8/12/2019 INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARYFOR IMPRISONED ANARCHISTS IN ITALy

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INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARYFOR

IMPRISONED ANARCHISTS IN ITALy

2 0 a r r e s t s m o r e t h a n 1 0 0 p o l i c e r a i d s c o o r d i n a t e d a ll o v e r I ta l y  and on ly

towards the anarch i s t movement : Th i s i s no t the face o f I ta l y under fasc i sm, bu t the

de m ocr a t i c I ta ly in ma y 2001 . Th e m ass i ve pe rsecu t i on be gan j us t few days a f te r the

v i c to ry o f the r i gh tw inged mu l t im i l l i ona i re   S i l v i o B e r l u s c o n i  in nat ion a l e lec t ion s . His

party -  Forza Italia   - go t mo re than 40 % o f the vo te s and imm ed ia te l y fo r m ed a

gov e rnmen t w i t h t he pos t f as c i s t A l l enz a Naz i ona l e , whos e l eade r had p rom i s ed t he

vo te rs a pu rge o f the a rab i c sh i t . A p ro m ise wh ich w as re wa rded w i th 10% o f the

votes .

W i th a coa l i t i on o f fasc i s ts , r igh t -w ing popu l i s ts and funda me nta l i s t ch r i s t i ans ,

Ber luscon i p laced h imse l f a t the fo re f ron t o f the I ta l i an s ta te , whose t rue na tu re was

revea led a t the G8 summi t i n Genoa, Ju l y 2001 . Here , young peop le f rom a l l t he wor ldtas ted what I ta l i an anarch i s ts tas te everyday : severe bea t i ngs , p lan ted ev idence

ra nd om arre s ts an d of ten tor ture in the sm al l ce l l s o f the iso la t ion pr ison, a l l w hi le the

s ta tepo l i ce pa in ted the wa l l s w i th teenage b lood .

S ince May 2001 persecu t i on o f anarch i s ts has been i nc reased and w idened . A t

the annua l i n te rna t i ona l meet i ng o f the   A n a r c h i s t B l a c k C r o s s  i t was

rep or te d that by the en d of ju ly th is year , e very ana rch is t f ro m the I ta lian

organ iza t i on had been a r res ted excep t one . Because o f th i s , i t was

proposed a t the meet ing to make an i n te rna t i ona l so l i da r i t y -day w i th the

imp r i son ed an arch i s ts in Ital y. T o m ark th i s we ' re hos t i ng an in fo m eet i ng

at the fo l low ing ad dre ss :

~ TALKS ~ FILM? - COFFEE ~

The meeting will be in english,

coffee will be provided. We will also

be taking  voluntary contr ibut ions to

Anarchist Black Cross Italy.

The oppressed in I ta ly have had thei r

network broken wi th systemat ic

v iolence and prosecut ion.

8/12/2019 INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARYFOR IMPRISONED ANARCHISTS IN ITALy

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The ital ien   C roce Nera Anarchica s   (ABC)  homepage was th is summer shut down by

Polizia de Stato,  fo l lowed by more raids and arrests. Anarchists were brought di rect ly

from the street to isolat ion in prison.

This new democracy  at tacks al l who does not swear loyal ty to par l iament and

democracy: The power of fear is s tronger than the power of love. In th is so cal led

dem ocra cy, as in Denm ark, patr iot ism is exp ecte d f rom al l c i t izens. F ascists are - as

me nt ioned - represented in the governm ent , therefore o f f i c ia l ly aproved: W he n beaten up

anarchists, dragged from the squatted houses, wake up in a cel l , they did not know i f theywere hi t by a fasc is ts or a  polizia \  Fa scism is not som ething n ew in Ita ly : in 19 22-4 5

the fascist d ic tator, Beni to Mussol in i ru led I ta ly . Si lv io Berlusconi descr ibed this brutal

tyrant as a  mercyful leader innoce nt of any cr ime, that sent peo ple on  vacation in

internal exile in a recent interview.

Just l ike the fascism repression is not news in Italy. What is new, is i ts scale, i ts

rando mn ess and its bruta li ty . Ana rch is ts are accu sed for everyth ing, myster ious bom bs,

that they do not recogn ize. An arch ists w an ts a f ree society not one of fear, nor do they

want to be label led as terror is ts . However they are prosecuted alongside thei r supporters,

the i r network and comrades, who are a lso impr isoned on fa lse accusat ions . A l l we can

offer is support and sol idar i ty to those behind the wal ls .

A maximum of solidarity is the condition for being able to enjoy

a maximum of freedom.  Errico Malatesta (1853-1932), italian anarchist

Anarchist Black Cross  A B C ) ,  is an anarchist prisoner support

organization which exists in various countries al l around the globe.

i C i T O i Or ig ina l l y i t was founded as Anarchist Red Cross 1luring the czar-

M W l  regime in Russia  about 1904, but changed its name later du rin g the

/ civ i l war to avoid confu sion w ith the Red Cross.

I _ J L >  Th e orga nization spread to Europe after the russian rev olu tion 1917.

? I  The idea and practice was to help political prisoners, especially the

I  . - J  anarch ists, that were persecuted in Russia. In the 1930's the

I I pressure, espe cially fro m fascists, became too great and the

organization closed down unti l 1960, when it was restartet in

England. They immidiately took up the task of helping the pol i t ical prisoners from

4he tigh ts against Franco and the fascists du rin g the Spanish Civ ilw a r, 1936-39. T o

day - as mentioned before, various organizations exist all around the globe. There is

no formal headquarters and al l the local/national groups works completely

independently. An international network does exist. On the homepage   o f  the

network, there is wri t ten:  We work for a stateless, cooperative/classless society,

free of privileges and domination based on race and sex. Because of their

struggle to achieve this, they support all who are imprisoned.

The organization is  not religious  and supports political prisoners that even Amnesty

International turn their back on.

For mo re in form at ion , s ee the hom epa ge o f the ne tw ork:

w w w . a n a r c h i s t b l a c k c r o s s . o r s

f r i h e t I i g . o r g