Paris: Anti-terrorism trial against 6 comrades – Day 1 (May 14th)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vraRDTMCm0M

We went to the Tribunal de Grande Instance (High Court) of Paris to express our SOLIDARITY with the six comrades prosecuted for criminal conspiracy with terrorist intentions.

While approximately fifty people entered the courtroom, nearly a hundred of us remained in front of the courtroom. As we were ill-intentioned, we unfurled a banner that read ‘Democracy incarcerates and kills – Down with the State and the Capital’ and started shouting to voice our solidarity with the comrades standing trial inside: ‘Freedom for all, with or without papers’, ‘Down with the State, the cops and bosses!’, ‘Stone by stone, wall by wall, we will destroy all prisons’, ‘Freedom for all, with or without chlorate’ (a reference to the chlorate salts found on two of the arrestees)*. We also sang a few verses, insisting specifically on the phrase ‘Know, proletarian, that your best friend is chemistry!’ (from the French anarchist song ‘La Java des Bons-Enfants’).

The cops ripped off the banner, and as they obviously didn’t like our slogans, they asked who was our leader to open negotiations. All together we shouted at them our opposition to all leaders.

After half an hour the cops were reinforced by more of their colleagues, so we let them know what we think of them, chanting: ‘Cops! Pigs! Murderers!’ And knowing what they were about to do, we formed a cordon and prepared to get dispersed, continuing to chant our solidarity. After some pushing and shoving, they opened the big door on the ground floor and threw us out.

During the next hour, the cops followed and pursued us on the street. They stopped and checked the identities of fifteen people, and two women were arrested and held in the police station of Goutte d’Or for one day, but we didn’t find out on what charges until both were released the next day (it turned out they were taken in custody because they refused to give their IDs).

Neither the cops, nor the judges will stop our rebellions!

Solidarity with the six comrades whose trial continues on Tuesday 15/5, Wednesday 16/5, Monday 21/5 and Tuesday 22/5, by 13.30pm, in the 10th Section of the High Court of Paris.

source: paris.indymedia.org

* Ivan, Bruno, Damien, Inès, Franck, Javier have been prosecuted for the past four years and stand the same trial under the French terror law. Ivan, Bruno and Damien were arrested in January 2008 for possession of fumigants on their way to a protest outside the detention centre of Vincennes. A few days later, Inès and Franck were arrested in Vierzon for possession of manuals for sabotage techniques, a juvenile prison map and chlorate salts. The authorities used DNA identification and claimed that Inès’ DNA sample matched one of the five traces of DNA found on a bag containing bottles with gasoline in a police tow truck, between the two rounds of the presidential elections in 2007. Both investigations were soon attached in a single file, and anti-terrorist prosecutors took over. Then the cops allegedly discovered Damien’s DNA on that bag. Following this practice of DNA tests, it was not long before Inès’ brother, Javier, was also arrested for the 2007 fact. Moreover, in June 2010 Javier had been indicted for a series of sabotages on electrical cabinets of signaling stations of SNCF, arsons which had paralyzed part of railway traffic during the ‘CPE’ movement in 2006. Once again, Javier’s DNA was found by police at the scene of an attempted sabotage. All six have done 5 to 13 months prison time as pretrial detainees and have been living under strict restrictive conditions. The main charges against them initially were: participation in an organization in order to prepare terrorist acts (for the six of them), fabrication of explosives (for three of them), attempted destruction of property belonging to others (for three of them), possession and transportation of explosive or fire products (for four of them), and refusal to submit DNA samples (for three of them).