June 11th: International Day of Solidarity with Marius Mason & All Long-Term Anarchist Prisoners

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Against Oblivion, Against Despair: A Call for June 11th

Another year passes, and another June 11th is upon us. Once again we’re appreciating all that has unfolded in anarchist struggle over this period, both triumphs and hardships, outside the prison walls, and within. We’re appreciating the beauty in fighting back, and the strength that can be fostered when we refuse to succumb to both oblivion, and despair.

Against oblivion: we refuse to let the state disappear rebels, to erase their sweet or sharp words from our discussions, or to remove or obfuscate their contributions to our shared struggles. Instead, we remember them. Their actions, words, laughter, potential, and humanity. We can act as conduit for each other through prison walls and among generations. They can be kept involved as our struggles shift and change, and we can keep them connected to the outside world, and too the outside connected to them.

Against despair: up against the power of the state, it can feel as if nothing can be done. Despair is a very particular space to inhabit. Despair is not hopelessness, as hopelessness can be a fair assessment of circumstances. One can see and acknowledge hopelessness with a full heart and strong spirit. But despair, despair destroys courage. What is despair, but to value the knowing of suffering without acting against it. We refuse to wallow in the realm of despair, indefinitely. We refuse to let despair destroy our courage.

Instead, we will offer hope to one another. Not a naive or misguided hope that offers false solutions. But instead, an impassioned belief in our capacities as individuals, and capabilities together, to continue on. We can learn from people, like prisoners, who face the full power of the state in isolation and maintain their principles, their humor, their courage, and their resolve. We will act not just based on what’s possible or “strategic,” but on what we know to have value and meaning both out of care and love for each other and in an acting for our own selves, our own aliveness and spirit. Imprisoned comrades are often an incredible example of persevering in the face of hopelessness. Of coming out on the other side of it to the fierce activity of nothing to lose, and nothing worse to be feared.

Prisoner Updates

Over the last nine years since coming out to friends, family, and supporters as a trans man, Marius Mason has advocated for himself inside the Bureau of Prisons to get his legal name changed, to get access to hormones, and to get transferred to a men’s facility, paving the way for others to do the same. He started the Day of Action & Solidarity with Trans Prisoners. In his message for the Day earlier this year he says, “We are closer to that goal than ever before, as trans prisoners. This year, the Transgender executive Council began meeting again to make decisions about transitioning in the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Several prisoners, both trans men and trans women, were told that they had met the requirements for medical transition and were approved for gender affirming surgeries. I was one of these fortunate few.” We see how precarious these victories are when they are at the whim our our enemies. More than anything, we want him out. This year we take bitter solace in acknowledging that the majority of Marius’s sentence is behind him; he has 8 of 22 years remaining.

Eric King, who has suffered horrific abuse in federal prison, is finally getting out this year. After being acquitted last year on charges of assaulting an officer, he was returned to a supermax where he his access to phone and communication, time out of his cells, and even legal visits are extremely restricted. He and his team recently filed a lawsuit against the prison. As his release fund is getting significant support, Eric and his family continue to be strung along by the BOP, disputing the time and location of his release.

Michael Kimble has been dedicated to building collective power in Alabama DOC, supporting other queer prisoners, participating in collective resistance, and sharing radical history with others, all while healing from multiple injuries with poor medical care. He met someone special inside and got married last year.

Alfredo Cospito has continued to fight the state from prison. Since his initial sentencing for wounding a nuclear executive, and an additional life sentence for other previous actions, he continues to be hounded for his unrepentant anarchism. The latest trial against him and other comrades began in March of this year, many months into his hunger strike against the conditions he is subjected to. The Italian state attempted to bury him in the tyrannically isolated 41 bis dungeons last year, and he began the strike against this “non-life” last October. His health is rapidly deteriorating, and we’re not sure he will survive much longer, but he remains an unrepentant iconoclast inspiring innumerable actions around the world.

Anna Beniamino, Alfredo’s dear comrade and co-defendant during the Scripta Manent trial, also took part in a hunger strike in solidarity with him from her place of imprisonment, but later withdrew to recenter Alfredo’s fight.

Dan Baker, coming up on the end of his 3.5 year sentence, has been facing an onslaught of harassment and abuse. His books and personal items have been confiscated, and his email and phone communication severely restricted, including his ability to communicate with his lawyer, as prison staff are doing all they can to punish Dan for his beliefs. Dan has endured physical assault, the denial of health services, including restricting his access to asthma medication and treatment for a tumor, all as retaliation that seeks to jeopardize both his release date and his housing options post-release.

Legacies of Resistance and Resilience

The history of June 11th is deeply connected to actions taken in defense of the earth. Starting with now-former prisoners from the Green Scare, it continues with Marius, who still has 8 years remaining of his sentence. Despite the state’s severe criminalization of earth liberation and land defense, these movements and activities in the US cannot be repressed. Many struggles are not only ongoing, but expanding and gaining power. Indigenous people continue to fight to protect their land from colonizers and extraction in the so-called US, Canada, Chile, France, and Mexico just to name a few. Over the last two years, the movement to Stop Cop City in Atlanta is demonstrating how even the threat (and in Marius’s case, the reality) of decades in prison is still not successful in scaring us into passivity. More and more people are now facing the possibility of terrorist charges for themselves or their friends, and the threat of being locked up for decades.

Marius is a great example of someone who has faced this level of repression before, and did so with dignity, strength, and care. The continuity of his support over the last 15 years is a demonstration and practice of what long-term prisoner support can look like. The refusal of his abandonment by supporters can hopefully give some strength to forest defenders and rebels as they face down the threats if the state. Other Green Scare cases have successful challenged enhancements or lengthy sentences, despite the fear-mongering of the state. Whether charges stick or not, we can try to build a legacy of connection and support for those that act.

As the state continues to lash out against women, queer and trans people; crafting new laws to police our health and well-being, whether in the stripping of our access to abortion, or the governing of our access to live-saving hormones, surgeries and gender-affirming care, we’re reminded that anything that the state grants us, can be easily stripped away, and that our struggles are deeply interconnected, and must always remain so.

Drag shows have become the latest ground for violent confrontation, as we ‘dare’ to gather together. Transphobes continue to stake-out space at university talks, on television, and walking down the street. Abortion clinics are seeing more opposition on the ground after the repeal of Roe vs. Wade. But even as powerful and more visible opposition emerges, so does our capacity to act. Queer spaces are refusing to cancel events, and instead practicing and enacting visions of proactive self-defense. Clandestine actions across so-called North America have targeted fake abortion clinics, as well as churches that spew pro-life and homophobic rhetoric. “Jane’s Revenge”, a nod to the underground network of abortion providers in Chicago in the 70’s, is a reminder that we need not sit idly by and watch as life -saving resources, and our humanity, are stripped away. As terrifying as these times are, it is important to remember that we do not have to give in.

What feels like an undoing of progress can also be seen another way: as the facade lifting, and the violent project that is the state, continuing to reveal itself. The legacies of informal groups like Bash Back, and of course individual queer people (like Michael Kimble, imprisoned for defending himself against a violent racist homophobe) remind us that queer– and transphobia is built into the very framework of the state, and that legacies of autonomy, self-defense and survival outside of the existing resources will always be vital to prioritize. We can stop shaking our fists at power, hoping it meets our demands. Power never cedes itself to demands. What we can do is continue to become adept at tools to protect ourselves; whether that’s honing our ability fight and hold ground, grow skilled in healthcare outside of state infrastructure, and deepening other means to stay anonymous, adept, and as free as possible, as well as exercising our capacity to act.

Despite the terror of prison, Michael Kimble continues to advocate for his own release, has found love and a network of queers inside the prison walls with whom to stand alongside. Jennifer Rose has a history of standing up for herself against prison administrations,participating in collective resistance, and writing and contributing to queer advocacy. Marius has fought inside prison for access to gender-affirming resources, including a transfer to a men’s facility. We should celebrate his hard-earned triumphs, while also remembering that most trans prisoners don’t have access to these things. Its worth celebrating victories, and also important to remember that shifts in our society at large trickle down to prisoners. Changes in the greater “free” world that limit our access to life-saving hormones, queer spaces, name changes and the like, will certainly impact prisoners most severely.

As the state continues to encroach on our autonomy, and as violent policies remain commonplace, we must embrace the reality that all we have to protect us is ourselves. The state, its police and prisons will always enforce boundaries of race, gender, and class. We understand that violence against queer people is still a daily reality for so many, even more-so when it intersects with anti-blackness, racism, xenophobia, and poverty; and as anarchists, we’re never interested in freedom for some; its about freedom for all of us. There will always be risks, and the unfortunate reality of this world is that living openly as ourselves can bring policing, prison, or death. But we can learn from the legacies of resilient and courageous queers, incarcerated and free, to not back down, or live in fear or despair. Let us be strong, fierce, and unwilling to abandon one another.

People have been rising up against the police as long as the police have existed. In the US and around the world, the intensity of anti-police activity ebbs and flows. Again with movements and actions against state violence, against the police, and against police killings of black people, we see the failure of the state’s threats and imprisonment to pacify us. The next round of struggle has already started by the time prisoners from the last round are released. Eric King is just finishing up his 10 year sentence for actions taken in solidarity with the Ferguson Uprising in 2014. Josh Williams, given an 8 year sentence for participation at Ferguson protests*, is also approaching the end of his sentence. In the last couple years we’ve seen the sentencing of George Floyd uprising prisoners. Malik Muhammad, given one of the longer sentences from 2020, is a couple years into an almost 10-year sentence. Around the world we see militants in France, Chile, Haiti and elsewhere facing down the police. In Russia, we see anarchists attacking not just the police, but military infrastructure. Waves and waves of crowds and individuals continue to decide that, despite the risks, its worth standing up to the police.

Spreading Embers

Many of us know what it is feels like to sink into despair. When the losses add up, and pushing through feels insurmountable. But an integral part of the anarchist spirit is facing that despair head-on, with a determination to burst through it and continue on, fighting. Anarchist prisoners are a prime example of this spirit: they have faced the state head-on, faced the uncertainties of felony trial and state pressure, and remained courageous in the face of repression, as well as the daily dehumanization and violence that occur inside prisons. Their cases can teach us about tactics, approaches, and the case against them can illuminate the arsenal of tools utilized by the state. Rebel prisoners show us what it means to live courage, resiliency and determination.

The terrain of struggle looks wildly different than it did even ten years ago, and we are constantly adapting to a changing context. But our struggles remains interconnected, and they carry on. Sometimes the impact of things feels pointless; intangible. But the reality is that the struggle for freedom is constantly unfolding, and is yet, unwritten. Anonymous actions from across the world remind us, here and now, that we are not alone in our anger at this system, and that is possible to move through fear, anxiety and despair in order to continue to fight. Rebels, known and unknown, illustrate that it is indeed possible to act for our freedom, here and now.

Two tools of the prison system are isolation, and time. Isolation that wears on the spirit of those locked away and time that passes as we on the outside can become distracted by all that grasps for our attention. But we can refuse to allow these approaches the success they seek. We can remind prisoners that they are not forgotten, that their contributions are a part of a continued fight against domination, and in search of total freedom. The stakes are indeed high, and wanting to avoid the atrocities of prison are very understandable. But when we continue to include anarchist prisoners as a important part of our struggle, we pay homage to their contributions, and show that we are not backing down, despite the risks.

Allowing the prison’s tactics of division to be unsuccessful is a small but vital contribution to weakening its totality. When we show that being locked up will not make someone forgotten, we demonstrate that the horror and alienation that prison thrives upon does not have to take root. For every coward that has sold away their friends, lovers, comrades and values for the paltry offerings of security or comfort, there are strong hearts who refuse to abandon their commitments in the face of repression. Let us celebrate their additions, their heart and spirit, and their lives as we refuse to let our passion for freedom be obliterated.

We are here because we refuse to fall victim to despair. Neither will we allow our friends, compas, comrades, or homies to disappear into oblivion. We reach out to them however we can: with letters and visits, with money on their books, by shouting their names in the streets and writing them on walls – while the imprisoned continue with their contributions from the other side. No struggle or its gatherings can occur without others being reminded of those that fought and got locked away – nor those who died.

Not least of all, we carry all of them in our hearts as we carefully proceed through the darkness, continuing our collective fight. This way we keep them close – no one forgotten and not one fiber of this society forgiven. Those intricate strings tying together the means of domination are within reach, and we carry on the efforts to sever every one.

We do not rely on empty slogans, letting anarchy die like a shallow breath exhaled from our tepid mouths. Acting on our desires, we reinvigorate the life blood of our fight time and again. So we continue to breath fire upon the machinations of civilization, and all those attempting to police our revolt. Increasingly isolated, with spreading embers lighting the path to their uncertain footing, we will collapse the pale corpses propped up as dominant edifices above us.

Alfredo reminds us that there is no losing when we choose how we live, and may well vanquish death upon being sown back into the earth.

In the ruins of the old world we will gather as patient swarms, finding those once taken from us standing proudly beside us, and begin to look toward tomorrow.

*The language has been changed to more accurately reflect the charges and sentences imposed for activities related to the Ferguson protests. There are a handful of people with longer sentences than Josh. You can find more information at AntiStateATL.noblogs.org.

2024 Call

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June 11, 2024: No Separate Worlds

We once again approach June 11th, a day of remembrance and active solidarity, in a world of multiple crises and struggles for liberation. All of these are interconnected; there are no separate worlds. Across borders, languages, contexts, and identities, both catastrophes and victories of spirit and defiance reverberate around the globe. One environment is not untouched by another. The personal is not separate from the political. The positive project is not separate from that of destruction. Prison is not separate from the “free world.” Means are not separate from ends. Bridging these divides is a shared curiosity and commitment; bridging these divides is solidarity. This is not to flatten or oversimplify diversity and differences in circumstance, intensity, and consequence. Rather, that these different pieces are held together like organs of the body held by connective tissue. So we consider: how do we strengthen this connective tissue? How do we remain strong, yet supple and flexible? Bridges, connection, must also be built through time, especially in a world that moves too fast, from one crisis to the next. June 11th aspires to be one of these bridges: to build solidarity across borders, between movements, and among generations. Remembering and supporting long-term prisoners, as well as carrying on shared struggles, are two ways to strengthen this connective tissue. A stronger connective tissue will, in turn, bolster us against further repression.

Each year, as part of our effort to be a bridge between movements, time, and borders, we assess the terrain. We consider what threats from the state look like at this time, how imprisoned comrades can be connected to activity on the outside, how have the struggles they are a part of continued despite repression, and how remembering those locked up can become a natural part of anarchist activity. Often repression and criminalization feel new; but frequently, this is a failure of memory. There are innovations to pay attention to, while seeing their lineage in tactics and ideologies used against our forebears. What can we learn from how people have responded in the past? What can we learn from people in times and places where innovative repressive tactics were developed, and how can we act in complicity alongside them?

As the day of solidarity nears, we are struck by the unfolding of the current terrain; the horrors abound, and confront us in new ways, but these are also patterns and histories in repetition. Power is scrambling to maintain itself amidst the uncertainty of our fragilely constructed society, and individuals and groups continue on with our refusal of their world. We see continued colonial violence, through prisons, guns, bombs, and nationalist ideologies in places such as Palestine, Ukraine, and West Papua. Too, extremely harsh treatments of people in Russia acting against militarism and colonialism, as well as the criminalization of pro-Palestinian activity all over the world.

Palestinians, fighting for their freedom and against policing, surveillance and detention for decades, have faced an all-out culmination of violence and genocide at the hands of the Israeli state — crisis and colonial violence continue to rapidly unfold. So too, does an intense current of Palestinian resistance: solidarity actions have taken place across the globe in attempts to refuse complicity and the feelings of powerlessness fueled by the geographical distance, the 24-hour news cycle, and the propaganda and war machines that abound.

As people continue to flee their regions due to capitalist and imperialist-made violence, and the catastrophic consequences of climate collapse, we are witnessing a renewed fear-mongering at U.S and European borders, as white supremacist militias murmur about confronting ‘migrant caravans’, and individual states implement a greater level of violence to keep people out of artificial borders. This crisis extends throughout the globe, as people worldwide move to eek out any stability, and others rush to enforce the promised order of borders and citizenship.

Colonial violence springs up daily, in guns drawn and territory stolen, in extraction projects and the expansion of policed land, and in the loss of the last wild spaces. But resistance to a homogeneous and hollow future being sold to us by tech-giants, green capitalists and the State still continues across the world. Pipelines, cell-towers, and extraction infrastructure is being targeted, both in individual sabotage, as well as ongoing land defense world-wide. The dependence of this noxious future on policing, surveillance, and control couldn’t be clearer, and struggles are confronting the ways these practices interact. Rebellions break out against police, prisons, and the indignity and macabre realities of daily life. For every crisis, and moment of resistance we could list, there are countless others simmering, exploding, or simply being disappeared from the public, global view. Freedom and resistance always find their way through the cracks of this horrifying society.

Public food serves being harassed, heightened criminalization of houseless populations, RICO charges for bail funds and the “conspiracy” of anarchist ideas and practices, as well as proximity, associations and social networks. Intense and courageous acts of sabotage continue. Everything is new, and nothing is. The question is not ‘what are the solutions?’, but ‘how do we expand, deepen and intensify what we already know works?’. How do we see ourselves in one another, how do we understand our plights as intertwined, as inseparable, and how can we continue to expand these relationships of solidarity. How do we embrace the reality that there are no separate worlds, and explore the ways that we can break through the limiting effects of prison walls, border walls, time, place and context.

There are moments worth celebrating, when we feel the opening of possibilities and capacity, of cohesion and strength; there are certainly also many moments to mourn, when it feels like we’re losing it all and our bodies or spirits are taking a beating. We can savor a touch of solace when we notice the deep desperation apparent in the moves of the state. They’re scrambling, finding new ways to criminalize even the most basic of acts. This can serve to motivate us. If anything even vaguely anarchist is enough to throw us to the helm of repression, we must choose to live our lives as we decide, regardless of the consequences. As more and more of us interact with repression, jails, courts, prisons, let this possibility be a never-ending invitation towards continuing to remember and include those locked away as an ongoing part of our moves toward getting free. Time, geography, the barriers of the prison wall-none of these are strong enough to obliterate the vast network of bridges that keep us interdependent, connected, fighting the same enemies of freedom, worldwide.

This year saw the passing of many who carried the vivacious anarchist spirit. Some may be known to us, while many remain unknown. They sowed rebelliousness in every path they walked. Perhaps their impact is incalculable, though never nonexistent. We can carry the same spirit, traverse similar paths, and remain steadfast and diligent, just as those who have come before us have. Rest in power: Alfredo Bonanno, Klee Benally, Ed Mead, Sekuo Odinga, Tortuguita, Aaron Bushnell.

Rest in power to all of those whose names we’ve never uttered, not known, but who walked these lengths, nonetheless. Time is merely constructed; those that have come before us, and passed onto death, still impact the lives of the living, still contribute to the history of anarchists and anti-authoritarians, and our shared struggle. Let us make them a part of our active memory, and continue forward, in a fight for lives against domination. May these words spark a fire in you-encourage you to get up, forge ahead and seek what it might feel like, to live like you’re trying to get free.

Regional Prisoner Updates*

Russia

Struggle for long-term anarchist prisoners in Russia

In the third year of the war in Ukraine, perspectives of anarchist movement in Russia look increasingly grim. It is still possible to organise events on anarchist history or culture in some of the major cities, but the most important current topics are strictly banned in any public event, and raising them would carry serious consequences. Much of anarchist agitation can only be spread anonymously online and in the streets.

Authorities are also moving to ban anarchist prisoner solidarity. In February, Anarchist Black Cross Federation, active in United states, was labelled as an “undesirable organisation” by Russian authorities. Financing an “undesirable organisation” carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison. US Federation has no sections in Russia, but it is likely that purpose of this step is to target existing Anarchist Black Cross groups in Russia.

21st of February 2024 anti-war prisoner Anton Zhuchkov, sentenced for 10 years for planned anti-war Molotov cocktail action against police in center of Moscow, was tortured in a Krasnoyarsk prison in Siberia, during a transfer to his distant destination colony. Among other things, during torture he was asked about the Anarchist Black Cross. Zhuchkov is not an anarchist, but in early stages of his arrest, he was contacted in name of the Anarchist Black Cross. Currently he is supported by Solidarity Zone, an anti-authoritarian initiative to support anti-war direct action prisoners. The torture of Zhuchkov is another sign that Russian authorities plan to target ABC groups, and due to these warning signs ABC Moscow has currently decided to move out from Russia and is working in exile only.

Solidarity Zone is currently providing circa 20 anti-war direct action prisoners with lawyers, and is attempting to follow cases of dozens more. Prisoners who have engaged in arson attacks against military, police or infrastructure are usually not supported by mainstream human rights organisations.

Among prisoners supported by Solidarity Zone with lawyers, two are anarchists, but neither of them have yet been sentenced. There is however, little doubt that both of them will be sentenced, and that they will be long time anarchist prisoners. Conviction rate in Russia courts is more than 99%.

First of them is Alexey Rozhkov, one of the first people who took direct action against war in Ukraine in Russia. 11th of March 2022, 15 days after beginning of the war, he attacked a military enlistment office in a suburb of the city of Yekaterinburg in Ural mountains with a Molotov cocktail, and was immediately arrested. He was released, court pending, in the autumn of 2022, as his accusations were not severe, and he managed to escape to Kyrgysztan, from where he was illegally rendered back to Russia in May of 2023. Back in Russia, he was charged with a number of terrorist offenses, and now he will face up to 30 years in prison.

Second anarchist anti-war prisoner, supported by Solidarity Zone, is Ruslan Siddiqui, arrested in the end of November 2023 in the city of Ryazan, 180 km (120 mi) South-East from Moscow. He is accused of having derailed a freight train 11th of November, and a drone attack against airport of Dyagilevo in Ryazan region, which took place 20th of July 2023. He is charged with terrorist offenses, and may spend up to 30 years in prison.

An independent campaign has been organised to support five anarchist and anti-fascists from Ural and Siberia: Deniz Aidyn, Yuri Neznamov, Daniil Chertykov, Nikita Oleinik and Roman Paklin. They were arrested 30th-31st of August 2022, and they are accused of setting up a terrorist organisation, attempting to blow up offices of security service FSB and railroads. Evidence on the case is dubious, mostly based on confessions acquired with torture. Originally Deniz Aidyn was arrested with Kirill Brik in Tyumen, allegedly attempting to test an improvised explosive device in forest. Unfortunately, after the tortures, Kirill Brik became a cooperating witness and his testimony is in a danger of burying all the other defendants to 30 years in prison, Nikita Oleinik is facing a risk of life sentence as alleged “leader” of the group.

Some anarchist long-term prisoners were already imprisoned before the war. Anarchist mathematician Azat Miftakhov was supposed to be released 4th of September last year, having finished a 6 year sentence for anarchist action in Moscow, in which a smoke bomb was thrown inside a building of the ruling United Russia party. However, Miftakhov was detained in the prison gate with a fabricated case of “justification of terrorism” due to comments supporting anarchist bomber Mikhail Zhlobitski in discussion with other prisoners. Eventually on the 28th of March, 2024 Azat Miftakhov was given a new prison sentence of 4 years, which means that he will spend altogether almost a decade in prison.

First fabricated case against anarchism due to terrorism was the Network case of anarchists in Penza and Saint-Petersburg, arrested in 2017-2018. 10 people sentenced to prison were suspected of having established an underground anarchist organisation preparing for insurrectionary activities, although no proven action had taken place. 3 of the sentenced are already released, seven are still in prison, of whom 6 are listed in the prisoner list by Anarchist Black Cross of Moscow: Viktor Filinkov (sentenced to 7 years), Vasili Kuksov (sentenced to 9 years), Mikhail Kulkov (sentenced to 10 years), Andrei Chernov (sentenced to 14 years), Ilya Shakurskiy (sentenced to 16 years), and Dmitriy Pchelintsev (sentenced to 19 years). Seventh prisoner, Maxim Ivankin, was sentenced this February to 24 years in prison due to double homicide of two of his friends who were on the run with him due to drug-related charges. Anarchist Black Cross of Moscow considers testimony against Ivankin credible, and has withdrawn support for him, although his sentence for the Network case is fabricated.

Current prison addresses are available for all of the persons mentioned in the article [see June11.noblogs.org/prisoners]. Note that all letters should be sent only in Russian language – you may use machine translation. Also, several countries have halted mail service with Russia. In case mail service is halted in your country, you may pass letters via ABC Moscow e-mail address abc-msk@riseup.net.

Ireland

Our solidarity activity continues with anarchist and antifascist prisoners in Ireland and in other parts of the world. We are active in helping to highlight incarcerations and detentions of anarchist and antifascists by the state through protest, pickets and on social media. Our website address is www.abcireland.wordpress.com

We continue to support the Irish Anarchist prisoner John Paul Wootton. John Paul has recently changed prison and welcomes letters, post cards of support and solidarity from everyone. John Paul is part of the Craigavon Two, which includes Brendan McConnville, who now along with their families continues to fight against their wrongful imprisonment and another gross miscarriage of justice inflicted upon them by the British State.

USA

After nearly ten years, Eric King has finally been released and is working and living with his family in Colorado. Jennifer Rose has been moved to a women’s facility. Marius Mason has been transferred back to Texas. Bill Dunne has been transferred in order to start cancer treatment. Michael Kimble continues to organize and support other queer prisoners in the dungeons of Alabama prisons. Sean Swain has just celebrated the 10th anniversary of his segment on The Final Straw Radio show. Malik Muhammad is stuck in isolation in retaliation for fasting during Ramadan. Many of them continue to contribute to the anarchist prisoner journal Fire Ant.

Across the US, there continues to be harsh repression against land defense struggles such as Stop Cop City- not just in Atlanta, but anywhere solidarity actions have taken place. Repression continues against those resisting the Mountain Valley Pipeline, against Palestine Solidarity protests, against those fighting back against transphobia and defending the ability for queer people to exist in public, and those who act against fake “crisis pregnancy” centers. Hunger strikes and disruptions continue at immigrant detention facilities and prisons across the nation.

Indonesia

Serikat Tahanan (The Inter-Correctional Prisoner Union) is a political organization of

anti-authoritarian prisoners in Indonesia that was officially established on July 17, 2023. The union is managed by prisoners as well as comrades outside prison. It operates with a dual structure, namely members of the union (prisoners) where decision-making is taken, and a solidarity group outside that supports needs and carries out work that can’t be done from inside the prison. As of now, ST represents eight detainees ranging from arsoning cases labeled as terrorism, vandalism for incitement to riots, and marijuana and other types of drug use. Other than that, ST has also been supporting detainees of labor union activists, farmers, and those who are fighting against eviction.

In accordance with the organizational status agreed upon by the detainees, Serikat Tahananwas formed with the aims of:

1. Providing support in cases of violence, extortion, and other threats that union members have experienced while serving prison sentences.

2. Campaigning for the movement and struggles for prisoners’ rights in accordance with the Minister of Law and Human Rights and other international regulations.

3. Campaigning for decriminalization and abolition of prisons.

4. Organizing prisoner education through discussions and providing books on a regular basis to the prisons.

5. Forming a media that publishes the aspirations of prisoners and determines the direction of the prisoners’ movement.

6. Extending solidarity with all class war prisoners and social activists who are

criminalized.

7. Organizing masses in a detention center / prison, if deemed necessary.

*If you would like to submit an update from your region or project, email us at June11th@riseup.net

Belarus

ABC Belarus currently supports 28 anarchist prisoners in Belarus, 7 of them are long term prisoners:

Aleksandr Zaytsev – Aliaksandr was detained on August 22, 2021 near the cottage of the chairman of the Supreme Court Sukalo. Aliaksandr was accused of attempted arson of the cottage (part 1 of article 14 and part 2 of article 289 of the Criminal Code Attempt of terrorist act in a group of persons). According to our information, he went to the case with the provocateur Akulich Dmitriy Alexandrovich, whom they met on a day when Alexander was detained on administrative article 23.34 (participation in an unauthorized protest, now is 24.23 of the Administrative Code) at the protests in November 2020. The status of Akulich in the criminal case is not unknown to us, but most likely he is being held as a witness with a fake name of Sergeenko. It is noteworthy that Akulich was given a real passport with a fake name to provoke Zaytsev.
Akihiro Gaevsky-Khanada and Aleksandr Frantskevich* who were detained as a part of the so-called “international organized crime” case. The regime decided to use the dozens of anarchists’ actions over the past 10 years to create the image of a coordinated organized group engaged in resistance to the regime. Some participants in the case were tortured before being transferred to a detention center.
Dmitry Rezanovich
Dmitry Dubovski
Igor Olinevich
Sergey Romanov
These four were detained while crossing the border of Belarus with Ukraine on the night of October 28-29, 2020. Dzmitry Rezanovich emphasized he was saved from torture just because of Siarhei Ramanau sliced his hands with a razor to stop the torment and viciousness.
They were under a number of articles for setting fire to government officials’ vehicles, the building of the traffic police and the state committee of expertise in the Homeĺ region.

The Belarusian state is trying to increasingly restrict the possibilities to support prisoners even more. Colonies’ and prisons’ administrations try by all means to prevent information spreading about inprisoned comrades and limit their communication with people outside. Relatives are threatened in order to restrict spreading news about prisoners to the public.The state also seeks to worsen prison conditions at every opportunity. The trends in Belarusian repressions we’ve seen in the last few years are the following:

Punishment with punitive isolation cells and cell-type facilities for prisoners
Restriction or total ban on correspondence and phone calls for prisoners
Detention of the relatives of anarchist prisoners
Additional sentences for allegedly “malicious disobedience to the demands of the colony administration” (Article 411 of the Criminal Code).
Tightening of the security regime and transfers to high-security prisons

We are also find ourselves operating in a ghost-like movement, which we wrote about in this essay https://abc-belarus.org/en/2023/05/25/anti-repression-work-in-a-ghost-like-movement/

Here’s an excerpt:

… The two biggest groups of anarchists are now distributed between Belarusian prisons and exile. ABC-Belarus, after operating for over 14 years in the country, also had to leave to protect its members and keep up the work. Over time, activists also get disillusioned in the struggle for change in Belarus, because it is not really possible to greatly influence the situation there, and being active in exile feels like fake and sectarian activism for the sake of activism. Moreover, like in most political movement, the “effective life” of an anarchist amounts to 3-5 years. It means, the more time passes in exile, the less comrades we will have around, with almost no influx, since the diasporas are not so numerous and mostly consist of the same tired, traumatised and demoralised migrants.

In light of this, ABC-Belarus remains a very specialised labour-force that seems to be responsible and accountable for organising full-fledged and long-term support of our imprisoned comrades. Needless to say that we are also traumatised and tired, just there is no one we can share this burden with or pass it to, so we will have to carry it. Of course, not everything is so dark, we still can rely on some comrades, we are just concerned about the gloomy trend as the years go by.

* ABC-Belarus withdrew its support for Aliaksandr Frantskevich in 2015 for using violence against comrades, threatening our collective, and his position on the collective property of the movement. After Aliaksandr’s arrest in 2020, ABC declared critical support for him, read more in the statement.