European Anarchist Prisoners

Elija Smith VP 7551 HMP Bristol, 19 Cambridge Rd, Bristol, BS7 8PS, England. On remand accused of causing damage to a weapons factory, which, amongst other things, makes bomb release mechanisms. The action was in protest at Israel military action against Gaza.

John Bowden Prison No. 6729, HM Prison Glenochil, King OMuir Road, Tullibody, Scotland FK10 3AD
John Bowden, convicted in 1982 for a brutal murder, has spent his entire adult life in prison. Politicised by his incarceration he's regularly paid the price for his resistance through long periods of isolation, beatings and treatment amounting to torture. He has never been broken and is one of the UK's most articulate and vociferous prison writers and a powerful advocate of prisoners rights.

Sean Kirtley WC 6977, HMP Stafford, 54 Gaol Rd, Stafford, ST16 3AW
Sean Kirtley was sentenced to four and a half years in prison after an 18 week trial which was at the time the longest running animal rights trial in history. He was found guilty of "conspiracy to interfere with contractual relationships so as to harm animal research organisation". Sean along with many others had his door smashed in and his house raided by police back in 2006 as part of “Operation Tornado” which was designed to start a case and try and lock up peaceful animal rights campaigners using new SOCPA legislation which was created to protect the vivisection industry from effective campaigners such as Sean and the Sequani defendants. He was behind the SSAT (Stop Sequani Animal Testing) website and was seen by the police as the organiser of many the demonstrations against Sequani and suppliers of Sequani. http://supportsean.wordpress.com/

SHAC Trial

In a dangerous precedent, heavy sentences were recently handed out to those involved in a legal campaign against vivisection, on the grounds that they were associated with illegal acts committed autonomously against the same targets, with no proof that they themselves had committed any such acts. For up to date information about these and other animal liberation prisoners see http://www.alfsg.org.uk/current_prisoners.html

Dan Amos (VN7818) HMP Winchester, Romsey Road, Winchester SO22 5DF
Sentenced on 21 Jan 2009 to four years in connection to the campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences

Gregg Avery (TA7450) HMP Winchester, Romsey Road, Winchester, SO22 5DF
Sentenced on 21 Jan 2009 to nine years in connection with the campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences.

Natasha Avery (NR8987) HMP Bronzefield, Woodthorpe Road, Ashford, Middx TW15 3JZ.
Sentenced on 21 Jan 2009 to nine years in connection with the campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences.

Gavin Medd-Hall (WV9475) HMP Winchester, Romsey Road, Winchester SO22 5DF.
Sentenced on 21 Jan 2009 to eight years in connection with the campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences.

Heather Nicholson (VM4859) HMP Bronzefield, Woodthorpe Road, Ashford, Middx TW15 3JZ.
Sentenced on 21 Jan 2009 to 11 years in connection with the campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences.

Dan Wadham (WV9474) HMP Winchester, Romsey Road, Winchester SO22 5DF
Sentenced on 21 Jan 2009 to five years in connection with the campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences

BELARUS

Gubski Maxim, VK-2 - 21, Batowa str. 4 Bobruisk, 213800 Belarus
Maksim and Vladislav are anti-fascists from Minsk, who was sentenced in June 07 and are doing 3 years sentences in Belarussian camps for their activities. Maxim is 18 and had been involved with Food not Bombs. They support the football club MTZ-RIPO, which is famous for its uncompromisingly anti-fascist fans. In December of 2006 they had an encounter with nazis, who ended up being defeated. Eventually Maksim and Vladislav were sentenced for "aggravated hooliganism".

If you can write the addresses with cyrillic letters,there is a better chance that the letter will make it there:

213800 Республика Беларусь г.Бобруйск, ул. Батова-4 ВК-2, отд. 21, Губскому Максиму.

Пляшкевич Владислав Владимирович 211440. Республика Беларусь. Витебская обл. г.Новополоцк-5 ИК-10. Отряд №4.

CZECH REPUBLIC

Augustin Kraus, Vazebni veznice, PP-1, Litomerice, 41 201, Czech Republic. Augustin Kraus is an antifascist from Czech city of Most, who had been recently sentenced to 14 months of prison for his participation in attacks against local nazis. His charge was "bodily harm". He speaks Czech, can easily understand Sloval and Polish. You can also write him short postcards in English. Its important he receives some support.

FRANCE

On November 11th 2008, French Anti-Terrorism Police arrested around twenty people, mostly in Tarnac, a small village in the Corrèze region of central France. Nine were subsequently accused of “criminal association for the purposes of terrorist activity” in connection with the sabotage of train lines which had caused delays on the French railways, five of them were released on bail and two remain in custody. Very little evidence has been presented against them, but central to the prosecution is their alleged authorship of a book, The Coming Insurrection, and their association with what the French government has termed the “anarcho-autonomous movement”.

They and others are the victims of a witch-hunt in which the word “terrorism” is applied to any ideas and practices which challenge the status quo. An international movement is emerging in their support.

http://tarnac9.wordpress.com/

email contact: ussupportcommittee at gmail.com

You can help in the following ways:

1. To send letters, postcards, notes to the imprisoned, write to:

Comité de soutien aux inculpés de Tarnac, le bourg, 19170 Tarnac, France

2. Inform yourself about the situation.

4. Create new support committees in your own area and link up to the others. We need an international network of committees to show solidarity!

5. Put pressure on the French government to drop this case in whatever ways you see fit.

GERMANY

Natalja Liebich, Justizvollzugsanstalt Aichach, Natalja Liebich, Postfach 1380, 86544 Aichach, Germany
Natalja has been inside since last years NATO demonstrations for resisting arrest violently, as well as other charges from the 2007 G8 protests and Mayday. Her trial was held in Munich in April 2008, and she was sentenced altogether to about 1 1/2 years; her provisional release date is the 6th June 09.

Thomas Meyer Falk, JVA Bruchsal, Zelle 3117, Schoenbornstr. 32, 76646 Bruchsal, Germany:
In 1996, Thomas was sent down for a bank robbery. He'll be inside until at least 2010. Because of his strong beliefs, he's been subject to very harsh repression - kept in solitary, daily cell raids, suppression and censorship of mail, no access to education. In 2007, he has finally been moved out of solitary and can now participate in education and other activities. When writing, it's useful to include up to 3 IRC's (International reply coupons available from the post office) at a time.
For more info email: thomas_m_f@so36.net
or see http://www.freedom-for-thomas.de/

On the 28th June, near Aachen in the area of the German/Dutch border, police stopped a car with four people, including Spanish anarchist fugitives Jose Delgado and Gabriel Pombo da Silva, Begonia Pombo da Silva (Gabriel's sister) and Bart de Geeter. The car attempted to escape, and shots were exchanged between the police and the fleeing car. For more info see. All four were eventually arrested, and on the 28th of September 2005, the verdicts were finally announced:

Jose Fernandez Delgado: 14 years in prison
Gabriel Pombo da Silva: 13 years in prison
Bart de Geeter: RELEASED JAN 07

Gabriel Pombo da Silva, JVA Aachen, Krefelder Str. 251, 52070 Aachen, Germany

Vaggelis Botzatzis has been remanded into custody accused of setting fire to two company cars owned by a energy/power company. It is believed that the person or persons unknown who carried out the arson did so in protest at the destruction of the natural environment and in support of two workers who died at the power plant. Vaggelis is also accused of setting fire to a bank and starting a fire inside a car yard. He denies all the allagations against him and maintains his innocence.

Vaggelis Botzatzis, Komotini Juridical Prison ("Dikastikes Fylakes Komotinis"), T.K. 69100, GREECE

Vaggelis can receive short messages of support written in English.

There's a steady stream of reports of extensive repression from Italy. Ecological anarchists, squatters and ALF activists are more and more active, but are also facing more arrests, raids and random fit-ups.

The police accuse the following people of being involved in a bombing campaign associated with actions claimed by the Informal Anarchist Federation, and other acts of sabotage.The latest information is that all of the people arrested & remanded were linked in one way or another to the Italian Anarchist Black Cross. The Italian ABC are accused of circulating a press release, from the underground group FAInformal (Informal Anarchist Federation) which claimed responsibility for some of the bombings that have occured recently against targets such as politicians, prisons and state institutions.

Marco Ferruzzi sentenced to 9-year imprisonment (the public prosecutor had proposed 16 years during the previous hearing) and found guilty of having sent a mail explosive device that caused a cop to lose two fingers while opening it (this episode occurred in 2003). Currently under house arrest.

On the 12th of May 2005 Italian police arrested five anarchists from Lecce; recently they were mostly active against the CPT's (temporary permanence centers for unauthorized immigrants, managed by the red cross, where human rights are frequently violated).They are accused of promoting, constituting, organizing, directing and participating in "an association for the subversion of the democratic order" and other serious crimes. All five are accused of involvement in a series of actions that include:damaging petrol pumps at Esso (Exxon) petrol stations in protest at the war against Iraq; targeting the multinational company Beneton in support of the Mapuche tribe in Chile whose land is being taken over & whose forests are being destroyed; supporting a revolt carried out by immigrants being held at an immigration centre "Regina Pacis"; damaging of several cash pointmachines of the BCI Banca Intesa because of the banks links to "Regina Pacis".

Salvatore Signore, Saverio Pellegrino, Cristian Paladini, Annalisa Capone, Marina Ferrari

The support group for the five suspects can be contacted via act_for_freedom@yahoo.com The person can receive e-mails in both Italian & English.

The following five anarchists were accused of belonging to a fictional armed anarchist organisation, and fitted up by the infamous prosecutor Marini in a trial ending on April 20th, 2004.

Gregorian Garagin, Via G. Leopardi 2, 61034, Fossombrone (PU), Italy (sentenced to 30 years)

Francesco Porcu, Via provinciale San Biagio, 81030 Carinola (CE), Italy (sentenced to life)

Eleven eco-anarchists in Italy were arrested on charges relating to alleged involvement in the magazine 'Terra Selvaggia', and accused of forming themselves into a direct action group known as COR (Revolutionary Offensive Cells) and carrying out a number of actions including acts of arson, targeting right wing politicians and targeting the construction site of a police station. There was practically no evidence against the 11, other than the fact Il Silvestre had published a COR press release in their magazine Wild Earth. However despite the lack of evidence, six of the eleven defendants were found guilty and have been handed sentences of between 3½ years to 6 years imprisonment.. 11 people faced trial. All are linked to the eco-anarchist group Il Silvestre. All are accused of COR activities. Those currently imprisoned are:

There are also the comrades arrested for the robbery to a jeweler's shop in Luras (Sardinia) at the beginning of the 2000. They are Federico Pais, Riccardo Sotgia, Michele Deroma and Salvatore Nurra. Federico, Riccardo and Salvatore have been sentenced to 5 years and 4 months, Michele to 7 years and 4 months plus one year of probation. On the last 28th of April these 4 comrades have been sentenced to other 1 month and a half for "transportation, detention and scraping of the serial number of the weapons used for the robbery"; the power of attorney used a mistake occurred during the drafting of the first sentence to give these comrades more time to spend in prison.
Their addresses:

MICHELE DEROMA / SALVATORE NURRA, c.c. di Badu 'e Carros, 08100 Nuoro, Italy\\

Tomek Wilkoszewski, Zaklad Karny, ul. Orzechowa 5, 98-200 Sieradz, Poland: Tomek was sentenced to 15 years after killing a nazi in self defence in Radomsko, 1997.

Amanda Cerezo Garcia C.P. ALICANTE II, Ctra. N-330, km. 66, 03400 - Villena, Spain. Amanda is on remand accused of torching a road construction vehicle (the road in question was being built through an important ecological site). Amanda is also charged with sending a letterbomb to a neo-nazi politician.

Amadeu Casellas Ramon, CP Brians II, mòdul 4, Ctra. Martorell a Capellades km 23, Sesrovires 08635 Sant Esteve (Barcelona), Spain. Amadeu Casellas is an anarchist prisoner who has been locked up for 23 years for bank expropriations. He has served out the sentence given to him by the courts and according to Spanish law he should now be free but he remains locked up. In 2008 he went on hungerstrike for 76 days demanding his release. He ended that protest when the prison authorities promised to start him on a release program. They failed to do so and he again went of hunger strike from 24th May to 16th June this year, surviving only on sugar water. But was forced to give up this time due to his worsening health.

The Malaga court of appeal sentenced the anarchists Giovani Barcia, Michele Pontolillo and Claudio Lavaza, already sentenced to 11 years on September 1999, for an incident in the Italian vice-consulate in December 1996. Three persons wearing balaclavas imprisoned the consul and an employee, sending a message of solidarity to the Italian prisoners jailed by the Judge Marini (the judge who built a false accusation against Italian anarchists) and disappeared with passports and some money. These three Italians were convicted of this, as well as a previous bank robbery with sentences of 49 years for Claudio, 48 years for Giorgio and Giovani, 3 years for Michele. Write to them:

SOLIDARIOS CON ITOIZ:

Ibai Ederra, Carcel de Pamplona,C/San Roque. Apdo. 250, 31080 - Iruñez - Pamplona, Navarra, Spain. On the 15th of March 2004, Spanish eco-activist Ibai Ederra was arrested and remanded into custody, for sabotaging dam construction. He is one of the eight members of the campaign Soliderios con Itoiz, who were put on trial in their absence and convicted of sabotage of the construction of the Itoiz dam. In 2001 Iñaki Garcia Koch was the first of the eight to be captured and imprisoned, but he has now been released (Nov 2004).

BARCELONA ARRESTS:

And there are the anarchists arrested in Barcelona end of 2003.They are also accused of participation in terrorist organization, attempted terrorist murder (for the sending of a bomb package to the Greek consulate in Madrid), illegal possesion of weapons and explosives and arson.The first person who declared before the judge was Joaquìn, who admitted manufacture and sending of the embassy bomb. Rafa admitted setting explosives in a bank and decided to not answer other questions, as also Roger, Igor and Carol did. Roger was released on bail in Nov 2004. (For writing to the prisoners, we know for sure that Carolina understands English well, and the others would be undoubtedly appreciate cards and may write back in English if they can). For more information see our campaigns page.

Carolina Forné Roig, C.P. Avila, Ctra. Vicolozano-Brieva, s/n, 05194 Brieva, Avila.

Rafael Tomás y Gaspar, C.P. Madrid III, Ctra. Pinto a San Martin de la Vega, km 5, 28340 Valdemoro, Madrid.

Igor Quevedo Aragay, C.P. Madrid V, Soto del Real, Apdo. 200, Colmenar Viejo 28791, Madrid.

Joaquin Garces Villacampa, C.P. Madrid IV, Ctra. Nacional V km 27,7 28600 Navalcarnero, Madrid

BARCELONA SQUAT PARTY ARRESTS:

Arrested in the area of a police raid on a party (Feb 4th 2006) during which one cop was seriously hurt, and now facing very serious charges.(see http://karcelona.revolt.org)

Rodrigo Lanza Huidobro, C.P de Jóvenes, Calle Padre Manjón, 2, 08033, Barcelona, España

Juan Pintos Garrido, C.P de Jóvenes, Calle Padre Manjón, 2, 08033, Barcelona, España

Alex Cisternas Amestica, C.P. La Modelo, Apartado de correos 20, 08080, Barcelona, España

RUSSIA

Russian Antifa activist, Aleksey Bychin, has been remanded for fighting with neo-nazis. Whilst Andrei Mergenov has been sentenced to 3 years for a fight with neo-nazis.

Aleksey Bychin, SIZO 47/2, ul. Akademika Lebedeva, dom. 39, 195005 St. Peterburg, Russia

Andrei Mergenov, FGU IZ 64/1 OKB 2 komn. 73, Up. Kutyakova 107, 410601 Saratov, Russia

Anarchist and Animal Rights activist Pavel Delidon was in dispute with his employer over some wages which he had not received. Pavel allegedly took direct action to try and gather his wages and has subsequently been jailed, for merely trying to take money owed to him.

Pavel Delidon, ul. Timiryazeva-1, FGU IK-7, 309990 Valuyki, Russia