* Ex-Black Panther Robert King Wilkerson speaks about the case of the
Angola 3 who were framed for organising the local chapter of the
Black Panther Party for Self Defence in Angola (Louisiana state
penitentiary). Robert talks about 29 years behind bars, and the two
men still imprisoned for a crime they did not commit! The Queens
Head (opposite Brighton train station), 21st May, 7pm
* Brighton Animal Rights Campaign have a demo against Proctor and
Gamble outside Sainsbury's on London Road, 1pm 25th May.
Chechnya
This week saw one of the most senior Russian officers facing trial for
the murder two years ago of Kheda Kungayev, an 18-year-old Chechen girl.
This is the first trial of a Russian soldier over any atrocity that has
occured in Chechnya since Russia invaded in 1999. (See Schnews 334)
After getting drunk the general and his men seized Kheda Kungayev. She
was taken from her home, bound in a blanket, to the colonel's sleeping
quarters. What is clear from the initial post mortem is that Kheda was
then stripped and beaten, before being raped and finally strangled.
Although the colonel does not deny the killing, he claims that he
strangled Kheda in a moment of rage during a night-time interrogation,
which is being fully supported by the State's psychiatrists. He is
claiming temporary insanity and if the court accepts this then he can
walk free.
While large-scale fighting in Chechnya nominally ended in 2000, Russian
forces continue to detain hundreds of people without charges. Pressure
from the UN and human rights organisations have forced the Russian
authorities to introduce some improvements, including the formal opening
of investigations of war crimes although they have refused to allow
designated UN human rights investigators into Chechnya. Unsurprisingly
most abuses remain uninvestigated which could expain why only one
soldier has been brought to trial when thousands of civilians have been
killed by Russian forces.
For more info see Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org/europe/russia.php
An international day of action is taking place on 5th June in solidarity
with the 41 people who have so far been sent to prison after the
protests during last summer's EU Summit in Gothenberg. (see SchNEWS
310). Many of the convictions have been based on very dodgy evidence and
sentences are extremely harsh. Organisers of the day of action are
calling for people to protest outside Swedish embassies, consulates or
to do other similar actions in solidarity with the prisoners, and to
call for the halt of the criminalisation of summit protesters.
www.manifest.se/upprop
Evgeni Novozhilov, a human rights activist and anarchist sympathiser has
been sent to a mental hospital in Krasnodar, on the false charge of
practising a "hoax about an act of terror". Two years ago he wrote an
article in the local paper about the atrociites the Russian army
committed in the 1994 Chechen civil war, since then he has been harassed
by the FSB (former KGB). He has been imprisoned since last October, for
an indefinite period, after the FSB tapped one of his phonecalls where
he made a vague reference to skyscrapers and planes. This repression of
free speech is akin to the soviet era where forced treatment in mental
hospitals was a notorious anti-dissident tool. Evgeni feels very
isolated and desperately wants to make contact with other people.
Contact him through his mother, by writing to:
Evgeni Novozhilov, ul. Ignatova 51, kv. 105, 350061 Krasnodar, Russia.
Evgeni speaks English, German and Swedish. Read more about the case at
www.anarchistblackcross.org
A release fund has been set up for Mark Barnsley, the framed anarchist
prisoner from Sheffield. Mark will have served 8 years this summer, and
is expected to be released but will be homeless. His case has only just
gone before the Criminal Cases Review Commission so he'll need money to
continue his case from the outside, travel expenses etc. Send
cheques/Postal Orders (made out to "Mark Barnsley Release Fund") /train
vouchers (and anything else useful you can think of!) to Mark Barnsley
Release Fund, Sumac Centre, Box CC, 73 Beech Avenue, Nottingham, NG7
7LR.
This weekend Emma Murphy-Ellis who was sentenced to four months
imprisonment in Portland, Oregon for blocking a road in front of a
forest that was being destroyed is celebrating her 19th Birthday. Send
letters of support and birthday cards to: Emma Murphy-Ellis Clackamas
County Jail 9000 SE McBrod Milwaukie, OR 97222, USA.
Haven Distribution who supply books to prisoners have a new catalogue,
available to prisoners for a second class stamp. They are also very
skint and need donations. Haven Distribution, 27 Old Gloucester Street,
London WC1N 3XX.
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...and finally...
Cops doing it doggy style
Because of continued stop and searches by police with sniffer dogs on
trains in Australia, activists have come up with a novel way of
confounding the canine cops. Jokers (or is that tokers) have been
spraying carriages with bong water and making the dogs, who have been
trained to sniff out pot, go mental every time they board a train thus
leading to commuters being frisked by over zealous cops. The railway
companies have denied that the late arrivals have been due to grass on
the line. More info: www.nswccl.org.au
