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Massive "anti-terrorist" repression in New Zealand

(20/10/07)

 

Free the Urewera 17!
In a wave of massive unprecedented state repression, 300+ Police, in many cases armed, raided houses around New Zealand on the 15th October 2007 making 17 arrests. Police are also seeking up to 60 people for questioning. The arrestees are all activists of the Tino Rangatiratanga broad based indigenous rights, peace and environmental movements.

Prominent Tino Rangatiratanga activist Tame Iti was among the first arrested at his home at 4am Monday morning. At 6am raids were carried out at A Space Inside anarchist social centre in Auckland and the 128 activist Community Centre in Wellington. In Tuhoe Country, the town of Ruatoki was blockaded by armed police for several hours, with no cars allowed in and many searched, including a school bus full of children. 14 of the arrestees were refused bail. All but two recieved name supression. They have all been charged under the Arms Act with various offences relating to alleged possesion of various firearms and ammunition. More charges may be added in the future. Solidarity groups have been forming all around the country, and actions and pickets have taken place with more to come.

The Police will make a decision in the coming days/weeks as to whether they will apply to the Solicitor General to allow charges to be laid under the 2002 Terrorism Supression Act. If they do get permission, it would be the first time charges have been laid under the act. Media and government have already been making connections to organised terrorism and spreading misinformation.

more info: http://www.indymedia.org.nz/

Names are being withheld due to the name suppression, but any letters emailed to lettersforprisoners[at]riseup[dot]net will printed out and distributed to arrestees. Or you can write to the Wellington prisoners at:
A Prisoner, c/o 128 Abel Smith Street, Wellington NZ
Obviously don't write anything that could negatively impact on you or anyone else!

 

 

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News about John Bowden (09/09/07)

 

Official Report Discredits Lies of Prison Social Worker

In late December 2007, following a lengthy investigation by Perth and Kinross Council into my complaint that Matt Stillman, a social worker employed by them and temporarily seconded to Castle Huntly jail last year, had deliberately lied in a critically important parole report about my involvement with what he had claimed was a “terrorist organisation”, the Council has issued the following statement: “The complaint concerned two specific statements in the report for the Parole Board that was completed by Matt Stillman.

Statement 1: That Brighton Anarchist Black Cross website was a website for eco-terrorists or paramilitaries, and that you were involved with this organisation. On investigation, there is no evidence to substantiate the claims made in the report to the Parole Board. Our conclusion is that the website, although clearly political is not paramilitary or eco-terrorist, therefore the statement to the Parole Board is incorrect.

Statement 2: That the prisoner (John Bowden) whilst in Edinburgh Prison received visits from terrorists. On investigation the officer could find no evidence to support this allegation in either Social Work or Prison files. Therefore again we conclude that this statement is incorrect.”

Inaccurate reporting is commonplace in parole reports but rarely has such a report prepared by a social worker contained such a dramatic allegation that a prisoner currently in an open jail in preparation for release is in fact a member of a terrorist organisation. When Stillman’s report was submitted last April the consequences were extreme and brutal. Just a month before a crucial parole tribunal to decide my suitability for release after 25 years in prison, I was suddenly thrown into solitary confinement and then transferred from Castle Huntly Open Prison to Maximum-Security Glenochil Prison. A local newspaper, The Dundee Courier, screamed across front-page headlines, “Castle Huntly Killer Has Terrorist connection” and published verbatim Stillman’s ludicrous claim that Anarchist Black Cross (in fact a perfectly legal and legitimate prisoner support group) was composed wholly of terrorists and paramilitaries, some of whom had visited me in prison.

The prison system itself, against whom I’d campaigned against for years in furtherance of prisoner’s rights, jumped at the opportunity to bury me againin maximum-security conditions and use Stillman’s claims to justify subjecting me to a battery of psychological assessments and evaluations to determine the extent of my dramatically increased danger to the public. The only thing I was able to marshal in my defence was the support of ABC friends and comrades on the outside who protested and demonstrated on my behalf and campaigned tirelessly to expose Stillman’s lies. Their efforts alone forced the Scottish Prison system to take a more defensive position and distance themselves from Stillman’s ridiculous claims. Finally in October last year, following the completion of an “updated psychological risk-assesment” report on me by forensic psychologist, Dawn Harris, who explicitly rubbished Stillman’s allegations.

Although the prison system has backed down in the face of the prolonged protests organised by ABC on my behalf, Stillman’s lies had cost me six months locked-down in maximum-security and at least another year, possibly more, in prison. Stillman was investigated by Perth and Kinross Council, who provide the social work team at Castle Huntly Prison, and when initially questioned by their investigation officer he claimed that he had been “advised” by others about the nature of the ABC organisation. When questioned further about the source of his information regarding ABC he changed his story and claimed that he had seen some reference to it in an existing prison file on me. The investigation revealed this to be a lie. Stillman was clearly guilty of malpractice in deliberately presenting lies as fact in an official parole report, and yet he remains employed by Social services in Fife and to date hasn’t been subject to any form of disciplinary action.

They conclude the report of their investigation with the following: “As a result of this investigation we have looked at our procedures when producing parole reports and will consider how we can ensure that proper stands are met, etc, etc”. Translated, this means that no concrete action will be taken against Stillman or his line-manager in the social work department at Castle Huntly, Christina Brown, who enclosed with Stillman’s report to the Prison Board a covering letter supporting the validity of Stillman’s claims and swearing to his honesty and integrity. Stillman’s lies were always going to be unsustainable when subjected to even a perfunctory examination, and the investigator at Perth and Kinross Council had little choice but to admit that. But that was as far as he was prepared to go – in terms of what motivated or encouraged stillman to make the accusation of terrorism against myself and ABC, the lid was placed back on. No one is culpable and a “lessons have been learned” statement considered adequate to close the matter.

The matter, however, is far from closed. Apart from the Perth and Kinross investigation, the Scottish Social Service Council, a body set up to oversee and enforce a code of conduct in the treatment of service users, is also conducting an investigation into Stillman’s conduct following a complaint from me. Should the SSSC accept the decision of the Perth and Kinross investigation then the removal of Stillman’s social work licence on the grounds of misconduct should, by any standard of natural justice, follow.

I intend also to pursue legal actions against both Stillman’s social work employers and the Scottish Prison Service, during which I intend to expose the full extent of the prison system’s complicity in Stillman’s lies and attempt to bury me indefinitely in prison. I would ask all supporters to write letters of complaint to the following:

Dave Roberts, Executive Director of Perth and Kinross Council, 5 Whitefriars Crescent, Perth PH2 0PA demanding that proper disciplinary action be taken against Stillman and Christina Brown.

Stephen Moore, Head of Social work at the Social Work Office, South Street, Glenrothes, Fife, KY7 5NL demanding that he explain why Stillman continues to be employed at Fife Social Services.

Scottish Prison Service HQ, Communications Branch, Room 338, Calton House,5 Redheugh Rigg, Edinburgh, EH12 9HW demanding that Christina Brown, still employed at Castle Huntly Prison and so obviously complicit in encouraging Stillman to concoct lies in parole reports, be dismissed.


More about John Bowden

John Bowden, convicted for a murder he describes as stupid and a terrible mistake, has spent his entire adult life in prison. Politicised by his incarceration he's regularly payed the price for his resistance through long periods of isolation, brutal 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.

Following a transfer to Scotland a few years ago, he was eventually moved to open conditions and was being prepared for release. As part of that process, John spent two years working as a volunteer in the community, working with the mentally ill and socially vulnerable and qualified as a literacy tutor for people with learning difficulties. For almost a year he was allowed frequent home leaves and was not regarded as any form of risk to the public. Once again he was victimised because of his politics and moved back to a high security prison when a social worker was brought in to prepare a report, designed to prejudice the parole board when they considered John's application for release on licence, and accused him of having links with a 'paramilitary' and 'terrorist' organisation – namely the ABC! The allegations of the social worker Matt Stillman have been effectively discredited and proved false. After a successful solidarity campaign John Bowden has now been moved from HMP Glenochil back to open conditions.

John Bowden, HMP Noranside, Fern By Forfar, Angus, DD8 3QY, Scotland

Friends of John Bowden

www.myspace.com/friendsofjohnbowden

 

 

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Repression in run up to G8 summit in Japan

(17/06/08)

 

Arrested activist Tabi will be out on the 27th most likely, they probably won't let him out before the G8. We've already gathered about 700
dollars for his defense. A bank account has been set up at the post office to support Tabi:

Yuubin Furikae Kouza 00200-5-38572  Meigi 5-16 Kitsuke  Kokushoku Enkai

Over 40 people have been arrested in pre-emptive sweeps of broad left and anarchist groups. Kin-chan from the Kamagasaki Patrol, who is constantly followed by police and usually has a helicopter following him at demonstrations, was arrested yesterday morning.  They haven't even come up with a charge for him apparently.  Falsifying the reasons may be difficult since there are no problems with his address registration or parole.  Nevertheless he will be held for 23 days for sure. The same day a union in Rakunan, Kyoto was raided, had their office searched and 2 of their members arrested.

Its not yet clear when this happened, but 4 members of the Chuukaku-ha Leninist organization were arrested in Tokyo, apparently members of the leadership. Also, on May 29th, there were 38 people arrested at Hosei University in Tokyo, at a political assembly against the G8 at the University.



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MOVE Parole Hearings (17/03/08)

Seven MOVE members (Janine Phillips Africa, Debbie Sims Africa, Janet Holloway Africa, Michael Davis Africa, David Goodman Africa, William Phillips Africa, Delbert Orr Africa) who have been behind bars since 1978 for their part in the shoot-out that killed the Philadelphia Police Officer James Ramp are up for parole in April - amid a swell of opposition from police and prosecutors. The seven were among nine MOVE members convicted in a 19-week trial in 1980 that, at the time, was the longest and most expensive in Pennsylvania history. An eighth defendant will be eligible for parole next year and a ninth died in prison. All nine were found guilty of third-degree murder in the shooting of Ramp, and the attempted murders of the others shot and injured that day.

Offenders are usually interviewed for parole consideration three months before they reach their minimum sentence. Parole can be granted at any time between the minimum and the maximum sentence. They were sentenced from 30 to 100 years.

Members of the group have long railed against the conviction of the nine, saying that prosecutors were never able to prove who fired the fatal shot and there was a lack of evidence presented during the trial, especially about the three female defendants, who were in the basement trying to protect children during the confrontation.

To contact and express support for their release, write or call:
Pennsylvania Board Of Probation and Parole, 1101 South Front Street, Suite 5100, Harrisburg, PA 17104-2517, USA
Call 717-787-5699


They say “We suggest that people start to call and write to the parole board in support of our release in February/March since our parole hearing will be in early April. We ask that when possible people send us a copy of the letters they write, so that we can take them to the parole hearing with us as a show of people who want us back home where we belong."

www.onamove.com

 

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Support arrested defenders of Ungdomshuset! (08/10/07)

 

Activists in Denmark have attempted to squat a replacement for the occupied social centre Ungdomshuset which was evicted over six months ago. On Saturday 6th, thousands of people took to the streets of Copenhagen following a co-ordinated day of action, which was met with heavy police repression, resulting with a total of 436 arrests according to Danish mainstream media.
For more info see www.indymedia.dk.
The following is a report on the conditions faced by those arrested:

"We would like to confirm the rumours that have already been passed around about how the circumstances were at Valby police station. We have been sitting up to 12 hours tied with strips (that's how long I sat) on the bare concrete floor in the basement parking lot of Valby police station. It was approximatelthe same temperature as outside since the gate to the basement didn+t shut, presumably because the police couldn't figure out how to. After 7-8 hours hours we were given water and an hour later we were given 5 mattresses and some blankets. At this point we were up to 200 people in the basement, so you can figure how much this "luxury", as the police called it, helped on the cold. After about 10 hours we were served cheese burgers from McDonald's to the "joy" of the many vetarians and vegans, which were many. The general circumstances were that it was almost impossible to get to the bathroom until late at night when some had been released or put in detention cells. The police, who were constantly rude, often told us that when you were arrested, you had no rights when it came to food, water, warmth and basal human rights. The police officer Michael Larsen from Alfa 4 said: "I don't give a damn about your rights. This isn't a hotel stay after all" and subsequently started strangling a girl who refused to sit on the hard concrete floor after having sat there for five hours. The two last hours of the arrest were spent in detention. Here there was heat. Lots of heat. We were up to 16 people in each cell, and there was no longer any water we could have. First early in the morning they came to reason and we were given water in the now 35 degree warm cell where you could hardly sit and lie down."

Reports from the original eviction in March 2007

There have been three days of clashes between supporters of the Youth House project and riot police across Copenhagen after the house was evicted early in the morning of Thursday 1st March. The confrontations began after anti-terror police raided and evicted the Ungdomshuset (Youth House) building, which had been occupied since the 1980s. All 35 people inside the building at the time were arrested. The local government sold the building to a far-right Christian group in 2000, which then obtained a court order to have the squatters evicted.

About 650 people have been arrested following three nights of clashes between protesters and police. Many of those arrested have been remanded in jail for up to two weeks. We will post more information on the situation of those arrested as we get it.

See http://www.emoware.org/ungdomshuset.asp for very regular updates on the what's happening in Copenhagen.

As well as the last few days , on the 16th of December a demonstration to defend Ungdomshuset in Copenhagen ended in a riot, and people are also facing charges relating to this. You can send messages of support by e-mail to address: retsgruppe69 (at) yahoo.dk (solidarity messages are printed and passed to prisoners every day).

Please do not write anything which may hurt case of the arrested in court!

 

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German antifascist imprisoned (02/08/07)

 

On the 27th of June 2007, Steffi, Sven, and Lukas (all at that time between 17 and 19 years old) were stood in an empty building in Westendstraße in Munich. The majority of the houses located in this street have been uninhabited for a long time, and some of them are used by punks and others to gather. Since this day these three people are in jail, and at the end of January this year they were sentenced to five years in prison, because of throwing stones which was classified as attempted murder. In the evening a unit of the Bavarian police special forces stormed the house without any warning. The social workers, which were coming regularly to visit the punks, were forced to keep silent. The three defended the house with stones against the armoured and armed cops. The stones had been collected in the house earlier in preparation against a possible eviction. One of the cops was injured with a slightly broken vertebra vertebra of the chest which allegedly came from the thrown stones. An expert report found that the injury resulted from jumping over a wall and not from thrown stones. The prosecutors classified the throwing of stones not as a breach of the peace and assault, as usually is the case, but as attempted murder. It was after the violent demonstration on the 2nd of June 2007 against the G8-Summit in the north-german town of Rostock, that the calls for harsher sentencing began. With this judgment, the state is attempting to set a legal precedent. This will have sweeping consequences for all of us. It also sends a message to society that resistance is useless, and that every perpetrator of violence will get his/her just punishment.


Lukas Winkler, Marktplatz 1, 96157 Ebrach, Germany

Stephanie Träger, Am Neudeck 10, 81541, München, Germany

Sven Maurer, Stadelheimerstr. 12, 81549 München, Germany



 

 

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Berlin antifascist imprisoned (07/01/08)


Andrea was in a neighbourhood in southeast Berlin where a Neo-Nazi demonstration was taking place. On the 1st December 2007 the Munich local court sentenced her to 14 months without probation for having pepperspray on her person, which is usually legal. Following this sentence, she faced also the loss of a precedent probation of three months, when she was caught with some eggs full of pepper during an anti-fascist action on 1st of May 2005, in Berlin. During a trial on the 31st of July, under which several accusations against her got regrouped, she was sentenced to five more months more.

She has been accused of participating within an action of the "Uberflussigen" (an autonomous group active mainly on the theme of precarity) against the racist immigration office in Berlin-Lichtenberg; In October 2006, for a blockade attempt against a Neo-Nazi march in August 2006; For masking up during the protests against a Neo-Nazi demonstration towards the prison of Tegel in solidarity with Michael Regner "Lunikoff" (singer of a famous Neo-Nazi band, serving a couple of years in that prison), in October 2006. On top of this come two months without probation following a squatting acton in the Liebigstrasse, Berlin-Friedrichshain. Altogether she will be spending the next 14 months behind bars. After one and half weeks in Lichtenberg prison, Andrea was transferred by surprise on the 11th to the prison of Pankow. Through this she lost a visit she had already applied for, and now she had to apply again for all the usual things like mail, exercise, visits..

Andrea Neff, Bnr: 746/07/2, Justizvollzugsanstalt fur Frauen in Berlin, Arkonastrasse 56, 13189 Berlin, Germany

For donations:

Rote Hilfe e.V.
Kontonummer: 7189590600
BLZ: 100 200 00 Berliner Bank
Verwendungszweck: Soli Andrea

Solidarity actions are of course always welcomed!

 

 

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Latest news from "Free"(07/03/08)

 

Jeff 'Free' Luers has been resentenced to ten years imprisonment, meaning he'll be out in December 2009!


The following is a press release sent out with help from the Civil Rights Outreach Committee:

Jeffrey “Free” Luers Sentence Reduced to 10 Years

February 28, 2008 (Eugene, OR)- This morning at 9:00am in Lane County Circuit Court the re-sentencing hearing for Jeffrey Luers took place in front of Judge Billings. This followed an Oregon court of appeals ruling in February 2007 that Luers original sentence of 22 years 8 months byJudge Lyle Velure was illegal, and the appeals court remanded the caseback to Lane County Circuit Court for re-sentencing. Following the appeals court decision, negotiations have resulted in the decision today to reduce Luers sentence to 10 years, bringing his release date to late December 2009.

In June 2001, then 23 year-old Jeffrey "Free" Luers was arrested for the burning of three trucks at a Eugene car dealership. His stated purpose was to raise awareness about global warming and the role that SUVs and trucks play in that process. Despite the fact that this action hurt no one, caused only $28,000 in damages and the cars were later resold, Luers received the draconian sentence imposed by Velure.

Luers gained support locally as well as all over the world as a political prisoner. It is widely believed that Luers received such a drastic sentence because of the political nature of the action he took. Following his original sentence, Amnesty International and the Eugene Human Rights Commission (EHRC) issued letters of support citing that the sentence appeared to be politically motivated. During the course of his trial, statements were made by the police and prosecuting attorney that indicated it was Luers' political views on trial, not merely his actions. His defense successfully proved that evidence had been tampered with, officers had lied and that the prosecutor had manipulated evidence to get a legal search warrant at his residence. Luers was given a sentence that attempted to send the message to environmental and social justice activists that even a merely symbolic act of property destruction could be punished more harshly than many crimes against persons.

Prior to his imprisonment, Luers was a very well respected community activist in Eugene, Oregon involved with forest defense and cooking free food for the city’s homeless population. He has remained active from prison, often writing news articles and monthly dispatches to his growing list of supporters. With a release date on the horizon, Luers future is bright and he plans to pursue courses and looks forward to sharing quality time with his family and loved ones.

Statement from Jeffrey Luers:

“Today I feel a great weight lifted off of me, and my loved ones. While I believe my new sentence is still more of a reflection of my activism and my dissent than my actual crimes; I am looking forward to my much closer release date I am proud of the many things I have accomplished while incarcerated, including reaching beyond oceans and borders to help raise awareness about global warming and to help combat social injustice. I am thankful of my family, friends and the thousands of supporters and fellow activists from around the world who have stood by me since day one. And I’d especially like to thank my attorneys, and friends. Lauren Regan, Misha Dunlap and Shawn Wiley for never giving up on getting me out sooner than 22 years. I am happy to say this journey is almost over and I’ll be coming home soon.”

After his resentencing Jeffrey 'Free' Luers has been moved to
Jeff Luers #13797671
CCCI
PO Box 9000
Wilsonville, OR 97070, USA

however this is only temporary; he will be moved again soon to serve the remainder of his sentence.

For more information, go to www.freejeffluers.org.

Friends of Jeffrey Free Luers, PO Box 3, Eugene, OR 97440

 

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Barcelona 4F Update (17/03/08)


On the 4th of February 2006 in Barcelona, 9 people were arbitrarily and violently arrested by the police whilst on their way home. 3 people - Rodrigo Lanza Huidobro, Juan Pintos Garrido, Alex Cisternas Amestica - all of whom are of South American descent, have been held in custody for over two years and have now been sentenced. On the night of the arrests, police had been harassing a (non political) occupied house hosting commercial parties, and beat several people. In the chaos objects were thrown from the balconies of the house, severely injuring one of the policemen. Those that were arrested, however, had only just approached from the street and had not been in the house – two people even were arrested far from the area, at the hospital where they had been seeking treatment for bike accidents.

The arrests were all clearly motivated by racism and discrimination against the squatting culture in the city.
The mistreatment continued in the cells, with beatings and injuries, including two broken arms. The official explanation for the arrests changed over time from injuring a policeman with a flowerpot to stone throwing. Despite an obvious lack of evidence and conflicting accounts from police, as well as criticisms from international human rights advocates, all defendants have now, after two years, been sentenced – Rodrigo received a sentence of 4.5 years, plus a 900.000 euro fine, Alex and Juan got sentences of 3.5 years each, and the remaining six received sentences of between 1 and 3 years. The headline from the Santiago news was '”Arbitrariness and Xenophobia Have Triumphed Over Justice". All are currently out of prison on provisional liberty, and are appealing the conviction. We urge anyone who can see the discrimination and harassment inherent in this trial to find out more and support these appeals.

Protest letters/emails can be written to:

Generalitat (gov't of Catalunya), 00 34 902 400 012
President Jose Montilla, http://www10.gencat.net/president/AppJava/cat/contacte.jsp (web form)
Vice President Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira, vicepresident@gencat.cat
Minister of the Interior (and police chief) Joan Saura, consellersaura@gencat.cat
Mayor of Barcelona Jordi Hereu, http://www.bcn.es/alcalde/ca/contacte.htm  (web form), 93 402 70 00

More info at: http://www.karcelona.revolt.org/

 

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Latest on Eco-activists in US sentenced to long terms in prison (08/10/07)


The FBI have launched a major operation which has resulted in the arrests of several people in connection with Earth Liberation Front /Animal Liberation Front actions that took place over a period of years, as well as others accused of planning to carry out ELF actions. S
everal of those arrested are reportedly now cooperating with the US authorities, and so have been removed from prisoner support lists...For all the latest information in this case and for links to the individual defendants support campaigns, please check out Earth Liberation Prisoner's North American website www.ecoprisoners.org or www.greenscare.org

For details of those arrested, see our prisoner listing here


Update 20/10/07- Eric McDavid found guilty and still refused vegan food

The jail is still denying Eric McDavid (recently convicted in a US Green scare trial) vegan food. After enduring a two-week hunger strike in March 2006, Eric was finally given vegan meals on April 24, 2006. This lasted for 15 full months. Then, without any warning or reasonable explanation, the jail cut off Eric’s vegan meals one week before his trial began. Since that time, he has been surviving off the few options he can purchase from commissary (peanut butter, beans, chips…) and the little food he can pull off of the meal trays they bring him (usually bread and fruit – sometimes oatmeal in the morning). Clearly, this is not enough to constitute a healthy, balanced diet. It is the jail’s responsibility to provide Eric with the food he needs to remain healthy and strong. This is obviously something they are completely able to do, as they did so for 15 months with no problems.
Eric has been contemplating what courses of action are open to him in this matter, but unfortunately, his options have become even more limited. The suit that Eric filed against the jail to secure vegan meals was dismissed by the judge, greatly diminishing any hope he had for redress in the courts. A hunger strike could be extremely risky due to the bout of pericarditis for which he was taken to the hospital in April.

Because Eric’s options are so limited, in the jail and in the courts, he needs support from the outside more than ever. This seems to be the only hope for change. In the meantime, Eric continues to lose weight, and his health will soon begin deteriorating. Please call the jail immediately and request that Eric be given vegan meals…again. When you call, be prepared to sit through a lot of ringing and possibly transfers. The person who made the decision to cut off Eric’s food before trial is Lt. Ilg, and the person who oversees him is Scott Jones. Feel free to request to speak to either of these people when calling the jail.
It’s always helpful to have Eric’s x-reference number handy when calling the jail, in case the person you are speaking with asks for it. Eric’s x-ref is: x-2972521. You can call the jail in the US at : 916-874-6752 or 916-874-6905

or write to Lt Ilg or Scott Jobnes at
Sacramento County Main Jail, 651 "I" Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, USA Below are some things you might suggest while talking or writing to the jail:

1)The jail fed Eric vegan food for 15 months with no problems. There is no reason they cannot continue to do so. 2)The jail is responsible for providing Eric with a healthy diet. Eric has made it clear that he will not eat food that is not vegan. As such, they will be responsible for any health problems that Eric suffers due to his lack of nutrition. 3)The jail cannot claim they are unable to provide Eric with vegan food due to associated costs. This is simply false. The jail is paid thousands of dollars by the feds to house federal inmates (such as Eric). They are profiting from Eric's incarceration (and let's face it, vegan food is simply cheaper to begin with...)


Eric found guilty

Thursday, September 27 2007: After deliberating for 11 hours over two days, a federal court jury has found Eric McDavid guilty of conspiring to blow up government and other facilities as part of an eco-terror plot.

The verdict came following a trial that relied heavily on the testimony of an undercover FBI informant who was known to jurors only as "Anna" and who presented evidence of conversations McDavid and two companions had about blowing up the Nimbus Dam, a U.S. Forest Service facility in Placerville and other targets.

Prosecutors will ask that the maximum 20-year prison sentence be imposed on McDavid. Sentencing is set for Dec. 6. McDavid will remain in custody. He has been locked up since he and two co-conspirators were arrested Jan. 13, 2006.

Lauren Weiner and Zachary Jenson were allowed to plead guilty to lesser charges and testified against McDavid. Write to Eric here:
Eric McDavid X-2972521 4E231A, Sacramento County Main Jail, 651 "I" Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, USA


Update 26/06/07- Sentencing has taken place for most defendants

On May 23rd, after two days of hearings, Judge Ann Aiken sentenced cooperating defendant Stanislas Meyerhoff to 13 years in federal prison after applying a Terrorism Enhancement to the charges relating to arsons at a Romania Truck Dealership, Jefferson Poplar Farm, and a Eugene police substation, all part of the FBI's Operation Backfire. The sentence is 18 months less than the recommended sentence by the prosecution due to the defendants total cooperation with prosecutors.

On May 25th, she applied Terrorism Enhancements to cooperating defendant Kevin Tubbs' charges sentencing him to 12 ½ years.

On May 25th, she applied Terrorism Enhancements to cooperating defendant Chelsea Gerlach's charges sentencing her to 9 years.

On May 29th, cooperating defendant Darren Thurston was sentenced to 37 months for the Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse Corral arson. Terrorism Enhancements were not applied.

On May 31st, coooperating defendants Kendall Tankersley and Suzanne Savoie were sentenced. For full cooperation and being involved in few actions, Tankersley received 46 months without Terrorism Enhancement. Suzanne Savoie received 51 months with Terrorism Enhancement since the communiqué for the Jefferson Poplar arson mentioned legislation that targeted activists showing alleged coersion of the federal government.

On June 1st, non-cooperating defendants Nathan Block and Joyanna Zacher were sentenced to 92 months each. Terrorism Enhancements were applied to the Romania and Jefferson Poplar arsons. Judge Aiken did not downward depart from the government recommended sentence of 92 months since she found no remorse in the defendants.

On June 4th, non-cooperating defendant Daniel McGowan was sentenced to 7 years in federal prison. Terrorism Enhancements were applied to the Jefferson Poplar arson again due to wording in the communiqué referencing the federal government. This was despite arguments from the defense stating that the communiqué was altered by the Earth Liberation Press Office before release. Cooperating witness Chelsea Gerlach told federal agents that it was "completely different" than when the defendants had written it.

On June 5th, the sentencing of non- cooperating defendant Jonathan Paul was stayed and will be finalized on July 3rd after a legal dispute arose when Judge Aiken attempted to sentence him to 51 months after not applying the Terrorism Enhancements, but an equivalent that had an upward departure. Kevin Tubbs received no such adjustment, so both the prosecution and the defense must resubmit their arguments.

Update 8/11/06- Eco-saboteurs plead guilty but are not implicating others

The four remaining non-cooperating defendants in the Oregon "Green Scare" case today changed their pleas and agreed to drop their request for production of NSA surveillance materials and data. Joyanna Zacher, Nathan Block, Daniel McGowan and Jonathan Paul appeared in federal court this morning before U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken to enter pleas related to acts of property destruction and arson. The next status hearing will be on December 14 to determine when sentencing will occur. Despite the agreement however, federal prosecutors have asked the court to apply a "terrorism enhancement" at sentencing.

Despite the pleas entered today which resolve the Oregon cases in their entirety Jeff Hogg remains imprisoned without having been charged with any crimes for his refusal to testify against others after being subpoenaed to a federal grand jury. After the hearing, Hogg's partner Cecilia Storey made an emotional plea for his immediate release from custody.

Plea Documents for Four Non-Cooperating Defendants | Audio of the Press Conference after the hearing

Daniel McGowan and codefendants accept non-cooperation plea agreement

We do not want there to be any confusion about Daniel's plea agreement so we have posted it at http://www.supportdaniel.org/files/McGowanPlea.pdf .Daniel agreed to plead guilty with the understanding that he would not implicate or identify anyone at all other than himself. The other three remaining co-defendants entered pleas with the same terms. Daniel has done everything possible to maintain his integrity, and he wants to be as open about his agreement as possible. We have also provided Daniel's statement to Judge Aiken and Daniel's lawyers statement below. [ read more ]

http://www.supportdaniel.org

 

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Briana Waters Trial (17/03/08)

 

The first trial with jury in the 'Green scare' prosecutions in the USA has now come to an end. 'Green sacre' is the name given to the co-ordinated FBI clampdowns and harassments of ecological anarchists, many of which decided to co-operate and inform on others to save their own skin. The prosecution of Briana Waters rested entirely on the testimony of two co-operating defendants, Jen Kolar and Lacey Phillabaum. She was charged with participating in a 2001 arson at the Centre for Urban Horticulture at the University of Washington, where it was believed that GM research was taking place, along with the two co-operating defendants, another person who is on the run, and a fifth, Bill Rodgers, who committed suicide in prison not long after his arrest.

The jury proclaimed Briana guilty on two counts of arson (carrying sentences of 5 years each), and could not reach a verdict on conspiracy and building and transportation of a destructive device. If she had been convicted on all counts she could have faced around 35 years. The prosecution may still file for a retrial. The sentencing is scheduled for May 30th, and she has been taken into custody. Her appeal to be released until her sentencing and give her a chance to spend time with her 3 year old daughter before her starting her sentence was denied.

Briana Waters, 36432-086, FDC - Seatac, Federal Detention Center, P.O. Box 13900, Seattle, WA 98198, USA

All letters must have a return address on the envelope.
Put your name and address on each page of a letter, as it will be opened, and she may not get the envelope.
Written correspondence and drawings may be in pencil, standard ink pen, typewritten, or computer generated. No felt pens, markers, crayon, or coloured pencil, etc.
Do not discuss her case or anything related to illegal activities. Keep in mind that all mail is read by authorities.
Most facilities will NOT accept stamps or envelopes mailed to prisoners.
Avoid using white-out, stickers, tape, colored ink or glitter.
All personal artwork must be in black & white, copied pages can be in colour. Most facilities do not allow torn pages from books, magazine or newspaper clippings. Photocopies, however, are accepted

And of course, there are many costs that have come up through the course of this ordeal. Donations are needed by Briana and her family to continue fighting for justice in this upcoming period. If you can, donate through Briana's website: www.supportbriana. org

 

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New eco-prisoner in Spain (28/08/07)

 

Urgent ELP! Bulletin (27th August 2007)

Dear friends

Long term supporters of ELP will be aware of the Itoiz dam action in Spain, where back in the late 1990s anonymous eco-activists sabotaged the construction site of the controversial Itoiz dam causing so much damage the construction was delayed by over a year.  One of the things the activists did was cut the cabbles of the machines which took the dam wall blocks to the top of the dam.
As ELP reported at the time, following the action, eight men, who were all linked to a lawful campaign against the construction, were accused of involvement in this action.  Despite being innocent all eight feared they wouldn't get a fair trial so all eight went underground.  However despite not having their suspects in detention that didn't stop the Spanish police who held a trial for the eight men in their abscense.  And surprisingly enough, as the eight weren't there to explain their innocence, all eight were found guilty and sentenced to four years and 10 months imprisonment.

As ELP supporters will be aware, over the following years a small number of the Itoiz Dam suspects have been caught by the police and thrown into prison.

The latest Itoiz Dam suspect to be captured is JULIO VILLANUEVA.  He was arrested ten days ago on the 17th of August 2007.

Please send urgent letters of support to:

JULIO VILLANUEVA
C.P. PRISION DE PAMPLONA
31080 IRUNA (NAVARRA)
SPAIN


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British Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network
BM Box 2407
London
WC1N 3XX
England
www.spiritoffreedom.org.uk

Belgium ELP Support Network
elp_bel@hotmail.com

North American ELP Support Network
www.ecoprisoners.org

 

 

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 News about Daniel McGowan (17/06/08)

 

It's 10 pm on the east coast and a few hours ago we finally heard from Daniel. He called from the Columbia County Jail in Portage, Wisconsin. Daniel was woken up at 4 am and on a plane en route from Oklahoma City to Chicago by 6 am. Daniel and his supporters presumed he was going to Marion, Illinois, but once he landed in Chicago, he was put in a van and driven to Madison, Wisconsin. From there he was driven to Portage. Along the way, Daniel asked if he was being transferred based on facing new charges, and the marshal flatly told him no. Daniel then asked if he was facing a Grand Jury subpoena. The marshal would not come right out and say yes, but he hinted at it and at one point said, "good guess."

If Daniel is called before a grand jury, he will not testify and is concerned about being held in civil contempt and imprisoned at the Columbia County Jail, where the time he serves will not count against his 7 year sentence. At this point, neither Daniel nor his attorney have received a subpoena or any other paperwork to indicate that he will be appearing before a grand jury, but it's what he is preparing for and what folks would be best served to see as a possibility.

Over the past month, Daniel has been in transfer. And while the time he has served thus far has been without incident and even though he received a good team review before being yanked from FCI Sandstone, he tells us that he has been put in Segregated Housing Units ("The Hole") and treated differently for the duration of this transfer, all due to the application of the "Terrorism Enhancement." For now, it is important to keep Daniel connected to the communities he is a part of. Please write to him and let him know we're out here for him.

For now, Daniel's address is:
Daniel McGowan Columbia County Jail 403 Jackson Street Portage, Wisconsin 53901

Daniel wanted us to emphasize how important your support has been thus far and how truly appreciative he is.

Family and Friends of Daniel McGowan

For guidelines on writing to Daniel, go to
http://www.supportdaniel.org/news/#Anchor-49575

For more information, please visit http://supportdaniel.org

 


 

 

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Antifascists in Belarus imprisoned (20/10/07)

 

Support imprisoned Belarussian anti-fascists!

Maksim and Vladislav are anti-fascists from Minsk, who are doing 3 years sentences in Belarussian camps for their activities. They support football club MTZ-RIPO, which is famous for its uncompromisingly anti-fascist fans. Maksim turned 18 years old in late July. He has been in anti-fascist movement for 3 years, and was one of the organisers of Food Not Bombs in Minsk, which made actions in Gorki park, Victory square and other places in the city. In December of 2006 they had an encounter with nazis, who ended up being defeated. One of the nazis figured out that Maksim was participating to event, and he went for the cops. Eventually Maksim and Vladislav were sentenced to 3 years for "aggravated hooliganism", that is statue 339 part 2 of the Belarussian criminal codex.

Write letters of support to Maksim and Vladislav! Their addresses are

Gubski Maxim, VK-2 - 21, Batowa str. 4 Bobruisk, 213800 Belarus

Vladislav Vladimirovich Plyashkevich, IK-10 otryad 4, Novopoltsk-5 Vitebskaya oblast, 211440 Belarus

If you have a chance to write addresses with cyrillic letters, it is more chance that 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.

(from https://avtonom.org/index.php?nid=1220)

 

 

 

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