From 11th to 13th of November, annual libetarian festival "Black Petrograd" will take place in St. Petersburg of Russia. In program, there will be discussions, lectures, activist trainings, sport trainings and a little bit of revolutionary fervour. Black Petrograd has for a good while been an important meeting point of anarchists and other non-authoritarian leftists from different cities of Russia and former Soviet Union. An opportunity to exchange experience, evaluate ones activities, to plan new campaigns. Main goal of the festival this year is to develop international connections. Guest speakers are expected from several European countries.

This year we are forced to gather participation fees from participators of the festival. We try to keep this sum at a minimum - 100 roubles, 2.50 euros for all three days of the festival. Money will be spend to meals, and also to finance travel of few guests from abroad.

 Festival is drug and alcohol free.

28th and 29th of September 2011 four persons (two young men and two young woman) were detained in Moscow, suspected of crimes under statute 213 part 2 ("hooliganism") and statute 167 part 2 ("property destruction with arson") of Russian criminal codex. They are suspected of having committed a bomb attack against traffic police station in 22th kilometre of Moscow ringroad 7th of June 2011, and arson against an excavator in construction site of Volokamski motorway 5th of June 2011. Police did not have any proof about participation of the arrested to these actions, and 3th of October all of them were released. Goal of the arrests was solely to pressure anarchists to give testimony with means of psychological and physical torture.

Human Rights Center "Viasna" and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee recognized Ihar Alinevich, Mikalai Dziadok and Aliaksandr Frantskevich as political prisoners of the present regime. The human rights defenders came to this conclusion on the basis of analysis of the so-called “Case of Anarchists”.

I am often faced with one basic question: whether, if knowing the consequences I would still take the same actions I did last year. Of course I would. Yes, we all suffered the consequences, but we also proved that average people, when united are able to scare insolent bureaucrats. Nowadays in the Russia this is worth the effort. Who are the police investigators and field operatives? TThey are subordinates who are generally too frightened to admit that they are the slaves of their bosses, deceiving themselves that things are otherwise. Many of them have clearly understood that they have to make some junk and invent a sort of extremism. Maybe there are also sincere stupid people who believe in their work. These fools do not see the extremists in officials and instead search for them in housing districts.

The last European dictator is now trading people's freedom for loans from the west. He has now set 24 political prisoners free. Please find below links to the petition to liberate Belorussian anarchists. The petition has also been signed by members of several political parties and organisations in Belarus and abroad:

We call on concerned academics around the world to sign the petition to Administration of Tyumen State University and Russian higher education authorities.

Andrey Kutuzov is a Russian anarchist academic who has been teaching linguistics at Tyumen State University (Western Siberia). He is also an activist and participant in grassroots movements. 7 September 2011 Andrey was dismissed by Gennady Chebotarev, the rector of the University. We believe that Andrey was dismissed because of pressure from the local authorities on the university administration. The official reason for the dismissal was declared “committing an immoral deed” referring to the recent case of repression for his political activities.

Now greece can sleep in peace. PASOK’S justice sentenced the 18yearold then Kostandina to 11years imprisonment with no proof, no evidence, not even based on her age. She may be the only political prisoner that is under 20 in the world. If there is another its probably in a country in banania. They sentenced her at a trial that was between a court martial and an inquisition, without taking into consideration neither the witnesses nor all the evidence that shouted her innocence.

Today, about 10 a.m. Sosnovoborsky City Court granted the petition of the political prisoner Alexey Sokolov parole.

At 15 p.m. Alexey appeared in front of penal colony №40, where lawyer Roman Kachanov waited for him. I managed to phone to take short interview with Aleksey:

- Alexey! How are you and what do you feel? How much court decision on your parole was expected?

Since 19th of July, Russian anho.org (shorthand for "Anarchist Hosting") has been targeted with a DDoS - attack. Since then, numerous activist websites have been unaccessible - including Indymedia-Siberia and various anarchist groups (Autonomous Action of Kazan, Autonomous Action of Irkutsk, Inter-Professional Union of Workers etc.). Main goal of the attackers is antijob.anho.org - website, committed to defence of workers against employers. This project includes popular feature "black list of employers" where workers are reporting problematic employers.

Pelican Bay State Prison Security Housing Units Peaceful Protest Hunger Strike Starting July 1, 2011

Rinat Sultanov - anarchist anti-fascist and RASH-skinhead from Saint Petersburg of Russia, who was sentenced to two years in prison for a fight with Nazis, which took place 4th of November 2008, is being transferred. During transfer, which may take more than a month, his whereabouts are unknown. Please remove Rinat's address from prisoner lists until his new prison address is known.

Dedok Nikolai Aleksandrovich / Dziadok Mikalai Aliaksandravich*
 IK-15, 213105, Mogilev, p/o Veino, Slavgorodskoe shosse, 5 km. KARANTIN
 BELARUS

Frantskevich Aleksandr Vladimirovich / Frantskevich Aliaksandr Uladzimiravich*
 IK-22 “Volchi nory”, 225295 , Brestskaya obl., Ivatsevichski r-n, st. Domanovo KARANTIN
BELARUS

Olinevich Igor Vladimirovich / Alinevich Ihar Uladzimiravich*
IK-10, 211440, Vitebskaya obl., Novopolotsk, ul. Tekhnicheskaya, 8 KARANTIN
 BELARUS

Vaskovich Evgeni Sergeevich / Vas’kovich Jauhen Siarheevich (KGB attack)*
IK-15, 213105, Mogilev, p/o Veino, Slavgorodskoe shosse, 5 km. KARANTIN
BELARUS
 

24th of June, judge of the Khimki city court of Moscow region of Russia, Neonila Zepalova, sentenced “Khimki hostages”, anti-fascist activists Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov, who were accused of organisation of a radical demonstration against construction of the Moscow-St. Petersburg toll highway, which took place in Moscow Suburb of Khimki 28th of July.

The situation in Belarus is now getting closer to the one that was during the elections in December 2010 but now it seems to be more massive and popular.

Ecological and human rights activists and social organisations are welcome to the camp. The camp program will include protests against the destruction of forests in the Moscow region, workshops and trainings.

At the present moment by The Anti-Extremist Center of GUVD (General Directorate of Internal Affairs - SM) in Nizhniy Novgorod Region detectives a criminal case is fabricating against Artem Bystrov, who was arrested on April 26,2011. He is incriminated the article № 213 part 2 (hooliganism committed by a group of persons on preliminary arrangement by hatred or hostility toward a particular social group). Two of suspects yet couldn't be arrested. It is worth noting that victim itself — a nationalist D.Redkin, doesn't have any claims to people arrested on April 26 and refuses to take part in confrontments. The case was filed seven months after the accident. It was filed by pressure at the victim and the witness. The investigation is proceeded with gross violations and falsification of evidence. For example during the rummages the membership cards of non-existing organisation “RASH-Antifa” with photos and serial numbers, evidently made by Center “E”(The Anti-Extremist Center - SM) detectives, were planted in to the suspects' homes. <

On the 27th of May, judge Zhanna Khvoynitskaya sentenced the Belarusian anarchists Ihar Alinevich, Mikalaj Dziadok, Aliaksandar Frantskievich, Maxim Vetkin and Yeveni Slivonchik. The young men were accused of a number of political actions, amongst which was the attack against the Russian embassy in Minsk in August of 2010. 

 Ihar Alinevich was accused of attacks against the Russian Embassy and Belarusbank ("Property destruction with intent", statute 218 paragraph 3 of the Belarusian Criminal Codex), an attack against the remand prison of Minsk (also statute 218, paragraph 2), an attack against a Casino and an illegal demonstration at the military headquarters ("Aggravated hooliganism", statute 339 paragraph 2 of Belarusian criminal codex). The prosecutor asked for a 9 year sentence in hard regime, eventually he received 8 years of hard regime (1).    

Background [see also correction at bottom]: there was some noisy party in some apartment in Barcelona, in the confuse events that followed an agent was hit by a potted plant thrown from a balcony causing him severe injuries that left him paraplegic.

Strangely the municipal police, instead of investigating properly and persecuting whoever threw the pot, decided to blame this on the squatter movement. First they decided that the apartment in question was "related" somehow to the squatter movement, something these deny, then they changed the story of the potted plant for a stone, finally they accused this girl, Patricia Heras, of throwing not the stone but a mobile fence in the course of the confusing struggle.