Update : ASI Solid@rity! : “This blog is independent, it is not associated with ASI or any other organisation. This blog collects news reports and other info about the ASI member who were detained recently in Serbia.” In English and Greek.
On September, 4th 2009 District Court in Belgrade decided that arrested members of ASI will be held for thirty days in detention. Our comrades are accused of an act of international terrorism.
Union Confederation “Anarcho-syndicalist Initiative” found out about the attack on Greek embassy, and of the organisation that took the responsibility for this act, through media.
We use this opportunity to remind the public once again that these methods of individual political struggle are not methods of anarcho-syndicalism, quite the contrary – we proclaim our political positions publicly and through our work we seek to bring masses to the syndicalist movement and all the libertarian and progressive organisations.
Wanting to brutally suppress its fierce critics the state, through its mechanism of repression, acts with banal logic and maps as suspects those who explicitly stated their libertarian beliefs, and by their imprisonment ends the case and gives a false picture of its efficiency to the public.
Unscrupulous actions of regime’s organs can be observed from the first moments of arrest, unlawful searches of their apartments, intimidations of their families to extreme charges of international terrorism.
Given the fact that we do not support the acts of now famous anarchist group “Crni Ilija” (Black Iliya) we still cannot characterise what happened as “international terrorism”, because terrorism, by definition, entails threats to the lives of civilians, whereas in this case no one was even hurt and only symbolic material damage was done.
It is clear that this state produced farce is just one way of intimidating anyone who decides to point out the injustice and hopelessness of contemporary society.
In times of general social numbness individuals reach for the most unbelievable, sometimes even self-destructive, actions in order to break through the media blockade and to put their case in the centre of attention – let us remember the workers who cut off and eat their own fingers, or, for example, the unlucky, distressed man who threatened to activate a hand grenade in the building of the Presidency of Serbia – that is, trying to shed some light on their problems in a broader social space.
Let’s not allow them to persuade us that one symbolic act of solidarity, even if expressed in a certainly ill manner, together with any other act of rebellion of those who are left with no rights should be treated as an antisocial act and an act of terrorism.
We express solidarity with the arrested comrades and their families and demand the truth about this case!
Today, I saw a dog,
Yes, a dog.
Talking to a pig,
Yes, a pig.
They were on the pavement,
Discussing Trotsky.
Not brotsky or crotsky or drotsky or frotsky.
But Trotsky.
While he retains a largely loyal following around the world, possibly numbering in the hundreds of thousands (if not millions), Leon Trotsky (November 7, 1879–August 21, 1940) has contributed much moar to the world than a brief and ultimately unsatisfactory love object for undergraduate students.
Below I detail several ways in which Лев Давидович Троцький has left his mark on World History.
First and foremost, Trotsky gave unto the World the Spartacists, without whom there would have been no Michael Jackson.
Secondly, according to the Internets, ‘Trotsky Icepick’ was a Los Angeles post-punk band formed by Vitus Mataré and Kjehl Johansen in 1986, following the demise of ‘The Last’ and ‘100 Flowers’. Named for the murder weapon used to kill Mister T, the band’s first (?) release Poison Summer came out under the name ‘Danny and the Doorknobs’. Supposedly, the Doorknobs had performed for several years in nightclubs in the City of Angels, selecting a new moniker to go along with each performance.
Note to young up-and-coming pop *s: this made it extremely difficult for the group to build up any sort of following.
It was at a ‘Club Lingere’ — or possibly ‘The Abattoir’ — show that the quartet was subjected to horrific levels of feedback on stage during a performance. This caused Mataré to quip “THANKS FOR THE TROTSKY ICEPICK, DUDE!” to the errant sound man.
They picked this tag for the second (?) Poison Summer LP.
I’m gay, I’m a Jew
and I’m a Communist too
I’m black and handicapped
but just as human as you
I’m highly intelligent
but stupid as sauerkraut
I’m beautiful, I’m ugly
I’m fat and I’m well-built
there’s nothing — nothing about you
that makes you better than me
because you’ve got your weaknesses, too
weaknesses just like me
and these aren’t wrong
they belong to you and me
and if you can’t deal with that
it’s no one else’s fault
You’re just one in a billion
and that’s what you’ve gotta accept
You’re just one of a billion asses in the world
Your values, your norms
morality and laws
are disposable and replaceable —
just empty babble
today valid, tomorrow vain
the day after tomorrow reversed
what’s right and important here
is somewhere else cursed
all of your gods, your churches
beliefs, prayers, and religion
are today holy, tomorrow sacrilege
day after tomorrow scorned
and power and fame
and immortality
on closer inspection — ain’t worth shit
You’re not the center of the Universe
You’re just an ass in the space of time
You’re not the center of the Universe
You’re just an ass in the space of time
Fuck you!
Ich bin schwul, ich bin jüdisch
und ein Kommunist dazu
ich bin schwarz und behindert
doch genauso Mensch wie Du
Ich bin hochintelligent
und doch so doof wie Sauerkraut
ich bin schön, ich bin häßlich,
ich bin fett und gut gebaut
Es gibt nichts —
nichts was dich besser macht als mich
denn auch du hast Deine Fehler,
deine Fehler so wie ich
und die Fehler sind nix falsches,
sie gehören zu Dir und mir
und wenn du’s nich auf die Reihe kriegst
kann niemand was dafür
Du bist einer von Milliarden
und das mußt du akzeptiern
Du bist einer von Milliarden Ärschen auf der Welt
Deine Werte, Deine Normen,
Die Moral und das Gesetz
sind entbehrlich und ersetzbar —
überflüssiges Geschwätz
heute gültig, morgen nichtig
übermorgen umgekehrt
was hier richtig oder wichtig
ist woanders ohne Wert
Deine Götter, Deine Kirchen
Glauben, Beten, Religion
heute heilig, morgen Frevel,
übermorgen blanker Hohn
und das Geld und der Ruhm
und die Unvergänglichkeit
sind bei näherem Betrachten — für’n Arsch
Du bist nicht der Mittelpunkt des Universums
Du bist nur ein Arsch im Raum der Zeit
Du bist nicht der Mittelpunkt des Universums
Du bist nur ein Arsch im Raum der Zeit
A young man in Moscow on trial for assault, 18-year-old Azerbaijani Rasul Khalilov, has been shot dead, in an apparent revenge attack. The dead man was allegedly a member of a yoof gang called the ‘Black Hawks’.
Use of the words ‘Black’ and ‘Hawks’ — and the dead man’s membership of an ethnic minority — has naturally prompted quality journalists to make comparisons with the 1960s US political party the Black Panthers (for Self Defense).
Oddly, the two groups — separated by a continent and four decades — bear absolutely no similarity to one another whatsoever beyond a label.
In a further extraordinary outburst — contained in his latest historical monograph ‘Political journalism in post-Communist Russia’, published by the Ponds’ Institute for Historical Studies — XXXXXXXX further alleged that murdered Russian journalists Vadim Kuznetsov, Vaghif Kochetkov, Ilya Zimin, Vyacheslav Akatov, Anton Kretenchuk, Yevgeny Gerasimenko, Vlad Kidanov, Alexander Petrov, Vyacheslav Plotnikov, Anna Politkovskaya, Marina Pisareva, Konstantin Brovko, Ivan Safronov, Ilyas Shurpayev, Gaji Abashilov, Magomed Yevloyev, Abdulla Alishayev, Stanislav Markelov, Anastasia Baburova, Natalia Estemirova and Malik Akhmedilov routinely lied and “took bits and pieces” from others’ accounts as and when they saw fit merely in order to help their misbegotten “cause”. Ultimately, XXXXXXXX argues, their efforts did more harm than good, alienating many otherwise deeply-concerned individuals (such as himself) from good journalism with their “go-nowhere rhetoric and elitist ramblings”.
Finally, as an expression of solidarity with the over 200 journalists murdered in post-Communist Russia, XXXXXXXX has also called upon Melbourne residents to continue to frequent Brunswick Street in order to ostentatiously sip caffèlattes — but only after checking out the fabulous range of quirky designer boutiques ITA. As an added incentive, from the safety of his Brisbane office, fellow Bombshell resident Mark Bastard has promised recalcitrants that he “will beat the fucking shit out of you and then make a black man take a shit in your face” should they ignore Dion’s stirring call to action.
Cousin of 18-year-old Azerbaijani Rasul Khalilov, who was killed in Moscow, spoke exclusively to APA’s Moscow correspondent about the details of the incident.
He said Russian citizen Rasul Tahir Khalilov, 18, was killed in front of his house at 11.30 on September 3.
“I was to meet Rasul and were to go to the court. A man waited for him in front of the building. There were two-three men in the car nearby. Rasul was shot in shoulder and tried to flee, but the murderer fired four times and Rasul died,” he said.
Khalilov’s relative says he was killed because of the national enmity and by the order of Alexander Belov-Potkin, leader of Movement against Illegal Migration.
“In may last year Rasul and his friends underwent attack of [boneheads] near Park Pobedy metro station. It was a group connected with the Movement against Illegal Migration. Rasul was a well-bred young man, he had no father, he was the student of International Law Institute under Russian Ministry of Justice,” he said.
Rasul Khalilov’s relative refutes the reports that Rasul was the member of extremist organization “Black Hawks”. He was born, brought up, studied in Moscow.
“80 percent of his friends were of Slavic descent. It is insulting to say that a man like Rasul spread ideas of nationalism, stirred up national enmity. He was killed because of the national enmity. Rasul was killed only because he was Azerbaijani. Unfortunately, this is Russia’s realities,” he said.
The farewell ceremony will be held in a mosque in Otradnoye district of Moscow tomorrow. Rasul Khalilov will be buried in a Muslim cemetery near Mitishi.
Bigotry Monitor
Vol.9, No.12
Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union
March 20, 2009
…Asked to explain the Sova report’s reference to the ultra-right underground as “an alternative and, to a significant extent, an autonomous milieu, with its own infrastructure (companies, financial and intellectual resources, the possibility of legal support for those suspected of crimes),” Kozhevnikova pointed out that “the nationalists’ own lawyers include, for example, Dmitriy Bakharev and Sergey Belikov. Sergey Shtin, a member of the executive board of the Union of the Russian People, is the head of a Moscow law firm. It is a known fact that Aleksandr Potkin (Belov) (leader of the Movement Against Illegal Immigration or DPNI) has his own business. Vladlen Kralin (Vladimir Tor), leader of the Russian Order group and one of DPNI’s activists, was vice president of NIKoil Bank in 2007 and deputy general director of MosPromStroy Management Company LLC in 2008… Not to mention the fact that there are quite a few wealthy people who are not members of any organization but who are fully prepared to give money to the ultra-right.”…
The three-minute video, titled “Execution of a Tajik and a Dagestani”, begins with two men kneeling before a masked extremist in combat fatigues. Apparently unprompted, they mumble that they have been taken hostage by “Russian Nationalist Socialists”. The masked man then uses a knife to decapitate one of his prisoners in a grim sequence lasting 90 seconds. The second captive is later forced to kneel in front of a grave before he is shot in the back of his head. The clip, which has a caption claiming to have been filmed by “The National Socialist Party of Rus”, ends with a still image of a red and white flag emblazoned with a swastika.
Reportedly, former Skrewdriver guitarist Ross McGarry has died. McGarry played with the band in the late ’80s and also played guitar on After the Fire. McGarry, 43, died suddenly from pancreatic cancer. His funeral was held on September 3, 2009.
Update #5 : MUP nab embassy attack suspects, B92, September 5, 2009 | Members of the “Black Elijah” custody for the attack on the Greek Embassy, RTV, September 5, 2009: The investigating judge of the District Court in Belgrade, Ivana Ramić, has ordered Ratibor, Tadej, Ivan Vulovic, Sanja and Ivan Savic to 30 days detention on the basis that, if not detained, the suspects represented a flight risk and a risk to witnesses. In addition, the five are suspected of having committed a crime of international terrorism.
Update #4 : Uhapšeni bacači Molotovljevih koktela, Politika novine i Magazini, September 5, 2009: Basically reiterates previous reports, but w/- BONUS! pictures of Tadej, Ivan, Sanja, Nikola and Ratibor, presumably sourced from police.
Policija je uhapsila i petog osumnjičenog za napad “molotovljevim koktelima” na zgradu Ambasade Republike Grčke u Beogradu – saopštilo je danas Ministarstvo unutrašnjih poslova Srbije. Kako se navodi, uhapšen je Nikola Mitrović koji će biti priveden dežurnom istražnom sudiji Okružnog suda u Beogradu. MUP je ranije danas saopštio da su slobode lišena tri mladića i jedna devojka, aktivisti takozvane “Anarhosindikalne inicijative”, zbog sumnje da su 25. avgusta rano ujutru bacili dve zapaljive boce na zgradu grčke ambasade. Ratibor Trivunac, Tadej Kurepa, Ivan Vulović i Sanja Đokić su osumnjičeni da su zajedno sa Ivanom Savićem i Nikolom Mitrovićem, koji su trenutno u bekstvu, izvršili krivično delo međunarodnog terorizma. Beogradski mediji su posle incidenta prenosili informacije da su pripadnici “Anarhosindikalne inicijative” napali ambasadu jer su, kako se navodi na srpskim anarhističkim sajtovima, želeli da takvim činom izraze solidarnost sa uhapšenim grčkim istomišljenicima.
MIA: He was arrested a fifth suspect for the attack on the Greek Embassy 04th September 2009. 19:40 (Source: Beta, Beta) Police have arrested the fifth suspect for the attack ‘Molotov cocktail’ in the building of the Embassy of Greece in Belgrade – said today the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia. As stated, was arrested Nikola Mitrovic, which will be brought before the investigating judge supervising the Belgrade District Court. Interior Ministry announced earlier today that three young men deprived of their liberty and one girl, activists called ‘Anarhosindikalne initiatives’, on suspicion that on 25 August early morning threw two bottles of flammable building of the Greek Embassy. Ratibor Trivunac, Tadej Kurepa, Ivan Vulovic and Sanja Djokic they suspect that along with Ivan Savic and Nikola Mitrovic, who are currently at large, committed a crime of international terrorism. Belgrade media after the incident passed information to the members’ initiatives Anarhosindikalne “attacked the embassy because, as stated in the Serbian anarchist sites, such act would like to express solidarity with the arrested Greek like-minded.
Update #1 : It appears that four, not three, ASI members have been arrested — Ratibor Trivunac, Thaddaeus Kurepa, Ivan Vulovic and Sanja Djokic. Two other individuals wanted by police — Ivan Savic and Nikola Mitrovic — remain at large. The six are being accused of ‘international terrorism’ as a result of Molis being thrown at the Greek Embassy in Belgrade on August 25.
The arrested suspects for the attack on the Greek Embassy Police arrested three young men and women of the doubt to the end of August, threw two [Molotov] cocktails at the building of the Greek Embassy in Belgrade announced today the Interior Ministry were arrested activists [Anarcho-Syndicalist Initiative’ (ASI)] Ratibor Trivunac (28), Thaddaeus Kurepa (24), Ivan Vulovic (24) and Sanja Djokic (19), said in a statement. They suspect that, together with Ivan Savic (25) and Nikola Mitrovic (29), who are on the run, made a criminal offense international terrorism. “suspect on 25 August, about three o’clock in the morning, initially wrote the graffiti on the facade, and then threw two [Molotov] cocktails – bottles with burning gasoline on the building of the Embassy of Greece in French Street in Belgrade, police added. Four were arrested, along with criminal charges, brought supervising the investigative judge of the District Court in Belgrade, police said.
By way of @-Infos…
Three members of the ‘Anarcho-Syndicalist Initiative’ (ASI) in Belgrade, Serbia — Ratibor Trivunac (IWA-AIT General Secretary), Tadej Kurepa and Ivan Vulovic — were arrested September 3 and charged with “causing general public danger”. It is unconfirmed if other comrades have been arrested.
It is the second time this year that Ratibor has been arrested, having been detained by police in May.
Comrades in Serbia are trying to get in touch with the trio’s lawyers in order to establish the exact charges against them, and their legal status.
Both the ASI and IWA-AIT sites appear to be down at the moment:
http://inicijativa.org
http://iwa-ait.org/
Otherwise…
http://www.kontra-punkt.info/
Note that on August 25 Molotov cocktails were thrown at the Greek Embassy in Belgrade; a group calling itself ‘Black Ilija’ apparently claimed responsibility (Serbian anarchists claim to have nothing with ‘Black Ilija’, A.Ž. Adžić, Blic Online, August 28, 2009).
See also : Once more on fascism knocking on the Balkan doors, Hajrudin Somun, Today’s Zaman, August 31, 2009: “There are a few reasons driving me to tackle for the second time in a year the phenomenon of increasing neo-fascist and neo-Nazi sentiment and activity in the southeastern parts of Europe…”
We would like to inform you that Serbian police is trying to frame a case against members of IWA Secretariat, claiming in the media that they are suspecting that Ratibor Trivunac is involved in the incident from two days ago (‘Police suspecting Trivunac for an attack on a Greek embassy in Belgrade’) [snip] when an unknown Anarchist group ‘Crni Ilija’ has thrown two Molotov cocktails at the Greek embassy in Belgrade in solidarity with the imprisoned Greek anarchist Thodoros Iliopoulos, who is on the hunger strike for more than a month. The linked text is just one of many speculating about the case with wild allegations thrown around. We are trying to present our point of view, and get a chance in some media, but there is a pressure building up and we are now waiting for actions of police, which is claiming to be building up evidence. Of course, the whole case is a farce, and we are sure that no reliable evidence that would implicate us can be found. But, we fear that there is a possibility of arrest of some of us, and we want to inform you that we’ll do everything in our power to maintain the IWA – AIT Secretariat safe.
For the time being the cellular telephone number of the Secretariat is still available and usable, and if anything changes in that sense comrades will be informed.
Geelong’s Christian College is supporting its principal Daryl Riddle amid criticism following the appearance of his brother, a convicted pedophile, at the school’s debutante ball last weekend. Gary John Riddle attended the deb night with his wife Janine, a teacher at the college’s junior school and Daryl’s wife Debbie, also a teacher at the junior school. Riddle was sentenced to five years’ jail in 2002 after being charged with 14 counts of indecent assault against nine girls aged eight to 16 between 1971 and 1989…
Erik has a new film: Videocracy. The subject of the film is billionaire Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (1936–), popularly known as ‘The Corrupt Knight’, a man as clever and talented as he is rich.
In 2009, “In a videocracy the key to power is the image”, apparently.
In 1967, a cheese-eating surrender monkey named Guy Debord wrote that “The spectacle is not a collection of images; it is a social relation between people that is mediated by images”.
A PERTH man will stand trial in the District Court for allegedly uploading an anti-Semitic video [to] YouTube. Brendon Lee O’Connell, 38, of Maylands, has been charged under racial vilification laws for allegedly [posting] the anti-Semitic film in which he is seen in front of Perth’s Bell Tower and at a South Perth supermarket. In May, the State Security Investigation group charged Mr O’Connell, who is accused of making anti-Semitic statements during the video, with carrying out conduct intending to incite racial animosity or harassment. The maximum penalty for the offence is 14 years’ jail or fines of up to $24,000. Mr O’Connell today appeared the Perth Magistrates Court and pleaded not guilty during the committal mention hearing. His bail was continued and he will appear before the District Court on November 20. Mr O’Connell walked out of court video taping the waiting media.
Two Greek anarchists are making molotov cocktails. One says to the other: "So who will we throw these at then?" The other replies: "What are you, some kind of fucking intellectual?"
