Anarchic update news all over the world - 14.08.2018

Today's Topics:

   
1.  [Greece] Video: Rouvikonas anarchists attack Infrastructure
      Ministry building with ink bomb By ANA (pt) [machine translation]
      (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
2.  grupo vialibre 4 years without Sergio Urrego (ca) [machine
      translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
3.  [Italy] Check out the interview with the Roman anarchist
      Massimo Serini: "I try to follow the thread of anti-authoritarian
      ideas and practices" By ANA (pt) [machine translation]
      (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
4.  France, Alternative Libertaire AL #285 - Interview,
      "Emancipation" (feminist collective of Angers): " There are as
      many ways to emancipate as people" (fr, it, pt)[machine
      translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
5.  federacion anarquista uruguaya FAU: DECLARATION OF THE
      URUGUAYAN ANARCHIST FEDERATION ABOUT THE EVENTS 
      IN NICARAGUA (ca,
      it) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
6.  Collective Rupture (RC): "For the right to abortion, to the
      territory and to self-government"; women and young juchitecas
      march in solidarity with # 8A in Argentina (ca) [machine
      translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
7.  pramen - Belarus: Anti-fascist teenager reveals how Russian
      security services brutally beat and tortured him
      (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)


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Message: 1






On Friday,  August 3 , we decided to attack the Ministry of Infrastructure (Avenida 
Alexandras, nº 19). There are inexhaustible reasons for anyone to intervene in this 
ministry. We decided to do this because of their biggest crime, to get involved in the 
murder of dozens (and unfortunately, the deaths caused by the fires increase every day) of 
our comrades in Rafina, Mati and Kinetta, Greece, in the end of the month. Everyone agrees 
that if there was the infrastructure needed to evacuate the areas and to deal with fires, 
the disaster would be less. ---- We can not know what the fate of people would be like, 
but it would certainly be better. The State, like any other, refuses to face reality. It 
prefers to make excuses only policies to avoid its responsibilities. The murderous state 
of Greece has a huge share of responsibility in one of the country's largest mass murders.

Infrastructure problems existed, exist and will continue to exist. As long as we continue 
to entrust our destiny to governments and rescuers of all kinds. We can only declare our 
unyielding solidarity for the firefighters and their families, the families of the victims 
of the fire.

AGAINST THE STATE AND ANY GOVERNMENT

Anarchist Group Rouvikonas

>> Watch the video (00:29) here:

https://www.liveleak.com/view?t=957zH_1533359181

Translation> Lucas Insuela

agência de notícias anarquistas-ana

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Message: 2






This 4th of August marks four years since the suicide of Sergio David Urrego Reyes 
(1997-2014), a 16-year-old young anarchist student who decided to take his own life due to 
the systematic harassment he suffered because of his sexual orientation and his political 
activity, by the directives of his school, the private Gimnasio Castillo Campestre 
institute in the city of Bogotá. ---- Since his death in 2014, Sergio's case has shocked 
the country and has received unusual national media attention. And although several of the 
people directly responsible for their systematic and violent harassment have received 
valuable condemnations from bourgeois justice, the same policies of hatred and exclusion 
that were applied against Sergio, have been maintained and even deepened over the years in 
the school and work world.

Perhaps the best example of this aggravation and the most offensive reaction to his case, 
was the mobilization "in defense of the family"carried out on August 10, 2016 across the 
country and led by religious fundamentalists, against the alleged Sexual Education Cards 
promoted by the Ministry of Education at the head of the neoliberal policy Gina Parody. 
Such actions managed to reverse the very timid advances towards non-discrimination and 
comprehensive sexual education for which activists like Sergio began to fight, and led the 
Santos government to retreat and Parody to resign, in order to maintain the support of the 
ultra-conservative sectors to the government of National Unity. This movement was part of 
the growing homophobic wave that crosses Latin America under the fear of the ghost of the 
"gender ideology", which is nothing but the fear of social progress achieved by feminism,

This process, related to the continent's own conservative turn, reaffirmed the deep 
reactionary values of several national sectors that gathered around openly homophobic 
slogans and hatred towards difference. The result has been the capitalization of these 
violent political positions, which deny the slightest dignity to all those people who 
distance themselves from the patriarchal heteronormativity, on the part of the Uribist 
right, which used it as a tool of agitation in their campaign against the plebiscite. to 
endorse the Havana Peace Accords with the FARC and later in their electoral campaigns for 
the congress and the presidency, which would lead to the presidential election of Iván Duque.

Today these homophobic sectors are in power, they have taken a political leap in terms of 
their parliamentary and social representation, and have built an alliance around the 
Democratic Center and its politically, economically and culturally conservative agenda. 
Likewise, any attempt to review discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender 
identity in schools and educational institutions, one of the political consequences that 
Sergio's death had in the form of a Constitutional Court ruling, has been in limbo.

Because of this, we must not let forget the death of a young man who was thinking about 
the possibility of a different world. A young man like Sergio who decided to bravely 
confront his sexuality and open an even more urgent fight to develop an Integral Sexual 
Education, which promotes the awareness, care, enjoyment and diversity of children, youth 
and adults, at all educational levels. A young man who began his career as a militant of a 
student movement of libertarian inspiration, which today, like yesterday, struggles for a 
liberating and popular education, conceived as a basic social right, which requires 
universal gratuity, welfare and autonomy educational, democratically organized by its own 
students, teachers and workers, committed to the needs and interests of social sectors and 
peoples. A young anarchist who was beginning to fight for a world without social 
domination, a more just and freer world.

Let us then build in his memory new relationships mediated by love and respect, 
challenging the violent sexual norms that limit people to death. Let us continue with 
their emancipatory aspirations, building a libertarian political alternative. Remember 
Sergio's life in the streets, homes, universities, schools and work centers, always 
fighting for a new world, libertarian and feminist, that recognizes the value of life and 
human diversity.

Sergio Urrego lives!

Up those who fight!

https://grupovialibre.org/2018/08/10/4-anos-sin-sergio-urrego/

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Message: 3






Massimo Serini, also known as Alfredo, is a Roman anarchist, and granted an interview by 
e-mail to ANA. He lived from 1996 to 2016 in the Dominican Republic, where he was part of 
the Cibao Libertario Social Center in Santiago de los Caballeros and other libertarian 
initiatives. He currently lives in Rome, the capital of Italy. In this interview he spoke 
a little about the current anarchist panorama in Rome. Check it out next. ---- Anarchist 
News Agency> How did your involvement with anarchy begin, or anarchism? ---- Massimo 
Serini (Alfredo) <  Since I have a memory I have always been attracted to anarchist ideas 
and practices; even before he knew the word anarchy. Realizing my sensitivity to social 
inequalities and my rebellion against the institutional command and the rules of the 
"tradition" of my surroundings, he was a thinker, socialist and free thinker of my 
elementary school in the small town of South Italy where he lived, revealed to me: "... 
look, you are an 'anarchist.' There are people close to you who call themselves that. 
There is even a weekly, " Umanita Nova, " which has expressed these attitudes for years. " 
I guess I was not over 11 years old. Since then I have felt less alone and less "crazy"...

ANA> Rome is a city with strong anarchist tradition?

Massimo <  Very recently there have been notable investigations of historical libertarians 
on anarchism in Rome. They refer mainly to three periods: before the fascist dictatorship 
(late 1800-1922), during the dictatorship (1922-1945) and the immediate post-war 
(1946-1968). In these studies they bring to light the figure of fighters, persecuted, 
thinkers, and recover the memory of struggles, works, groups and collectives of the past, 
which may allow to speak of an anarchist tradition in the city.

But it was only after 1969 that the Roman movement also flourished, not only as it 
happened all over the world, but also because the most important event was the result of a 
general libertarian takeover led by the 1968 movement. grave, known as " La Strage di 
Stato ", a bloody attack in Milan that was falsely attributed to the anarchists, and shook 
the whole Italian peninsula, causing many to show solidarity and sympathize with the 
anarchists until adhering to their ideals.

The link between the residual Roman anarchist movement of the postwar and the improvised 
and flourishing "post-68" was undoubtedly embodied by a couple: "Aldo and Anna" (Eraldo 
Rossi and Maria Anna Pietroni ). The two, who came from the experience of the resistance 
struggle against fascism, also marked the successive generation of anarchists, the " 
post-sessantotites " and became mythical figures of reference for all anarchist militants 
in Rome, for their organizational capacity, their availability, his relentless and 
selfless commitment and also as responsible  pro tempore  to write weekly the  Umanità 
Nova , that was going through in these periods so turbulent, a moment of great diffusion.

Unfortunately, Aldo and Anna, in their early 50s, died in a traffic accident in April 
1975, leaving a huge gap, especially among the young people who had approached the 
movement in recent years.

ANA> You attend the  L'Idea Library  in Rome, could you tell us a little about it?

Massimo <  Although I am not directly a member of this project, I know him very well and I 
often participate in the initiatives and activities promoted by the same  Library .

L'Idea , in the district of Pigneto, is a self-managed and self-financed library with more 
than 20 years of life. It also maintains a remarkable archive of documents and texts of 
the movements (not just anarchists) of struggle and revolutionaries of the 80's until 
today. In his project are included, the "distro" of anarchist editions and the publication 
of texts.

ANA> Are there other anarchist spaces in Rome?

Massimo <  There are many other anarchist spaces in Rome and I do not know all of them 
(not long since I returned to live in this city after 20 years of absence), among them:

A bookstore, " Anomalia ", in the neighborhood of San Lorenzo, which is also an important 
center of anarchist documentation.

Two spaces accommodating politically close groups of the FAI ( Federazione Anarchica 
Italiana ), including the Cafiero , which is the oldest anarchist space in the Capital, in 
Via Vettor Fausto, in the Garbatella district, active in those facilities, uninterrupted 
since 1946 .

A space in the Quarticciolo district, shared by two different realities: the  Sabot 
Library , with its library and "distro", active in the anticarcerial fight, and  Anarkivio 
Errico Malatesta , where texts and historical materials produced by the Malatesta Group 
are kept in its half century of activity (1974-2014), in addition to his library.

A space in the neighborhood of La Marranella of the collective  NED , a group very active 
territorially and in the social and anticarcerial struggles.

A half-dozen  squats  ( Torre Maura, Bencivenga, Laurentino 38, Ateneo, ZK, Bilancione , 
the last three in the area of the "Roman Coast") with open, or at least substantial, 
ancrat characterization, where, in addition to experimenting with a activities, 
initiatives and struggles on the various themes (animalism, anti-sexism, anti-racism, 
anti-racism, environmentalism ...).

The  BAM Library  (Metropolitan Abusive Library), well rooted territorially, in the 
neighborhood of Centocelle, which is a "mixed" reality, not exclusively anarchist, but 
with strong anarchist connotations.

There are many other spaces, not strictly and avowedly anarchist, that are generally 
libertarians (squatters, social centers, bar / bookstores, pubs, pubs) where many compas 
occur and gather, and book presentations, plays, film projections, events and activities, 
often with obvious anarchist nuances, that it would be very difficult to try to list here 
in this brief interview.

ANA> In Carrara, known as the cradle of Italian anarchism, there are some monuments in 
honor of anarchist militants. Is it the same in Rome?

Massimo <  I may be mistaken, but I do not recall monuments in Rome in honor of anarchist 
militants, as on the contrary, yes, there are, I remember, other Italian cities, like 
Carrara, Livorno, Pisa, Milan, Ancona ...

In Rome, what I am aware of are rare commemorative plaques, as Errico Malatesta recalls, 
on the facade of the house where he lived, or some tombstones as a tribute to Pietro Gori 
in Civitavecchia.

Some plaques and memorial tombstones, over the years, have been removed.

There is an interesting survey of  the Franco Serantini di Pisa Library  (BFS) on the 
theme of monuments in honor of the anarchists in Italy¹.

ANA> Overall, how is the "anarchist movement" in Rome? Do you enjoy "good health"? Today, 
what are the main struggles being waged?

Massimo <  With this question, we go directly to ultra-personal and subjective judgments 
and judgments. For me, the situation is derived from the description of the spaces and 
realities made above. In Rome there are many realities that make reference, more or less 
open and explicit, to the Achaic movement, but almost always, each moving in various 
terrains, practically expressing their priorities biased.

Today some are present and active, especially in social struggles, others more 
specifically in the world of work, others are involved in historical research of 
anarchism, others in the reflections and consequent diffusion of anarchist ideal and 
practices, others are in an insurrectional perspective, others experiencing a coexistence 
based on agreements and free pacts, others in the fight against imprisonment (there are 
also Aristocrats of Rome, or in Rome, detained). Not to mention all the other fields of 
intervention, or themes, that each chooses as privileged, according to their analyzes and 
sensitivities.

And the exchanges and collaborations among all are not constant.

Therefore, it seems to me, it is an inhomogeneous movement, which emphasizes what is a 
current feature of the diverse and fragmented world-wide aractic movement. Whether this is 
evidence of good or bad health depends on the point of view.

ANA> Are there any anarchist projects that you would highlight in your city?

Massimo <  Personally, I would not highlight a particular project of anarchism in Rome, 
but this characteristic just mentioned.

ANA> The Roman anarchist movement has many women, is it balanced, or is it a universe 
dominated by men?

Massimo <  From what I have seen during the last two years, since my return, there is no 
obvious gender difference in the present Roman movement, neither as numerical presence nor 
as relevance of contributions. When I left, I did more than 20 In fact, there was, in 
fact, an unfortunate, contradictory and "suspicious" predominance of male figures, but it 
has, over time, been balanced.

ANA> And what about free radios?

Massimo <  In Rome, Radio Onda Rossa has existed for 40 years  . It is a broadcaster of 
the "antagonistic movement," in which, in the past, some anarchist groups undertook 
self-managed programs.

ANA> And the panorama of anarchist publications on paper? In some countries, 
unfortunately, we realize that the digital medium has already surpassed the print. What's up?

Massimo <  In this respect, the point of view seems to me, unfortunately, to be univocal: 
I do not think there is currently a publication (newspaper, magazine) printed in Rome.

Amazingly, I had not realized that until this direct ANA question  .

The paradox is that many printed publications, such as diaries, magazines, newspapers (not 
to mention countless "a-periodicals"), many of them for many years ( Umanità Nova, 
A-Rivista, Seme Anarchico , Sicilia Libertaria, Germinal ...) and other more recent ( Il 
Giorno and le Notti, Vetriolo, Negazine ...) and perhaps this Italian-language anarchism 
is a worldwide counter- trend phenomenon. It is true that in other places the publications 
are becoming almost all digital ...

ANA> The extreme right also grows in Rome? If it grows, what are the reasons?

Massimo  There are strong signs of growth of the extreme right also in Rome; a city that, 
in any case, has always suffered its presence and roots, especially in certain neighborhoods.

The reasons for this growth are several and, I believe, common to most, to those who 
determine the same phenomenon elsewhere. A growing perception of insecurity, real and / or 
inculcated, not merely economic, that generates and fosters supremacist myths and 
trampling behavior.

ANA> And how does the anarchist movement fit into this context?

Massimo <  The extreme right at this stage at this moment does not seem to be very 
different about the same right in power (the Interior Minister[Matteo Salvini]is now a 
crypto-fascist, not even so critical). Its motto is to reassure the "common people" 
against the "enemy", who has now been individualized into "invaders": those who flee their 
lands in search of survival, desperate for conflict, persecution, misery, hunger ...

The anarchists here in Rome reflect their diverse situation: some groups and individuals 
participate in the "antifa movement", which brings together many different realities, 
identified essentially with antifascist slogans and practices, as a common denominator; 
others try directly with activities in defense of immigrants and fighting with them 
against, for example, the notorious CIE (Identification and Expulsion Center) and 
discrimination of the people who are daily victims, others do counter-information 
activities, much needed, therefore, considered the "volume of fire" that the institutional 
mystifiers spend on the subject to consolidate "fear of the enemy" that gains consensus 
among frightened people and keeps them in Power ...

Lately, some fascist night raid against locations of the movement (for example, against 
the  BAM  in the neighborhood of Centocelle) have been pointed out , although they have 
not yet passed a bubble level, or beatings on doors closed, may represent an alarm for 
further, more dangerous activities by those who feel publicly supported by the official 
representatives of the institutions.

ANA> Do you believe that a social revolution in the traditional ways defended by the 
anarchists is still possible today?

Massimo <  I do not know if my particular point of view might be interesting. I define 
myself as an 'anarcho-skeptic': I try to follow the thread of anti-authoritarian ideas and 
practices and look for like-minded compas who seek to build a common path through free 
pacts and agreements, to see where Ariadna's thread leads. If this is the right path, it 
will lead to an "old style" revolution, an insurrectional moment, or an implosion of the 
seemingly solid oppressive system, or another kind of radical change, directly into a 
world more just and libertarian, not hierarchical, is an expectation, a hope, more than a 
certainty. I search, full of curiosity, the hypothesis that most enchants me, without 
dogmatisms, looking for "accomplices" who are not very afraid of doubts ...

ANA> You lived a long time in the Dominican Republic. What anarchist memory do you have of 
this territory?

Massimo <  This is a very complex question. I believe that I have practically seen an 
anarchist movement born there, and my memory is full of memories, compass figures, events, 
anecdotes, even positive "scandals" from the early "punk" texts that came to the island 
early in the until the First Congress of the FACC (Central American Federation of 
Anarchists) in 2015, in Santiago de Los Caballeros, promoted by Dominican and Cuban compas.

One day I will have to tell this "story", although I will hope that, over time, a more 
rational, less emotional and sentimental way will seduce me. All the while I was connected 
with the Anarcho-Latin list and a little with the compas of  El Libertario  of Venezuela 
(we also did a Dominican version of Nelson 's " Utopia Logic: Anarchism for the XXI 
Century " Méndez and Alfredo Vallota) and through these routes something came out about 
what was happening about (re?) Nascent Dominican anarchism.

Sorry, Moésio, the extreme synthesis about my libertarian experience of my 20 years 
"quisqueyanos" (the last lived in a kind of "urban commune" in Santiago de Los Caballero), 
but this is the maximum that at that moment I feel capable of express.

ANA> Any final message? Grazie , compa!

Massimo <  Greetings to Moésio and to every  ANA company . It often happens to me to know 
what happens in the movement in Italy through the ANA posts  , which I read in the 
precious and irreplaceable  Anarqlist!

Translation> Liberto

[1] http://www.arivista.org/riviste/Arivista/400/Documenti%20di%20pietra.pdf

anarchist-ana news agency

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Message: 4





In a context where feminism takes center stage in the social movement, we went to meet a 
non-mixed feminist collective, Emancipation, which for the past ten years has been 
fighting in Angers against all forms of discrimination and oppression. To celebrate these 
ten years, the collective had organized a festival of high holding. Meet. ---- Can you 
present your collective ? ---- The collective was created in 2008, at the initiative of 
members of the Sud Étudiant.es union of the college of letters and members of the 
Etincelle, self-directed militant place. A feminist collective had already existed at 
L'Étincelle, since 1997, called Émancipation. The name suited us well, so we took it back. 
The collective is part of materialist feminism, considering that one of the bases of the 
exploitation of women is economic, in particular by the appropriation of the labor force 
of these in the private sphere. In ten years of existence, our feminism has evolved and is 
inspired by the decolonial movement. In a culturally racist country, anti-white racism 
does not exist, if we are resolutely anti-capitalist, our feminism does not go without 
anti-racism and decolonial struggle. We like to define ourselves pro-choice feminists,

Why did you choose the non-mixed ?

The collective was mixed for about eight years, except for a few periods when no activist 
cisgender man[person whose gender felt corresponds to his sex of birth, Ed]was present, 
but not specially for wish. This did not prevent us from finding ourselves in selected 
non-mixed without cisgender man. After eight years, we wanted to experiment with total 
non-mix all the time ! We asked  ourselves the question, " what would we do if one day we 
ended up with more guys than girls in a meeting ?  That posed us a problem. So we made the 
decision of the non-mixed, and we took a liking ...

How has your collective evolved over these ten years ?

In ten years, our feminism has evolved, the political and social context too. Acquired 
rights are constantly being questioned, and physical, psychological and symbolic violence 
against women (cis or trans), trans people, racialized people, people with disabilities, 
non-heterosexuals, workers and sex workers and all those we forget, endure.

During these ten years, we learned to create a feminist solidarity, to question certain 
stereotypes imposed by the norm. Unfortunately, we are fully impregnated by this standard 
that we criticize. But we hope that these ten years of discussions, actions, concerts, 
demonstrations, meetings, we will have all benefited.

In the context where oppressive ideas are more uninhibited, we will still be there in ten 
years. But before leaving, a little party was needed for our birthday.

Can you tell us a bit about the festival you organized ?

 From May 17 to May 20, we organized our umpteenth Emancipation Festival (almost one each 
year for ten years) with a very busy program !

A gesticulated conference opened the festival, "  Margins of the universal  " of Aurélia 
Décorté Gonzalez. The room was full and could witness the crossing of French colonial 
history and institutional sexism, going from "  big  " history to "  little  " history.

Several workshops in non-mixed without cis dudes were proposed, such as screen printing or 
a workshop self-examination. The latter is a well-known tool in feminist events, to (re) 
individually or collectively discover the zone of the underside of the belt externally and 
/ or internally and in a trans-woman and cis women's non-mix. It's about reclaiming that 
part of our body, seeing what it looks like when we want it, redefining our own normalcy. 
It is also an opportunity to share the knowledge that we all have, without judgment, 
possibly learn to define our state of good health (the one in which we feel good), and 
thus, not to be so vulnerable in our relationship with medicine (see, know, question). He 
was animated by cis women,

In order not to exclude the youngest ones, the L'Echo des ourses company played its "  Max 
la rage  " show, for children of all ages. A snack that allowed them to discuss with the 
actresses. A projection area was also proposed, in which five films were available, people 
agreed to watch one or more films.

We also heard about a sacred party ...

Indeed a very musical evening was planned with different groups, Fluba (Ajazz / folk), 
Avale (punk / cold love), Moulax (downright electropop, a little hip-hop and a little 
punk) and finally the DJ WAKA (hip- hop / rap / afrobeat / afrofuturism) from Marseille 
especially for us ! Relaxed, crazy and swaying, the evening was an opportunity to 
celebrate ten years as it should !

And how did it all end ?

We ended up with a vegan brunch with no cisgender men, then a discussion around the theme 
"  Feminism at the crossroads of struggles  ". Organized in two stages, the discussion was 
an opportunity to discuss what feminism brings us or could bring us, then what are the 
obstacles to feminist struggles today.

Each person coming at a time of the festival also had the opportunity to make a 
radiomaton, a short moment to register around the topic of the discussion or the festival 
in general.

An exhibition on the Emancipation collective, from the very first collective in 1998 until 
today, was presented in the main play of the venue, to give a glimpse of local feminist 
history.

All the festival was free price so that the money is not a brake to participate. In total, 
more than a hundred people went on the festival. We thank again a thousand times all those 
who have agreed to come, have struggled for us. Exhausted but on a small cloud, we ended 
the weekend on a feeling of "  wahouuu, we put it back ?  "

To return to a more general framework, what are the current issues for the feminist 
movement for you ?

It seems essential to take into account the various oppressions. Feminist struggles must 
seize racist oppressions and classes and the specific oppression they engender. The 
concept of intersectionality perfectly covers these realities. Our own challenges are 
necessary to move towards a real change of mentalities.

Currently, the feminist movement must maintain its attack against sexist and sexual 
violence while remaining extremely vigilant in maintaining the rights already acquired, 
still under threat.

Which means of action would be most likely to move the lines according to you ?

"  The digital age  " offers massive movement possibilities, as we have seen this winter 
with #balancetonporc, #metoo, quite effective ! We are quite partisan of propaganda by the 
fact ! The representation of women in all spheres of public life is essential, just as 
feminist struggles must interfere everywhere, in our meetings, at home, in our couple, in 
our family, with our friends, at work, everywhere ! Remains to be found in the street, 
like the women in March 8 in Spain this year [1]. We must show our solidarity and the 
sorority that unites us.

Interviewed by Jon (AL Angers)

emaildiasporaFacebookprintertumblrtwitter
[1] See Libertarian Alternative of May 2018: "  Spain: How they managed the women's strike  "

http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Entretien-avec-Emancipation-un-collectif-feministe-d-Angers-Il-existe-autant-de

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Message: 5





On July 19, 1979 (43 years after the beginning of the Spanish Revolution against Franco's 
coup d'état) a revolution of clear popular content triumphed in Nicaragua. The 46-year 
dictatorship of the Somoza family, owners of Nicaragua and representatives of the United 
States, was thus ended. Since 1855, with the invasion of the "filibuster" Walker, 
Nicaragua has been an American enclave, a kind of semi-colony, a country "free" and 
"independent" only formally, where the control of the United States was total in all 
activities Nicaraguan ---- Sandino's feat with his "Rebel Army", whose main objective was 
to expel the US Marines put in check such presence between 1926 and 1933. The murder of 
Sandino at the hands of Anastasio Somoza, in a real ambush, betrayed, defeats the Rebel 
Army and triumph the most disgusting and vile reaction at the service of US imperialism.

However, the Nicaraguan people continued to resist. With small actions, even murdering 
Somoza, but unable to prevent his family from entering into a dynasty. The Somozas were 
owners of half of Nicaragua, literally. The rest of the country was in the hands of a 
languid bourgeoisie and Yankee interests. The Church, always faithful in alliance with the 
Somozas and the status quo.

The Popular Resistance was channeling to small guerrillas, until in 1961 the Sandinista 
National Liberation Front formed under the influence of the Cuban Revolution, and the 
prospect of evicting the Somoza dictatorship, finally wean the country and open a own 
transit towards Socialism. The incidence of the FSLN grew at the grassroots level: among 
university students were recruited, where many of its militants, organizing neighborhoods, 
peasants and social sectors.

This is how we arrive after a long stretch of combats, where the FSLN gains immense 
legitimacy among sectors of the people, to definitively defeat the dictatorship. A new 
period began in the life of the country, where peasant cooperatives were installed, 
experiences where collective property coexisted with small private property, organized and 
strengthened unions and other popular organizations ...

The "against" ...

But the United States did not accept the Sandinista Revolution. Logically His "backyard" 
was ruffled. There was a bad example, just when Central America was on fire with the rise 
of several guerrilla experiences on the rise, the same as Colombia.

En 1981 asume Ronald Reagan la Presidencia de Estados Unidos, furibundo "anticomunista". 
Dirige y organiza con su equipo de gobierno, la "contra" nicaragüense, es decir un 
ejército paramilitar, contraguerrillero, que hiciera las tareas de "guerra sucia" contra 
la Revolución Sandinista. Desde Honduras, histórica base en Centroamérica del imperialismo 
yanqui, las fuerzas de "la contra" invadían y atacaban Nicaragua, principalmente generando 
una guerra económica, arruinando cosechas, servicios públicos, pero también asesinando a 
hijos del pueblo para imponer el terror. Todo ello con el apoyo yanqui, que incluso quedó 
demostrado con el asunto "Irán -Contras", por el cual EEUU le vendía armas a Irán (¿no 
está en el "eje del mal"?) para financiar a la "contra". Una operación multimillonaria, 
ilegal, un negocio sucio para agredir al pueblo nicaragüense.

In those years '80 the Sandinista Revolution had made important progress: the literacy 
campaign -example in all Latin America-, the cooperatives, the formation of the militias 
to face the "against". In turn, the "provisional government" emerged in 1979, is 
transformed into a government where the FSLN stomps, leaving some degree of participation 
to sectors of the bourgeoisie that were part of the alliance to defeat Somoza. In 1984, in 
an unprecedented event, the Revolution carried out elections and President Daniel Ortega, 
who was already a member and was a relevant figure of the "revolutionary government", was 
elected.

In the struggle with the "against", dozens of Latin American fighters participated and 
fell, just as in the revolutionary process. The Nicaraguan was a revolution that attracted 
great support and Latin American solidarity. Companions from various political shops 
fought in the '70s and' 80s in Nicaragua, many fell there. A triumphant revolution was 
defended against the threat and aggression from the north and from the most stale of 
Nicaraguan society that tried to return to Somoza without Somoza.

But the main dangers were there: a bourgeoisie alive and kicking, with its media, much of 
their property intact because they were not Somoza, but sought a change of regime, a 
liberal democracy allied to the US, and also, the fact that Sandinismo has left alive and 
functioning, fundamental mechanisms and devices of the capitalist system: not just some 
private property. There was then that institution so valuable to the system, the elections 
within the framework of bourgeois "democracy". In this way, the Revolution was mortgaged. 
Among other things because if the FSLN lost the elections, the so-called revolution fell 
at a stroke. A mechanism, a captive network, of full control of the capitalist system.

And so it was, that's how it happened. In 1990, Violeta Chamorro wins the elections - with 
great support from the US - and puts an end to the ongoing Sandinista revolutionary 
experiment. The end of the armed conflict was negotiated with the "contra", which in the 
political events had triumphed. Part of the Sandinista military apparatus remained in the 
Nicaraguan Army, the FSLN became an electoral political party and began "La Piñata", that 
is, the disgusting distribution of the properties (several of them mansions and 
businesses) of former Somocistas. they passed into the hands of the Sandinista leaders. 
Some of this was already happening in the 80s, but from 1990 on the pretext that "others 
will take it" or "if we do not have wealth and power they will kill us",

There were several elections in which the FSLN was defeated in the 1990s. We saw how at 
the beginning of the 2000s the FSLN left the red and black flag and assumed the pink as 
its color, and like Daniel Ortega married by Church with Rosario Murillo, being Monsignor 
Ovando and Bravo who officiated the ceremony. Monsignor Ovando y Bravo, cardinal of 
Nicaragua, the highest expression of the "contra" in the 80s, now became a faithful ally 
of the current Sandinismo.

The Nicaragua of Ortega

Daniel Ortega was weaving alliances with former members and leaders of the "Contra" and 
the Catholic Church, adding them as "short-term allies" for the 2006 elections, but the 
truth is that they have been the sectors that have been at the base of the government of 
the Ortega couple - Murillo for 12 years.

It can not be denied: they have won elections consecutively. Without the classic frauds so 
common in Latin America until well into the twentieth century. But those electoral 
triumphs and the power that Ortega concentrates in their hands, arise from these turbulent 
alliances with the most reactionary sectors of Nicaragua and a strong alliance with the 
business community. Pure and hard policlasismo, "left" and right entreveradas, the real 
policy in extreme. But that has its consequences ... "Raise crows and they will tear out 
your eyes," says the popular saying. There is something of that.

It is undeniable that some reformist policy was made effective, that measures were taken 
to strengthen cooperative projects at the popular level, that the government has a 
supportable social base, which has raised the standard of living somewhat, although 
Nicaragua is still the second poorest country in Latin America. We can not fail to 
mention, though by the way, the role of the maquilas, the installation of hundreds of 
transnational factories in free zones and where the exploitation and health conditions of 
the workers is an infamous episode. But the concentration of power in the binomial Ortega 
-Murillo, which are already an active part of the capitalist system, and that various 
figures of the historical FSLN have moved away from that formation with diverse political 
positions, is also notorious.

But the events that have unfolded in recent months have strongly called attention to what 
was incubating in Nicaragua. A real volcano has exploded. Undoubtedly, the electoral 
victories of the FSLN could not hide for a long time the discontent of sectors of the 
population that was dragging along. Moreover, it explodes when the Ortega government 
affects pension and pensions with a clear antipopular measure. There are unleashed 
measures of struggle of students and various popular sectors.

Immediately two things happened: a fierce repression of the state police apparatus and the 
mobilizations of the bourgeoisie sectors. Quickly there are barricades and strong 
confrontations. Nothing different from what happened in the constant struggles of the 
Nicaraguan people. But what happens now, beyond all the disinformation that comes around 
the issue, is that the right next to the spectrum of penetration and imperial action 
ranging from "humanitarian", "democratic" Southern Command agencies to CIA agents without 
more, these mobilizations have been mounted to generate the possibility of removing Ortega 
from the government.

Anyway, at this point it is worth asking: if for more than a decade of Ortega's government 
there were no important confrontations with the right and the empire, if the US policy did 
not harass and used its usual techniques against this government when it did against other 
"progressive" governments. Because right now. Why the rupture of that certain romance with 
businessmen, Church and empire.

There are strategic geopolitical factors of Empire power that are weighing on the puzzle 
that involved the change of attitude. We have here the construction of the interoceanic 
canal with Chinese capital, linked to its strategy of economic-political expansion. Also 
the Russian electronic research station installed in Managua.

We must be precise and separate things: on the one hand, it is clear that the US seeks to 
weaken any Latin American government that does not align with its foreign policy. The US 
has been operating in Nicaragua for a long time in relation to the Ortega government, it 
is just that now this government is not useful and even has international lines that are 
not to their liking. It is also logical that the bourgeoisie and the landowners of the 
countryside mobilize against any lukewarm measure that favors the popular sectors. We have 
clear examples in our country; Recent

Before the attack of the right and the US, should we go out and defend this process? No. 
He has nothing to do with those below. Of course, the empire and the right come in bad 
faith against popular interests and for the removal of those lukewarm reforms, which meant 
support for "progressive" governments and with it the containment that the system needed 
at such a juncture. It no longer tolerates redistributive governments of "capitalism with 
a human face". Consider that the stage of more danger is over. Maybe another Ortega wants 
to make the errands of the IMF, the empire and the right in general faster. That does not 
work so much for itself. There is no popular cause at stake in this dilemma.

There are no half-measures or political hypocrisies here. Neither those "tactics" to cover 
infamy and atrocities because it is considered that this government has a distant left 
past. This government is totally identified with capitalism and its neoliberal line. It 
exerts a brutal dictatorship, tortures, assassinates and people from the town disappear in 
struggle. People from those working and highly impoverished neighborhoods that say enough! 
Militants dedicated to the cause of the Sandinista Revolution, who fought on all fronts 
and risked their lives for it today are anguished by what happens and that is the total 
denial of what they fought for.

The struggle linked to the true popular interests, of those below, is on the other side, 
in another way. The independent Nicaraguan people aspire to a better life, fight against 
all measures and injustices wherever they come, like all peoples.

No matter how much the cards are interwoven in this conflict, the anarchists of FAU have 
always promoted the construction of Popular Power outside and against the State and all 
the systemic devices that sustain it, outside the bourgeois electoral logics, because 
there is no dispute power, but there is inserted and is traded with real power. By these 
means no government, no social - political process is going to build Socialism nor will it 
overthrow Capitalism.

Therefore, the alternative of the underdog, is the struggle, is building a strong Pueblo 
in a process towards genuine popular power. And there is no other. These are interspersed, 
confusing moments, where spaces for the consequent anti-capitalist action also arise. With 
strategy and tactics that sink their hands in the processes and present conjunctures, but 
with a social perspective of profound change ahead. People have sought and seek 
alternatives for change at the cruel situation in which they live, but when they choose 
under the influence of known forever, the way the polls entire future is dead.

With the people of Nicaragua and their self-determination.

For a process consistent with the change of social relations. Where the people are 
deciding their future in the fight every day.

Up those who fight!

http://federacionanarquistauruguaya.uy/declaracion-de-la-federacion-anarquista-uruguaya-acerca-de-los-sucesos-en-nicaragua/

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Message: 6





In the afternoon of August 8 in the context of # 8A for the legalization of abortion and 
the struggle of the comrades of Argentina, revolutionary militants, feminist groups, youth 
and women in pursuit of community organization and the territory in the town from 
Juchitán, Oaxaca, made a solidarity mobilization through the streets of the city as a sign 
of affection and sorrow with this cause. ---- Although there were signs of hatred and 
conservatism in social networks since the regional and public call for the march was 
opened, the protest was conducted in a peaceful and inclusive environment with the 
participation of both men and women. ---- In addition to the slogan pro-abortion, the 
compañeras enunciated different slogans against the wave of femicides in Juchitán and 
encouraging community organization in this territory due to the excessive increase of the 
wind, mining, illicit concessions on communal land, and in special, multi-million dollar 
implementation of the EEZs (Special Economic Zones) that have led to the social division 
both in the municipal seat and in the indigenous communities that are the main affected.

http://rupturacolectiva.com/por-el-derecho-al-aborto-al-territorio-y-al-autogobierno-marchan-mujeres-y-jovenes-juchitecas-en-solidaridad-con-el-8a-en-argentina/

------------------------------

Message: 7






Since October 2017, nine people have arrested as part of "The Network" case, which has 
seen Russian anti-fascists and anarchists in St Petersburg and Penza detained on terrorism 
charges. According to Federal Security Service (FSB) investigators, all the arrested men 
were members of an organisation that planned to provoke the "popular masses for further 
destabilisation of the political climate in the country" during the Russian presidential 
elections and FIFA World Cup. Cells of the organisation were allegedly operating in 
Moscow, St Petersburg, Penza and Belarus. ---- But as has become clear, this case has a 
history that goes back to spring 2017. Sofiko Aridzhanova, a Moscow-based journalist and 
anarchist, recently revealed that FSB officers informally interrogated her in February 
last year. And on 23 May 2018, Viktoria Frolova, a friend of the suspects in Penza, was 
detained at the Russian-Ukrainian border. Frolova was forced to give a testimony against 
her acquaintances from Penza. Prior to that, Frolova's boyfriend Alexey Poltavets told 
OVD-Info how he was arrested, beaten up and tortured by FSB officers in Penza. According 
to Poltavets, he is referred to as "Boris" in the FSB's case files for the "Network" case.

Here, he tells how he was detained and tortured in March 2017.

About me

My name is Alexey Poltavets, I was born in Omsk. In terms of my beliefs, I am an 
anarchist, anti-fascist and vegetarian; I am against the current government of the Russian 
Federation.

In Omsk, I took part in animal rights events - film screenings and rallies. In 2014, I was 
an active supporter of the Maidan protesters in Kyiv, I was speaking out against the 
annexation of Crimea and the incursions of the Russian army into Ukrainian territory. I 
attended rallies organised by the local authorities to "celebrate the return of Crimea" 
with a Ukrainian flag and yellow and blue balloons. This is how I tried to troll the 
participants of these events. As a result, I was threatened and on time policemen, 
including agents from Centre "E"[Centre for Countering Extremism], tried to detain me, but 
I managed to escape.

In 2016, after another quarrel with my parents caused by our political differences, I 
decided to leave and move to St Petersburg, to join my friend Viktor Filinkov. I met 
Filinkov through my brother (they were course mates at university) in Omsk in 2014. We 
became friends because of our shared beliefs. Together with Viktor, we attended many 
opposition events, including against the annexation of Crimea and the war in Eastern 
Ukraine, as well as animal rights events. In 2016, Filinkov left for St Petersburg and got 
a job there, but we stayed in touch.
How it all began

On my way from Omsk to St Petersburg, I decided to stay with some friends in Penza - 
Filinkov had some temporary troubles with money and accommodation. I arrived in Penza in 
December 2016. I was 16 years old then. My friends helped me to find a job and a place to 
live. I was hanging out with local political activists, anti-fascists and anarchists. I 
knew Egor Zorin, Dmitry Pchelintsev[suspects in the "Network" case], Maxim Ivankin, 
Mikhail Kulkov and other local activists. We were playing Airsoft together and walking in 
the forest - collecting rubbish, sitting around the fire.

Around the end of February or the beginning of March 2017, Zorin was detained. An 
acquaintance invited him over, and then during that meeting he, according to Zorin, 
constantly left to make some calls. After one of the calls, a group of men stormed into 
the flat, they introduced themselves as FSB agents, a typical "maski-show"[a raid by 
masked security agents]followed. They found some weed in the flat and started putting 
pressure on Zorin, claiming that the drugs belonged to him. They told him that his 
acquaintances who were in the flat had already started giving evidence against him. Then 
they offered him a "solution": to cooperate with the FSB and follow their orders, collect 
information for them and pass it on to them in a timely fashion. The agents were asking 
about Islamic terrorists, and were saying that there were recruiters at the 
university[Penza State University], where Zorin was studying. They explained that if he 
agreed to cooperate, they would close down their investigation into drugs in the flat, but 
if he refused - they would lock him up on a maximum sentence. Zorin agreed, signed 
necessary documents and then was released.

Next day, he met his friends and told them what happened. It was obvious from how he 
looked that he was scared and didn't know what to do. A week later Zorin said that the FSB 
agents had another conversation with him: they met him next to his apartment block and put 
him in a car. An agent was asking questions about left-wing activism and also asked 
whether Zorin knew any activists. Three weeks later I was arrested.
Arrest

At 10pm, 30 March 2017, I and two of my acquaintances - Mikhail Kulkov and Maxim Ivankin - 
were walking to my place after a gathering at Kulkov's place. My comrades decided to walk 
me home, I'm from another city.

A grey VAZ-2115 police car approached us, five men jumped out of it - some in plain 
clothes, some in uniforms. I didn't even have time to ask why I was being detained before 
my hands were behind my back in handcuffs. The men in police uniform were shouting "Give 
me your fucking hands, give me your hands, bitch" while a man in plain clothes was 
overseeing the whole process. The men in uniform put me facing the car and shouted "Give 
us your fucking full name, quickly". Then one of them hit me on the head and I hit my face 
against the car. I gave them my name, patronymic and surname. One of the men in uniform 
started searching me, took my money and passport and put them on the top of the car. When 
he didn't find anything else, he put the things back into my pocket. After that, the same 
man pressed my head against the car and didn't allow me to turn it. Another man in uniform 
(a FSB agent named Ilya, as I learned later) was searching Kulkov's and Ivankin's 
backpacks just where we weren't allowed to look. Whenever I tried to turn my head to see 
what the men in plain clothes were doing or asked "Why am I being detained", I was hit 
with a fist in the kidneys area. A few minutes later Ilya (the FSB agent) shouted: "There 
are drugs here!"

The FSB agent Ilya figured out what was in the bag without opening it, and said: "That's 
it, guys, you're done."

At that point, a white Ford minibus with blue plates arrived, four men got out of it, they 
were dressed in tactical clothes, they were wearing caps and masks, and there was one more 
agent in plain clothes. The agent who was holding me turned me to face Ilya. The latter 
was sitting next to a pile of stuff he'd taken out of the backpacks, he was holding a 
transparent bag with some sort of roll of stuff inside it. The FSB agent Ilya figured out 
what was in the bag without opening it and said: "That's it, guys, you're done." We 
instantly replied that the bag had been planted. In response, they started hitting us.

We were taken to the minibus, one of the agents set down next to me. He took me by my neck 
and pressed my head against the seat in front of us, and then hit me several times on the 
back of my head. I asked: "What did I do? Why have I been detained?". But in response I 
only received more punches on my head and my face, after which the agent said: "I'm the 
one who asks questions here, do you understand?" Then he hit me on the face with his palm 
once again. I replied: "Understood."
Torture

We drove to a police or FSB station. I didn't have time to read what was written on the 
plaque at the entrance. While they were bringing us there, the agents threatened that we 
would now be beaten up, and we would say whatever they tell us to say.

I was brought into an office that had a door that led to another office. They put me into 
the "one and a half" position next to this door. This is when you have to stand with your 
legs half-bent, as if one is sitting but without a chair. It is very difficult to stand in 
this position for a long time. Apart from me, there were two agents in plain clothes in 
the room. They made sure that I could not stand in a normal position. This was around 
midnight. An agent called Mikhail entered the room. He approached me and, while turning me 
around, said "Well, hello!" and then punched me in the upper part of the stomach. I bent 
down, and was trying to restore my breathing, while he said: "Take it easy, I'm just 
warming up."

Mikhail took me into the office behind the door. Ilya was already there. Mikhail took the 
passport and money from my pocket (later they returned my passport, but kept the money). 
Then he took off my handcuffs and told me to strip naked and do 20 squats. While I was 
doing the exercises, Mikhail checked my clothes. After that, I put my clothes back on and 
they again locked the handcuffs tightly behind my back. Agent Ilya said: "So, you do 
understand why you were arrested, don't you?" I replied: "No." The agents started 
laughing. And Ilya told me: "It is really funny how you always pretend that you have no 
fucking idea, but after we beat the shit out of you, you immediately begin to understand." 
Mikhail punched me a few more times in the stomach and, holding me by the hair, said:

"You understand that it is not by accident that we found drugs on you. Now you sign a 
testimony against your anarchist mates, then repeat it to an investigator, and we let you 
go, you will be a witness. If you don't, you will get a maximum sentence, and I will make 
sure you have a good time in the detention centre, they love young boys like you there."

I replied that I was not going to sign anything.

Mikhail was still holding me by the hair. Ilya stood up, approached me and punched me 
several times in the upper stomach. Mikhail let my hair go and pushed me, I felt on the 
ground. Ilya said: "Wrong answer, we are asking you nicely. Your friends are going to 
prison no matter what you say, the only question is whether you are going to join them." I 
coughed and tried to stand up, the same agent put a chair next to me and said: "Sit down." 
I sat down and replied: "I have already told you that I am not going to sign anything." 
Mikhail kicked me in the chest with his leg (the kick was more like a push than a kick) 
and I fell backwards together with the chair. He said: "Ok, this means you will get a full 
term together with them, right now your friends are ratting you out next door, while 
you're protecting them here. If you don't want to lose your health in this room - you will 
have to answer our questions." Then the agent picked up the chair and I sat down again.

They threatened and pressured me a lot, they threatened to rape me with a broom. This went 
on the whole night

Next, they threatened and pressured me a lot, they threatened to rape me with a broom. 
This went on the whole night. Sometimes an agent named Nikolay entered and also humiliated 
me. Nikolay would wring my arms behind my back, which was extremely painful, and it seemed 
as if he was going to break my arms, he was also pulling my hair, screwing my ear up in a 
ball. Whenever I fell and was lying on my back, he put his foot on my genitals and was 
pressing stronger and stronger. I felt unbearable pain, which lasted for a long time 
afterwards. Nikolay threatened to hang me up and to send me in to people who would rape me.

After threatening me, the agents began to ask when I came to Penza, why, what I was doing, 
how I met others who were arrested, and other things that concerned me. I replied to those 
questions. Sometimes the agents took breaks and ate and drank - during those intervals I 
was put back to the wall in the "one and a half" position. When I could not stand like 
that anymore and tried to stand normally, an agent would come and hit me with his palm in 
the stomach, and was threatening to hang me up. After that, I stood back in the "one and a 
half" position.

I held this position until evening. Then they brought me to the office and sat me down on 
a chair. There were three agents in the room: Mikhail, Ilya and Nikolay. They asked me: 
"So, have you changed your mind?" I replied: "No." Ilya sat down in front of me and said: 
"Your friends have already testified against you. What happened to you earlier was the 
best thing that could have happened. I have broken many people like you with these very 
hands." It was clear that he was proud of himself. Nikolay stood behind me, he placed the 
backrest of the chair between my back and my hands, so I couldn't get up or move. Nikolay 
took an old thick plastic bag out of the cabinet, the sides of it were rolled down, he 
rolled them once more and placed it on my head, without tying it. They repeated all 
questions again, I didn't answer.

At that point, I got really scared, I feared for my life and was afraid that I wouldn't 
leave that room alive if I didn't do what the agents wanted. Nikolay tied the bag from 
behind, and I began to suffocate and jerk. The chair began to tilt, but Ilya pressed it 
down, while Nikolay pressed me against the back of the chair. Nikolay took off the bag 
from my head, I started coughing, some saliva dropped on the floor, which made Ilya angry 
and he hit me, saying something about me making their floor dirty. Ilya repeated the 
questions, I repeated that I was not going to say or sign anything. After that, Nikolay 
put the bag back and tied it, but this time he hold it for longer than the first time.

This time I was suffocating much more seriously: the first time I tried to hold my breath 
and keep calm before they tied the bag, as if I was diving, but I soon ran out of air and 
started panicking

I was experiencing an overwhelming sense of fear, I was suffocating and could not do 
anything. I felt like doing anything they would tell[me to do]to get a gasp of air.

This time I was suffocating much more seriously: the first time I tried to hold my breath 
and keep calm before they tied the bag, as if I was diving, but I soon ran out of air and 
started panicking. When they took the bag off, I started coughing and said: "Stop it, stop 
torturing me." In response, they put the bag back on, while I didn't even have time to 
cough after the previous time. The third time, Nikolay held the bag on even longer. After 
he took the bag off, I was asked again whether I was going to sign a evidence statement 
and an agreement to cooperate. I replied: "Stop torturing me. You are twice as old as I 
am, I am in handcuffs, how can you do this?" They replied: "There is no other way with 
you" - and put the bag back on. I experienced an unbearable lack of oxygen, panic and fear.

They repeated these "procedures" five or seven times more, after that they took the bag 
off for a few seconds and put it on again, and hold it even longer, as a result I almost 
urinated on myself. Afterwards, Nikolay took off the bag, all agents were very angry, they 
repeated the question, I didn't reply. After that, Mikhail who was sitting all the time 
and observing the torture said: "We'll get the soldering iron and you will agree to 
everything" - and Ilya started looking for a soldering iron in the office. Mikhail opened 
the door to the office nearby and shouted: "Bring me the soldering iron", and then left 
the room himself. At that point Nikolay said: "I will now take this broom and shove it in 
your asshole, and you will agree to everything, you won't want to live after that. Do you 
want that?" I said: "No, I don't." At this moment, Mikhail returned, asked Nikolay to come 
with him, and they left the office and were discussing something, but I could not hear 
what exactly. Afterwards, Mikhail came in and said: "You have been lucky so far that your 
friends turned out to be more cooperative, but later you will pay for your behaviour here."

Then they told me that they would let me go if I sign a pledge not to leave the city and 
that if I discussed what happened there - they would torture me again. The FSB agents 
promised to pick me up again on Monday. They brought me into the office where I was before 
and put me back into the "one and a half" position. It was late and the agents told me 
that they hadn't slept for three days, and that they were going to bed now, and would 
continue to deal with us in the morning. The whole night I held the "one and a half" 
position next to the wall. During this time, two agents watched a film, eating and making 
sure that I couldn't stand normally. But this time the agents were not so aggressive when 
I tried to stand in a normal pose. They allowed me to go to the toilet once, and there 
they were also with me.

In the morning, Nikolay, Mikhail and Ilya came back. They said that now I was going to 
answer the questions, some of which I had already answered. These were questions about me: 
what I was doing, why I came to the city, when, where I was going. But this time it was 
necessary to sign them with the investigator. They told me that I would be released 
together with Ivankin, since he testified against Kulkov, and Kulkov had taken the guilt 
on himself. They said that since I was from Omsk, I would live at Ivankin's place. To 
avoid torture, I agreed. The agents wrote down my answers on a piece of paper. I asked: 
"What is going to happen to Kulkov?"They replied that they would put him under house 
arrest. Then they led me out of the building and put in a car, where there were three more 
agents, I didn't know one of them, his name was Andrey.

"You have been lucky so far that your friends turned out to be more cooperative, but later 
you will pay for your behaviour here."

On our way, we stopped next to a bridge, rail trucks and a forest. I was told that we had 
to make a photo where I point to a particular spot on the ground. I said that I was not 
going to get photographed and they started hitting me on the back of my head, back and the 
whole body, as well as threatening me. They told me that they would bring me back to the 
department, where I would be raped and tortured. Then I complied since I understood that 
the FSB agents could indeed do that. We left the car, another car stopped behind ours, and 
three girls came out of it. One of them, I thought, was a police officer, while two others 
were there just to stand next to me while they photographed us. They took off the 
handcuffs and told me to point first to one column of the bridge and then to another and 
then at an empty piece of land between the columns. I did that. Then they put the 
handcuffs back and drove me again.

When we arrived at another department, they unlocked the handcuffs and brought me to an 
office, a woman in police uniform was inside. She told me to sit down on a chair, I did 
that, and then she asked one agent to stay with me. Mikhail stayed. She offered me water. 
This was the first sip of water in one and a half days. Before that I was not allowed to 
sit (apart from the time when they were putting the bag on my head), to drink, not to 
mention, to eat. She offered me a chocolate bar. The door into the hall was open, and I 
saw how Kulkov and Ivankin were led by the office. I asked whether I could share the 
chocolate with my friends, and the officer (as I learned, her name was Ekaterina) said: 
"Eat." I ate a half of it, and asked to give the second half to my friends, but nobody 
bothered to do that.

After that, she gave me a phone and told me to call my parents, which I did. Ekaterina 
told my mom that I was detained and that she would now allow us to talk. I asked my mom to 
find a lawyer for me, because I didn't have one, and that I was not guilty. Ekaterina 
immediately demanded that we ended the conversation. Agent Mikhail said: "How is that we 
are not giving you a lawyer, you refused yourself." I replied that I asked for a lawyer, 
but was refused. Mikhail gave Ekaterina the paper with my answers. She started typing what 
was written on it, sometimes asking questions about details. When she finished with my 
answers, she printed them out, and said that she was going to compare them with the 
answers of others. Then she returned and said that almost everything coincided. She gave 
me the papers with my answers and told me that if I sign them and then another paper (a 
pledge not to leave the city), I would be released.

Mikhail said: "Well do you want to drive again to us and then go to the SIZO, instead of 
home?" I said no and signed the papers. After that, they returned my passport and said: 
"Well done, now sit down and wait while Ivankin is interrogated and his testimony is 
printed, then we will take you home. You will sit at home, not a step outside, 
understood?" I said: "Understood." Around two hours passed and then Nikolay entered the 
room and said that it was time to bring me and Ivankin home. Nikolay and Andrey led me and 
Ivankin out of the department and put us in the same car, in which I was driven there. 
They brought us to Ivankin's place around 8pm, the agents explained to his parents that I 
was from Omsk and that I would be living with them for now. They promised to come for me 
on Monday[3 April 2017].
After detention

Later, Ivankin and I discussed what happened at the FSB. Ivankin told me that at the FSB, 
he and Kulkov had agreed that Ivankin would testify against Kulkov and Kulkov would 
confess - to stop the violence of the agents. They were not tortured with the bag, but 
were beaten up, threatened with a soldering iron, and made stand in the "one and a half" 
position. We decided that it was not safe to stay and that there was a direct threat to 
our lives from the FSB agents. We feared that the violence and torture would continue. We 
got in touch with Kulkov and told him that we were planning to escape, and he replied that 
he was going to run away too. Since we were not allowed to sit, drink, eat and sleep for 
almost two days, we went to bed. Next day, 2 April 2017, we left the house. Before 
leaving, I called my girlfriend Vika and told her what had happened. We decided that she 
would also leave Penza as soon as possible.

Since then I have not seen either Ivankin or Kulkov. I was afraid of getting in touch with 
human rights defenders since I thought that I would be placed in a detention centre where 
they would not be able to help me, and where I would be forced to testify against myself 
under torture. Later, it turned out that my fears were not groundless: exactly that - 
torture and detention - happened to my friends from Penza and Petersburg.

After we left the house where we were obliged to stay according to our pledges not to 
leave, I decided to go to the city N to my acquaintances. I hitchhiked there, told my 
friends what happened to me and they offered me to stay with them until the situation 
became clearer. Now I am incredibly grateful to these people and realise that they 
literally saved my life. Then I got in touch with my parents. According to my parents, FSB 
agents visited them and were asking whether they knew where I was and how to get in touch 
with me.

Understanding that the agents were looking for me, but also that I had to make a living 
somehow, I started looking for a job that would be possible without any papers. I found 
such job at a construction site, I just talked to the foreman of one the brigades. Then 
when they started to work on the external surface of a house, the site needed industrial 
climbers and people who would be able to work at heights, and since I used to do climbing 
and understood how everything worked, they took me on board. I lived like this for a few 
months, I would go home immediately after work, and tried to avoid public areas.

All that time, I was thinking how to leave Russia, understanding that "staying" was a 
direct threat to my life and health. I was considering any options of reaching a country 
where I could ask for an asylum, and Ukraine was my priority.
Ukraine

When I got an opportunity to move to Ukraine illegally, I used it and reached Kyiv. I was 
afraid to go to the migration service, since I heard that there were some cases when 
unknown people had abducted asylum seekers from the Russian Federation and bringing them 
back to Russia. In Kyiv, I found a job as an industrial climber and insulating houses, but 
there was no work in winter, and I worked as a delivery driver for a vegetarian cafe instead.

In autumn 2017, I learned that my friends had been arrested in Penza. A month earlier 
Victoria had got her foreign passport and joined me. Since then we have been living in 
Ukraine. Before her detention in May 2018, Viktoria already returned to Penza once. Then 
she did not have any problems at the border. This time she was brought for an 
interrogation to FSB, where an investigator, Tokarev, asked many questions about me and 
asked her to pass on his "greetings". He threatened that they have "their own people" in 
Ukraine and that they would take me illegally to Russia and put in prison.

I also learned that FSB agents mentioned the nicknames of the arrested, including my 
nickname, "Boris". In one article somebody made a mistake and wrote that Kulkov is 
"Boris". I would like to correct this: "Boris" is me. I was nicknamed "Cat Boris" or 
simply "Boris" because I love cats very much, and I had a cat, and once while I was 
playing with it, there was an advertisement of cat food on TV that mentioned a cat called 
Boris, and a female friend called me "Cat Boris" as a joke, and then everyone started 
addressing me that way.

I read in the media that FSB agents have threatened to get to Aleksandra, Viktor 
Filinkov's wife, who has very recently left Kyiv for Finland and applied for an asylum 
there. I also read that there were cases when some unknown people abducted asylum seekers 
from Russia and brought them back to the country. After that, I began to fear for my life 
and health, and I am afraid that I can be returned to Russia, where I will be tortured 
again and most probably put in prison. Therefore, I would like to get asylum in another 
safer counter. During this time, my health has significantly deteriorated, especially my 
moral and psychological state, I have developed a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 
which has been confirmed by a psychologist.

I realised that there was a danger of being extradited secretly here, but still made a 
decision to apply for an asylum in Ukraine. I am waiting for the authorities' decision 
now. Currently, I am living in Ukraine legally.

Source: 
https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/ovd-info/anti-fascist-torture-russia-alexey-poltavets

https://pramen.io/en/2018/08/anti-fascist-teenager-reveals-how-russian-security-services-brutally-beat-and-tortured-him/

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