social revolution – Page 1158

Feminists face 18 months jail for Abortion Rights Demo in Church

”This is a continuous struggle…. the struggle for the right to abortion, is a continuation of the defence of the freedoms and rights of women. Our struggle, the feminist struggle today is a continuation of the last ten, fifteen, twenty or thirty years. It is completely linked”.

The attempt by the far right PP government to abolish abortion rights in Spain in 2014 ran into enormous women’s resistance. Feminist groups and networks sprang up like mushrooms with all kinds of noisy and original resistance tactics.

As happened in Poland in Oct 2016 the government was forced to back down, and the interior minister, the notoriously arrogant and sexist Gallardón was forced to resign. In both cases the Catholic Church was behind the unpopular legislation. In Spain the church retains key political power (several ministers at the time were leaders of the Opus Dei sect), tax free status, huge subsidies and immense and growing property wealth.

But the church has dwindling attendance among youth, perhaps due to the continuing pedophile scandals, as well as a long boycott by many adults who still remember the impunity of Church collaboration in Francoist fascist atrocities and mass stealing and selling of babies.

In Spain, as in Poland and Ireland, the Catholic Church, as an out of touch, male-only ruled body, was defeated in enforcing their control over women’s bodies. This is an amazing hard won victory and a step forward (especially small but important in Poland).

But the Catholic Church will go on resisting every step of the way. This case in Majorca is a good example. The Church demanded up to six years each for holding up a pro choice banner during a Mass, during the mobilizations in 2014 against the anti abortion law.

Finally the Roman Catholic Diocese of Majorca has cut the demanded penalty to a year and a half each for the feminists. The trial is now over and they await sentencing on October 20th.
Five of the six admitted taking part in the demo while a sixth was picked up in error and denies ever going to the Church of San Miguel on February 9, 2014, though she supports the demo..

The defense called for the acquittal claiming the demo was a legitimate act protected by freedom of expression and had not resulted in any injury to religious freedom

The lawyer José Luís, legal representative of feminists facing trial, said, “My defendants have said they did not know that at that time they were celebrating Mass.” and asked for an acquittal with fines, equivalent to 270 euros or alternatively to 22 days in prison.

Thus, it has been proven that five of the six facing trial participated in a protest that sought to denounce the moral role of the church in the controversial “Gallardón law.”

On 20 October we will know whether organized feminism will win another battle in defense of the right of women to control our own bodies or, conversely, the Catholic Church will reinforce their aims, which even in the XXI century, remain untouchable.

We will publish the result as an update HERE:

més info en Català

El Bisbat de Mallorca rebaixa a un any i mig la petició de presó per a les feministes encausades

És una lluita contínua. La lluita que seguim reivindicant en relació a un avortament lliure i gratuït és una lluita contínua del moviment feminista de tota la història. Ja sigui amb la llei de divorci de la segona república, com ara, en el segle XXI, les lluites a favor del dret a l’avortament, són una continuació en defensa de les llibertats i drets de les dones.

La nostra lluita, la lluita feminista d’avui en dia, és una continuació de la de fa deu, quinze, vint o trenta anys. Està completament lligada. Si no fos gràcies a les dones dels anys 80 o d’abans, del segle XX o XIX, avui nosaltres no seríem aquí tampoc. Si no s’hagués aconseguit tot el que s’ha aconseguit fins ara, nosaltres no podríem continuar demanant més reconeixement als drets de les dones.

Cinc de les sis feministes encausades han acceptat haver participat dels fets, mentre que una última ha negat que acudís a l’Església de Sant Miquel aquell 9 de febrer de 2014 per SERGI FRAU

“Ens poden tallar les ales, però en cap cas ens llevaran les idees i el nostre esperit de lluita”

Les declaracions de les sis encausades

Durant la primera jornada de la vista oral, que tingué lloc aquest dijous i coincidí –irònicament o no– amb la celebració de Sant Miquel (sant que dóna nom a l’església on van posar els fets jutjats), van declarar les sis joves encausades.

Totes elles varen contestar a les preguntes del seu advocat, Josep de Luís, i a les del tribunal, presidit per la magistrada Carmen González –coneguda per haver presidit el tribunal del mediàtic judici del cas Noós– i es van negar a contestar a les preguntes tant de la Fiscalia, representada per Rosa García, com de l’acusació particular, representada per l’advocat del Bisbat de Mallorca.

Les declaracions van posar sobre la taula aspectes rellevants com ara: el reconeixement de la participació en els fets de cinc de les sis encausades; la desconeixença que en aquell temple i a aquella hora se celebrava una missa; la manifestació de disculpes als feligresos que es poguessin haver sentit ofesos i destacà, sobretot, la declaració de Maria de Lluc Forteza, que afirmà –amb la confirmació de la resta d’encausades– que ella, tot i compartir les motivacions, no va participar en cap moment de la protesta feminista que tingué lloc aquell 9 de febrer de 2014 a la cèntrica església de la ciutat de Palma……. …

………Així doncs, ha quedat provat que cinc de les sis encausades varen participar en una protesta que pretenia denunciar el paper moral de l’església en la polèmica “Llei Gallardón”. De la mateixa manera, s’ha posat de manifest l’absència de cap tipus de violència.

En conclusió: el tribunal haurà de dirimir si entrar en grup a una església amb una pancarta i reivindicant un avortament lliure i gratuït mentre se celebra una missa constitueix un delicte o no. El 20 d’octubre sabrem si el feminisme organitzat guanya una altra batalla més en defensa del dret al propi cos o si, per contra, la guanya l’Església catòlica, que pretén, en ple segle XXI, seguir sent intocable.

full catalan article HERE https://directa.cat/actualitat/e…..

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Innocent Kurdish Poet Ilhan Çomak gets Life in jail.. For 2nd time

The poet Ilhan Çomak has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the second time translated from Kurdis Cat

Çomak, who has published three books of poetry, during his 22 years in prison. He was captured by Turkish police in 1994 when he was studying geography in Istanbul. He was tortured and isolated for sixteen days.

Statements were signed under torture and presented as “evidence” of Turkish “separatism.” But there has never been any conclusive evidence of political activity, Çomak was sentenced to life imprisonment six years later.

”Ilhan’s case is one amongst thousands of cases of blatant racist persecution of the 20 million Kurdish minority and all aspects of their culture and language”.

Ilhan Çomak has published four books of poems from prison namely Gitmeler Çiçek Kurusu (Separations are Dried Flowers), Açık Deniz (the open sea), Günaydın Yeryüzü (Good Morning Earth) and Kedilerin Yazdığı İlahi (The Divine Written by The Cats).

The poet took his case to the European Court of Human Rights. This, in 2007, forced Turkey to make a fair trial alleging that the first was not ‘clean’. It was not until 2013 that the Turkish government agreed to review the case (six years after the judgment of the ECHR). Still, the review of the trial was postponed again in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Continue reading “Innocent Kurdish Poet Ilhan Çomak gets Life in jail.. For 2nd time”

Luis on Hunger Strike after 33 yr sentence for Ayotzinapa Solidarity

Freedom for Luis Fernando Sotelo now on INDEFINITE HUNGER STRIKE”

Mexico Jails student Luis for 33 yrs for Ayotzinapa solidarity Demo

The State jailed our compañero Luis for 33 years for ‘damaging property’ at the Third Global Day for Ayotzinapa Protest, two years ago. Accused of burning a bus Luis has been victimised and demonised in yet another atrocity by the ”terrorist” State.

LETTER OF LUIS FERNANDO SOTELO, POLITICAL PRISONER: “I’M ASSUMING AN INDEFINITE HUNGER STRIKE”

via It’s Going Down Translated from KomanilelFirstly. I salute the compañerxs of the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) and the compañerxs of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN). I greatly appreciate your demonstrations aimed at this giant hug we call solidarity. For you, I have respect. Thank you for your word.

Secondly. I invite you to reorganize the forces, as a means to continue the visibilization of the rebellions and resistances against the system of domination and against the contemporary state of affairs.

Mexico: Anarchist Prisoners on Hunger Strike in Solidarity with Luis …https://itsgoingdown.org/mexico-anarchist-prisoners-

Secondly (second point). I publically declare that since September 28 of this year, I have assumed an indefinite hunger strike. The motives for this are to recover myself and my sense of life. Continue reading “Luis on Hunger Strike after 33 yr sentence for Ayotzinapa Solidarity”

Defend the ZAD – a call for international solidarity: 8th & 9th October 2016

For over 50 years, farmers and locals have resisted the building of a new airport for the French city of Nantes (which by the way already has one).

Now in these rich fields, forests and wetlands, which multinational Vinci want to cover in concrete, an experiment in reinventing everyday life in struggle is blossoming. Radicals from around the world, local farmers and villagers, citizen groups, trade unionists and naturalists, refugees and runaways, squatters and climate justice activists and many others, are organising to protect the 4000 acres of land against the airport and its world.

Government officials have coined this place “a territory lost to the republic”. Its occupants have named it: la ZAD (zone a défendre) zone to defend.The horizontally organised ZAD ( Zone to be Defended) in Notre Dame de Landes continues to exist after 6 years with mass support and still blocks a useless speculation airport.

In the winter of 2012, thousands of riot police attempted to evict the zone, but they faced a determined and diverse resistance. This culminated in a 40,000 people strong demonstration to rebuild some of what had been destroyed by the French State. Less than a week later, the police was forced to stop what they called “Operation Cesar”. For the last three years, the ZAD has been an extraordinary laboratory of new ways of living, rooted in collaborations between all those who make up the diversity of this movement. There is even a set of 6 points (see below) to radically rethink how to organise and work the land without an airport, based on the creation of commons,the notion of usage rather than property and the demand that those who fought for the land are those who decide its use.

Now, the entire zone is due for expulsions to start the construction of this absurd airport. Prime minister Valls has promised a “Rendez Vous” this October to evict everyone who is living, working, building and farming on the zone.

On October 8th , tens of thousands of people will gather on the ZAD to demonstrate that the determination of the movement is as strong as ever. Honouring farmers struggles from the past, we will come with wooden walking batons and leave them on the zone, as a sign of the commitment to come back and pick them up again if necessary. We will also raise a barn, built by dozens of carpenters during the summer, which will be used as a base, should evictions happen.

We are calling on all international groups and movements to either come to the zone on 8th of October or show their solidarity with the ZAD through actions directed at the French government or multinational Vinci in their own towns and cities on that day. The airport will never be built. Life on the ZAD will keep on flourishing!

6 points for the future of the ZAD. Since there will be no airport… Once the project is abandoned, we want:

1. That the inhabitants, owners or tenants who are part of a compulsory purchase or eviction order can remain on the zone and regain their rights.
2. That the impacted farmers resisting and refusing to bend to the will of AGO-Vinci, can continue to freely cultivate the lands that they use and recover their rights and pursue their work in good conditions.
3. That the new inhabitants who came to the zad to take part in the struggle can remain on the zone. That everything which has been built since 2007 as part of the occupation movement in terms of experiments in alternative agriculture, self-built homes or temporary dwellings (huts, yurts, caravans etc.) and forms of life and resistance, can stay and continue.
4. That the lands that each year are redistributed by the chamber of agriculture for AGO-Vinci’s, in the form of precarious leases, are handled by a body that comes out of the resistance movement and brings together all its elements. So that it is the anti-airport movements rather than the normal institutions that decide on the uses of this land.
5. That these lands are for new agricultural or non agricultural projects, be they authorised or not, and not for the expansion of already existing farms.
6. That these agreements becomes a reality through our collective determination and that we carry together an attention to resolve all eventual conflicts linked to them being put in place.

We are already sowing and building a future without an airport in our unity and diversity. It is up to all of us, from today, to enable it to flourish and to defend it.

FOR MORE INFO:

zad.nadir.org

zad@riseup.net

September 21, 2016
Categories: Anarchist, France . . Author: wessexsolidarity . Comments: 1 Comment

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Standing Rock.. Blockade goes on.. Oil+ Gas = Climate Chaos

: Protests continue near the Standing Rock camp at the Dakota Access Pipeline construction site in North Dakota despite the Justice Department’s order to stop construction on Army Corps of Engineer land. Twenty-one water protectors were arrested on Wednesday alone as militarized police with armored vehicles and shotguns descended upon peaceful protesters. The protesters were arrested for trespassing and resisting arrest, among other charges, Rob Keller of the Morton County Sheriff’s Department confirmed to Anti-Media.

But local Native Americans are not alone in this fight. Tribes from all over the country have joined together in one of the largest shows of indigenous solidarity in history — and they are joined by climate activists, farmers, and landowners who have had theirland confiscated through the force of eminent domain in order make room for the pipeline. Continue reading “Standing Rock.. Blockade goes on.. Oil+ Gas = Climate Chaos”