Anarchic update news all over the world - 28.08.2019

Today's Topics:

  
 1.  France, Union Communiste Libertaire - Freedom for Antonin,
      now ! (fr, it, pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
2.  Uruguay, "At this Congress in Montevideo militants and
      academics were together" By ANA (pt) [machine translation]
      (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
3.  freedom news: Poland: court orders investigation into police
      torture of anarchists (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
4.  Russia, avtonom: Lecture "Anarchism in China" (announcement)
      [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
5.  Russia, avtonom: Lecture "Autonomy": "Is anti-authoritarian
      socialism of the 19th century relevant for our time?" [machine
      translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
6.  asr anarshism: The Age of Anarchism: Talk of the Day - Let
      's not limit the protests to the finer presence in Finland,
      Sweden, Norway and France [machine translation] 
     (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)




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Message: 1






In prison since April 18, Antonin Bernanos, anti-fascist militant, was to be released on 
August 18. On appeal from the Paris prosecutor's office, his detention was extended for 
four months on 12 August. Antonin must be released and right now ! ---- What is he blamed 
for ? A fight with members of the " Zouaves " Paris, a ultra-violent fascist group. 
Antonin denies having participated. ---- The judicial harassment that he undergoes, as 
anti-fascist militant, is out of proportion to the tolerance systematically enjoyed by 
justice the thugs and murderers of the extreme right. ---- Antonin is in prison today when 
Esteban Morillo and Samuel Dufour, the murderers of Clement Meric, have already been 
released despite heavy sentences. At the same time, the French state threatens extradition 
Vincenzo Vecchi to Italy where he is sentenced to prison in particular for participating 
in an anti-fascist demonstration in 2006.

We categorically refuse to refer anti-fascist activists back to the extreme right-wing 
parties and bands.

To be antifascist is to fight for a world free from hatred, exclusions and 
discriminations, to be of extreme right is to promote a society based on violence and 
inequalities.

The Libertarian Communist Union supports and unreservedly supports all anti-fascist 
activists: freedom for Antonin, now !

We assure his loved ones of our full solidarity as well as the collective " Let's liberate 
it ".

Libertarian Communist Union, August 21, 2019

http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Liberte-pour-Antonin-maintenant

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Message: 2






Hundreds of people from different countries attended the "2nd International Congress of 
Researchers on Anarchism (s)", which took place in Montevideo, at the Faculty of 
Humanities and Sciences of the Education of the Republic Uruguay, from 11 to 13. July 
2019. ANA conducted a micro-interview with one of the participants, the anarchist Taiguara 
Lima. Check it out below. ---- Anarchist News Agency> So, in general, was it worth 
attending the "2nd International Congress of Researchers on Anarchism (s)"? ---- Taiguara 
Lima < I was not at the 1st International Congress of Researchers on Anarchism (s) so I do 
not make comparisons and consider only the 2nd Congress. ---- The organization of the 
event was excellent. The professional reception of the hosts left nothing to be desired. 
The Faculty of Humanities and Sciences of Education of the University of the Republic of 
Uruguay, where the event took place, welcomed this great event with charm and disposition 
with a determined and available team for the realization and smooth running of the entire 
event. Personally I received a kind treatment, either for technical or personal matters.

Highlight: reception of theatrical, cinematic and musical works in its programming with 
the value they deserve. Just as important and noteworthy is the decision to receive 
academic and self-taught (non-academic) investigations, which stood side by side 
reaffirming anarchy, anarchist education and libertarian pedagogy at its best: the free 
production and expression of knowledge. in its various forms. Extra aspect Congress was 
the good reception of the Uruguayan people to us Brazilians.

ANA> Was the public participation big?

Taiguara < The Congress had 28 tables, 16 presentations / book launches, 2 courses, 
theater, film screenings, debates... I imagine they were registered and participating 
directly, with some kind of work in the lines mentioned above, something more than 100 
people. The absences were negligible and little felt.

I think the meeting must have had at least 500 people including presenters and 
participants as listeners / spectators over the 3 days of the event.

The audience was quite varied, young and adults mostly. However, older references from the 
anarchist movement and anarchist scholars were felt. I can't precise the composition of 
the audience.

ANA> Many Brazilians were present at the Congress?

Taiguara < Yes, there were many. This "delegation", after Uruguay itself, was the most 
numerous. Apparently everyone had presentations, courses, book launches.

In this Brazilian case, all were students or workers in education. However, several 
self-taught researchers and scholars from Latin America and Europe participated: Mexico, 
Chile, Argentina, Italy, France, Spain.

ANA> And your participation, how was it?

Taiguara <I presented preliminary results of an investigation into the role of anarchists 
in the end of the dictatorship, transition and the realization of redemocratization in 
Brazil related to the same process in the Iberian Peninsula. I also signed up as a 
listener and followed many of the presentations, film screenings, and even theater and 
music within the event.

ANA> In your travels, do you notice a growing interest in anarchist ideas and practices?

Taiguara < At or outside the university there is as much (minority) interest as repulsion 
(expressive and originated mainly from the left, right and extreme right groupings) and 
still ignorance (majority) by anarchist ideas, culture, practice. However, I do not think 
that any of these are growing. Perhaps, however, when some anarchists are in universities, 
then we have succeeded in our work with events such as this and others that have taken 
place in Brazil annually. This gives some visibility. Other moments occurred with similar 
characteristics in the 80's and 90's. Always performed individually and inarticulate. As 
follows.

So now there is an academically positive moment again. However, there is a gap between 
theory and practice, universities and anarchist organizations, which feeds a false 
dichotomy between them. These two, in my view, are distinct and potent elements 
individually, but they lack each other, while amplifying as they add to their experiences, 
practices, and renew their plans. It is not about unifying, but about dialogue and joint 
projects when possible. Often made unfeasible by the intransigence to receive or the 
overlap of individual interest to social...

ANA> Any finishing touches? Thanks!

Taiguara < In this Congress in Montevideo were militants and academics together, the arts 
were welcomed with the dignity of stature of its importance and contribution to anarchism. 
In this case the 3rd Congress need only broaden and diversify this artistic participation.

Experiences, practices, preliminary results of investigators, announcements of ongoing 
projects, publication of books by university students and / or collectives, presentation 
of academic and collective journals, journals that oxygenate anarchist life and culture, 
bringing striking and libertarian counterinformation.

In my view, the next Congress should keep open the participation of militants and 
self-taught people who have something to contribute, either through experience or 
practice. I also think it is necessary to have a table or two, or rounds of conversation 
about macro or general issues that provide urgent business.

I congratulate and thank the organizers of the International Congress of Researchers on 
Anarchism (s).

Related Content:

https://noticiasanarquistas.noblogs.org/post/2019/07/06/uruguai-saiu-a-programcao-do-investigador-internacional-congress-xx-sobre-anarquismos/

anarchist news agency-ana

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Message: 3






CW: torture, police brutality ---- A court in Warsaw heard an appeal against the 
prosecutor's decision to discontinue the investigation regarding two police officers 
suspected of abuse of power, mistreatment and inhuman treatment of three anarchists 
following their arrest in May 2016. The court ruled that the case, previously dropped 
twice by the prosecution, must be investigated. ---- The Warsaw Three arrest took place on 
23rd May 2016, during their attempt to set two police cars on fire. They were caught 
red-handed by numerous police forces, including anti-terrorists. The day after, the police 
called a press conference, during which they informed of the arrest of a "three 
individuals involved in the anarchist movement" and accused them of "possession of 
explosives and preparing an attack on a police station". Moreover, the cops claimed that 
the surveillance of the anarchist movement is a long term project and that the arrests 
were a result of "operational information" gathered. That "operational information" has 
never been disclosed, despite of enquiries from the defendants' legal team.

Conveniently, the arrest and the press conference took place during the government 
introduction of a new anti-terrorism legislation. The controversial law was described by 
the Amnesty International as "violating the rights to liberty, privacy, expression, 
association, peaceful assembly, and non-discrimination".

After the police press conference, the media rather dramatically reported that the act of 
the three anarchists is "the beginning of terror", and a general media shitstorm begun, 
with reports on "anarchist terrorists" who tried to blow up a police station hitting the 
headlines. This atmosphere was further fuelled by the prosecution claiming that they 
intend to charge the three with possession of explosives and endangering human life: the 
crimes for which they could face up to ten years imprisonment. In result, the Warsaw Three 
were detained awaiting trial for four months. Classified as "dangerous", they were placed 
in solitary confinement, with their correspondence and contact with loved ones severely 
limited. They were escorted to court to hear the bad news by heavily armed, masked 
anti-terrorist squad.

Following the arrests, the prosecutor maintained that the anarchists must be kept in 
custody due to the seriousness of charges. It took six months and several expert opinions 
to conclude that what actually happened in May 2016 was merely three people attempting to 
set some cop cars on fire with gasoline, and not an act of terror. The Warsaw three were 
finally charged with attempted vandalism, for which in June 2017 they were sentenced to 
three months in prison, two years of community service of 30 hours a month, and 300 Polish 
Zloty (approx £60) fine each. They were also eligible to pay the court costs.

Torture during detention
While the media were focusing on the Warsaw's three act itself, little attention was given 
to the circumstances of their arrest and detention. Beating, pepper spraying, threatening 
with dogs, repeated electric shock were just some of the activities the police engaged in. 
During the first court hearing, one of the arrestees appeared with his face savagely 
beaten, or ‘massacred', as described by witnesses.

The arrested anarchists did not make a formal complaint during their detention, however, 
they gave their account on the day of their first trial and following their release. The 
Wawa3 support group, which organised a solidarity campaign with the detainees, published 
several statements at their website in which the three described their experience.

This is how one of them remembers his arrest:

"(...) one of them[the cops]leaned over and sprayed gas into my eyes, shouting "You cunt". 
I was beaten on the face. I tried to protect my head. Then another policeman pressed me to 
the ground with his knee, held my head against the ground with one hand and beat me with 
the other. (...) A person subjected to electric shock screams in a very particular way, 
quickly reaching a certain frequency, and stays on it. You can't do anything about it, 
it's a reflex. So I screamed and I heard the others scream that same way. The police 
didn't like us making so much noise, so they took me to the van. I lay on the floor, 
handcuffed and he[a police officer]hit me with a teaser or a stun gun around the heart and 
then the crotch (...) He covered my mouth with his hand so that I couldn't scream. He 
promised to me that if anything happens to any of the officers, they will find a way so we 
don't get out of it alive. (...)

Another reported:

"Crouching beside one of the cars in the police parking lot, I heard a noise and a patter 
of heavy shoes. I got up and after a few seconds I was knocked down by five, maybe six 
policemen (...). I was kicked and beaten all over my body. My pockets were searched and my 
hands were clasped with plastic clamps on my back. I was asked questions: "Who told you to 
do this?", "What is in the containers?". I didn't answer any of the questions, which 
resulted in even heavier beatings. At one point, police said that kicking the crotch, 
beating with a torch in the face, and hitting the ribs would not be enough. They used a 
two-pin stun gun. I was hit with it around the thighs, back and crotch - while they were 
still asking the same questions. After a while, I was lifted and kicked at the coccyx, a 
few meters away I was knocked down again. They brought a German Shepherd dog who, when I 
wasn't moving, didn't pay any attention to me. I was told what would happen next. If I 
won't answer the questions I am asked, I will be treated again to the stun gun, which will 
cause the dog to attack me because I will shake lying on the ground. That is exactly what 
happened next. The dog was wearing a muzzle, but it tried to bite through it to get to my 
face. My throat had contracted from the shock of the stun gun and I started to choke. 
Policemen joked that I was probably on drugs, which is why I was making such strange 
sounds when breathing. After a while, I was moved to a car, where I was kicked again, this 
time for no reason.

After being transported to the police station, several people (I write people because I do 
not know if they were policemen, they had balaclavas, there were no inscriptions on their 
clothes) began the interrogation, I was lying on the floor, bound, in bloodied clothes. I 
was beaten, I was struck with a stun gun and I was strangled while being asked questions, 
questions not related to detention at all. They were questions about the anarchist 
movement. I think it lasted over an hour. "

After the first interrogations and the release of the anarchists' statements, the 
prosecutor's office decided to initiate an investigation into the violation of powers by 
the police. This investigation was quickly dropped, but two out of three defendants 
decided to appeal the prosecutor's decision. During the hearing in January 2017, the 
Warsaw Three lawyer pointed out the shortcomings related to discontinuation of the 
investigation into police abuse of powers, such as not bothering to hear the injuried 
parties before deciding to drop the case. The court eventually ruled that the 
investigation into police misconduct must be continued. Despite this, the investigation 
was quickly dropped again. This triggered another round of court appeals, which was 
finalized last week. The court, again, ordered the prosecutor to conduct investigation 
into this gross police misconduct.

Few bad apples?... Not really
This case is by no means an exception. Complains regarding police use of violence or 
tortures in Poland are common among activists, NGO members and everyday citizens.

The most well known example of police violence was the case of Igor Stachowiak from 
Wroclaw, Western Poland. Stachowiak was a young man mistakenly arrested in 2017. His 
crime: he was coming back from a party at early hours of a day, looking like he is not 
sober. He looked alike a wanted drug dealer, which is what got him arrested. Stachowiak 
tragically died at a police station in result of torture with a teaser and strangling. He 
died half-naked laying at the police bathroom floor while being subjected to electric 
shocks: something the police later described as "an interrogation".

Another high-profile case concerns David Winiarski, a student arrested during an 
anti-government protest in Warsaw in 2018. Following his arrest, he was beaten and 
temporarily "disappeared", with the police refusing to disclose his whereabouts to his 
mother, forcing her to look for him across Warsaw's hospital network. Luckily, Winiarski 
was found alive, but badly beaten.

Since 2014, Polish citizens reported 1400 crimes committed by police officers after 
arrest. The reported cases largely concern torture, inhuman treatment and both physical 
and psychological violence. The police is apparently aware of this situation. According to 
a survey conducted by Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration, 45% of 
Polish coppers admitted that, while on duty, they were "participants of a situation which, 
in eyes of a witness from outside of the police force, could be understood as unreasonable 
aggression."

In Poland, despite criticism from the Human Rights Ombudsman, The Helsinki Committee for 
Human Rights, as well as the UN Committee against Torture and the UN Human Rights 
Committee, the criminal code does not penalize torture.

zb

Image: Solidarity graffiti with the Warsaw Three, source: Revbel

Sources: Anarchistyczny Czarny Krzyz (Anarchist Black Cross), Wawa3, oko.press

https://www.afed.cz/text/7015/polsko-muceni-v-policejnich-celach

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Message: 4




The Chinese anarchist tradition goes back centuries and goes back to the ancient Taoist 
philosophy. As a socio-political trend, anarchism in China took shape at the very 
beginning of the 20th century. Anarchists played an active role in the revolutionary, 
labor and peasant movements, created the first Chinese trade unions. Later, sandwiched 
between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, they were forced to make difficult 
choices, operating underground China until the 1980s.
The lecture is delivered by Vadim Damier, historian, researcher of the international 
anarcho-syndicalist movement, doctor of historical sciences, leading researcher at the 
Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
August 25, Moscow, Paper Factory, beginning at 14.00.
https://avtonom.org/news/lekciya-anarhizm-v-kitae-anons

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Message: 5






On Saturday, August 31, the Autonomus lecture hall begins a new season in the Sakharov 
Center (Zemlyanoy Val St., 57, p. 6) in Moscow. At 19 o'clock, Alexander Shubin, doctor of 
historical sciences, a participant in various left and anarchist movements, and the author 
of many books on the various trends of socialism, will speak.
The topic of his lecture: "Is anti-authoritarian socialism of the 19th century relevant 
for our time?"
Social Media Meetings:

https://avtonom.org/news/lektoriy-avtonoma-aktualen-li-antiavtoritarnyy-socializm-19-go-veka-dlya-nashego-vremeni

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Message: 6






-00- August Notes ---- The site of the age of anarchism: Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad 
Zarif traveled to Finland before Sweden to meet with officials and discuss bilateral 
relations, as well as issues related to Europe's commitment and commitment to the 
international agreement. ---- The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of 
Iran then arrived in Sweden on the second stage of his periodic visit and held talks with 
his Swedish counterpart in Stockholm on Tuesday and will remain in Stockholm on Wednesday 
to discuss the policies of the Islamic mafia regime in Europe. Move forward. ---- Majid 
Javad Zarif is due to travel to Norway and France after Sweden.
On Tuesday, all opposition movements from our anarchist allies to the Communists, 
leftists, monarchists, the MEK and other opposition forces were present in the streets of 
Stockholm, protesting the delicate arrival and departure of European governments, and in 
particular the Swedish government, on Wednesday. It will continue.

There are five important points in relation to the protests: one is the restriction to one 
or two days in which representatives of the Islamic repatriation regime are in each 
country, and the other is the lack of widespread mobilization of the progressive and 
popular forces of the world's countries in these protests. The journey always goes on and 
the opposition needs a permanent coordination group to mobilize widespread opposition and 
progressive peoples around the world. Fourth, these limited and cross-sectoral protests do 
not entail political pressure on the political opposition parties and put political 
pressure on them. It does not apply unless these protests are in various forms T will 
continue long after Europe's delicate departure from Europe and become wider day by day as 
regime agents reduce police repression and there will be more opportunity to expose and 
accompany the public opinion than ever before. Next, our mass protests will be more 
successful.

Anarchist Union of Afghanistan and Iran

https://asranarshism.com/1398/05/30/zarif-in-europe/

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