Spain: Anarchists arrested for ‘exalting terrorism’

from vivalaanarquia, translated by waronsociety:

Note from VLA: We have to emphasize our distance from the naive speech presented in the following text. We have never believed or demanded that the communication media of the bourgeoisie speak for us, or that they show “the other side of the story.”  We carry out OUR struggle, with OUR media and with OUR principles, and for this reason we will not beg for crumbs or naively say that they report unfairly: on the contrary, there are positions in the war and the only thing that interests us is illuminating where we are and where the enemies are. We post this article for two reasons. The first is that it summarizes in broad strokes the arrests and social context in Spain, and the second is because it was anarchist folks from there who sent us the information and some comments themselves. But let it be clear: we cannot demand that the enemy be on our side. Never that.

Since the first hours of yesterday morning (May 15, 2013) some anarchists have been waiting to know who the arrested are, since we do not have knowledge of who they are or of what exactly they are accused. According to the press they are “members” of the Black Flag anarchist group, whose existence we also didn’t have any knowledge of and about which the only thing we have found is that they have a Facebook page.

What is certain is that the arrests are no more than a materialization of a situation that some already saw coming. In the last weeks there have been sporadic articles in the virtual press (Cadena Ser, Europa Press, etc) about anarchists, mixing together things that had noreal relation, but which serves to create a favorable situation for a blow like this. And no small number of compañeros have expressed themselves through articles about it on blogs, websites and publications.

“Exalting of terrorism,” say the media. But they don’t mention the terrorism that the same afternoon as the arrests brought a 30-year-old youth from Sant Carles de la Ràpita to set himself on fire in front of the city hall, they don’t mention as terrorism the situation that brought a man from Murcia to commit suicide in expectation of eviction the day before the Sabadell arrests, instead they prefer to speak of anarchist terrorists, they prefer to channel the opinion on the generalized discontent that makes thousands of youth no longer believe in the established political “solutions” (see the ridiculous article from Vanguardia from the same day as the arrests, “Some 12,000 persons belong to violent gangs in Spain” in which they put anarchists, Latin Kings and fascist gangs in the same bag).

“Exalting of terrorism,” say the judges. But they don’t mention the terror created by the application of their ever-harsher laws against the poor nor the penal hardening that increases sentences this year (many of them related to the protests). They prefer to continue with their terror and evict families, harshly sentence poverty and protest, attack those who struggle against this system that stifles and oppresses.

“Exalting of terrorism,” say the police. But they don’t mention the terror that their rubber bullets and gas, their arrogance and their sticks, create. Their complicity with neo-nazi and fascist groups here, in Germany, in Russia and wherever.

At the moment we don’t even know the names of the arrested, just (and also according to the press) that tomorrow they will go to the National Hearing before judge Santiago Pedraz, our new Garzón (1). This person, who goes as green and lefty, is the ring that goes well on the finger of the present situation, what one might call a ‘centaur judge’: while he decides not to try De Juana Chaos [a Basque nationalist -TN] for opinion articles, and archives the Madrid “Siege of the Congress” (2) case, declaring that “one must agree that it is not fitting to prohibit the proclamation or defense of ideas or doctrines, as much as they may be off-putting or even put the constitutional framework in question,” he signed the sentencing against thirty-three persons accused of belonging to Jarrai, Segi and Haika [Basque nationalist groups – TN] and sent for the arrest of anarchists for exalting of terrorism.

Well then, ladies and gentlemen, we suppose that like his predecessor Baltasar he will applaude and foster toture here and now while he condemns the repression in Tibet and interrogates the Guatemalan dictators.

Awaiting more news about our compañeros, we call for solidarity with them. We know that the investigation is open and that they are making more arrests in the same area (this time in Terrassa and Cerdanyola).

Freedom for the arrested anarchists!

Some anarchists from Barcelona

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Related:
– Communique from the Black Flag Group about the arrests
– No bail for 5 anarchist ‘Facebook terrorists’