Report on circumstances which led to arrest of Belgrade anarchists and International terrorism charges

In the night between 24th and 25th of August 2009, some time after 3am, two Molotov cocktails were thrown on Greek embassy in Belgrade. Act ended with a damaged window and minor damage to façade, the fire didn`t spread to the interior of the building and small fire that was started was quickly extinguished. No one was hurt in this `attack` because there were no people at the embassy at that time and on the following morning all embassy services started working on schedule. Greek embassy officials stated that the damage was insignificant – `Embassy is working without any problems. We`re issuing visas and we`re working with citizens as usual`. Serbian ministry of interior (MUP) immediately contacted embassy officials to make sure that everything is in order, and condemned the attack. During afternoon 25th of August, until then unknown anarchist group `Black Ilja`(Crni Ilija) took over the responsibility for the attack and sent the following announcement to the media: “Our comrade Todoris Iliopulos, who was arrested during the popular uprising in Greece during December 2008, is at hunger strike for already 46 days demanding to be released. While trying to set an example to anyone who will dare to fight for freedom, Greek state is leading a fabricated process against comrade Todoris. Belgrade anarchists have decided to join comrades in Greece, and the whole world in actions of solidarity with Todoris, by demanding his release. That is why the members of our group attacked the Greek embassy in Belgrade with Molotov cocktails during the last night. We will continue with our activities until comrade Iliopulus is released! Fredom for Todoris! ”

Anarchist group “Black Ilija” (Crni Ilija)

Todoris Iliopulos was arrested on December 22nd 2008 during the unrest in Athens, which started after a 15 year Alexandros Grigoropoulos was shot and killed by a police officer in Excharheia district on December 15th. He was held in Koridlao prison from the time of arrest until August 28th, when he was let out on conditiona release. He is accused of two criminal acts (attack on police with Molotov cocktails) and few offences. All the time during his stay in prison, Iliopulos claimed that the charges against him were based on statements of police officers. He started his hunger strike on July the 10th this year, when his health and life were in danger after more than 40 days of hunger strike, a call was made on a number of anarchist webportals, on “Action for liberation of Iliopulos” and other activities such as propaganda, info-actions, meetings, discussions – with a goal of immediate release of Todoris. These actions were scheduled to start on August 24th at 8pm.

Media pressure – Preparation for a farce called “Terrorism”

The president of Serbia, Boris Tadić, has condemned the incident and in a conversation with Greek ambassador in Serbia, Dimostenis Stodis, threatened that the state will take all necessary steps to find and adequately punish the offenders, which announced the political process which will e held against six Begrade anarchists. The leading media in Serbia, have, by the order of state, started focusing their reporting towards making ideal circumstances neutralization and elimination of leftist groups as well as critical thinking in general. There were speculations of internationally coordinated terrorist actions via anarchist web-portals, after which the preparation meetig for Balkan Anarchistic Book Fair, which was held at the beginning of July of this year, was mentioned in the context of preparation for attack on Greek embassy, and finally a `source close with the investigation` has stated in the media that the case can be characterized as a terrorist attack, but at the moment no one can say that with certainty. `Good informed defense analysts` have also insinuated that the Serbian anarchists committed this act in order to be noticed by (demonized by the media) Greek anarchists ad by that get logistic and economic support from them. Zoran Dragisic, Assistant Professor of Faculty of safety and one of the founders of the new Social Democratic Party of Serbia, considered how it was an organized attack and that certain ideological and political intentions stand behind it: “Our security services should seriously address this group. Another problem is that the Embassy of a proven friendly country was attacked. All these left-wing and rightwing groups that resort to violence must be neutralized. Security services need to monitor all suspicious groups and then arrest those who committed violence. If the state can not stop them, it would be a sign that these groups are stronger than the state. We would then have to pay them taxes, not the state. It cannot be a question of whether the state can do this, it must! Anarchist as well as profascits groups are a serious threat to public order. From the security point of view, their ideological differences are irrelevant as long as they violate the law. It is necessary to urgently implement the arrest, court processing and impose harsh penalties, and the activities of the organization, must be under constant supervision, which is the work of BIA (safety and inteligence agency). “Dragišić also pointed out that such activities can evolve into terrorism, and shouldn`t be underestimated. Božidar Spasić (former head of UDBA) considers that the aim of this action was a atraction of attention of Greek anarchists: “Such an attack could not be done without a good preparation and monitoring of the Embassy, where the security and the building itself was monitored for at least ten days, where someone was sitting in the surrounding cafes and all carefully recorded. It is a worrying factis that there was no reaction from embassy security during the attack on the building, but also a cooperation between Greek and Serbian police in providing information about the anarchists in their countrie.” He adds that: “the anarchists in Greece have gotten so strong that in addition to wing, they also have an economic one that deals with the abductions of Greek tycoons, businessman and attacks banks, and thus acquire a huge amounts money used to finance the attacks. Because of that they are classified in rank with the most dangerous terrorist organizations like ETA and IRA.” Until `Black Ilija` case, anarchists in Serbia haven`t been known to the public by the violent and radical actions. Activities os Serbian anarchists were known to the general public are sharing leaflets in front of faculties adn factorise, spraying graffities, publishing, and organizing cultural events and discussions, as well as participation in the workers’ and student protests.

Arrest, investigation, and international terrorism

Members anarchosyndicalist initiative (ASI) Sanja Dojkić, Ratibor Trivunac, Tadej Kurepa and Ivan Vulovic, were on the 3rd of September detained in the police station suspected of having committed a criminal act of causing a general danger, where they remanded in custody for 48 hours. The police brutally carried out arrests, coming the in apartments without a warrant and ill-treating family members of our comrades. The next day, 4th of September, Nikola mItrović was also arrested, who is not a member anarchosyndicalist intitative, and the police announced wanted Ivan Savić, who also isn’t a member of ASI, and twas at the time on summer vacation. The investigating judge has, in a request for an investigation, classified the foregoing offenses as international terrorism (punishable by 3-15 years inprisonment) and a custody for all the arrested for a period of a month. Detained comrades were entitled to get in contact with lawyers and the right to a visit from close family members once in fifteen days. All other visits, communication with the public, and mutual communication among the arrested comrades were banned. The decision of the prosecution to start investigation with assumption the it is crime of international terrorism, it grew, until then unknown anarchist, a group of “Black Ilija” in the line of world-known terrorist organizations like al-Qaida, the IRA or the ETA . Immediately after the release of qualification, the media have published polic photos of the arresteded, with the titles that pronounce them guilty in advance. Special Prosecution spokesman Tomo Zorić said that “investigations is to show whether it is terrorism or an act of causing a general danger. What is not debatable is that they will certainly be accused of a crime. ” After the publication of qualifications, Zoran Dragisic spoke again who said that “we should bear in mind that anarchists have a sort of its own International. However, the extent to which there is a connection between those who threw our Molotov cocktails at the Greek Embassy and the Greek anarchists, they advertise in their statement that they did that because of the situation in Greece, and this relationship is based on it. However, the real question is whether this relationship really exists and whether the attack on the embassy was inspired by the international anarchist movement.” Vladimir Todorić from legal revue said that “throwing cocktails for political reasons at the Embassy of Greece which was officially exteritorial, meet some of the conditions for qualification of international terrorism”, while in the other hand, lawyer Dragoljub Todorović, counsel of one of the suspects, said that in this case the consequences are missing, and that the embassy remained whole, and that the work was done at night with the apparent intention for no victims to be made. Lawyer dr Radonja Dubljević also representative of one of the six suspects, said that in connection with this case in there is some illogicality. “The first is that in the pre-trial proceedings, which led by the police, treated crime as causing general danger, which is designed for a prison sentence of up to five years, to the proceedings before the court there was a big turnaround, crime was treated as an international terrorism for which the prison sentence of three to 15 years. One must ask the question what happened in that short time interval, from the police to court. ” Dubijević added that the prosecutor failed to take into account that the notion of terrorism has founded its own scientific definition and as a political and legal institutions defined, and that as such can not be made with a device such as a Molotov cocktail, or in this case, device that was thrown at the embassy of Greece. It is interesting that in the case of two Molotov cocktails thrown the Greek Embassy rated as a more difficult crime than burning the American Embassy, February 2008. in Belgrade, when one person lost his life in a fire inside the Embassy. In the burning of the American Embassy one person was accused of a crime causing general danger, for which the Criminal Code envisages punishment of one to six years imprisonment, while in the case of international terrorism punishment is three to fifteen years. This crime is one of the most difficult and is in the group with genocide and war crimes. The definition of terrorism is the premeditated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to instillation of fear with the intention of coercion and intimidation of government and society to achieve goals that are generally political religious or ideological. Key elements of terrorism are a threat, violence, force, fear, political effect and purpose; psychological effect, a random selection of targets and victims, deliberately planned and systematically organized actions, a way of fighting against the legal act – from which it can be concluded that terrorism is an ilegal act of violence directed against a specific country with the intent to cause fear or collective damages, to achieve a political goal. The four main elements of terrorism are:

1. The objectives of the activities are usually always political, whether it is a regime shift, shift the person in power, secession of certain territory or parts.
2. The use of violence or threat of use of violence
3. The victims are usually innocent citizens
4. Lack of direct links between terrorists and victims, ie. attack is not directed towards the victim or victims individually, but the terrorist act would send a message to wider community.

Reactions of the public and the introduction of repression

On Sunday, 6th of September a protest was organized in solidarity with arrested comrades in front of the Philosophy Faculty in Belgrade. The protest was attended by about 40 anarchists and friends of those arrested, carrying a banner: IT WILL NOT PASS! Protesting against very hard qualifications imposed by the prosecution, and abuse of laws by the state to justify the use of repressive measures. In the proclamation read at the protest it was pointed out that :

“at the moment when the rights and freedoms in Serbia are seriously constrict by enactment amending the Criminal Code and Law on Public Information, the initiation of proceedings for an act of international terrorism against the six arrested, indicates the intention of certain state structures that increasing the degree of repression and abuse of legal provisions gradually discourage any political criticism of its actions. Therefore, we express solidarity with the arrested, demand that the meaningless charges against them be raised and seek their release.”

Calling from a special antiterrorist unit base in Batajnica, Interior Minister Ivica Dačić said this is protest as purposeless and said that the police has evidence, but that the police is ready to admit that a mistake has been made if it is proven otherwise. For 11th September, a group of Belgrade University professors and public figures concerned with the announcement that against the six suspects for Molotov cocktail attack on the embassy of Greece in Serbia to be indicted that are they charged for an act of international terrorism, sent an open letter to the public. This group also said burning example of the U.S. Embassy during a protest after the declaration of independence, 21 February 2008, where the work with much greater consequences than seen much milder case of the Embassy of Greece where the effects were insignificant. The group alleges that the U.S. Embassy in Serbia was burned and that is substantially damaged by fire, while one of the attackers lost his life.

“The only participant in this attack which is found on the accused bench was charged with serious offenses against the enforcement of general safety. In contrast, the authorities breaking a window at the empty building of the Embassy of Greece, with two lighted bottles that have not led to a fire characterized as an act of international terrorism, as the work of the Serbian Criminal Code is in the list of the most serious crimes such as genocide, war crimes and conducting an aggressive war.”

The signatories pointed that hey’re afraid that the paradoxical positioning of different law enforcement bodies under the two cases of politically conditioned parts of the current government efforts to improve the rating of the nationalist oriented part of the electorate. “It has a stimulating effect on the strengthening of the right extremist and chauvinist tendencies in our society, such as those that largely without major legal consequences, in early 2008 participated in the aforementioned burning of embassies in Belgrade” The international reaction to the arrest and accusing the Belgrade anarchists of International terrorism were more intense and frequent.

List of international solidarity actions in chronological order:

6.9. – Belgrade (ASI)
7.9. – Bratislava (PA)
7.9. – Warsaw (ZSP)
7.9. – Lisbon (IWA Portugal)
8.9 – Zadar
9.9. – Prague (squatters)
9.9. – Vienna (anarchists)
10.9. – Ljublana (Federation for Anarchist Organizing)
11.9. – Vienna (FAS)
11.9. – London (SolFed)
11.9. – Sydney (Anarcho-Syndicalist Federation)
11.9 – Warsaw (ZSP)
14.9. – Zagreb (MASA)
14.9. – Bratislava (PA)
15.9. – Moscow (KRAS)
15.9. – Kiev (Direct Action)
16.9. – Thessaloniki (AK, ESE)
16.9. – Athens (AK, ESE)
16.9. – Hamburg (VAB Altona) morning
16.9. – Hamburg (VAB Altona) afternoon
16.9. – Denver (ABC)
18.9. – Sofia (FAB, Anarcho-Resistance)
18.9. – Berlín (FAU)
18.9. – the Hague (AGA, De Vrije Bond)
19.9 – Komotini
25.9 -Frankfurt / Main (FAU)
25.9 – Skopje (Anarchist Front)
28.9 – London (SolFed)
28.9 – Budapest (anarchists)
1.10 – Bern (FAU)
2.10 – Madrid (CNT)
2.10 – Oslo (NSF)
3. 10 – Madrid (CNT)
4.10 – Bern (FAU)
4.10 – Petersburg
8.10 – Trieste
16. 10 – Prague
17.10 – Paris (CNT-AIT)
22.10 – Ankara (Ankara Anarchist Collective)
23.10 – Frankfurt/Main (FAU)
27.10 – Granada (CNT)
3.11 – New York
30.11 – Santiago de Compostela (CNT)

The desire of government to criminalize ASI as an organization and prohibit it at the end, became apparent when, on September 15th, during a wave of creating atmosphere of fear, in some media an obviously false news appeared, how Anarcho-syndicalist Initiative will use “pride parade” to attack the police in the streets of Belgrade and avenge the arrested comrades.

Events that followed, the Serbian government will use to open the introduction of state repression.

Since the “Pride parade” was scheduled for September the 20th, tensions in the Serbian public scene grew since the spring, but have reached the culmination on18th of September evening, when a French citizen Brice Taton was brutally beate. He was kept in hospital for treatment, in critical condition, and the same night was, due to severity of his injuries, subjected to a series of surgical procedures. State Public Prosecutor’s Office, “shocked” by violence, has condemned attacks on French tourists and announced that he will seek the strictest prison punishment. The “Pride parade” the following day, 19th of September, however, is prohibited with the explanation that the police and security services are unable to guarantee the safety of parade participants, and officials have stated that the State capitulated before the violence and profascist groups. The same day, police banned the holding of meetings in downtown Belgrade, under the pretext that it could lead to violent acts. Farce directed by the state, called the struggle against violence, was continued by the arrests of members of nationalist organizations “1389″ and members of the clericalfascist organization “Obraz”, due to the occurrence of unauthorized gathering. Interior Minister Ivica Dačić said that “the state will decisively deal with everyone who is threatening with violence and that public meetings cannot be held in downtown Belgrade, where there is a threat of endangering life and property. The police will, as much as it is in its power, prevent all kinds of attacks, and will be repressive to extremist groups that threaten the various parties, organizations and movements. ” Officials of the police are once again emphasized that “and in the future” in the center of Belgrade, for security reasons will not be allowed holding of public meetings. “Police has on the 20th of September arrested 37 activists of rightwing organizations for violating ban on gatherings in public places, and four of them were detained in prison for up to 30 days. Ministry of Justice on 22nd of September launched an initiative to ban any organization whose members propagate violence and carry out criminal acts. And then President of Serbia Boris Tadić announces that “all extremists, left or right, will be prosecuted before our courts.” In Article 55 Serbian the Constitution states that the Constitutional Court may prohibit the association which is aimed at violent overthrow of constitutional order, violation of guaranteed human or minority rights, inciting racial, national or religious hatred.

Indictment for international terrorism

Investigation ended after two months, on 3rd of November, prosecutor and the Belgrade District Court and the Trial Chamber by a unanimous decision filed for international terrorism against six anarchists from Belgrade, and extended their detention for another month on Article 42 paragraph 1 point 3 CPC (when punishable penalty for a crime is more than 10 years, the accused has no right to defend himself with freedom), while the indictment says that there is fear that the offense will be repeated because the defendants are members, and supporters of ASI.

Therefore, it is important to explain in what ways this is the case of
discrimination.

1. Firstly, discrimination is related to the fact that the defendants
were placed into a pre-trial custody, which was then extended twice so
it has lasted more than three months. The reasons for placing someone
into, and extending, custody are defined in the clause 142 in the
Serbian Criminal Procedure Act (CPA). According to the accusation, a
reason for placing the defendants into, and extending their, custody lie
in the alleged “special circumstances which suggest that the defendants
will repeat a criminal act, or will complete an attempted criminal act,
or that they will realize their threat to commit a criminal act” (clause
142, paragraph 1, point 3, CPA). However, in the part of the accusation
where the Deputy District Public Prosecutor asks for the extension of
the custody there is not a single word about “special circumstances”
which suggest that the accused would repeat the criminal act they
committed, or that they would complete it or that they would realize a
threat to commit another criminal act. Neither is there anything about
the “special circumstances” in the rest of the accusation.

On the contrary, the accusation shows that the defendants denied that
they committed the criminal act, and their quotes in the accusation do
not lead to a conclusion that they would repeat the same act or commit
another. Moreover, the deputy prosecutor points out that the motive for
the attack against the Embassy of Greece was to show support for a
citizen of Greece, Theodoros Iliopoulos (named inventively as Teodis
Iliopunos by the prosecution) who was on hunger strike at the time when
the alleged crime was committed. After forty-nine days of hunger strike,
Iliopoulos was released from prison (together with other Greek citizens
who were arrested because of the demonstrations in December 2008), so
the claim that the defendants might repeat the act sounds more like
science fiction than like reality. This is so because the reason for
repeating the act does not exist any more. (The release of Iliopoulos
from prison is a well-known fact which can be easily confirmed through a
search via Google or another search machine. It can be found in Serbian
sources as well.)

If we look at the other reasons for keeping someone in custody, which
are defined in the clause 142 CPA, it is clear that such reasons do not
exist here. The defendants are not in hiding; their identity is not
unknown; there is no danger of destroying evidence or hindering the
gathering of evidence given that the accusation has already been legally
enforced; nor did the defendants avoid appearing in court for the
proceedings (although, they were not able to avoid that). Finally, by
pointing to the particular clause, paragraph and point, the reason for
keeping someone in custody is defined in such a way that “special
circumstances” must be specified. But the accusation does not explain them.

For all these reasons, it can be concluded that the prosecution and the
court were guided by the reasons which are not legal when they decided
to place the accused into custody and extend it. Given that a foreign
country suffered damage by the criminal proceedings, it is not difficult
to prove that their reasons were political. The court, and any other
state agency, that acts according to political criteria, engages in a
political trial and negates the right to a fair and just trial, which is
guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms, as well as in the Serbian Constitution.

But why is this a case of discrimination? This is discrimination because
some accused are placed into custody even without legal reasons in
Serbia, while others are not. The first are discriminated against,
whereas the second are privileged. To prove this, we need not look into
the distant past. Several days ago, a television programme Insider,
shown on TV B92, informed the public about individuals who were charged
with violent criminal proceedings, but who were not placed in custody at
all, or if they were, then they were held in custody only for a few
days. Here are several quotes from the B92 website:

“Djordje Prelic, born in 1985, is a leader of a group of Partisan
football club’s supporters called ‘Alcatraz’. According to the data,
which we acquired owing to the Freedom of Information Act, Djordje
Prelic was charged more than twenty times for various criminal matters
in the last several years. So far, most of these charges have not
resulted in final verdicts. When he escaped from Serbia after he had
killed Brice Taton, Ivica Dacic, the Serbian Minister of Police informed
the public that Prelic is a well-known drug dealer. It is still unclear
how it has been possible for him to remain free.”

“Criminal charges were pressed against Vavic in January 2005, when he
was arrested under suspicion that he inflicted grave injuries on Stefan
Gajic and Darko Kuric by stabbing them. However, he was released only a
day later after the consultations with Nebojsa Bojic, a judge of the
Fifth Municipal Court. The charges were filed with the District
Prosecution in a regular way. Replying officially to the questions of
the programme Insider, the District Prosecution said that the trial was
suspended.”

“The same is the case with the groups of supporters of the football club
Red Star. For example, Velibor Dunjic, a leader of Red Star’s
supporters, was arrested only recently under a suspicion of committing a
murder. However, he has been repeatedly charged with grave criminal acts
over a long period of time, but almost none of the trials reached
completion. That is how it was possible that he was eventually charged
even with an attempted murder. Velibor Dunjic, “Velja”, is twenty-four
and is a leader of a group of Red Star’s supporters called ‘Belgrade
Boys’. Many people explained his aggressive, and often unpunished,
behavior by pointing at the fact that his father was a retired police
officer. Dunjic, himself, often threatened police officers with his
father when he was arrested. According to Insider’s research, since 2009
nineteen charges were pressed against Dunjic, which accused him of
committing at least thirty-one criminal matters. Dunjic was still free
and in April 2008 he was charged with an attempted murder.”

—- What is your relationship with the ASI? Are you in contact?

—- I am a member of the anarchist federation of Slovenia (“Federation
for Anarchist Organizing”). For more than eight years we maintain a close relationship with fellow anarco-syndicalists of the ASI and the two organizations have been collaborating together in activities whenever it’s been possible.

We are currently in contact with some members of the ASI but the communication is more then difficult because they are being closely monitored by the Serbian state. However, neither we nor the members of the ASI have direct contact with the prisoners.

- What is the situation right now with the comrades? Are you optimistic?

On the contrary, I’m very pessimistic. As you can imagine, the situation is very
frustrating for everyone, especially due to the fact that the Serbian state is absolutely determined to finish off the ASI. Obviously they are taking advantage of the situation all they can. In fact, throughout this time the time of arrest has been prolonged under the disguise of new objections.

- What are they charged with?

They are accused of international terrorism. Right now the investigation is finished and will go to trial. If convicted, they can be sentences from three to fifteen years, all this despite the fact that the prosecutor has no legal evidence and the comrades have denied the charges from the beginning.

It should be made clear that it is common for the Serbian state to use this kind of charges on this type of anti-system organizations in order to block its activity, put pressure on its members and to finally release them without charge. But this case is different obviously.

- What is the socio-political situation in Serbia?

The social situation is really fucked. Naturally, Serbia finds itself in the current crisis, but also with the aggravation of being a state that is in a transition between so called socialism and unbridled capitalism. The unemployment rate is higher than 20% and those who have a job barely makes it. 60% have salaries below the average (about 350 euros / month). And this without counting those who are paid the minimum salary (150 euros).

Moreover, the situation in the public institutions is very chaotic. There are different centers of power and all kinds of mafias. Corruption is the order of the day. As in Spain, political parties are all the same when it comes to economic proposals. Needless to say, despite this institutional chaos, the repressive apparatus works perfectly.

- What influence does the ASI have in Serbia?

As we all know, this is a small organization, yet it has a great influence on society. They have been gaining influence in public opinion, among workers and have been shown to be the only alternative to other unions. They were very effective and persistent with anarchist propaganda, with its principles, tactics and aims, not only among the working class, also among students, teachers, etc.. We firmly believe that this is the main reason for the arrest and we assume that the Serbian intelligence service is behind the entire process.

In addition I would add that the ASI not only has an influence in Serbia, but in many Balkan countries. As these countries do not have anarcho-syndicalist organizations (with exception in Croatia) for the moment, they are the reference. The ASI has put much effort in recent years in the need for a anarchosyndicalist organization.

- What has been the reaction of the Serbian people?

Many kindred organizations have expressed solidarity with the comrades and also public figures (film directors, journalists, writers, etc.).. Also university professors and some leftist groups. As said, the ASI is far more influential than the rest of Europe thinks.

- What is the current status of other anti-order groups in Serbia?

As I said before, the Serbian state has very repressive policies. One of the most active struggles today is anti-fascism and one of the few where all organizations are quite united. This is so because fascism is very strong in Serbia, including in the parliament.

Notably, the fascist movement tends to focus its campaign against the anarcho-syndicalism. For example, just a couple weeks ago when they made a strong campaign against the ASI. I would dare to say that Serb fascism does not focus their struggle against liberal anti-fascism. Its real enemy is anarcho-syndicalism, demonstrating, and I never get tired of repeating it, the great work that has done by the ASI.

In fact, ASI was the catalyst in the BAFI (Belgrade Antifascist Initiative).

- Finally, do you have any proposal on how to help the imprisoned comrades?

We believe it is very important to support this campaign because it may set a precedent in the repression of the anarchist movement in the Balkans. We must relentlessly continue the solidarity campaign, informing people to increase public pressure.

Support should be given in everything they need. Right now one of the biggest problems is the lack of funds to cover legal costs, possible sanctions, fines, etc. Given the seriousness of the matter believe that we must begin to consider new ways of solidarity. We want to emphasize that we always should be using methods that do not harm or increase the charges. We stress that the comrades are being tried on charges of international terrorism.

Thank you very much for your interest. Salud!

CNT Madrid

Free the Belgrade Six: Interview in Madrid with a member of the anarchist federation from Slovenia.
(Federación Local de Sindicatos de Madrid – 04.12.2009)

interview English & Spanish: http://madrid.cnt.es/noticia.php?id=244
interview greek: http://salagos-tis-autonomias.blogspot.com/

Indictment for Terrorism against Anarchists – a Political Trial

On November 3, 2009 , the supposed throwing of two burning beer bottles at the Greek embassy was qualified by the Public Prosecutor’s office as a crime from the list of the most serious offenses. Six proved antifascists are thus being accused of no more and no less than international terrorism! A group for monitoring the trial against the six anarchists has initiated a petition, collecting signatures under an open letter that aims to bring to public attention the fact that what we are faced with is a political trial. The text of the letter has been supported by numerous intellectuals.

The Group Monitoring the Trial against the Six anarchists

On 3rd and 4th September 2009 Ivan Vulović (24), Sanja Dojkić (19), Ivan Savić (25), Ratibor Trivunac (28), Tadej Kurepa (24) i Nikola Mitrović (29) were arrested by the police. They were arrested on suspicion that they may have perpetrated the criminal act of causing general danger by throwing “Molotov cocktails” at the Greek Embassy. 24 hours later the state prosecutor’ office changed the police qualification of the supposed act from “causing general danger” to the “criminal act of international terrorism”. We fear that this was an arbitrary interpretation of the Criminal Code and a case of its use for political purposes.

It is necessary to state the social context in which all this is happening. Historical revisionism is becoming more and more normalized and legal rehabilitation of nazi collaborators from the II World War are on the agenda. Equalization of leftist and far-right political ideas is a consequence. Just in the year 2009 we have witnessed the escalation of violence (as a consequence one foreign citizen was killed) and numerous threats with violence were made by the fascist groups. All of this was met with a mild reaction from the state prosecution and the police. To name just one example: in the days leading up to the Pride Parade the threats of physically liquidating the gay population were called just “polemics” by a representative of the state.

The state has created a situation where a confrontation with the same violent right-wing groups that it initially embraced, but with whom the relation has long since metastasized, seems unavoidable, At the same time, the state finds its scapegoats on the left, penalizing it with draconian measures to establish an illusory quasi-balance and present itself state as “fair” in opposing two equally dangerous extremes.

We live in a state where there is no guarantee that a person will be prosecuted for his or her promotion of racial, religious and national hatred. In all these years, members of the clero-fascist organisation Obraz (operating without problems since 1993) and the Serbian nationalist movement 1389 (which presents itself as “patriotic” while maintaining close contacts with Russian fascist organizations) have not been held criminally responsible for their acts which involved threats against the LGBT population and numerous attacks and beatings of their members! The leader of a nazi organization “Nacionalni stroj”, Goran Davidović, (“Fuehrer”) was allowed to openly mock the legal system of Republic of Serbia, when he succeeded in his complaint against the guilty verdict in his case, basing it on the fact that documents of the trial were written in latin letters.

We also need to remind ourselves of the fact that in the Criminal Code of the Republic of Serbia the act of international terrorism is listed together with genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes against the civilian population, the organization and incitement of genocide, war crimes and agressive war. We live in a country, that for decades now has been governed by national-chauvinistic discourse and where even today it debated whether or not there was a genocide in Srebrenica, or whether mass war crimes in Kosovo even happened.

The readiness of the prosecutor’s office to qualify two thrown beer bottles in the same way as the most horrific crimes known to humanity represents a devaluation of these crimes and is a symptom of the deeply degenerated system of values that made it possible.

On the night between 23rd-24th October R.K. (17), N.H. (18) i I.F. (19) were arrested in Vršac. The reason for their arrest was that they had been pasting posters with “Freedom for the Arrested Anarchists” written on them. A criminal case was initiated against these young people as they are being accused of “obstruction of justice” (Article 336b of the Criminal Code). They are threatened with three years in prison if found guilty. Despite the fact that the stated intention for initially introducing such a paragraph into the Criminal Code was the fight against right wing extremism, what we again see is a crackdown on the left.

We think that the reason that a political indictment of this kind could even be produced lies in the influence the political parties have on the representative and judicial branch of the government. (One example is the fact that judges are re-elected by the High Council for legal Affairs, whose members are nominated by the parliament). The Venice Commision at the Council of Europe and the European Commision have both already pointed out that this arrangement is controversial.

Taking into account Article 10 of European Declaration om Human Rights, we do not hesitate to openly state that all the circumstances of this case clearly lead to the conclusion that in its essence, the trial against the six young people is a political one. This is why we demand the the withdrawal of this senseless indictment.

10 December 2009

Aleksej Kišjuhas
Borka Pavićević
Dragomir Olujić
Goran Despotović
Jovo Bakić
Ljubiša Rajić
Ljubomir Živkov
Pavel Domonji
Sonja Biserko
Sonja Drljević
Srbijanka Turajlić
Staša Zajović
Svetlana Lukić
Svetlana Vuković
Todor Kuljić
Nebojša Spaić
Vera Marković
Vesna Rakić Vodinelić
Vladimir Ilić
Zagorka Golubović
Zoran Petakov
Želimir Žilnik

So, the comrades are being charged with international terrorism. In the near future, this means they will remain incommunicado in jail for at leastseveral months.

Those comrades who are still free are trying to see if there is any way to appeal the decision. Further information will follow.

Meanwhile, the worst case scenario has now happened. The battle will be long and difficult and these comrades will need all our support.

Lawyers’ fees will obviously be extremely high, so anyone who wishes to contribute financially to solidarity efforts can send a cheque made out to the CNT AIT, with the words “Solidarité Belgrade” on the back, to the following address:

CNT AIT
108 rue Damrémont
75018 PARIS

Athens Surrealist Group:
Grigoris Apostolides, Giannis Golfinopoulos, Manolis Daskalos, Alexandra Halkias, Diamantis Karavolas, Vangelis Koutalis, Sotiris Liontos, Helias Melios, Lefki Mossou, Makis Perdikomatis, Nikos Stabakis, Theoni Tabaki, Marianna Xanthopoulou, Giannis Xourias.

Nicosia: Kostas Reousis.

Leeds Surrealist Group:
Gareth Brown, Stephen J. Clark, Kenneth Cox, Luke Dominey, Jan Drabble, Bill Howe, Caroline Jeffs, Sarah Metcalf, Mike Peters, Peter Overton, Martin Trippett.

Surrealist London Action Group (SLAG):
Paul Cowdell, Merl Fluin, Aniano Henrique, Patrick Hourihan.

Grupo Surrealista de Madrid:
José Arias Taboada, Eugenio Castro, Manuel Crespo, Javier Gálvez, Jesús García Rodríguez, Vicente Gutiérrez Escudero, Bruno Jacobs, Lurdes Martínez, Julio Monteverde, Noé Ortega, Antonio Ramírez, José Manuel Rojo, María Santana y Ángel Zapata.
and its friends:
Sonia Ayerra, Rag Cuter, Andrés Devesa, Jesús González Gómez, Paul Hammond, Inés Mendoza, Emilio Santiago, Leticia Vera and the Anarchist Group Al Margen.

Groupe Surréaliste de Montréal:
Jean-Maurice Brouillet, Dominic Tétrault.

Le Groupe de Paris du mouvement surréaliste:
Michèle Bachelet, Alfredo Fernandes, Jean-Pierre Guillon, Michaël Löwy, Marie-Dominique Massoni, Dominique Paul, Michel Zimbacca.

La Vertèbre et le Rossignol (ville de Québec):
Enrique Lechuga, David Nadeau.

on behalf of Grupo Surrealista del Río de la Plata/Buenos Aires-Montevideo:
Juan Carlos Otaño.

on behalf of Skupina Českých a Slovenských Surrealistů:
Frantisek Dryje, Katerina Pinosova, Bertrand Schmitt, Bruno Solarik.

Surrealistgruppen i Stockholm, Johannes Bergmark.

Sürrealist Eylem Türkiye

Surrealist Movement in U.S.A.:
Chicago Surrealist Group: Penelope Rosemont, Paul Garon, Beth Garon, Gale Ahrens, David Roediger, Joseph Jablonski, Joel Williams, Jan Hathaway, Irene Plazewski, Janina Ciezadlo, Renay Kirkman, Tamara L. Smith.

Portland: Brandon Freels, M.K. Shibek.

The St. Louis Surrealist Group:
Richard Burke, Susan Burke, Andrew Torch, M. M. Morose.

Eric Bragg (www.surrealcoconut.com)

The comrades will continue to denounce such repression, whereever it occurs.

At the beginning of the month was the premiere of the new film by director Zelimir Zilnik in Belgrade. The film entitled “the Old School of Capitalism” is a feature film set in Serbia, with the plot revolving around the recent wave of worker protests. There are also anarchosyndicalists in the film, played by Rata and Tadej, two of the six people arrested in Belgrade at the beginning of September.

We suppose that being Zilnik is a well-known (and quite good) director, this film should be shown at festivals and better cinemas around the world. As we know, it has also been shown in Turkey and Germany.