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At 8:00 a.m. 3rd of April, the officers from the Centre Against Extremism came with a search warrant to 4 addresses of Kazan antifascists.
(Reposted from 
On Friday the 23rd of Feb. @ 6pm there will be an info talk by a member of Belarus ABC at the Wells Hotel.
You will hear about the situation of anarchists facing years in prison, the work being done to support them and resistance to repression in Belarus, Europe’s “Last Dictatorship.”
For more information on the prisoners, Belarus ABC, the international solidarity that they have received and how it has helped, visit afed.
The Wells hotel can be found at 77 Craddock St. CF11 6EW. It has played host to all manner of awesome events over the past couple of months and we can only hope that there’s more to come.
]]>For the past 30 years John Bowden has been at the forefront of the British prison struggle, and is by far our most prolific prisoner writer. Time and again, John’s articles have shone a searchlight into the State’s murky dungeons, exposing brutality and repression, and challenging the very nature of prison. For many years now, John has been held in jail because of his political views and his willingness to challenge injustice. That has never been clearer than now, as the State attempts to use ‘secret evidence’ to keep him behind bars.
It is relatively rare that prisoners, originally sentenced for non-political offences, become so politicised whilst in jail, that their release is opposed by the prison authorities for exactly that reason.
In the case of life sentence prisoners who have served the “tariff” part of their sentence (or the length of time the judiciary stipulates they should remain in jail), the legal criteria determining their release, or not, are clear and straightforward: Has the prisoner served a sufficient period of time to satisfy the interests of punishment and retribution? Does the prisoner remain a risk to the community? Can the prisoner be safely and effectively supervised in the community post-release?
Of course the prison authorities would never openly admit that apart from the above criteria, there is another “risk factor” that would prevent a life sentence prisoner’s release: Their identification with a progressive or radical political cause. Opposing a life sentence prisoner’s release, purely on the basis of their having exposed and organised against human rights abuse in the prison system, would of course make a complete mockery of the claim that, apart from its punishment function, prison also exists as a place of reform and rehabilitation, a place where supposedly brutal and anti-social criminals are made better people by a system administered by humane and just-minded individuals. The entire legitimacy of the prison system is based on the premise that, essentially it exists to protect the public from individuals who represent a threat , so denying that some life sentence prisoners are kept locked-up solely because they embrace an ideology that actually believes in a society and world free from violence, exploitation, and inequality, is imperative if the myths and fallacy used to justify the existence of prisons is to remain intact.
[read the full article on indymedia]
[read more on John Bowden on Bristol ABC’s wordpress]
[you can contact John and other prisoners through emailaprisoner.com]
or write to him:
John Bowden, 6729,
HMP Shotts,
Cantrell Road,
Shotts,
Scotland,
ML7 4LE.
Last night as part of the international call out for noise demonstrations outside of prisons and detention centers, a group of anarchists and anti-authoritarians assembled at cardiff prison where some people set off fireworks and scattered hundreds of fliers from the top of the multi-storey car park opposite the jail (which is visible from many of the cells in the prison) whilst others sounded a siren, banged drums, threw fireworks over the wall of the prison and participated in anti-prison and anti-police chants with the prisoners who did everything they could to communicate back to the crowd gathered outside.
The fliers read “Solidarity is our weapon – Freedom now!” on one side and “Fire to the prisons, fire to the borders and fire to those who protect the system that’s killing us all. ACAB” on the other.
The initial group made a speedy and tactical retreat after noticing the approaching filth accompanied by a fire engine heading towards the prison. Roughly an hour later a small group returned to set off the last firework and shout some more in support of those inside.
– some anarchists.
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Bute Dock Hotel, West Bute St, Cardiff Bay
From Bristol Indymedia:
We take this opportunity to clarify our position regarding the occupation of the Bute Dock Hotel, which saw two days of successfully resisting eviction in Cardiff, see report here.
Our choice to squat the Bute Dock Hotel, which inter-connects with the largest estate agents in Cardiff, Keylet, was no coincidence – it was carefully chosen. After receiving advice regarding the unique nature of the legal situation, we carefully schemed a plan. This involved confronting Keylet with news of our occupation on the morning of Tuesday 20th November, with delegates from our welcoming committee.
Our intention was to disrupt their business, due to the inconvenience and embarrassment of having their executive offices connected to a squatted social project. To discover they had been storing their ‘personal belongings’ in the hotel was to us, an added bonus. They had a wealth of chairs, storage units, marketing literature, as well as a Christmas tree and popcorn makers we promptly made use of. We had unintentionally taken their tat hostage, and it felt empowering. While people are routinely evicted from their homes and experience difficulty in retrieving their belongings, to have the chairman of the Association of Letting and Management Agents pleading with us to respect and return his belongings was all too ironic.
To give context to who we are dealing with, the executive director of Keylet, Peter Vidler, is a director in twelve different letting and investment companies, including; Cardiff Bay Investment Ltd, Cardiff Property Lettings Ltd and Luxury Lets Ltd. In 2004, he was successfully prosecuted for trying to bully an employee into having an abortion, financially considering her pregnancy as a worst nightmare. She suffered verbal abuse and was repeatedly blamed for computer problems, causing her to contemplate ‘ending it all’, while Mr Vidler attempted to justify his actions publicly.
As a collective fighting against austerity, we feel it should be obvious as to why we targeted an estate agents. They are infamous for keeping buildings empty for their own financial gain, while people are living on the streets, unable to access secure housing. With ever increasing homelessness and the recent criminalisation of squatting residential properties, these property racketeers deserve more than ever to be held accountable, along with the state and their hired thugs. Furthermore, what followed after delivering the news of our occupation is a perfect example of the violence utilized to uphold and reinforce the value of property over people. Hiring heavies and gangs to protect property is second nature to these scumbags.
To elaborate, we wish to re-iterate what the Gremlins expressed in their video communiqué last month:
“The State’s ‘solutions’ to the problem of homelessness are degrading, dehumanising and nothing more than a quick fix. The process is riddled with long waiting lists, poor living standards and often only worsens people’s well being. Countless buildings are left disused and unoccupied, whilst landlords and speculators profit at the expense of the people. The idea that it is a criminal offense to claim a roof over your head on a cold night is offensive and ridiculous.”
Our initial aims were to reclaim this unoccupied space to re-open it for the use of the community, by opening a squatter’s estate agents ‘freelet’, hosting regular café nights, films, talks, discussions, workshops, and much more. It’s naturally disappointing papers have been served for a court date within a week, but also not unexpected. Instead we are using this opportunity to host a few events, express our solidarity with those we identify with and deserve our support, and to call for further resistance.
Strength and solidarity to anarchist prisoner Kostas Gournas, currently being tried for his participation in the armed group Revolutionary Struggle in Greece, and those accused in the same case. Our thoughts are also with Nikos Maziotis and Pola Roupa who remain at large – stay free comrades!
Solidarity and strength with all those fighting for their lives – from austerity riots in Europe, uprisings in the Middle East, insurrections in Latin America, to clashes everywhere in between.
To all the Bristol rebels plotting their next move, Brighton squatters fighting for homes, and London crew, whatever you’re up to…let’s go on the offensive already??
Bute Dock Squatters
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