Over 700 people die each year trying to cross the European borders.
More than 32,000 people are imprisoned in 250 centers all over the EU without even a trial.
Solidarity with the three arrested comrades!
Come to the court cases on 2 and 6 July!
From 17 till 24 of June the No Border Camp in Stockholm brought together people from everywhere in the fight against the migration regime and the shared wish for a more humane world.
After the kickoff demonstration of the camp on Sunday the 17th “For a World Without Borders” where over 500 people marched together through he city of Stockholm, a solidarity demonstration with an earlier arrested comrade of 100 people outside the police station in Solna followed.
On the way back to the camp by metro however, a big group of these activists were stopped at the station of Nackrösen and surrounded by over sixty riot police who forcefully handcuffed all those deemed to be “no border activists”. People were photographed and asked for identification papers. Of No reasons for this temporary arrest were provided and people were forced to sit on the stone ground, with no access to toilet or water for over three hours. Other activists who traveled to the site to find out what happened were chased by police and dogs and beaten.
In the end three people were arrested and taken to a police station in the city. At least two, Bee and Ant are charged with “violence”, “vandalism” or “resiting arrest” and are currently still in jail. A third person, Spider has recently been released while awaiting his trial set somewhere in the coming weeks.
Bee’s court hearing will be held Monday the 2th of July at 13:00-16:00 at the court house (Tingsrätten) in Solna (Sundbybergsvägen 5) for charges of “assaulting a police officer” (våld mot tjänsteman) and violently resisting arrest (våldsamt motstånd). Ant’s court hearing will be held Friday the 6th of July at 9:00-12:00 also at the Tingsrätten in Solna for charges of “vandalism” (skadegörelse), “assaulting a police officer” (våld mot tjänsteman), “attempt at assaulting a police officer”(försök till våld mot tjänsteman) and violently resisting arrest (våldsamt motstånd).
While repression is a means the state uses to divert us from our real goals for a world without borders, capitalism or any other oppressing structures of domination, we will not forget our comrades. We ask people to come to the court hearings on Monday and Friday to show solidarity with the arrested activists.
Also we ask all participants of the no border camp to write their personal story of the police brutality many have witnessed during the week.
The witch hunt on people who refuse to remain silent against the onslaught of capitalism and nation-states and want a world not guided by capitalism and profit is nothing new or unexpected. For the Swedish state to start a criminal prosecution on vague charges of “resisting arrest” the focus is placed on the alleged criminality of these dangerous “radicals”, instead of on the systematic injustices and disregard for human lives which are part and parcel of the dominant political structure. Instead of questioning the thousands of people who die every year at the borders, the thousands more locked up in horrifying conditions all over Europe, or the deportation to so-called “safe” countries where people will be killed by bullets or starvation, the state chooses repression.
The harassment of participants of the no border camp, and the harassment of inhabitants of Akala who were stopped and searched in the center of Akala were a clear attempt by the state to crush any wider sympathy or connections with the people living in the area of the camp. They should be seen in the light of the wider fight against borders and against control. We can recall the Brussels No Border Camp of 2011 where similarly many people have been harassed and abused by overzealous cops, and where two people got suspended sentences of 1 year and 6 months for “rebellion against the police”. The repression following the recent No Border Camps in Brussel and Stockholm are just one expression of the wider repression and violence which lies at the core of the current political order, which manifests itself daily for migrants trying to cross the borders of fortress Europe in barbed-wire-fences, Frontex patrols, and prisons.
Let us respond to the arrests with solidarity and companionship. Where the state only shows terror, let us show that they can take our friends, but that we will support them in whatever way we can. But let us also not forget that the struggle continues against the migration regime. Only a few days ago, Tuesday 26th of June, asylum right activists from Sweden and the Netherlands successfully forced airline company KLM to of 28-year-old Jean-Pierre Nzeyimana to his home country Burundi where he would be facing certain death. That many more direct actions may flourish !
Finally, let us remember the No Border Camp as a place where many wonderful people have come together, and have made important alliances in the fight for a more humane world, not only by the state repression.
– Solidarity with all imprisoned no border activists !
– We demand the immediate release of Bee and Ant, and the dropping of all charges and investigations against all participants of the No Border Camp !
– We demand an end to the border regime which criminalizes those who, searching for a better life, or even the possibility of a life at all, cross the borders of Europe !
Bee: Monday 2 July, 13:00-16:00, Tingsrätten Solna, Sundbybergsvägen 5
Ant: Friday 6 July, 9:00-12:00, Tingsrätten Solna, Sundbybergsvägen 5
Solidaritygroup nobordercamp stockholm
ABC Stockholm