Dear friends, Forwarding these letters which came in genderation mailing list. This proves the ongoing trend of State all around the world branding people as militants and putting them in prison. This case and the arguments used by the German Police is very similar to that of Binayak Sen and other arrests which happened in India
Aryan --------- Details of the case: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/377825.html The arbitrariness of the arrests can be seen more clearly in the case of the fourth arrestee, Andrej H. Police have assumed a link based merely on observations that there has been a contact between him and one of the Brandenburg suspects. Further, the only two meetings between them are supposed to have taken place "conspiratorially". Police do not know anything about what the meetings in February and April 2007 were about. Yet, they have concluded that the "conspiratorial behaviour between H and L can only be explained that L is also part of the terrorist organisation MG" and that "the conspiratorially agreed-upon meetings are related to this" (the organisation). One of the 'conspiratorial things' apparently was that Andrej had forgotten his mobile phone at home. Andrej H., a sociologist whose work focused on gentrification, tenants' rights and social cuts, is also supposed to have published an academic article in 1998, in which he used phrases and words that can be found in MG texts. "The frequency of the correspondence is conspicuous and cannot be explained by thematic correspondences," they concluded. "As a political scientist," they added, he is "intellectually capable of writing the technically difficult texts that MG uses". What's more, he "has access to libraries which he can use inconspicuously to make the needed investigations for the MG." Andrej is also known as a political activist who has participated in many local and international events, including recently the G8 Independent Media Centre in Rostock. In his arrest warrant, it was mentioned that he was involved in "staging the left-wing protests against the G8" (in Germany, June 2007). -------------------- ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2007 16:51:25 +0200 From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: <nettime> Criminalization of critical academic research and political engagement On July 31 my home was raided by German federal police and my partner Andrej Holm was arrested. Our children had to endure a dozen armed cops waking them, and us. Andrej is in prison in Berlin-Moabit since. There are a number of initiatives protesting against this, including two open letters to the federal prosecutor by critical researchers. I'm still not able to write a lot, but there is information available, most of it on the website of a group trying to support all who are concerned: http://einstellung.so36.net/en A summary: Three people were arrested while alledgedly trying to set fire to four army vehicles. Four other people are assumed to be members of a terrorist organisation called 'militant group' and were observed since last September at least - Andrej being one of them (this included tapping of phones also of family members and friends, email observation of everybody close etc etc). Since he met one of the other three twice this year in so-called conspiratory cirsumstances all seven are now suspected to be 'terrorists' - even though it is unclear why they met and what was talked about. Current state is that the three who are said to have set fire to the army vehicles and Andrej are imprisoned. The reasons given by the federal prosecutor why Andrej and the three others are suspected to be 'terrorists' are extremely incredible: researching gentrification, access to libraries and intellectual ability are explicitely mentioned as reasons in the arrest warrant. Their treatment in prison is considered similar to treatment of members of RAF in the dark ages of the 70s, according to the lawyers. The open letters have already been signed by many international and German academics and activists. I'll paste the text below. Please consider signing and/or raising public awareness in any possible way. A new lawyer's decision about the continuation of imprisonment is expected for August 24th, so anything that raises attention before that date may be helpful. Anna I'm at the moment away from computers most of the time. You can contact einstellung[at]so36.net for more information. ============== http://einstellung.so36.net/en/openletter Open letter to the Generalbundesanwaltschaft against the criminalization of critical academic research and political engagement On 31st July 2007 the flats and workplaces of Dr. Andrej Holm and Dr. Matthias B., as well as of two other persons, were searched by the police. Dr. Andrej Holm was arrested, flown by helicopter to the German Federal Court in Karlsruhe and brought before the custodial judge. Since then he has been held in pretrial confinement in a Berlin jail. All four people have been charged with membership in a terrorist association according to 129a StGB (German Penal Code, section 7 on Crimes against Public Order). They are alleged to be members of a so-called militante gruppe (mg). The text of the search warrant revealed that preliminary proceedings against these four people have been going on since September 2006 and that the four had since been under constant surveillance. A few hours before the house searches, Florian L., Oliver R. und Axel H. were arrested in the Brandenburg region and accused of attempted arson on four vehicles of the German Federal Army. Andrej Holm is alleged to have met one of these three persons on two occasions in the first half of 2007 in supposedly conspiratorial circumstances. The Federal Prosecutor (Bundesanwaltschaft) therefore assumes that the four above mentioned persons as well as the three individuals arrested in Brandenburg are members of a militant group, and is thus investigating all seven on account of suspected membership in a terrorist association according to 129a StGB. According to the arrest warrant against Andrej Holm, the charge made against the above mentioned four individuals is presently justified on the following grounds, in the order that the federal prosecutor has listed them: - Dr. Matthias B. is alleged to have used, in his academic publications, phrases and key words which are also used by the militante gruppe; - As political scientist holding a PhD, Matthias B. is seen to be intellectually capable to author the sophisticated texts of the militante gruppe (mg). Additionally, as employee in a research institute he has access to libraries which he can use inconspicuously in order to do the research necessary to the drafting of texts of the militante gruppe?; - Another accused individual is said to have met with suspects in a conspiratorial manner: meetings were regularly arranged without, however, mentioning place, time and content of the meetings; furthermore, he is said to have been active in the extreme left-wing scene; - In the case of a third accused individual, an address book was found which included the names and addresses of the other three accused; - Dr. Andrej H., who works as urban sociologist, is claimed to have close contacts with all three individuals who have been charged but still remain free; - Dr. Andrej H. is alleged to have been active in the resistance mounted by the extreme left-wing scene against the World Economic Summit of 2007 in Heiligendamm; - The fact that he allegedly intentionally -- did not take his mobile phone with him to a meeting is considered as conspiratorial behavior. Andrej H., as well as Florian L., Oliver R. und Axel H., are detained since 1st August 2007 in Berlin-Moabit under very strict conditions: they are locked in solitary confinement 23 hours a day and are allowed only one hour of courtyard walk. Visits are limited to a total of half an hour every two weeks. Contacts, including contacts with lawyers, are allowed only through separation panes, including contact with their lawyers. The mail of the defense is checked. The charges described in the arrest warrants reveal a construct based on very dubious reasoning by analogy. The reasoning involves four basic hypotheses, none of which the Federal High Court could substantiate with any concrete evidence, but through their combination they are to leave the impression of a terrorist association. The social scientists, because of their academic research activity, their intellectual capacities and their access to libraries, are said to be the brains of the alleged terrorist organization. For, according to the Federal prosecutor, an association called militante gruppe is said to use the same concepts as the accused social scientists. As evidence for this reasoning, the concept of gentrification is named - one of the key research themes of Andrej Holm und Matthias B. in past years, about which they have published internationally. They have not limited their research findings to an ivory tower, but have made their expertise available to citizens initiatives and tenants organizations. This is how critical social scientists are constructed as intellectual gang leaders. Since Andrej Holm has friends, relatives and colleagues, they now also are suspect to be terrorists, because they know Andrej. Another accused individual was blamed for having the names of Andrej Holm and of two others charged (but not jailed) in his address book. Since the latter are also deemed to be terrorists this is how guilt by association is established. Paragraph 129a, introduced in Germany in 1976, makes it possible for our colleagues to be criminalized as terrorists. This is how, through 129a, the existence of a terrorist group is claimed. Through these constructs, every academic research activity and political work is presented as potentially criminal in particular when politically engaged colleagues who intervene in social struggles are concerned. This is how critical research, in particular research linked with political engagement, is turned into ideological ring leadership and terrorism. We demand that the Federal Prosecutor (Bundesanwaltschaft) immediately suspend the 129a-proceedings against all parties concerned and to release Andrej Holm and the other imprisoned from jail at once. We strongly reject the outrageous accusation that the academic research activities and the political engagement of Andrej Holm are to be viewed as complicity in an alleged terrorist association. No arrest warrant can be deduced from the academic research and political work of Andrej Holm. The Federal Prosecutor, through applying Article 129, is threatening the freedom of research and teaching as well as social-political engagement. Initial signatures by: Dr. Manuel Aalbers (Columbia University, New York), Prof. Dr. Rowland Atkinson (University of Tasmania, Australien), Prof. Dr. Lawrence D. Berg (Canada Research Chair in Human Rights, Diversity & Identity, University of British Columbia), Prof. Dr. Neil Brenner (New York University, Sociology), Prof. Dr. Craig Calhoun (President, Social Science Research Council, and University Professor, Sociology, NYU), Prof. Dr. Mike Davis (Prof. of Urban History, Irvine/USA), Dr. Michael Dear (Professor of Geography at the University of Southern California/Los Angeles), Prof. Dr. Michael Edwards (The Bartlett Centre for Architecture and Planning, UCL, London), Prof. Dr. Geoff Ely (University of Michigan, Karl Pohrt Distinguished University Professor), Prof. Dr. John Friedmann (University of California, Los Angeles), Prof. Dr. Herbert Gans (Columbia University, New York), Prof. Dr. Alan Harding (University of Salford, UK), Prof. Dr. Michael Harloe (University of Salford, Vice-President), Prof. Dr. David Harvey (Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York), Prof. Dr. Andreas Huyssen (Villard Professor of German and Comparative Literature at Columbia University), Prof. Dr. Martin Jay (Sidney Hellman Ehrman Professor of History, University of California Berkeley), Prof. Dr. Bob Jessop (Lancaster Universtiy), Prof. Dr. Roger Keil (York University, Toronto, Canada), Prof. Dr. Rianne Mahon (Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada), Prof. Dr. Peter Marcuse (Columbia University, New York), Prof. Dr. Margit Mayer (Freie Universitt Berlin), Prof. Dr. Frances Fox Piven (President of the American Sociological Association, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Sociology, City University New York), Prof. Dr. Andrew Ross (New York University, New York), Prof. Dr. Saskia Sassen (Columbia University, New York, and London School of Economics) Prof. Dr. Andrew Sayer (Lancaster University, Sociology), Prof. Dr. Richard Sennett (Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics, Bemis Professor of Social Sciences at MIT, Professor of the Humanities at New York University), Prof. Dr. William Sewell (The Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science and History Emeritus, University of Chicago), Prof. Dr. Neil Smith (Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Geography, Director of the Center for Place Culture and Politics, Graduate Center of the City University of New York), Prof. Dr. Michael Storper (Centennial Professor of Economic Geography, London School of Economics, and Professor of Economic Sociology, Science Po, Paris), Prof. Dr. Erik Swyngedouw (University of Manchester, UK), , Prof. Dr. Peter J. Taylor (Loughborough University, UK), Prof. Dr. John Urry (Lancaster University, Sociology), Dr. Jennifer Wolch (Professor of Geography at the University of Southern California/Los Angeles). Sihn here: http://www.policing-crowds.org/petition.html --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
