jobs
and careers she has put in jeopardy by standing up for
her rights” -Rob los Ricos

‘This lack of empathy from the outside is only a single symptom of a
greater lack of concern about abuses of power by those supposedly in charge of
‘upholding the law. The public has apparently failed to realize that increased
penalties for a greater variety of crimes, along with the constant addition of
new lavs o the books, will do nothing to make their society safer and instead
turn their “democratic™ corporate state into a totalitarian police state.

Since the focus of spending for prisons has shifted to construction,
prisons have cut back on programs intended to prepare the incarcerated for
their return o society. Thus, the purpose of internment has changed from reha-
bilitation to punishment. This partially explains why the public is disinterested
inthe abuse - sexual or otherwise - of prisoners. That, plus a willful stupidity.
I it hasn't occurred to the voters of Oregon that sexual and physical abuse are
learned cycles of behavior, theyll be figuring it out soon enough, a the first
wave of Measure 11 offenders - victims of long, mandatory sentences (and
abuse) - are released. Since so many (65%) victims of Measure 11 are young,
first-time offenders, this portends a social catastrophe. What percentage of
these first-time offenders will repeat the behavior they leamed in prison upon
theirrelease? And what if efforts to head off this impending social disaster
through educational and activist campaigns are successful? If probation is
again an option to judges, juries and prosecutors, along with shorter sentences,
there will be even less incentive to rehabilitate prisoners. The state will need
repeat offenders to keep their prisons full. Before dismissing this notion as
cynical paranoa, let me remind the reader that when a small Florida commu-
nty learned the local industry would soon close, leaving 1,700 people without
work, their solution to this problem was to build a 1,200 bed jal. Crime is a
‘g00d business investment.If the government and politcians want (0 invest in

prison and jail construction, you can bet they'llsee t0 it that their money is well
spent.

According to Texas prisoner I've been corresponding with, "...they're
putting people in and they're not letting them out." Several state, including
‘Texas and Oregon, now require prisoners due for release to take a psychologi-
cal evaluation. Without explanation, a hearing or a chance to respond to the
‘psychologist face-to-face, the prison officials can extend the prisoner’s "stay”
for two years, even if the prisoner has no history of disciplinary infractions or
has not been found guilty of new crimes. This isillegal. The courts have in-
structed the 0.D.0.C. they have no authority to o this. They continue to do it
anyway.

o, the prison staff abuses prisoners, rapes women prisones, and the.
administration covers it up, condones or in extreme cases rewards the abuse by
its staff — then takes disciplinary action against or extnds the seatence of pis-
oners in retalation if they take legal action to correct these abuses.

A recent federal inquiry into the abuse by police and prison staff (the
Clinton Administration’s report to the U.N. Comumitiee Against Torture —
10/15/99) proudly announced that, though there are instances of abuse, they are
aberrations and there are no signs of widespread human rights violations by the
forces of order and power. Unlike the gullble citizens of the U.S.,the rest of
the world is't buying Clinton's story. A Canadian judge recently refused to
ting inhumane conditions - the tolerance
the U.S. prisons as his reason.

My courageous friend Barrilee's situation is a microcosm of every-
thing wrong with this society. Sentenced for an incredibly hafsh prison term
for a relatively minor offease, she was shipped to a distant sate where shé was
sexually abused, ignored by the administration of the for-profit institution
‘when she reported the abuse, and then shipped back to Oregon where she was
threatened with retaliation and finally dumped into the hole for continuing to
speak up for herself. And so far, the administration and bureaucrats re able to
get away with this because the citizens of Oregon don't care; many of them
actually approve of the huiliation, beating and rape of prisoners.

—_—m
“So, the prison staff abuses prisoners, rapes women pris-
oners, and the administration covers it up, condones or
in extreme cases rewards the abuse by its staff — then
takes disciplinary action against or extends the sentence
of prisoners in retaliation if they take legal action to

correct these abuses.” -Rob los Ricos
‘Under red, white and blue fascism, the American people have been

conditioned to love the powerful and hate themselves - objectified as "others."
If the corporate state closes the local factories, and moves them to abroad, the

media plays “America the Beautful",the corporate leaders wave the flag and
the poliiians build prisons for the newly created underclass.

-

Much of the information for ths article was obtained from:

Prison Legal News Stop Prison Rape
2400 NW 80° st. #148 6632 Lexington Ave Stite 48
Seattle, WA 98117 Los Angeles, CA 90038
‘Human Rights Watch Barrilee Bannister #11309597
350 Fifth Ave. 34th floor Eastem Oregon Corr.Inst.
New York, NY 10118 2500 W

(212) 2909700 Pendieton, OR 97801

Fax: 736-1300

Email: hrwayc @hrw.org

hutpi/www.hrw.org

“Nowhere to Hide...” htp:/www.hrw.org/reports98/women
Warning to potential correspondents of Barrilee: any use of the word anarchy

or anarchist, or the circle A symbol, could cause further problems for Barrilee,
‘who s not an anarchist - so be cooll

— e
Writings from

The Anarchist Rain
By Shaka N'Zinga

(...) PART II: relief found through nature's rain drops

It has been raining all day today. All have been hearing this day is
how nasty and bad the rainy weather i - 1am, of course,in disagreement with
such shallow views of nature's beauty. An untamed beauty that can be found in
a carefree and soft drizzle or a savage and heavy down pout - this natural and
necessary process i loved, enjoyed and cherished by me.

‘Considerately, today, to show my marrow deep reverence for nature -
i spite of being in an unnatural and dehumanizing situation such as prison - in
practice, I went out to have a walk i the rain during the yard period. The rain
was coming down ever so tenderly, with droplets which felt very much like a
sensuous and warm kiss of the long desired Sugar of a lover' sweet and soft
lips, with their life giving and reinvigorating powers of transformation, which
are just like spring showers.

‘The state hired guns don't like seeing we captives, the slaves, having
any sortof self-determination or self-management - njoying a thing which is
determined by my will and not dependent on theirs. So, they, the pigs
(correctional officers), of course, paid me a little more attention than custom-
ary. For them, much to their disgruntlement, [ looked as if I was cajoying an
entity thatthey had been conditioned to view as bad, an enity which they had
10 control over - tha entity coming from nature 50 beautifully named rain.
‘Those of us captives in chains aren't supposed to be able t0 have any sort of
enjoyment outside of the control of our overseers.

‘This consideration brought a smile to my rain soothed face; just the
thought of finding in such a simple human practice a way to rebel against their
sadism, made my walk in that gentle rain that much more pleasant... During
this walk, I drifted of into some sort of revolutionary daydream of how things
should be. I wasn't completely conscious of this shift in my psychological
state. The thoughts that I, the so-called slave whose not capable of such
achievements, was formulating in my mind moved along these lnes of reflec-
e deliberation - I was talking to myself in a tone just sbove a whisper:

‘The revolution, the rebellion against all that harms societies humanity,
‘must be fought daily through our interactions and interrlationships with our
own fist and foremost. T cannot sce us being any sort of example of what
ought to be if we havent, through action and reflection, developed those revo-
lutionary and liberated relations amongst ourselves that reflects the alternative

of our Anarchist Ideals."

Atthis point of my internal discourse, I almost ran head long into a

pig, whose look of hatred only added strength to my courage and resalve..plus
my internal smile and glow grew that much wider. 1apologized, excused my-
self and proceeded 10 walk and 0 conine my Anarchet dsconre o o i
with myself and Alexander Berkman, who from ou of thin air appears to e
mmmfl‘w‘b‘lmmlflcmmwfl: ive character
and function of all governmental authority and law - in these words:

“What is the thing we call government? Is it anything but organized
violence? The law orders you to obey, it will compel by force - all govenment,
alllaw and authority finally rest on force and violence, on punishment or foar
ofpunishment..+

When he completd sharinghi thoughts with me, h sid so0d day
‘however, before he turned to leave, 1 quickly asked him to tell Emma that I
love her and that she is and will always be alive, wild and free in the iberated
20meof my heart, i and sou, Wit that comeade Alexandt o, ek
s1ep or two, and was gono a uickly ashe hd appeseed,back to i (i
aonomous, communa, and dirctly democraic anaehist sociry by thecey..
And with sl Tcontinued where T et of s, daloguing with geclt - o
templating th beauty ofanrchism and the courage nd wonder oy o
humanity:

“Thatall governmentshave b instituted t prfithe neretof the
few, therlin casss, uhistricalfactand presen ottty s o ey
be stressed enough. The whole idea of government is rooted in the repression
of the human/he individual's righ to be truly fre. The laws of the government
are the restrictive laws handed down by the ruling capitalist class; restrictive
laws tha serves prevent th individual from ever dicoverinthis moma
poteias 1 be more than just a wel fod save 1 te il achne o
World dominaton.”

‘The subjective reality of the individual human experiences and crea-
tive potentilsaro constanly negated by the sstem tht pochthis poist s
absout dea of complet objctvity, must b aze rom he mindsof thoe of
us who are attempting to commune and build with the people - agitate, educate

‘and organize with and through the people
10bulld the revolationary anarcist come
mune...ad ulimatly a anarchis ocity.
‘As anarhists we do not believe in compel-
ling anyone to think or view the world as
W do, 3 cin and never will e st
tion where wo il be diecing poope’s
jves, againt their own will minos e
being inelecualy, socially, vocatonally
awar of whas taking lace, We will ot
cmploythe ppresive nd repess
RRY meies o th cnmy - government and s
PARRARN i e nivicur iy o
AT mous self-management of socal and cco-

nomic life are some of the highest virtues of the anarchist. Bakunin asserted
that, "The State... s the most flagrant, the most cynical, and the most complete.
negation of humanity," a standpoint held to be the State's “supreme duty and its
greatest virtue...” It i a social revolution that we aspire to actualized via our
‘anarchist ideals and humanistic outlooks in practice, protracted struggle - a
stateless, classless, voluntary, cooperative federation of decentralized com-
‘munes will be the ideals given birth once we raze the State and its capitalstic
masters, the ruling classes... This s our alternative to the death and destruction
that s the product of the present unjust organization of society.

“The states’ hired guns don’t like seeing we captives,
the slaves, having any sort of self-determination or self-
management — enjoying a thing which is determined by

my will and not dependent on their’s.” -Shaka N'Zinga

At least I am thinking clear and revolutionary s an Anarchist. A man
of Afikan descent. A New Afrikan born in the slave nation of Amerikkka - the

1and of the slave controlled, owned and operated by the ruling class.”

PART III: Revolutionaries cannot remain sane inside the de -
humanized design called prison!

Aad Tknow that I must be free of this insanity called corrections...
Ob, dama, I had spoken too fast and enjoyed too much - I had almost forgotten
that the enem still had control - the cow bell was ringing which signaled the
end of the yard period - thus like cows, my brothers,in single file line, allowed
themselves to be herded back into the prison/pen by our warders, I of course
made them o their sadistic job, they had to call me to come to get the routine
‘pat downs or the humiliating prospect of receiving a bodylstrip search. And
thus, once again, I had my peace shattered and the insanity of being in a situa-
tion of captivity shoved down my alrcady stripped and lynched libertarian con-
sciousness...for my freedom I am willing to depart from this insanity... but T
just gotta hold on...death on this side of the bars, walls, and razor wire would
e another wasted consciousness of revolutionary import... ot like George
Jackson, my spiritual father, will I dic a premature death... The revolution can-
not be fought and won from this side.

Yet, in complete rebellion, but for a moment, I was free in spite of the
bars, walls, and razor wire. I rebelled, as I walked in a circle around the
prison's court yard, in & mental state of loving euphoria and complete bliss.
‘This moment of sanity was enough contact with my humanity to strengthen me
with the power to resist the insufferable pain of being a captive in a so-called
free land... just a il bit longer. This i the price of resistance we must pay for
our contined psychological, emotional and intellectual existence. As Comrade
George Jackson wrote in his second and final book "Blood in My Bye", over
twenty six years ago, about this price of respite 10 be paid by we slaves:

Asa slave, the social phenomenon that engages my whole conscious-
ness is, o course, revolution.

‘The slave - and revolution.

Born 0 a premature death, a menial, subsistence-wage worker, odd-
job man, the cleaner, the caught, the man under hatches, without bail - that's
me, the colonial victim. Anyone who can pass the civil service examination
today can kil me tomorrow. Anyone who passed the civil service examination
‘yesterday can kill me today with complete immunity. T've lived with repression
every moment of my life, a repression so formidable that any movement on my
pat can only bring relief, the espite of a small victory or release of death. In
every sense of the term, in every sense thats real, I'm a slave to, and of, prop-
enty.

Before being shoved back inside the door that will take me back into
the bowels of the beast defined as prison (an inanimate object tha feeds off the
souls of the oppressed and dehumanized, souls made insane by its inhumanity),
Tlooked up and from behind the lovely dark rain filled clouds appeared a silver
lining - looking very much like freedom's motif to me - and in ths silver lining
that lined the clouds appeared the revolutionary and love inspiring image of a
true Anarchist, the beautiful spectacled face of Emma Goldman spoke thesc:
‘words, word likened unto a warm breeze of a splendid spring evening: "Only
in freedom can man grow to his full tature. Only in freedom will he learn to
think and move, and give the very best of him. Only in freedom wil he realize:
the true force of the social bonds which knit men together, and which are the
true foundation of normal social lfe.”

Now, here in the cage, I have discovered a level of freedom that has
long ago informed me of my need to be physically liberated from this dehu-
manizing design called correction. In spite of the fact that I am stil here, I am
stillfighting, thanks to that rebellious walk in the rain - free indeed, if only for
‘a moment... Given strength to continue my struggle to one day be free of this
slave ship that doesn't ever, never, moves sane antisocial arraignment
called prison, designed in the 1790s by god fearing capitalistic church goers.
‘The Anarchist Rain will erode and then raze it...in a dream, in my imagination,
or inreality?

—_—
“Yet, in complete rebellion, but for a moment, I was free

in spite of the bars, walls, and razor wire.”
-Shaka N'Zinga

‘Smashing the chains in my dreams, as I sleep, dreaming of struggling
on the other side of these bars, walls, and razor wire. Coming awake with the
‘words of Bakunin on my lips: “History consists in the progressive negation the
primitive animality of Man by the development of his humanity. I am trly free
only when all human beings... are equally free. The freedom of other men, far
from negating or limiting my freedom, is, on the contrary, its necessary condi-
tion and confirmation.” And the war, for my liberty and innocence, continued.

Facing the Capitalist Bourgeois

Without Fear
by Ali Khalid Abdullah

All over the world we find laws being implemented to control the
masses. To have them afraid o stand up and demand their rghts; to be sover-
cign; o be critical; o stand boldly and announce the wrongs being committed
by government officials who are lackeys for big business = kapitalist = money
changers.

‘With this progressive fear by the capitalist bourgeos come various
forms of aggression, repression, censorship and murder. It also entails the mas-
sive rate of incarcerations, prisons, and in Amerikkka, the death penalty, as
well as the blatant erosion of laws where even the appearance of justice is not
trashed in favor of absolute (dictatorship) abuse.

‘We have witnessed the extremes of the kapitalist bourgeois in Seattle
during the WTO demonstrations, and during the demonstrations in Washing-
ton, D.C. regarding the abuses of the IMF and WB. We've scen it most recently
in Detroit, Michigan and Canada during the Organization of American States
(OAS) and various Reclaim the Streets (RTS) actions around the world, and
during Mayday events, More and more the peoples voice-the people’s ight 0
protest-s being met with oppressive resistance which includes beatings, shoot-
ings, trumped-up charges (where they are fined or jailed, or both). All of tis in
order to frighten us and for us to believe that the bourgeois' property is sacro-
sanct. To have us "knowing our place” and not cross the artificial barrier that's
been erected based on class, race and gender.

‘What this all means is that the kapitalist bourgeois are afraid of the
people. Afraid of the masses because "they" (the Kapitalist bourgeois) are the
minority. Therefore, there i a need to instil terror and fear i the masses to

keep us afraid of actualizing our power and feeling as though we have no
power. Keeping us in fear is the basis of all political discourse under kapital-
ism. To scare us into "knowing our place” and accept what crumbs we are
given from the bourgeois' plate, and the conditions in which they dictate to us
in how we should live our lives.
This is why police (all over the world) are more aggressive today.
‘This is why the right to protest and challenge is met with bullets, batons, beat-
ings, incarcerations, and an assortment of attacks. Exploitation of the many by
the few!
_—
“Keeping us in fear is the basis of all political discourse
under kapitalism. .. This is why police (all over the
world) are more aggressive today. This is why the right
to protest and challenge is met with bullets, batons,
beatings, incarcerations, and an assortment
of attacks.” -Ali Knalid Abdullah

‘We must face the challenges placed before us by the kapitalist bour-
geois without fear or intimidation. We must not bow down when faced with
anything if we are to make a difference if we are to succeed. Being afraid in-
hibits us from being effective and allows the kapitalist bourgeos to march their
ageats (police and other enforcers of property) against u in arrogance. Our
fear gives them victory. Our hesitation gives them an advantage and that ad-
vantage only knows one thing...oppress!

‘Whenever we are attacked, beaten, brotalized, we have a right and a
duty to give it back but with relentless extremes. Our actions (to survive) must
0 beyond the brick and the botte throwing. Beyond the window smashing
because this isn't effective nor does it pose a threat o the established bourgeois
‘who i insured and wil have these minor problems, not nly fixed, but also
receive something as a result of this incident. No, we must be more extreme.
Extreme Action... Extreme Relentless Dircct Action must be the new order for
us to rely on or the domination we're al facing and living under will grow even
worse. We must be the example for check n' balance.

‘Already we see governments around the world taking guns from the
‘people, or making it so difficult to obtain that many don'ttry to own one. This
tactic is being enforced whercby leaving the masses defenseless and unable to
fend off any brutal attacks by the agents of the Kapitalist bourgeois. A defense-
ess people are a people subject to unchecked aggression, oppression, repres-
sion, brutality and other undesired treatment.

If we do not face the kapitalist bourgeois now and remain firm in our
‘communality and minimize our differences, soon it will be too late to develop
‘any resistance. We will simply become human robots.

. 0 OO
Anarchists and the Prison Struggle:
Revolutionary Solidarity Not Empt;

Rhetoric and Liberalism
by Mark Bamsley

A while ago I was iritated to sec a well-known Anarchist magazine:
use prisoner support work as an example of “single-issue” politis. The com-
ment may have been merely thoughtless, rather than anything else, but the fact
that it appears to have gone unnoticed, and certainly unchallenged, reflects the
poverty of current Anarchist thought in relation to the prison struggle, and the
‘marginalization of what was once very much a central issue for revolutionaries
in general, and for Anarchists in particular. While some Anarchists may regard
the prison struggle as just another single-issue, forincreasing numbers of
working-class people, prison s a central part of their lives.

‘The purpose of the British judicial and penal system is locking up
‘working-class people, something which it does exceptionally well. Almost no
middle-class people at all go to prison, and o the extremely rare occasions that
they do, they are given shorter sentences and treated markedly differeatly to
working-class people. The middle-class are happy to call for longer prison sen-
tences and the worsening of prison conditions in the safe knowledge that the
likelihood of them, or any of their friends and family, ever going to jail s, just
about nl (look at Billy Straw.) Because of their real) class position the people.
who dominate all political movementsin this country (the middle-class) sée
prison struggle as a marginal issue, and consequently the movements they
fest are in turn marginalized from it. This is currently as true of the British An-
archist movement as of the left in general, and in practice (painful to hear as it
might be) the Anarchist movement are worse than some in this respect.

Despite what they may pretend, middle-class pseudo-revolutionaries
still maintain most of the anti-working-class prejudices held by their mummys

includes their atitudes to prisoners. It s no coincidence that the British left and
Anarchist movement has generally been far more comfortable in publicizing
the cases of prisoners who are incarcerated far enough away for them to be
unlikely to turn up on the doorstep. They may claim otherwise, but most mid-
dle-class Anarchists seem to have innate prejudices when it comes to accepting
that 5o many miscarriages of justice take place in this country, and few sin-
cerely believe that the State fits people up, ceraialy not as a irect result of
their political activism - That only happens in other countries.

—_—
“No isolated group of individuals can win a fight against
a vastly stronger enemy, and in here we are as isolated

as could be. “ -Mark Barnsley
—_—mm—

e
At the moment, there may be genuinely few activistsin this country
thatthe State regards as a real threat (or at least serious pain in the arse),
‘something which is a rather sad reflection on the state of revolutionary politis.
Believe me, if and when Anarchists become worthy opponents of the State
they will find it more than willing o play its part. Many working-class people
have found this out o their cos i the past, and whereas because of their class-
stature the middle-class pscudo-revolutionaries are insulated from all this,
‘working-class people are increasingly feeling the repressive iron heel of the
State on their faces. Imprisonment is becoming a more and more central part of
‘working:class people's lives, few of us are without brothers, sisters, mothers,
fathers, sons, danghters, frends or lovers, who have not been locked up, and
often for fuck all. Sentences are getting longer, and it is geting easicr and cas-
e for the Police and Crown Prosecution Service to fit people up.

“The struggle behind bars is an intrinsic part of the
wider revolutionary struggle, and prisoners need
organizations which are capable of delivering concrete
support and revolutionary solidarity, not
empty rhetoric.” -Mark Bamsley

‘The past few years have seen a wave of increasing repression in Brit-
ain's prisons, but despite many aspects of politial struggle being at something
of nadi in this country, the struggle against oppression in British prisons
‘continues to endure. Prisoners deserve support in this struggle. No isolated
group of individuals can win a fight against a vastly stronger enemy, and in
here we are as isolated as could be.

‘When it comes to prisoner support work too many Anarchists are believing too
‘much of our own propaganda, which on this ssu s at best wishful thinking,
and at worst downright lies. The truth hurts, but the fact i that, among Anar-
chists in tis country today, solidarity is a pretty rare commodity. T was part of
the Anarchist movement for 20 years before being fitted-up by the State, yet
for the first 4 years of my imprisonment I received litle more than limited sup-
port from a few individual comrades.

Anarchists have long bec big at encouraging active resistance in
Britsh prisons, yet they are rarely able or willing to provide the solidarity and
financial aid required by prisoners who are brutalized and isolated for fighting
‘back in prison. This mirrors the atitude of the so-called revolutionary’ eft in
general, big on slogans calling for militancy and revolution, but left shocked
and wanting by even relatively minor acts of esistance. Like middle-class An-
archists they view any individuals with the botti to back up words with action
as dangerous lunatics. It s litle wonder that many prisoners (lke the working
class in general) regard politicos with suspicion, or even outright contempt.

‘While we are told in some quarters that there have never been more

Anarchists in this country, the fact i that the organizations and structures that
have traditionally made up the movement are in tatters, and the whole move-
ment seems in ideological disarray, with many comrades so ashamed of the
state of things that they have had enough. Even the ABC, in which many Anar-
chists take a part-time interest, has been reduced to a small number of tiny
groups and individuals, with ltle cobesion or direction, and secmingly without
the will to address their obvious organizational problems.

‘The current disarray in the prisoners solidarity movement could not
have come at a worse time for those of us behind bars, for we are at critical
ntin terms of the British prison struggle. Batles arc now taking place which
I decide the conditions of prisoners for many years to come. Inside, State.
forces are intent on stripping away the concessions to humanity they were
forced to make in the 80's, and crush prisoner resistance once and for al, while
outside the Labour Government is escalating its attacks on working-class peo-
ple through the crosion of civil liberties and the building of an increasingly un-
disguised Police State, locking up more of us than ever.

‘The struggle behind bars is an intrinsic part of the wider revolutionary
struggle, and prisoners need organizations which are capable of delivering con-
crete support and revolutionary solidarity, not empty thetoric. If we are serious
as revolutionaries we need to build an effective prisoner solidarity movement
‘which will coerently oppose the increasing State repression, and which i ca-
pable of effectively aiding prisoner resistance and cven going on the offensive
in support of t.In the words of Anarchist prisoner Ojore N Lutalo, "Any
‘movement that does not support its political internecs is a sham movement."
Full Sutton Prison, February 1999

“Plea” to the Athens Criminal Court

By Nikos Maziotis

[Dear comrades,

‘The following text is the translation of what Nikos Maziotis has said
10 the court during his trial which took place in the Sth to the 7th of July 1999
in Athens, Greece.

"He was convicted with a 15-year prison sentence for “attempted ex-
|plosion with danger for human lives"” and *passession of guns and explosives™

r his action of putting a bom in the Ministry of Industry and Development in
6-12-97, in solidarity with the revolt of the villages in Strymonikos against the
installation of a gold metallurgy by multinational company TVX GOLD. Dur-
ing the trial he supported politically again his choices, as he did from the be-
inning when he had sent from prison a letter with which he was taking re-
sponsibilty of the action against the Ministry. He never though accepted the
charges the state was accusing him of, as revolutionary acts canno be de-
scribed in terms of the penal code. In that sense, thi trial was not a typical
|procedare of convicting someone who pleads “guilty” but it turned into a po-
litical confrontation so much between Nikos and his prosecutors, as much as
between his comrades, anarchists and revolutionaries and the state and its
mechanisms.

This confrontation was strongly supported by the presence of com-
rades from Sardegna (Costantino Cavalleri), Italy (Alfredo Bonanno) and
France (Hellyette Bess) who testified in the courtin solidarity with Nikos and
by the letters sentin support by the imprisoned militants of Action Directe,
France, by the ABC of Barcelona and by other anarchist groups from Spain.
|Allthese together, along with the presence inside and oussde the court of an-
archist comrades and of course the speech of Nikos Maziotis against his prose-
cutors, gave a sense of the international strugle for freedom and of solidarity
with al the people in revols, wth all political prisoners captured in moments
of the social and class war against the state and capita.

Solidarity,
Comrades from the Anarchist Circle|
and the collective <Anarchists in Solidarity»

First, I do not intend o pretend the “good guy” here where I was
forced to come. T will not plead for anything, because I do not concern myself
a criminal. 1 am a revolutionary. I have nothing (o repent of. I am proud of
what I have done. The only thing I regret i the technical error that was made
‘and the bomb dida't explode, so that my fingerprint was found on it after and T
ended up here. This is the only thing I repent. And something else also: allthat
stuff shouldn’t be at my house, they should be placed somewhero clse.

‘You must have in mind that although you are judges and sitting higher
than me, many times the revolutionaries, and myself specifically, have judged

you long before you judge me. We are in opposite camps, hostile camps.

“The revolutionaries and revolutionary justice -because I don't believe
that this court i justice, i’s the word justice in quotation marks- many times
judge their enemies more merciless, when they get the chance to impose jus-
tice.

1 will begin from many years ago. We don’t have any crime of mine
10 judge here. On the contrary, we will talk about crimes, but not mine. We
willtalk about the crimes of the State, of its mechanisms, of justice and police.
crimes.

(...) The fist time I can say I was politicized is when I took partin &
‘demonstration, in 1985. It was 17th of November. I was fourteen then, and one
policeman, Mr. Melisas, shot and killed a fftcen ycar-old, Kaltezas. I had not
participated in the riots of that night. The same evening after the murder the
Chemistry School had been occupied and in the morning special forces carried
out a police raid in the bulding to evacuate it and they arrested the anarchists
and youths who were inside. The next day five thousand people occupied the
Polytechnic School -if I remember correct because I was young then and didn't
have much information. These occupations were cxactly a reaction to the mur-
der of Kaltezas by policeman Melistas. Justice, five years later, in January of
1990, found Melistas innocent.

‘What I mean by saying this s that in reality you are abettors of
crimes, at least according to me. Then, in January and February of ‘90 took
partin the occupation of the Polytechnic, which occurred as a reaction (0 the
court-decision which found Melistas not guilty for the murder of Kaltezas.
There were riots and damages, stores were broken, stoncs and molotov coc
tails thrown... participated in these eveats. From then on I could consci
say Lam an anarchist.

(..-) L will contradict my brother who said before “he dida’t want the
guns in order to make war”. They were for war. Maybe they were just kept
there. But the guns are for war; you don’t just have them to keep them at home.
1 might have kept them as they were, but they are to make war and I make
‘war... The bomb in the ministry was an act of war.

ly

——————————————————————————
“..although you are judges and sitting higher than me,
‘many times the revolutionaries, and myself specifically,
have judged you long before you judge me. We are in
opposite camps, hostile camps. * -Nikos Maziotis

Since 1990 I have been convicted many times for my action, for mul-
tiform actions.

T was convicted because I refused to serve the army. Not because T
have any problem with weapons or with violence, repeated that in the miltary
court. The fact thatthi time I was arrsted in posscssion of guns means that
have no problem with weapons or with violence, 1 am not at all a pacifist. Be-

1

ause neither society nor the State are peaceful. As long as I receive violence I
will respond with violence.

Ispent seven months in a military prison; I have been convicted for
desexting the army and for evasion of military services. The second time I was
released after 51 days of hunger
strike.

Thave been arrested in '94 in the
occupation of the Economic uni-
versity along with 51 comrades of
mine, when Giorgos Balafas and
Odysseas Kampouris were on
hunger strike. This occupation of
the Economic School was also an
action of solidarity. In conditions
‘where we couldn't gather any-
‘where nor demonstrate, we had decided to squat a university and use it as a
center of counter-information about the cases of Giorgos Balafas and Odysseas
Kampouris, who were then imprisoned.

In"95 I was arrested with 500 other people in the revolt of the Poly-
technic in November. That occupation happened because there were many dif-
ferent political prisoners in jail - Kostas Kalaremas, Odysscas Kampouris,
Giorgos Balafas who was arrested again in the meantime, Spyros Dapergolas,
Christoforos Marinos and four persons from Thessaloniki who were arrcsted
‘when the demonstration in which they participated was attacked by the police
i the 14th of November- and because there was a prisoners' revolt going on in
Koridallos jail. For this occupation I was at last sentenced o one year impris-
‘onment along with many others of my comrades. n all these actions me and
‘my comrades have taken completely the responsibilty.

So, during this decade, since I can call myself an anarchist, I have:
used many forms of action. | have written and distributed leaflts, I took partin
‘postering, and I participated in occupations, violent or peaceful.

(...) Our purpose, within the anti-State and anticapitalist struggle, is to
‘connect ourselves with the different social struggles. Our purpose also when
interfering in these struggles is to attempt to make things reach the edge, which
‘means to culminate the conflict of these social parts with the State and the po-
lice. To urge the people fighting surpass the institutional frames, the trade un-
ions, the local administrations and allthese manipulators who are enemies of
human freedom. Many comrades of mine, with their small forces, were en-
‘gaged in such struggles. T il ell you about them more specificlly.

In 1989, in a struggle of environmental interest in the village of Arav-
issos, the residents of the arca didn't want their water sources to be exploited
by the Water Company of Thessaloniki. They clashed with the police and the
iot police, the burnt watering pumps, the set fires and barricades... And some.
of our comrades from Thessaloniki took part in this struggle and they were

even arrested.
In 1990 the aggression of neo-liberalism started in Greece (an aggres-

sion that internationally had started since the 80's with Reagan and Thatcher
‘governments), including de-industrialization, workers' dismissals, privatiza-
tion, restriction of the welfare state, reductions o salaries, pensions and medi-
cal treatment... This attack that has started in Europe and North America since
the beginning of the 80's, it only started in 1990 in Greece.

‘The first project was the “problematic” companies. In that section
also, during the period of 1990-91, there were occupations in many factories of
the country, in Mantoudi, Lavrio, Patras. Again, some comrades of ours, with
their small powers, were there. More specifically in Mantoudi and in Piraiki-
Patraiki factory which s located in Patras.

After that we have the pupils" movement of '90-91 which was a grand
one, according to my opinion. It managed to subvert the law of the minister of
Education, Kontogiannopoulos who finally resigned. The right-wing govern-
ment, inits effort to repress the movement, had mobilized its thugs in order to
smash the school occupations, resulting to the murder of a teacher, Nikos Tem-
poneras, inside an occupied school in Patras. It was one more crime of the
state. Here we will count the crimes of the state, no crime of mine.

Responding to the murder of Temponeras there was a demonstration
of thousands of people. We participated 100, to sharpen the situation. There:
‘were conflicts with the police; the Polytechnic was occupied once again for
two days. Flames, barricades, damages... There was also another crime those:
days,in the 10th of January *91. During the riots, tear-gas bombs thrown by
the police caused fire to the building of K. Marousi, a shopping center iri Panc-
pistimiou street. Four citizens died inside there due to this fire. For this crime
| nobody has yet paid, nor did any justice say something. They covered it.

One year aftr, in summer of 1992, my comrades -not me persorially
but this docsn't matter- partcipated in the clashes around Votanikos central
bus-station, when the government attempted to privatize Public Transport.
‘There were conflicts between the workers and the police. The, some workers
i the Public Transports weat to prison accused of sabotage. They were smash-
ing the private buses belonging to the ruffian owners who had bought them.
There also, anarchists wer present.

(...) Generally, wherever there are disturbances, wherever there are
conflicts we want to be in. To subvert things. For us, this is not a crime. In a
real sense, these disturbances are the “popular sovereignty” that professional
politicians keep talking about. That's where freedom is expressed...

Now let's talk about the struggle of the people in Strymonikos. Long.
before I put the bomb, other comrades have been in the villages, they have
been talking with the people there, and they had published a brochure about
this revolt, about the clashes in October of 1996. But I wil talk more specifi-
cally about the struggle in Strymonikos in alittle while, First, I want to talk
exclusively about the action.

To say the truth, I was inspired to put this bomb for a specific reason:
‘The people of the villages had broken the limits, by themselves. If it was a
struggle inside the institutional frames, in the way that trade unions and local
administrations try to keep these struggles restricted, if it was confined in a

—_—

‘mild, harmless and not dangerous protest, maybe I woulda't o anything.
But the comrades up there in the villages -who are not anarchists of

ourse, but T don't care about that, they are citizens who also want their frec-

dom- had surpassed every limit. They had conflcts with the police three

times -in the 17th of October 1996, in the 25th of July '97 and in November 9

*98-, they had put fire to police cars and vans of the riot police, they had burnt

‘machinery belonging to TVX, they had invaded in the mines of Olympiada and

“I was caught, because I made that technical error
and I left a fingerprint, but even if there was no material
damage at all the message was sent.” -Nikos Maziotis

destroyed part of the installations. Some of them also made a kind of guerilla.
In the nights, they were going out with shooting guns, shooting in the air to
frighten the policemen. And I thought, these people are cool, they*ve gone
even further than us.

And then repression followed, especially in *97 when there was mar-
shal law imposed in the area. The Chief of Police in Halkidiki gave an order
according to which all gatherings and demonstrations wers forbidden. They
also seat special polics units and police tanks, which came in the streets for the
firs time since 1980. And now they were sending them out again there, in the
villages of Halkidiki. So, I thought, we must do something here, in Athens. It s
not possible that the others are under repression and we here staying passive.

‘The ministry of Industry and Development,in Papadiamadopoulou
and Michalakopoulou streets, was one of the centers of this case. The struggle
in Strymonikos was a stzuggle against the “development”, against
“modernization" and all this crap they keep saying. What is hidden behind all
these expressions i the profits of multinationals, the profits of “our own” capi-
taliss, Greek capitalists, the profits of tates" official, of the Greek state, of
the bureaucrats, of all those who take the money, of technical companies...
There is no relevance between this “development” and “modemization” they
are talking about and the covering of popular needs. No relevance at all.

So, I placed a bomb. The purpose was the one I said in the letter with
‘which I took responsibilty of the action. In the passage of February '98 I say:
Placing the explosive device my purpose was to sead a double political mes-
sage. Everything is political. Even if you use such means, the messages arc po-
litical. War tself is a means of political pressure. In this case, this was also &
political means, a political practice. First of al, a message to the people of
Strymonikos that “you are not alone, there are also others who may live 600
km away from you but they care”. Not for personal reasons... I don't know
anyone from there personally. Other comrades know people from there. I have-
n'teven been there. It was not my house that was threatened, but this is not the

‘Simply, my principle, and generally principle of the anarchists and of
other non-anarchist revolutionaries s that social freedom is one and insepara-

ble. So, if freedom is partially offended, in essence it is offended as a whole. If
their freedom is offended, mine is offended too. Their war will be my war, es-
pecially in an area where the “sovereign people” -again an expression used by
professional politiians- does not want what the statc and the capital want: the
old metallurgy of TVX.

O the other hand, I have said that, OK, there would be some dam-
‘ages -1 knew that. Yes, I had the intention to cause material damages. So, what
damage would that be? On the windows, on that certain place, what kind of
‘damage? O outside the storehouse where I placed the bomb? According to me,
the damages would be minimal. But even if they were more than minimal, for
me it s not important at all. Because freedom can't be compared with the ma-
terial damages on some windows, on a state car or state property. For me, the
ministry is not an institution of common benefit as the charges say. Of state
benefit yes, but o social benefit no.

However, even ifthe device did not explods, I sent my message. 1 was
‘caugh, because I made that technical error and 1 left a fingerprint, but even if
there was no material damage at all the message was sent. And you reccived if,
the state received it, but also the people of Strymonikos received it I know that
they are saying I am one of them, even if they have never et me. There is
nothing beter than that. And of course, I repeat that I don’ regret it at

1wl refer a litle to the technical parts. Exactly because I am a social
revolutionary, and when you say that it s like talking for the benefit of society.
Not like - it is for the social benefit. As I have this principle I couldn’t harm
any citizen. I could harm a policeman. I consider them my enemies. And you
are my cnemies t0o. I separate you. I make a clear class separation. On one
hand we have those, on the other hand, we have the others. In this occasion
though I didn't intend to harm neither the policeman who guarded the ministry
nor anybody else - and of course not a citizen.

) And exactly because of the message being political and sym-
bolic, it was not in my purpose to cause extensive material damages; that's
why I used a small quantity of dynamite. And I had the possibility to put five.
or seven or ten kilos. if I wanted to... But I dida't put... Since there were such
things found in my house, I could cause great damages, always talking about
‘material damages! But I didn't. If I could demolish the whole building of the

B—

‘ministry without having anyone Killed, I wouldn’t have any objection. It an-
other useless building for the peaple and for society. As I said before, the only
thing I regret is the technical error o the device.

(...) I want to refer more to what I call solidarity, to the motives that I
had. What s this solidarity? I believe that people socialized, that human soci-
ety was created, based on three components: solidarity, mutuality and helping
ach other. So, that's where human freedom is based on. Any social group in
siruggle, in different space and time, whether they are pupils or farmers or citi-
2ens of local societies, for me and for the anarchists it is very important. It
doesn'thave to do with whether T am a worker and idenifying my interests
with the interests of that class. If someone asks for a higher salary or has a
trade-unionist demand for me it is not important. For me, solidarity means the
unreserved acceptance and support with every means of the right that the peo-
ple must have to determine their lives as they wish, and not leting others to
decide in defalt of them, like the State and Capital do.

‘That means that in this specific case, in the struggle of Strymonikos
butalso in every social struggle, for me what counts mostly i that they are
struggles through which the people want to determine their fates alone. And
not having any police chief or any state offcial or capitlist deciding what they
should do. It is of secondary importance if they want or don’t want the factory,
i the focal point of the struggle is environmental. The important thing is that
they don’t want the factory because they don't like something imposed o them
with violence.

‘Concerning the matter of political violence now... From the very be-
ginning they tried to present a case of “repulsive criminals” and “terrorists”
‘who ““blindly" placed bombs”. Something that doesn't exist.

If theoretically terrorism is exercising violence against citizens and
‘unarmed population, that goes exclusively for the State. Only the State attacks
againstcivilians, that's what the repression mechanisms are for: te riot police,
special repression police units, the army, special forces... Mechanisms that also
£0b the people. They finance armed professionals, policemen. Aren't they
trained o shoot real targets? Isa't th riot police armed with chemical gas? To
use them where? On citizens, in the demonstrations and in manifestations. So,
‘only the State exercises violence against the ctizens. I dida’t use any violence
against any citizen.

T will say exactly what terrorism is.

Terrorism is when occupations, demonstrations and strikes arc being
attacked. When the riot police attacked the pensioners who demonstrated out-
side Maximou four years ago. When Melistas kiled Kaltczas. When Koumis
and Kanelopoulou were murdered by the riot police in 16th of November 1980.
Andiif T can remember well, they were not shot, they were beaten up to death.
Terrorism is when Christos Kassimis was murdered. But I wil refer more spe-
cifically to this case.

A group of revolutionaries had then tried to set fire 10 the German fac-
fory of AEG, in Redis. This was also an action of solidarity. I don’t know if
You are aware of that, but I willtel you about it Then, in *77, some guerrllas

B eeeeeeee—————————
Free Sentenced te

June 11th, Joff "Free” Luers was sentenc
Asrson 1 to Attempted Criminal Mischief stemming 1

Free had admitted 1o criminal mischicf regarding a t
sentencing he read a statement taking accountability
took to ensure no one would be injured. He sai

“It cannot be said that I am unfeeling or uncar
compassion. I fight to protect life— all life— nc

It's not an exaggeration to say that we're exper
the dinosaurs. 40,000 species go cxtinct each
natural world I will not ask this court to gran
sincerity of my words, and that you believe th
1o be misguided, stem from the love I have in

The judge responded by saying that he "never doubt
beliefs would not influence the sentencing, that he v
crimes™. Yet Free recieved a sentence harsher than
as to say we're surprised with the sentence, but an ar
hat we've had someone with a clenched fist standin,
you.” Even though we were expecting it, it still 100k
Quring the trial that indicated he'd already decided 1
the testimony, typing on his laptop instead of listeni

Frustratingly, throughout the past year, Free had bee
Chevrolet, due to the fact that the State insisted on 1
Company. together. The judge denied many motion:
that he had no involvement in the attempted arson ai

The Legal Defense Commitiee asks for your continu
War. Make no mistake, a war is being waged on the
State's campaign to marginalize and incapacitate tho
Failure to support our political prisoners is tantamox

Free's new address is now available. Checks and mo
1o FCLDF, c/o OUR Credit Union, PO Box 11922, ]
supporters. Your help has been inspiring and irrepla

Howl for Free and Critter. Howl for all political pris

> 23 Years!

-d 10 nearly 23 years on 11 charges ranging from
rom two incidents last year in Bugene, Oregon.

ruck fire at Romania Chevrolet last summer. At the
for the Romania firc, and cmphasizing the care he

ing. My heart is filled with love and
t to take it

iencing a period of extinction cqual to that of
year, yet we continue to pollute and exploit the
t mc leniency. All I ask is that you belicve the
at my actions, whether or not you believe them
my heart.™

ed Free's sincerity”. He stated that Free's political
vould be sentenced "solely on the severity of the

hat of many murderers and rapists. We are not so naive
alogy I shared with Free on the phone yesterday is

z in front of us for a year saying “I'm going to punch
‘our breath away. The judge made many comments

1c outcome. He was often seen completely ingnoring
ng. An appeal is already underway.

n forced to remain silent about his actions at Romania
iing the two incidents, Romania and Tyree Oil

: 1o separate the two. Froe has stated and maintains

. Tyree Oil

ng support of Free and Critter and other Prisoners of
Earth and all its creatures. Do not participate in the
se who take radical action in defense of the Earth.

nt to santioning repression by the State.

ney orders to assist with Free's appeal can still be sent
Zugene, OR 97440, Thanks to all our steadfast

cable.

oners. They will hear you.

=
EE!

R EE
["TER

JefT Froe” Luers was sen o the Two Rivers Correctional Facilityin Esstem Orego o serve
is nearly 23 yea sentence. He has now been moved 1o Salem, OR a the ddress below.
‘Craig Criter” Marshall was moved 10 the Oregon Stae Prison in Salem last year and then
‘moved o Esstem Oregon Comectional Insttution in Pendleton, Oregon.(9/4/01). Now he has
‘been moved yet again o the address below. (10/10/01 ish)

‘They would appreciat Iters of support and publication subscrptions and other reading.
‘materials (diect from the publisher o amazon.com). These can be st 1o:

Tuer #13797671 i Marshal F13797662
605 Stae St 77 Staston Bivd.
OR97310 tario, OR 97914

Please be aware tha Free hs been assigned "Threat Group" sttus. BE SMART about what

you
send cither of them! Dot forgt 0 include your name and retum address on the envelope
AND the leter, s they willonlyreceivethe lete. Leters must be writen on clean paper
‘with ball-point ik o typed. They are allowed toreceive xeroxed material it st
copyrighted, color xerox art and photographs.

Ifyou are unsure f what you want 0 send may be damaging 1o them, you can send it o the
address below and their close frends will sreen't fo themn. Checks oF money orders for
commissary (envelopes, paper,stamps, it ctc) may also b seat (o:

Free & Criter Legal Defense Commitiee

PO Box 50263

Eugene, OR 97405

Free and Criter nxiously await comespondence from supporters! Thanks!

‘The Free and Criter Legal Defense Commitiee

THE DEFIANT
Updates — early 2002
Nikos Maziotis

After serving only 3% years of what was
originally a 15-year sentence, Greek anarchist
Nikos Maziotis has been released! His sentence
had been shortened to 5 years earlier in 2001.
Chris Plummer

Anarchist and anti-racist fighter Chris
Plummer was released on January 7" 2002. Now
on the outside, he continues to be active on
behalf of prisoners. He may be contacted at:

PO Box 1324 / Austin, TX 78767 / USA

Free Sentenced te

June 11th, Jeff "Free” Luers was sentenc:
Arson 1 to Attempted Criminal Mischief stemming |

Free had admitted 1o criminal mischicf regarding a t

“It cannot be said that I am unfeeling or uncar
compassion. I fight to protect life— all life— nc

It's not an exaggeration to say that we're exper
the dinosaurs. 40,000 species go extinct cach
natural world...I will not ask this court to gran
sincerity of my words, and that you believe th
o be misguided, stem from the love I have in

The judge responded by saying that he "never doubt
beliefs would not influence the sentencing, that he v
crimes". Yet Free recieved a sentence harsher than
as to say we're surprised with the sentence, but an ar
c*ve had someone with a clenched fist standin,
you.” Even though we were expecting it, it still 100k
Juring the trial that indicated he'd already decided
the testimony, typing on his laptop instcad of listen:

Frustratingly, throughout the past year, Free had bee
Chevrolet, due to the fact that the State insisted on 1
Company. together. The judge denied many motion:
that he had no involvement in the attempted arson ai

The Legal Defense Committee asks for your continu
War. Make no mistake, a war is being waged on the
State's campaign to marginalize and incapacitate tho
Failure to support our political prisoners is tantamor

Eree's new address is now available. Checks and mo
o FCLDF, </o OUR Credit Union, PO Box 11922, ]
supporiers. Your help has been inspiring and irrepla

Howl for Free and Critter. Howl for all political pris

> 23 Years!

4 1o nearly 23 years on 11 charges ranging from
rom two incidents last year in Eugene, Oregon.

ruck fire at Romania Chevrolet last summer. At the
for the Romania fire, and emphasizing the care he

ing. My heart is filled with love and
¢ to take it

iencing a period of extinction cqual to that of
year, yet we continue to pollute and exploit the
t mc lenicncy. All I ask is that you belicve the
at my actions, whether or not you believe them
my heart.”

ed Free's sincerity”. He stated that Free's political

vould be sentenced “solely on the severity of the

hat of many murderers and rapists. We are not so naive

alogy 1 shared with Free on the phone yesterday is

z in front of us for a year saying “I'm going to punch
our breath away. The judge made many comments

e outcome. He was often seen completely ingnoring
8. An appeal is already underway.

n forced to remain silent about his actions at Romania
king the two incidents, Romania and Tyree Oil

: 10 separate the two. Froe has stated and maintains

. Tyree Oil.

ng support of Free and Critter and other Prisoners of
Earth and all its creatures. Do not participate in the
se who take radical action in defense of the Earth.

int to santioning repression by the State.

ncy orders to assist with Free's appeal can still be sent
Zugene, OR 97440, Thanks to all our steadfast

cable.

oners. They will hear you.

EE
EE!

R EE
["TER

o] s

of the RAF had died inside the white cells of Stammbeim, in Suttgart, West
Germany. The white cells alone is terrorism. Prison is errorism. So, then,
some Greck revolutionaries went to burn the factory of AEG, as an action of
solidarity with the RAF and also as a reaction to the murder of RAF miltants
in prisons of Stuttgart. During this attempt, which was unsuccessful, somebody
was killed. He was Christos Kassimis, shot by the two policemen, Plessas and
Stergiou, who guarded the factory. And according to what I have read, they
dida't kill him because their lives where threatened, they shot him in the back.
He died with a bullet in his back.
e —
“Only the State attacks against civilians, that’s what the

repression mechanisms are for: the riot police, special
repression police units, the army, special forces...
Mechanisms that also rob the people. * -Nikos Maziotis

i e——

Terrorism is when special police forces invade the Chemistry School
and beat up anarchists and youth. Terrorism is when Temponeras is murdered
in Patras. Terrorism is when Christos Tsoutsouvis was murdered in '85. But
this case has also something special and I want to point it out. To Christos
‘Tsoutsouvis fits an expression of Thoukidides -f you know about him, he is
the ancient historian who wrote down the story of the Peloponnesian War- that
“dying in the batle is an honor, followed by applause of the ctizens". He may
got killed, but he also took three of them with him. For me, he was a warrior,a.
militant. T believe that socety needs mor persons like him.

Terrorism is when citizens are murdered by the police in simple

‘ ‘identification controls'. I will mention some examples. I will say about Chrs-
tos Mouratis, a Rom in the city of Livadia, who was shot in a police blockade
in October of 1996. He was an unarmed citizen.. This is a crime. But justice
did nothing about it, what would it do? It just rewarded the crime.

(...) Terrorism is when Ali Yumfraz, a Pomak from Vilisia suburb
of Athens, was arrested being drunk and afterwards he was found dead in his
cell in the police station. The police said he suffered a heart attack and that this
‘was the reason for his death. I can recall another incident, in January of ‘91,
‘when policemen beat up a Turkish political refugee, Souleiman Akia, to death.
The Minister of Public Order had then said that the man had heart problems.
But the medical examination found that there were bruises all over his body.

Terrorism is this court, here. Every trial of a militant, every trial of
revolutionary i terrorism, a message of intimidation for society. I said it again
in my statements yesterday, when you called me to say if I accept the charges,
‘and T will repeat it. Because of my persecution being politicl, the message is
clear: whoever fights against the State and the Capital will be penalized, crimi-
nalized and given the characterization of terrorist. The same for any solidarity
to any socal struggle: it will be penalized and crushed down. This s the mes-
sage of thistrial and by this sense itis terrorism. Terrorism against me, terror-

—

jsm against the anarchists, terrorism against the people of Strymonikos, who
e also receiving similar messages this period, as they have similar rils for

“The factthat T put bomb as an action of soldarity is notterrorism.
‘Because 1o citizen was harmed by this action.

)T want to efer to te struggle in Strymonikos. Even if have
over been there I will give you some historical rudiments. The mines which
are now bought by the multinational company TVX Gold exist since 1927.
They used o belong to Bodosakis. In these mines, where numerous working
sccidents have taken place and many miners suffered pneumonokoniasis, there
was a big bloody strike back in 1977. The strike had demands such as the in-
creasing of salaries, medical treatment, and secarity measures in the gallerics.
‘Then there were also police tanks seat in the arca, there were also arrests and
convictions, terorism imposed in the villages.

In the lae 80's the company was characterized as “problematic”, like
‘many others. The state, through METVA., plans the installation of a gold met-
alurgy. In '92 the company, as “problematic” passes to the hands of the state
and in December of '95 the latter sels the mines to TVX. But the residents of
Strymonikos didn't want the construction of a gold metallurgy. Moro than sev-
enty years of mining activity had yet caused serious environmental problems.

‘This struggle has a great importance, and that has been proven, for
international reasons. The mobilizations started in the beginning of *96. The
residents blockaded the national highway Thessaloniki-Kavala, they made
guardhouses from where they could supervis the mines and stop any truck of
the company that would try to pass or any machinery that would begin driling
activities. With these practices,the sreet blockading and the guardhouses, the
people demonstrated: “We are here. You are not going to pass.”

‘This way they forced the company to temporary suspend its actvities.
Inthe 26th of October *96, TVX sent an ultimatu to the Greek state and to
the Ministry of Development, saying that “Unless the works startright now, we
are going to leave”, Their investment, which is the biggest private one ever
‘made in the country, an investment of 65 billion drachmas, would leave

‘When the first clashes took place, inthe 17th of October, and the resi-
dents managed to repel violently the police forces from the arca, Jason Stratos,
the president of SEV., sated that “these disturbances damage the validity of
the country abroad”. And he was right, because “its impossible that two thou-
sand provincials (I don't mean this characterization in a bad way, but that's
hhow the minister or the president of SEV mean it. That's how professional
politicians and the political partis talk about simple peopie) will destroy our
investments, not ltting a Canadian company or any other forcign company
ome here and make investments. This reaction must end". So, you can under-
stand that ths struggle had no more a restricted local characer. It had interna-
tional extensions, because it created a precedent: “If we can't have an invest-
‘ment in Halkidiki, wherever a foreign investor may go, will not be able to pro-
ceed with the investment. If the people revolt and don't want what the state

‘wants, the economy is through”.

One year after, there was another attempt to sart the works for the
installation of the gold metallurgy. In July of '97 the residents destroy a drill
belonging to IGME and clash with the police. In November, they gather and
‘make & demonstration to the mines.
But some months before -in Septem-
ber, if I can remember well - the state
had predicted that the people’s reac-
tions would culminate and had sent
hundreds of policemen from Thessalo-
niki. They had also sent riot police
from Athens, special repression police
units and police tanks, which as I said
before appeared in the treets for the
first time after 1980 when they were
used to suppress demonstrations.
‘There was a whole army of occupation
installed there permanently. The po-
lice knew that there would be riots
again 50 they had prepared a military
force to repress the residents. As it
happened. Of course, it didn’t happen
completely because the police was defeated. The clashes took place in the 9th
of November and like I said before police cars and riot police vans wer de-
stroyed, the drll of the company was set on fire and finally the guerrilla prac-
tices took place, when there were shootings to frighten the police.

As T have already said, I was very much inspired by these events to
put the bomb in the Ministry of Industry and Development. On this base I want
0 repeat that this struggle had not a simple local character. It had surpassed it.

For us, for the anarchists, social struggles and solidarity are beyond
national limits. For me and for my comrades, struggles that take place outside,
the borders of the Greek state have a great importance.

‘There is huge importance for me in the Zapatista guerrilla that has
burst out in Chiapas in 1994, Itis one more struggle against neoliberalism, a
struggle that is carried out with guns, with masks...a real war. It s part of the
poliical violence and I am not against that. T have never stated to be against it
and 1do not want o pretend the g0od guy.

Of great importance for me is also the movement of Brazilian farmers
without land (the MST) who occupy the land of the estates in order to cultivate

ively. ficance in the movement of the jobless
‘people in France, who made occupations in working offices and clashed with
the police during the winter of '97-'98.

(...) I don't betieve that you really judge me as a “terorist”. I don't
believe that you judge me for “having the purpose to cause danger to human
lives”. This is just a pretext. In fact, you are judging me for what I've said until
now. For who T am. For being an anarchist, for believing what I believe, even

for my past. Because all of these are aggravating elements: “5o, you were in the
Polytechnic occupation, you were in the Economic School occupation, you are
objector of military service, you were here and there.... I don’t have a
“previous decent life", according to you of course because according to me I
am a very decent person. In reality, you don’ t judge me for supposedly having
he purpose to harm people.

In fact, the state has proven tha it does not care for th citizens. On
the contrary, when its domination must be consolidated, the state takes away
human lives, as I said in the examples I gave before. The only thing the state
wants i to conserve a monopoly, the monopoly that “only us, only me, the
State, can take away human lives.” Only the uniformed police, the secret po-
Tice, th riot police or the special police can take away human lives. Everyone
else who does itis criminal. But when the sate docs it it proves (0 be unas-
sailable.

(...) Whatthe state wants is to deal with everyone alone. You must
have heard an expression that the prime minister Simits s using a lo, talking
about “social automatism” whenever socal reactions burst out. He uses this
expression in order to present these social reactions -the blockades in the
streets, the squattng in public buildings and all the actions of this kind- as be-
ing in Contrast with the interests of the rest of society. Something that is a total
lie. Itis justthe tactics of “divide and rule”, which means “spread the discord
o break solidarity”. Because solidarity is very important as anyone who is
alone becomes an easy target.
_——

“T am not on trial because I placed a bomb, nor because
1 possessed three guns and ten kilograms of dynamite.
After all, the army and the police have a lot more guns
than I do and they use them.” -Nikos Maziotis
———

(...) What s really being attacked is solidarity. And that's what i also
attacked, without any disguise, through my trial.. The statc wants to attack to
everyone alone. Because when it finds them together things are much more:
diffcult.

Police brutaliy is of course not sufficient for repression. Coming back
10 what T was saying before, I have concluded to the fact that the difference
between dictatorship and parliamentary democracy -or should I bettr say capi-
talisic oligarchy- is that the first one is mainly imposed by raw violence and
the lattr, the presumed democracy, is mostly imposed by the intellectual con-
ool of th citizens, through the weapon of the Mass Media, trough deception.
Because I don’t believe that the people voting their bosses every four years
means they havo their freedom. They vote for them but when theyre not doing
‘What they were supposed to, the people can't getrid of them.

(...) But democracy has also proved that when deception and intellec-
tual control of the citizens are not enough, it has no problem to resort to police

- 4
violence, to kill to torture, to terrorize.

Finally, I am not on trial because I placed a bomb, nor because I pos-
sessed three guns and ten kilograms of dynamite. After all, the army and the
police have a lot more guns than I do and they use them. The one can't be com-
pared with the other.

“Itis generally proven. . that never did any changes
happen, never did humanity meet any progress,
progress as I conceive it, through begging, praying or
with words only.” -Nikos Maziotis

Thave nothing else t0 say. The only thing I'll say more is that no mat-
ter the sentence to which I will be convicted, because itis certain that I will be
convicted, I am not going to repent for anything. I wil remain who I am, I can
also say that prison is always a school for a revolutionary. His ideas and the
‘endurance of his soul are experienced. And if he surpasses this test he becomes
stronger and believes more these things for which he was found in prison. I
have nothing more to say.

‘The judge: Don't turn the cameras 1o the bench!

Public prosecutor: In the beginning of your plead you said that you had the
guns for war. Don’tyou see a contradiction when you say that there was no
danger for human lives?

T made clear that none of my activities s tuned against citizens. 1 al-
ready made that clear. Where is the contradiction? -
Public prosecutor: You said the guns are for war.

‘Yes but ot for the people. For my class enemies. Look, I never said
that I am a humanist generally. Nor a philanthropist, because these meanings
are degraded. In everything that I've written- if you have read- and in every-
thing that I've said T made clear who are my friends and who are my eneics.
Notin a personal but n a social level. Who are my social and class friends and
‘who are my social and class cnemies. In the letter with which I took responsi-
bility of the action as well as in my defense I said that society is another thing
from the State.

1 will g0 on to be more specific for the jury. On the one hand I place
the State, state officials, the police, the army, the security forces, capitalists,
and on the other hand I placed the rest of the peopl: workers, farmers, pupils,
the whole of society, the majority of the peopie, the oppressed people.
Public prosecutor: You talked about justice putting the word in quotation
marks. What ground for complaint do you have against justice?

Thave been in prison for the last 18 months. I have parsonally stayed
in prison for 18 months and another 7 months in military prison. Simple and
close examples. You are speaking of me, personally, don't you?

‘These laws are made in order to suit your interest. From these laws
‘you are earning your bread. Your job is to send citizens in prison. And I op-

the argument that policemen have comitted murders but they don't go
to prison for that have already opposcd the argument what kind of job is this
justice you are talking about. That finally there aro two weights and two meas-
ures. The mater is not what the law says or what the penal code says, but what
really happens. Just like in the case of terrorism.

For example, the US consider PKK o be a terrorist organization, but
ot UCK. In the beginning UCK was considered, by the US, a terrorist organi-
zation but afterwards it wasn't because ts existence was convenient for their
plans. Isn’t thatright? The US did not consider Contras being terrorists, when
they wero going to invade Nicaragua, but they considered terrorists all the left
revolutionary movements and guerrillas.

1 want to complete what I was teling before to the public prose-
cutor, about terrorism in an international level. In reality, for this moment, the
US s the global gendarmery and terrorist, as the only great world power left.
‘Which means it i the worst thing on earth. And according to our perception -
s anarchists- the State, all the states and al the governments are antisocial,
terrorist mechanisms, since they have organized armics, police, and hired tor-
turers.

Talso want to complete what I was saying about having two weights
and two measures. For example, the US provides with weapons, finance and
instigate every dictatorial regime al over the world. And in Greece also. In
Latin America, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru.... Thisis Terrorism. Terrorism
s to arm dictators, to arm death squads in Argentina or in Bolivia in order to
il people of the Left citizens, and revolutionaries. Those who equip the death
squads to tortur, those are the terrorists. Terrorism is when they bombard
Yougoslavia for ten days, killing civilians. (..)

Excuse me, Mr. prosecutor, but the US are the ones who tell who is
terrorist and who isn't. Their State Department issues official dircctions, advis-
ing Greece about who is a terrorist. This period of time, they place pressure on
the Greek state to make an anti-terroristlaw, a model of law which willcrimi-
nalize those who fight, to make laws more draconian than those already exist-
ing. These are Terrorism.

‘The revolutionaries and the militants are not terrorists. Terrorsts are
the states themselves. And with this accusation, with this stigmatizing (of ter-
rorism) all the states and governments try to criminalize the social revolution-
aries and the militants inside their counties. The internal social enemy... In
fac, the State, justice and the police face me also as this kind of enemy. As an
internal social enemy. On the basis of the division I described before. That's
the way the state sees it This is what s ventured in this tral.

Public prosecutor: What do you have to oppose to the existent?
‘Social revolution. By any means necessary.
1tis generally proven, because I am well versed in Greek as wel as in
socisl and political hstory, that never did any changes happea,
Rever did humanity meet any progress -progress as I conceive it- through beg-
8ing, praying or with words only.
(...) Popular sovereignty, sr judges,is when moloto and stones are

-—
thrown to the police, when state cars, banks, shopping centers and luxury
stores are burnt down.... This is how the people react. History itelf has proven
that his is the way people react.

(..) forgot to commemorate militants who have been murdered.
Christoforos Marinos was murdered in the port of Piracus, inside the ship
“Pegasus’ in July of '96.

Michalis Prekas was murdered by the Special Police Units in October of 1987,
in Kalogreza. Tsironis was murdered in Nea Smyrni in 1978...

"And there is one more case -if we want to discuss crimes once more-,
the case of Sorin Matei. When Matei kept a policeman as hostage, the police
didn't make any move o arrest him. When Matei took civilians as hostages,
the police couldn't care less about their lives. In order to strengthen their pres-
tige the police invaded the apartment where Matei had taken shelter,resulting
0 the death of a young woman. The criminals were more the policemen of the
special units than Sorin Matei. As criminals as the manager of Nikaia general
hospital, Alexiou, who ordered the transportation of Matei in the prison hospi-
tal Agios Pavios, where he died either by the beating up he suffered by police-
men or by the drugs they were giving him.

‘That s to say who is criminal... July7, 1999

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Silvano Pelissero is an anarchist from the Piemont area of Northwest
Italy. He was sentenced on January 31st, 2000 to seven years in prison afier
being arrested in March 1998. He was sentenced under the false accusation of
being responsible for several attacks / sabotage in connection with the building
of a high-speed train line through the *Val di Susa” valley, between Torino
(ltaly) and the French border.

‘On March 9th, 1998 three anarchists were accused of “belonging to a
terrorist organization aiming to overthrow the democratic order.” A lot of
demos and support actions took place in Torino. Some of the gatherings turned
into riots because of police repression. Two and a half weeks later Edoardo
Massari was found hanged in his cell. Tnvestigators of course claimed he com-
mitted suicide. Squatters got angry and more solidarity actions took place.
Soledad Rosas tarted a hunger strike the day afier Edo's death. She was denicd
the last letters that Edo wrote her from his cell before the state murder. She was
then granted house arrest, while Silvano was transferred to the high security
prison of Novara where he wrote his first statement. One day later, on March
2151, Silvano started a hunger strike. Huge demos with up to 1000 people took
place in Torino to protest the state murder and the repression against squaters.

Soledad Rosas, the Argentinian girl who actually arrived in Itly after
the actions she was accused of occurred was found dead in June 1998. She
spent a few months in prison, including solitary confinement, and was eventu-
ally under house arrest in a “community” after Edo’s death. Out of the three
anarchists framed up by ltalian Justice, only Silvano remains alive.

Meanwhile the sabotage against the TAV in the Val di Susa contin-
ued. As comrades of the three anarchists point out, their blood is on the hands
of allinvolved in jailing and prosecating them: justice, police, corporations,
and media.

What follows is the first statement that Silvano wrote from his cell in
May 1998, when he was imprisoned in the famous high secarity jail of Novara.
Alot of Ialian political prisoners are jailed in this terrible prison.

Statement - Announcement of Silvano from Bussoleno

To civil society, to the anarchist comrades, o the greens, reds, blacks,

10 those who understand everything or nothing, to thase who are not inierested.

at all in what happens around them, to everyone aware of changing the course
of history - Novara, May 5*, 1998

‘The undersigned Silvano is the son of Bruno who was a 15-year old
partisan order taker (communist partisans who fought in North Italy in 1943-45
against the nazi-fascists of the Salo republic) in Balmafol-Combe-Caserme
Sevine area. He never lined up with communists, socialists or other political
parties. He was neither an anarchist. He never gave back the weapons he used
during the partisan guerilla wars and he always kept them to defend himself

and his family from any assailant-Gecman, fascists oc communists. In 1981 he
‘was jailed just because he was found guilty of possessing these weapons and
e died in hospital in 1983 because of bad health.

T confirm and point out that I'm an anarchist, rebel and individualist.

“This statement only concerns myself, and not my comrades Soledad
and Edoardo, who are accused and imprisoned for the same crime as I am. I
‘would like to remind you that the crimes we are charged with include subver-
sive association, assault against public buildings with explosives, robbery.

T point out that I'm incompatible with any way of life you have, with
the salary system, with authority and ownership (which always comes from
explotation). Im against the TAV project in taly, France or Germany o else-
‘where. T'm against tourism in the snowfields of Val di Susa or Valle d‘Aosta, as
well s on the Cancun beaches in Mexico or in the Club Med villages, wher-
ever they are located.

Tim against any use of nuclear power as well a the exaggerated use of
cars.

I'm opposed to and incompatible with any form of authority, from the
judge who discharges or charges with a crime according t0 his whim, to the
‘policeman doing his job, the head foreman and the school teacher.

_—_—
“I point out that I'm incompatible with any way of life
you have, with the salary system, with authority and

ownership (which always comes from exploitation). “
Silvano Pelissero
——————————————

In your civl, democratc socety, founded on a hypocritical peace I
cannot see a possible space for me to live. T can see 1o place for dialogue with
Your majority that has mainly turned its back on the ground for the sake of that
Shame which justifies any slaughter: Progress!

Tdeny any involvement in the assaults carried outin Val di Susa ot
other places. I deny being involved in a group called Grey Wolves (Lupi Gripi)
that has claimed some assaults in Val Susa and has nothing to do with the
Turkish Grey Wolves. The idea of being active in an organization docs not
‘comply with the principles of anarchism.

T end ths short statement as part of my duty to my comrades who
showed me their solidarity. 1 do not want to justify my position towards the so-
called civil society that accuses me of eco-terrorism. I do not recognize any
Power and authority to judge my way of living.

1shall take note of the sentence passed against me, which shall only
be executed owing to a greater numeric and technical force. Everyone may
think and do what s/he wants. Those who want it can stay by me and those who
do not feel like it can stay away from me as if I was a demon coming out from
‘Who knows which hell of society.

-Silvano
No surname, as it is unimportant. Family names are only used for filing.

E— e —
Patrizia Cadeddu

Patrizia had been active in the anarchist movement for many years
and was involved in the squat "Laboratorio Anarchico”. She has been in prison
since June 1997.

‘She was charged with belonging to Azione Revolutionaria (an anarchist guer-
illa group that disappeared in the 80's) and with being responsible for the bomb
attack of April 25th 1997 against the town hall of Milano. On the st of May a
letter was posted to the office of "radio popular” in which Azione Revolu
aria claimed responsibility for the attack. The anarchist and the far-left
have a strong doubt about the existence of this group that disappeared in the
carly 80's.

Patrizia Cadeddu was proven responsible because she was recognized
on a video surveillance camera that was filming near the mailbox where the
letter was sent. The quality of the film was dramatically bad. Patrzia was
proven guilty because of the way the person was walking on the video and be-
cause of the.form of her hands and lips! She was sentenced to 5 years. She ap-
pealed against this judgement and was sentenced at her sccond trai (in March
1999) to 3 years and 9 months. According to lalian law, she could be freed on
parole, but her demand was denied by the judges because she claimed a few
‘months ago, while she was jailed that she'l stay anarchist. No need to say that
Patizia is a political prisoner. She has always been claiming her innocence
since her imprisonment. She is not doing well in prison both on the moral and
physical level. She is currently fighting a breast tumor. Her weight went down
10 35kg and she has always refused to be put under house arrest claiming she
just never should have been jailed.

Tn Ojore's own word, he is "serving a parole violation sentence (we
received 1410 17 years) stemming from a 1977 conviction for expropriating
‘monies from a capitalst state bank (in order to finance our activities) and
engaging the political police in a gun battle in December 1975 in order to ef-
fect our departure from the bank, and to ensure success of the military opera-

“After my parole violation term terminated in December 1987, I
started serving a forty year sentence with a twenty year parole ineligibility (I
was paroled in 1980, and I have becn back in captivity since April 20, 1982)
that T have received in 1982 for having a gun-fight with a drug dealer. The
overall strategy of assaulting a drug dealer s to secure monies to finance one's
activities, and to rid the oppressed commanities of drug dealers.” Ojore was
originally arrested with New Afrikan P.O.W. Kojo Bomani Sababu, and was
struggling with comrade Andaliwa Clark up untl the point that Andaliwa was
Killed i action within the confines of New Jersey's infamous Trenton State
Prison after he shot two prison's security guards in the repressive Management
Control Unit (M.C.U.) on January 19th, 1976 when they tried to stop him from
escaping from captivity. .

“From the inception of all revolutions, I eel that the people need
armed combat unts to check state sponsored acts of terrorism by the govern-
ment's security forces. In addition, I feel that these armed combat units are
necessary to show the people that fascist acts of state-sponsored terroris.
will be responded to militarily. In 1975 1 became disillusioned with Marxism
and became an anarchist (thanks to Kuwasi Balagoon) due t0 the inactiveness
and ineffectiveness of Marxism in our communitis along with repressive bu-
reaucracy that comes with Marxism. People aren' going to commit themselves
10 life and death struggle just because of grand ideas someone might have
floating around in their heads. I feel people will commit themselves to a strug-
gle f they can see progress being made similar to the progress of anarchist col-
lectives in Spain during the era of the fascist Bahamonde...”

Ojore s preseatly locked down in an MCU in Trenton. "Nevertheless,
Tim not complaining because I have accepted revolution, which is an armed
struggle for me, and I have come to terms with the prospects of death and
captivity... The vast majority of the Prisoners of War and Political Prisoners
now being interned here in the concentration camps of North Amerika aren't
receiving any assistance (e.g. liberated, assistance in liberating our-
selves, financial assistance needed to obtain food packages, winter clothing,
reading material and postage stamps) from the so-called progressive revolu-
tionary organizations, groups and individuals here in Amerika. With our tal-
ents, we have been abandoned here in the state's numerous concentration
‘camps and our MCU's by those out there in what we.call minimum custody.
‘We donit need moral support because we have purpose. We don't need anyone
10 el us o stay strong because we are going to remain stead-fast anyway, be-
cause we have come to terms with the prospects of death and captivity.’

R e
Chris Plummer

‘Plummer is an anti-racist anarchist activist imprisoned in Texas.
After being involved with the squatting movement on New York's Lower East
Side in the late 80's and early 90's he took to travelling the country connecting
with various libertarian counter-culture groups. Dring this time, he and some:
friends formed the United Anarchist Front, a group designed to carry out ac-
tions against agents of fascist terror, particularly the cops and organized white:
supremacists. He was convicted in 1993 for his part in an action carried out on
a Nazi-skinhead house in Houston, Texas. Police found Chrs' fingerprints at
the scene and he was arrested later that year. The action was intended to halt
the American Front, an openly fascist group proud of ts record of racist vio-
lence, from spreading propaganda in local neighborhoods and schools. No one
was hurt during the action, only the Nazis hate literature was destroyed. Chris
faced several charges including attempted murder. This ridiculous charge was
dropped when it became clear that Chris would not be terrorized into turning in
his friends. He was, however, convicted of Burglary of Habitation with Intent
to Commit Theft, and sentenced to 15 years.

Chrs did not stop his organizing efforts afer being imprisoned. The
‘Texas prison system has a well-justified reputation for being a maclstrom of
hate, terror and exploitation. One of the ways that control is maintained by the
prison administration is by encouraging conflict between the diffecent prisoner
nationalities/castes, or ‘races'. In spite of this environment Chris was able to st
up a prisoner organization called Cell One at Huntsville also home of Texas'
notorious Death Row. One of Cell One's main projects was the Texas Prison-
exs’ Anarchist Lending Library. With materials made available from outside
supporters,the Library made available books, pamphilets and magazines rele-
vant to the struggles of the oppressed for liberation: Black/New Afrikan, Chi-
‘cano, Native and class struggle histories, anarchist and other revolutionary the-
ory, anti-sexist, anti-acist critiques, etc. In March of 1997, guards confiscated
‘and then "lost" all of the books as well as many of Chris' personal possessions
‘under the pretext of a "gang-activity” investigation. Around this time, intimida-
tion attacks from a Nazi prisoner gang escalated in a murderous assault where
Chris had his jaw and cheekbone broken and barely escaped death.

In May, 1997 Chris was transferred to the Hughes Unit in Gatesville,
‘Texas where Chris reported that racial tension and general violence was ram-
pant. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice chose this unit knowing that a
paid hit was out on Chri' life by Nazi prison gangs. Shortly after the transfer
he was put in Administrative Segregation on lock-down (isolation) for arbitrary
and unclear reasons.

After three years of such terrorization by the prison authorities, Chris
was finally released from Administrative Segregation and transferred to an-
other Texas prison. He now expects to be relcased near the end of 2001, per-
haps even carlier. He continues to be involved in the fight for a better world,
and has never backed down despite actions against him by Nazis and prison
staff. We need to develop solidarity networks for anarchist prisoners that are

capable of defending Chris and others like him from attacks. I’s time to stand
by our imprisoned comrades — Chris and everybody else —and not leave them
1o the mercy of a sick establishment that will g0 to extreme lengths to preserve.
its own existence.

WE ARE IN HERE FOR YOU; YOU ARE OUT THERE FOR US

Harold Thompson

‘Harold is an anarchist sentenced to lfe and 50 years for
bery of a jewelers, klling a poli
a shooting incident in Ohio. He was later given an extra 32 years for a failed
escape attempt. He is an active jailhouse lawyer who helps other inmates. He
has been brutally attacked, robbed and placed in segregation for his own safety
due to inmates from the racist White Aryan Brotherhood working with prison
Officials.

.

Robert Thaxton

(AKA Rob los Ricos)

Rob los Ricos (12/31/59 -) is the anarchist tag of Robert Thaxton.

‘When the revolution Rob had prepared himseif for didn't happen in
the 705, he drifted into activism in the 80s in Dallas, TX, and was involved in
ACT-UP and CISPES, as well as KNON-FM community radio station, where
he was eventually elevated to program director... The Gulf War erupted
‘and the anarchists became the most militant and spectacular faction of the Aus-
tin anti-war effort. The media silence over the opposition to the war and the
inefectiveness of the protests led Rob o believe that protests-as-usual were &
‘waste of time. He then turned his energy towards developing networks and
gatherings of anarchists in Texas which resulted in two statewide gatherings in
Austin (92 & '93) and also an anarchist presence at the Republican National
Convetion in Houston (92).

Rob began to re-examine his anarchist thoughts in order to try to -
rect his efforts to create a life more in line with his desires for a liberated exis-
tence and also decided to start a family. Though that relationship faled, he has
a wonderful daughter (Raven) because of it

‘When life in Portland became unbearable, Rob joined a group of
friends in the woods of Southern Oregon, where people were rediscovering a
simpler way of life - gardening, homebrewing and creating basic living struc-
tures with materials the forest provides.

Though life in the woods was rewarding, Rob still wished to stay in
touch with and be a part of the anarchist community at-large. To o so, he be-
gan a website, Anarchy and Chaos - http:/www.angelfire.com/tx/
kaosneverfades/index.html - mostly to give voice to the more thoughtful and
‘militant anarchist writers he'd encountered, both personally and via the mail.
He also spent the winter of ‘99 in Columbia, MO, to become better acquainted
with the publisher of Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed and be more in-
volved in that project.

Just as things were beginning to work out to Rob's satisfaction, he
traveled to Eugene to attend a two-day anarchist conference and the 6/18 Re-
claim the Strcets festival there.

‘A cloud of tear gas, random attacks by riot police and a tossed rock
later, and Rob was in jail, and eventually sentenced to 7 yedrs and 4 months in

prison.

Determined o continue the struggle - even while incarcerated - Rob
‘and his supporters in Portland formed the Anarchist Prisoners’ Legal Aid Net-
‘work, a resource-sharing and communication network for incarcerated anar-
chists.

Ali Khalid Abdullah

From an interview with Al by You're Not Normal ‘zine:
Can you give our readers some basic background info on yourself?

‘Well lets se... 1 am a New Afrikan Anarchist. I am 47 years young,
college educated with a Bachelor's degree in Behavioral Science. I have a para-
legal certficate in Criminal and Civil law. I have no children. I'm a profes-
sional “jazz" musician but play all sorts of music. Jazz just happens to be my
forte. 5

Tve been in prison now about or a litle over a decade for "Assault
with intent to rob while armed." The case involves me and three other com-
rades who were out to stop a particular drug dealer (very prominent) from con-
tinuing his activities. don't want to'go into a lot of details here but I il say
that we went after one of his "front” businesses and ended up having to abort
the stuation because the parties at the business didn't know what was going on.
‘So my comrades and I left without taking anything or harming anyone. In fact,
Teven apologized, but it a long and drawn out issue and I don' want to g0 to0
far into it here.
You also do the awesome ‘zine In The Trenches. Tell us about that.

Yes, my ‘zine In the Trenches is something that I had thought of and
‘my good friend and comrade Anthony Rayson helped me put it into being. An-
thony is a very good guy. A fighter, a real tiger. He is someone that not only.
says something but backs it up with action. Anyway, In the Trenches is a
compilation of material from prisoners all over the country and world. It is not
about no one else's shit but prisoners and what they are going through, what
they have to say and what is happening in terms of the law and prisons. In the
Trenches s a voice for the voiceless. A vehicle which I would encourage all
prisoners to become a part of. That is what In the Trenches is ll about. 1 am
just pleased that there are people like you that like the ‘zine and I hope to keep
it coming out.

“James Rio Johnson has been active in anarchist projects since the.
early 805 - mostly in the squatting scenes in places like LA, DC and SF. He
‘was kicked out of the '89 anarchist gathering in SF afer the donation jar for the
Left Socialist Revolutionary went missing immediately prior to Rio's distribu-
tion of vodka for the masses. This experience convinced him of the futlity of
‘Working with activists and Rio became an llegalist. He's in prison because he
Killed a drog-dealing pimp.

Since he's an active anarchist prisoner, he's been repeatedly locked
down with Aryan Brotherhood and other neo-nazis. These boneheads have har-
assed and assaulted Rio, resulting in permanent injuries. He's currently in the
hole at Snake River Correctional Institution - where the most violent “gang”
members are incarcerated.

_—

Mar!

ley

On the morning of the 8th of June 1994, Mark Barnsley, a 33-year old
witer, could not have been happier. He had become the father of a third
daughter only 6 weeks earlir, his carcer was going well, and he would shortly
be going on holiday to the Lake District with his young family. Afier working
for a few hours on books he had recently been commissioned to write, he in-
vited a family friend , Jane Leathborough, to call in and sce the baby. His part-
ner, Samantha, had to go out for an hour or s0, and befor leaving suggested
that, as it was a bright, sunny day, mark and Jane might take the baby, Daisy,
for & walk and perhaps stop for a drink.

‘At round 3,30pm that day a number of police patrols were alerted o a

public house in Sheffield. When they arrived at
the scene they found that S university students had received serious njories.
The headlines of the local newspaper, ‘The Star, the following day read: "Five
stabbed for poking fun at grlfriend. Knifeman slashes studeats at pub™

‘When Mark Barnsley was subsequently arrested for what had quickly
‘become known as “The Pomona pub stabbings", and charged with 5 counts of
“wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, contrary to section 18 of
the Offences Against the Person Act” there was total surprise from everyone
‘who knew him. Friends, neighbors, and colleagues expressed complete disbe-
lef.

Mark Barnsley has absolutely no history of violent behavior, quite the
opposite, he was described as a kind and caring man by all who knew him. Nor
has he ever suffered from any form of mental illness, indeed in the words of a
psychiatrist: He seems to have always enjoyed a very stable, mature, responsi-
ble, and pleasant personality." Yet the Prosecution case was that he o0k on
group of some 15 people who he had never seen before, deliberately inficting
knif wounds on five of them, because he took exception to an innocent re-
mark , made in Barnsley's absence, by one.of the group, (who was not injured
atall), about the sunglasses being worn by Jane Leathborough.

More than a year later, during which he was remanded in custody, and
after a trial which lasted nearly 3 weeks, Mark Barnsley was acquitted of 3 of
the 5 offences with which he had been charged, but convicted on 2 counts. He
‘was also convicted of 3 lesser alternative offences, (unlawful wounding), with
‘which he was never charged.

After waiting a further 5% months Mark Barnsley received sentences of 12
years concurrent on each of the section 18 convictions, and 5 years concurrent
for each of the 3 lesser offences.

‘The Pomona case has been characterized throughout by lies, perjury,
the with-holding and "planing * of evidence, and a biased and highly inaccu-
rate local press campaign. The facts are very differcat. Anyone who bothers to
Took further than the lurid and sensationalist headlines can surely reach no
other conclusion that Mark Barnsley is the victim of a gross miscarriage of jus-
tice.

S—
n

2
3

Rl

25 Facts about Mark Barnsley’s Case:

Mark Barnsley was sober at the time of the attack upon him. The students
on the other hand, were not only drunk but a number of them had taken
drugs.

Mark Barnsley was outnumbered by his attackers by as many as 15 10 1.
Bizarrely, the defense case is supported by every single independent
prosecution witness, and every single detail of the Defense Case is sup-
ported in each instance by atleast two student witnesses.

One of the students "Big" Simpson, who is 6t 5172 n. all, and who
"I4d like to f- - k your baby”, has a conviction for making obscene tele-
phone calls.

Although there were sixty witnesses to the incideat , not one of them
claimed to have seen Mark Barnsley stab or threaten anyone with a knife.
Not one single witness saw Mark Barnsley produce a knife.

‘The first person to be injured with a weapon (a bottle or heavy glass), was
Mark Barsley who was struck over the head rom behind.

‘The first person to be cut with a knife was Mark Barnslcy.

During the attack upon him Mark Barnsley sustained a large number of
Substantial injurics, including a 3cm. long head wound caused by a bottle

_————
or heavy glass, a broken nose, a 3cm. Cut over the et eye, broken and
damaged teeth, a knife wound to his hand, one or more broken ribs and in
fact injuries covering his entire body arca.

10) From the very first moment of the attack upon him Mark Barnsley was
clearly trying to escape the violence (he did not even retalate), but he was
pursued around 150yds. By a large mob of attackers who were punching
and kicking him the whole time. Fe was actually knocked to the ground
‘on at leastthree occasions, and even the the stodents continued to assault
him.

11) Contrary to ll-informed report in the Press, Paul Sheperd, who led the
attack on Mark Bamnsley, did not chase after him to "make a citizens ar-
rest". Sheperd dismissed this idea himself when giving evidence; Saying
that he would not know how to make one. He went on to say , °T have no
idea why I chased afier him, whether from frustration or for a laugh. I just
‘went after him".

12) In his Police statement, Paul Sheperd said of his own behavior, "I must
‘admit I went apeshit *

13) Atleast three studeats involved in the Pomona Incident friends of the
others, who are named in a number of Police statements), fled the scene:
prior to the arrival of the Police{within minutes), and despite numerous
applications by the Defense, the Police say they are unable to locate them.

14) During the trial every single student witness gave contradictory evidence.
In contrast to the testimony of all the Defense witnesses, which was en-
tirely consistent, as was the testimony of all the independent Prosecution
witnesses (which supported the Defense ).

15) Four of the five main Prosecution witnesses clearly committed perjury
‘whilst giving evidence. This was acknowledged by the Judge, but kept
from the Jury, and no legal action has ever been taken against them.

16) All of the student witnesses admitted discussing the incident with others
prior to making statements and before giving evidence. Many of them
‘were forced to concede under cross-examination that they had described
events that they had not actually seen, and that they had been influcnced
by gossip, the media, and even by the Police.

17) Despite evidence from an independent expert that there was cnough evi-
dence to prosecute four of the five main Prosecution witnesses for drug
use, 1o action has ever been taken against them. The evidence of this ex-
‘pert was not disclosed to the Jury.

18) As inthe case of many miscarriages of justice, the Prosecution withheld 8
great deal of evidence from the defense prior 1o the trial, and they are con-
tinuing to withhold it even to this day.

19) There is already evidence from an independent witness, a microwave en-
gineer who arrived in the car-park of The Pomona atthe time Mark Barns-
ley was being attacked, that the two offences of wounding with intent that
Mark Barnsley was actually convicted of, could not have happened in the
‘way the Jury were led to believe by the Prosecution. According to this wit-
ness, at the time the first of these students, Mark Thomas, was injured,

Mark Barnsley was actually on the ground. Prior to being injured, the sec-
‘ond student, Darren Thursfield, was scen chasing Mark Barnsley across
the car park shouting, "Come back here you f-- -ing bastard". According
10 Thursfield' evidence in Court, he had merely approached Mark Barns-
ley saying, “There's no need for any trouble.”

20) At the time he was chasing Mark Barnsley across the car-park (sce sbove)
‘Darren Thursfield was seen by an independent witness (a building worker
on a sie over-looking the car-park) o be carrying a glass. His injury was a
3cm. long 2em. Deep cut to his stomach. The Prosecution told the Jury
that this was a stab wound, but this is contradicted by other medical evi-
dence. The shape of the wound also indicates that rather than being caused
by a knife, it could have been caused by a glass.

21) According 1o a forensic report that was not submitied to the court, allthe
‘wounds sustained by the students would have required only minimum to
‘moderate force to cause them. This totlly supports Mark Barnsley's asser-
tion that the injuries of the students were caused without intent (after he
had disarmed one of them) during the sustained attack on him by a large
number of people.

22) Despite the circumstances Mark has always expressed regret a the inju-
ries sustained by the students. For their part though, the students, cven in
the face of overwhelming evidence, much of it from their fricnds and fel-
Tow students, have never admitted causing any of the injuries clearly sus-
tained by Mark Barnley (sce 9 above) Only Sheperd admitted assaulting
him at all. Simpson, for example, faced with irrefutable evidence that he
had punched Mark Barnsley in the face, knocked him to the ground and
jumped on top of him continually assaulting him, said that he had merely
lost his footing and slipped on top of Barnsley. Like the others, he pleaded
loss of memory to explain away his other actions, while sil denying that
e was the least bit drunk or under the influence of drugs.

23) Despite being acquited on three of the five charges against him, and im-
portantly on count 1, which indicates that the Jury accepted that he did not
instigate the violence, and that the knife belonged to one of the students,
Mark Barsley received a prison seatence of twelve years. This is 50 high
a5 10 be practically unknown for this type of offence. Even in cases of
‘manslaughter, where the knife s deliberately carried and used to kill, the
established tarif is four o seven years.

24) On the same day, (April Ist 1996) that Mark Barmsley was denied leave to
‘appeal against his convictions, three students involved in separate attacks
upon two men (one a disabled man who later died) were convicted of two
counts of wounding with intent (the same as Mark Bamnsley) as well as
other offenses, and sentenced to between 18 months and 2 years. Like the
Pomona students they had been “celcbrating their exams"

25) Mark Barnsley currently has an application before the European Court
‘which lists more than seventy-three violations of Article 6 of the European
Convention on Human Rights (Right to a fair trial).

e —
PRISONERS AND
PRISONER SUPPORT
/—\

s/

@,

Anarchists

The following is an extremely brief and partal listing of currently im-
prisoned anarchists. Just because a prisoner is not listed here does not imply
that they do not need and deserve solidarity and support.

Ali Khalid Abdullah # 148130 / Thumb Correctional Facility / 3225 John
Conley Dr./ Lapeer, MI 48446/ USA

Mark Barnsley WA 2897 / HMP Wakefield /5 Love Lane / Wakefield / WF2
9AG/ UK

Ojore Nuru Lutalo # 59860 / PO-861 / Trenton, NJ 08625/ USA.

‘Thomas Meyer-Falk / JVA Bruchsal Zelle 3117 / Schonbornstr. 32/ 76646
Bruchsal / Germany

‘Shaka N'Zinga s/n Arthur Wiggins # 196612 / PO Box 534 (MHC - X) /
Jessup, MD /20794 / USA

‘Chris Plummer # 677345 / Michacl's Unit / PO Box 4500/ Ta. Colony, TX /
75886/ USA

James Rio Johnson # 8952263 / SRCI/ 777 Stanton Bivd. / Ontario, OR
97914/ USA

Robert Thaxton #12112716/ OSP / 2605 State St./ Salem, OR 97310
Harold Thompson # 93992 / Northwest Correctional Complex / Route 1, Box
660/ Tiptonville, Tennessee 38079 / USA

Nikos Maziotis, /o Dafni Vaganou, Ozortz 3, 10689 Athenes, Greece.

The Italian Anarchists

Patrizia Cadeddu / Carcere di San Vittore / Piazza Filangeri , 2/ 20123
Milano / Taly

In 1998, talian police arrested 3 anarchists on serious charges of
subversive association for the purpose of constituting an armed gang. They
‘were accussed of various cases of direct action linked to the popular struggle
against the construction of a high-speed railway. Only one of the 3 arrested
anarchists remains alive.

Edoardo Massari, 38 year old from Ivrea, was found hung with a bed
sheet in Vallette prison in Turin on March 28, 1998. ‘The authorities claim he
hanged himself. Maria Soledad Rosas, 22 year old from Argentina, apparently
hanged herself on July 11, 1998—choosing the same day of the week and time,
o die as her companion Edoardo. The anarchist and grassroots oppositional
‘movements have reacted to the deaths angrily and forcefuly.

‘The surviving prisoner, Silvano Pelissero, undertook a month long
hungerstrike until finally being placed under house arrest on July 22, 1998.
Silvano Pellissero / Com. Mastrolierto / Via Ferrerinoli no2 / Sanponso /
10080 Torino/ Taly.

The Cordoba Four are one Spanish and three Italian anarchists who were ar-
rested in Cordoba, Italy, for a bank robbery.

Michel Pontolilo c.p. de Villabona Aptdo 33271 Gijon / Asturias / Spain
Giorgio Rodriquez c.p. de Topas Carretera Gijon-Seville / 37799
Salamanca / Spain

Giovanni Barcia c.p. de Badajoz mod. 7 Carretera de Olivenza / 06071
Badajoz/ Spain

Claudio Lavazza c.r. Huelva mod. 16 / Carretera la R
Spain g

ra s/n 2161 Huelva /

Orlando Campo / Via Delle Macchic 9./ 57100 Livorno / Italy

Despite lack of evidence, Orlando received 22 years for the alleged
participation in the kidnapping and murder of a wealthy businessman’s wife in
1990. He maintains his innocence and his imprisonment is seen as the begin-
ning of a series of frame-ups of talian anarchists.

Indigenous Land Rights Prisoners

Leonard Peltier # 89637-132 / PO Box 1000/ Leavenworth, KS 66048 / USA
For more info contact: LPDC PO Box 583 / Lawrence KS 66044/ USA.
‘email: Ipdcomite@aol.com
hitp//www.members.xoom.com/freepeltierindex.htm

Leonard Peltier is an American Indian Movement (AIM) activist
framed for the murder of two FBI agents. He is now serving two consecutive
life sentences in prison. Despite substantial new evidence and huge public
pressure he has been consistently refused a rtrial and he was denied a pardon
by ex-president Clinton.
Lenny Chavez c/o SAIIC PO Box 28703 / Oakland, CA 94694 / USA
email : saiic @ige.ape.org

A 36 year old AIM activist and Kiowa man, Lenny was cutting wood
at his home when he was attacked by a right wing Aryan group member. The
man grabbed Lenny's chainsaw threatening him and all those in the property.
Fearing for his and his family's life Lenny drew his penknife and inflcted non-
lethal injuries to the attacker. While the other man went free, Leany was
charged with attempted murder.
Robert H. Wilson # 640289 / Pack Unit One / 2400 Wallace Pack Rd / Nava- |
Sota, TX 77869 / USA. Standing Deer Defense Committee / PO Box 368 / Car-
rollton, GA 30117 / USA |
email: bdyingswan@aol.com hitp:/standingdeer homepage.comvindex.hml

Robert (Standing Deer) is Native American prison activist now in his
late 70s. He has been in super-max prisons for over 20 years. In 1978 he cx-
Posed a government plot to assassinate Leonard Pelier. In 1984 he went on a
42-day hunger strike with Leonard and another prisoner to draw attention to
the inhumane conditions endured by prisoners at Marion Control Unit. He is
not cligible for parole and has no release date. Because of his prison activism
the prison system refuses to recognize his Indian name.

-

ANTIFASCIST

Graegorz Chyska, Zakland Kamy, ul. Katowica 4, 46-200 Kluczbork, Poland.
‘Serving 3 years 7 months for defending himself from a vicious

neo-nazi gang.

Klaudiusz Glilich, Zaklad Karny, ul. Wicjska 3, 99400 Kowicz, Poland.
‘Serving 3 years for defending himself against a vicious neo-nazi gang.

Pavel Kroupa, 4.4.1977, Veznice Vazba, Straz, Pod Ralskem, 47127, Czech.
‘An anti-fascist who accidentally killed a neo-Nazi whilst defending

himself against a gang of five vicious neo-nazi skinheads.

‘Tomasz Wilkoszewski, Zaklad Karny, Orzechowa 5, 98-200 Sieradz, Poland.
An anti-fascist who is serving 15 years for accidentally killing a

neo-nazi whilst defending himself from a vicious neo-nazi gang attack.

ANTICAPITALIST

Michael Collins FR6303 HMP Elmley Church Road,Eastchurch Sheerness
Kent MEI2 4AY. England
Mark Graham, EL6133 HMP Wandsworth PO Box 757 Heathficld Road
London SW18 3HS, England

‘Mark is sharing a cell with fellow Mayday prisoner Kevin Townsend.

The MOVE Prisoners

MOVE is an eco-revolutionary group whose members were consis-
tently persecuted by the police throughout their existence.

“The Move 9' were framed for the murder of a cop and sentenced to
the maximum prison sentence of 100 years cach. In'98 Merle Africa died ina
Very suspicious circumstances in prison.

Debbie Simms Africa (006307), Janet Holloway Africa (006308) and Janine
Philips Africa (006309) al at: SCI Cambridge Springs / 451 Fullerton Ave /
Cambridge Springs, PA 16403-1238 / USA

Michael Davis Africa (AM4973) and Charles Simms Africa (AM4975) both
at: SCI Grateford / PO Box 244 / Grateford, PA 19426-0244/ USA

Edward Goodman Africa AM4974 / SCI Camp Hill/ Box 200 / Camp Hill,
PA 17011-0200/ USA

William Philips Africa (AM4984) and Delbert Orr Africa (AM4985) both
at: SCI Dallas / Drawer K / Dallas, PA 18612/ USA
Mumia Abu Jamal AM-§335 / 175 Progress Drive / Waynesburg, PA 15370
8090/ USA

For more info contact: International Concerned Friends and Family of
‘Mumia Abu Jamal / PO Box 19709 / Philadelphia, PA 19143 / USA
Hip://www.mumia.org

‘An ex-Black Panther, radical journalist and MOVE supporter, Mumia
‘was framed in 1981 for the murder of a cop and is currently on Death Row.

MORE POLITICAL PRISONERS

Albert Cingue Woodfox 72148 / CCR Upper F Isolation / LA State Prison /
Angola, LA 70712/ USA.

Former Black Panther charged with 1972 death of a prison guard.
John Two-Names (AKA Andy J. Riendeau) / 193786 E-6-7 / Staton Corr.
Faclity / PO Box 56/ Elmore, AL 36025-0056 / USA

Serving 90 years for allegedly burning two white schools down and
burglary. He maintains his innocence and while in prison helped form The
Social Development Group.
Abdul Majid / 83A0483 / Box 2001 / Malone, NY 12953 / USA
Jalil Muntagim 77A4283 / Box 618/ 135 State St. / Auburn Cor. Fac. /
‘Auburn, NY 13024 / USA
Antonio Camacho Negron 03587-069/ Box 2000 / White Deer, Pa 17887 /
FCI Allenwood / USA
Bashir Hameed (. York) 82A6313 / Box AG / Fallsburg, NY 12733/ USA
Bill Dune 10916-086 / Box 1000 / Leavenworth, KS 66048/ USA
Calberto Arlos Torres 88976-024 / Box 1000 / Oxford, W1 53952 /
FCI Oxford / USA
David Gilbert 83A6158 / Attica CF. / P.0. Box 149/ Attica NY 14011/ USA
Dr. Mutulu Shakur §3205-012 / Box PMB / Atlants, GA 30315 / USA
Ed Poindexter #110403 /7525 4th Avenue / Lino Lake, MN 55014-1099 /
Minn. Correctional Facilty / USA
Silvia Barladini 05125-054 /FCI / Danbury, CT 06811/ USA

Serving 43 years ater convicted for liberating Black Liberation Army
prisoner Assata Shakur and conspiracy against US government.
Hanif S, Bey (B. Gereau) 96544-131 / Box 8500 ADX / Florence, CO
812268500/ USA
Herman Bell 79C0262 /Box 2001 / Dannamora, NY 12929/ USA
Jaan K. Laaman W41514 / Box 100/ South Walpole, MA 02071 / USA
Jose Solis Jordan / FCI Coleman (Low) / 081-21-424 / Box 819 / Coleman,
FL33521 / USA
Joseph “Jojo” Bowen AM-4272/ 1 Kelley Drive / Coal Township, Pa/
17866-1021/ USA
Alvaro Luna Hernandez #255735 / Beto I Unit / P.0. Box 128 / Tennessee
Colony, TX 75880/ USA

Juan Segarea Palmer / 15357077/ Box 818 / Coleman, FL 33521 / FCI
Coleman/ USA
Larry Giddings 10917-086 / Box 1000/ Lewisburg, PA 17837/ USA
Marilyn Buck 00482-285 / Unit B / 5701 h St. Camp Parks / Dublin, CA
94568 / USA
Marshall Eddie Conway 116469 / Box 534 / Jessup, MD 20794 / USA
Mondo We Langa (D. Rice) 27768 / Box 2500/ Lincoln, NE 68542-2500 /
UsA
Oscar Lopez Rivera 87651-025 / Box 33/ Terre Haute, IN 47808 / USA
Ray Luc Levasseur 10376.016/ Box PMB / Adanta, GA 30315 / USA
illiams 10377-016 /3901 Klein Blvd. / Lompoc, CA 93436 / USA

Robert Seth Hayes 7442280/ Box 51 / Comstock, NY 12621-0051 / USA
Chip Fitzgerald #B-27527 / Box 290066/ CSP-SAC FC 1208/
‘CA 956710066 / USA
Russel Maroon Shoats AF-3855 / 175 Proggress Dr. / Waynesburg, PA
15370/ USA
Sckou Kambui (W. Turk) 113058 /Box 56 SCC (B1-21) / Elmore, AL
360250056 / 36089 / USA
Sekou Odinga 05228-054 / Box 1000 / Marion, IL 62959/ USA
Sundiata Acoli (C. Squire) 39794-066 / Box 3000/ White Deer, PA 17887 /
USP Allenwood / USA
‘Thomas Manning 10373-016./ Box 4000/ Springfield, MO 65801 / MCFP /
USA
‘Thomas Warner M3049 / Drawer R / Huntingdon, PA 16652/ USA
Ruchell Cingue Magee A92051 / A3-205 / P.0. Box 7500/ Crescent City,
CA 95532/ USA
Veronza Bowers Jr. 35316-136 / Box 819 / Coleman, FL 33521-0819 / FCI
Coleman (Med) / USA
William Lefty Gilday P.0. Box 1218/ MCI Shirley / Shirley, MA
01464-1218 / USA
Yu Kikumura 09008-050 Box 8500 ADX / Florence, CO 81226-8500/ USA
Dennis Bruce Walker # MIN245312 / PO Box 656 / Grafion 2460/ NSW /
Australia

‘Aboriginal activist serving 5 years for an incident that occurred while
trying to protect an aboriginal sacred sie.

The Political Prisoners of War Coalition
PO Box 554/ Lincoln, MA 01773 / USA

From an interview with Ali Khalid Abdullah by You're Not Normal ‘zine:
You are the founder of the PPWC, can you tell us about that?
PPWC stands for "Political Prisoners of War Coalition." It i an or-

ion I created from thought while siting in a cell at the Egeler Correc-
tional Faciliy in Jackson, Michigan. T came up with this thought because as I
read and looked around I noticed that a lotof prisoners who were politically
active, or who've become politiized since their incarceration weren't being
represented...didn't have a voice or any outside help because some of these 50
called revolutionary groups weren't paying any attention to them. Some of
these so-called revolutionary groups only want to profile those that wer in
prison with highly publiized cases and what not. So thought it would be a
good idea o develop an organization that was al-inclusive for the real evolu-
tionary, whether they came in prison with a sensationalized case or not. Or for
those who've become politiized since their incarceration like comrade George.
Jackson or brotha Malcolm X, and ar fighting and because of their fight are
being abused, misused, subjected o all manner of inhumanity and injustice
because of their politis.

“ Some...so-called revolutionary groups only want
to profile those that were in prison with highly publi-
cized cases...I thought it would be a good idea to de-
velop an organization that was all-inclusive for the real
revolutionary... -Ali Khalid Abdullah

‘With that in mind, PPWC stands to fight aginst kapitalism because
‘We recogize that the seeds of al the social ils today stem from the greed of
man. Kapitalism is about greed, exploitation, manipulation and deceit. So this
s one of the reasons why PPWC i against kapitalism. PPWC is also against
all manner of racism, sexism, homophobia, class divsions, youth bashing, eld-
erly neglect and, and, and... As I said, PPWC was began in prison from a con-
©cpt 1 had, but PPWC isnt just for prisoners. I mean, anyone can join PPWC
and start PPWC chapter. 1d like to sce PPWC chaptrs all over the world. So
i, we are working with comrades within the Anarchist Black Cross and ant-
authority groups, as well as some Maoist and other revolutionary groups and
individuals from around the world. We aren't gonna get caught up on doctrines
and things like that. We try to maximize on what we have in common and
Work through that on the basis of mutual aid, free association and like that.
PPWC isn'ta Black thing nor a white thing, nor a Latino thing, nor a Fist Na-
tion or Native American thing...its a peoples" thing!

“The only limit to the oppression of
government is the power with which
the people show themselves capable
of opposing it.”

“Errico Malatesta, An Anarchist Programme

AANARCHIST PRISONERS LEGAL AID NETWORK
818 SW 3rd Ave. PMB #354

Portland, OR 97204 USA.
APLAN@TAO.CA

@