The Free

Monica and Francisco trial. Day 1 report. State has NO EVIDENCE

update March 30

Anarchists Monica and Francisco Sentenced to 12 years in prison

Today March 30, 2016, it was notified to lawyers and companions the judgment of the National Court condemning the anarchists Monica Caballero and Francisco Solar to 5 years in prison on charges of “injury”, plus 7 years for “damage with terrorist purpose “, with a total of 12 years in prison for each They were acquitted of charges of “belonging to a terrorist organization and conspiracy” against the Monastery of Montserrat. Demonstrations will begin today against this ridiculous sentence.

‘We are presented with the challenge of extending the struggle and solidarity, to defend our ties and our ideas, denying that their world is reduced to the four walls that keep them incarcerated.Our jailed comrades will always be present in our struggles and our daily lives.There is no “inside”, nor is there an “outside” only enemies of the state and authority.Death to the state and long live anarchy !.’

Update 1st April: Pepe Galán, Francisco lawyer, says he “totally disagrees with the statement that they are the perpetrators” and thinks that “there is no evidence in this regard.” And he will appeal the verdict.

The good news that they were cleared of being a terrorist organisation and the finding that the supposed terrorist group doesn’t exist should apply equally to all the defendants from the Pandora and Piñata anti anarchist police raids, undermining their future trials!

update final day here ¡Death to the State and Long Live Anarchism!’ update 2nd day: * court picketed by shouting supporters.. *4 defense witnesses confirm descriptions not Monica and Francisco… *police exaggerate strength of ”bomb”.. *’‘expert” police knew nothing about body recognition .. * grand conspiracy evidence based on internet news..

After spending more than 2 years in jail, and with the prosecution demanding 44 years each, it became clear on the 1st day of their trial that the State has virtually no evidence against Monica and Francisco.!

It’s a political case, linked by the police to ongoing raids and repression of the socially progressive and popular anarchist and occupation movement, and aiming to brand them and the anarcho syndicalist trade unions as ”terrorists”.

Worldwide Solidarity

Dozens of solidarity demos, and fundraisers are continuing, including in Greece, Germany, Chile and Chiapas. Continue reading “Monica and Francisco trial. Day 1 report. State has NO EVIDENCE”

Monica and Francisco: on trial for ‘Firework in the Basilica’

On 8th- 10th March our comrades Monica Caballero and Francisco Solar,will be judged in the Audiencia Nacional. They face a fiscal request of 44 years in prison on charges of “belonging to a criminal organization with terrorist aims forming a ‘terrorist group’… the Comando Insurreccionalismo Mateo Morral (which seems to be a made-up name for a non-existant group)., damage, injury and conspiracy “, mainly based on the alleged action taken against the Basilica del Pilar de Zaragoza.

Monica and Fran haave already spent more than 2 years in prison awaiting trial. The Catholic Church is furious about the ‘firework in the Basilica’ and has used it’s connections, various State Ministers are prominent in the Opus Dei sect, to make an example of the alleged attackers. Continue reading “Monica and Francisco: on trial for ‘Firework in the Basilica’”

Erdogan prosecuting 1,845 for ‘insulting’ him. What a Bastard!

‘About 1,850 cases have been opened in Turkey against those who stand accused of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the past two years, amid concerns over Ankara’s attempt to hush dissidents. by David Icke

‘Insults are unnecessary, the facts cry out. Erdogan is trying to change the constitution to legalise his dictator status. He is making open war, pogroms, massacres and attempted genocide on the Kurdish minority and supporters for practising autonomy in their own cities. He is arming and protecting ISIS, the ‘evil medievals’ and buying their oil through his own family mafia.’. Taking over newspapers to silence them, jaiing journalists and rights workers. He is openly blackmailing the EU using innocent refugees to demand billions and visa free entry. He is shelling Kurdish areas in Syria to sabotage the ceasefire’,

etcetera etcetera

Turkey’s Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said during a parliamentary session that 1,845 cases have been registered in relation to insulting Erdogan since 2014 when the hawkish Turkish leader took office as president.

“I am unable to read the insults leveled at our president. I start to blush,” he said in defense of the prosecutions.’

Defending our Free Area (ZAD): Nantes Demo Triumphs

Nantes, France: Resistance demo against the states of emergency in solidarity with the ‘Free Area to be Defended’ at Notre-Dame-Des-Landes

From squat!net with thanks

No injuries, nor arrests, instead numerous facades revisited

Nearly 400 people marched in Nantes in the context of the week of resistance. The lead banner, decorated with the cartoon bird “the king and the mocking bird”, called for resistance against the states of emergency, whilst referencing Kobane to Kurdistan, Ferguson to the United States, and Notre-Dame-des-Landes in France.

300 police offices were supposed to prevent access to certain areas but they couldn’t prevent the redesigning of facades of some public buildings, banks, estate agencies and the Socialist Party office located on the path of the demonstration.

Demonstrators dressed in black, masked, and some with gas masks – with fire-extinguishers, paint and egg bombs – were able to indulge in paint and political graffiti on the walls of the city.

The police used several tear gas grenades following throws of projectiles, but the procession continued it’s course despite the gas that momentarily seperated the demo into two. The shields carried by demonstrators then formed a wall intended to protect the demonstrators from the police’s flashball and LBD-40 shots.

The police tried to tighten pressure around the march in the centre’s little streets, but without success. The BAC [Anti-Crime Brigade] were even fightened when they found themselves on the route of the demonstrators.

Without injuries nor arrests, the demonstration dispersed at Nefs, with €1 beers.

[Published on February 25th via Marseille Autonomous Info, translated by Contra Info.]

Photos via Le Chat Noir Emeutier | in German via Contra Info

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Eat the Rich: the most overpaid CEOs in US

Meet the most overpaid CEOs in America By Katie Herzog

Damn, it feels good to be a CEO.

Unlike everyone else in the world, executives have seen pay increases of an astonishing 997 percent over the past 36 years. Think about that for a second: While you’re struggling to afford the payments on your used Volvo, your boss’s boss’s boss’s boss has gotten raises of nearly 1,000 percent. It’s such a ludicrous statistic that is seems fake. And yet, it’s not.

And who is the most overpaid of this highly overpaid population? As You Sow, a nonprofit that promotes corporate social responsibility through shareholder advocacy, has released its annual ranking of the 100 most overpaid CEOs — those who earn a great deal of money but aren’t necessarily doing a great job. While their names might not be familiar to you, their companies will be.

Drumroll, please.

Not only are these numbers obscenely high, the really crazy part is that CEO compensation is in no way linked to how well the company performs. Take No. 4, for instance, the CEOs of Chipotle, a company that is currently giving away free burritos in an attempt to claw its way out of a PR crisis: Both Chipotle’s stock and sales are down, but its CEOs made $57 million last year. Sounds fair.

It’s not just Chipotle. In fact, studies show that the more a CEO is paid, the worse the company performs. That was certainly true of last year’s most overpaid CEO, Anthony Petrello of Nabors Industries, who is notably absent from this year’s list. Petrello’s compensation was nearly $70 million in 2014; in 2015, Nabors — a natural gas company — saw such a decline in value that it was actually removed from the S&P 500 and cut nearly 3,500 jobs. $70 million can buy you a CEO, it seems, but that CEO can’t make you a profit.

This year’s list includes ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, who comes in at No. 8 with a cool $33 million in compensation. Climate crime pays, it would seem.

In the meantime, the poverty rate in the U.S. continues to hover around 15 percent. That means almost 47 million Americans live on less than $24,000 a year — about as much as this year’s most overpaid CEO “earns” over one leisurely lunch.

“Everyone wants to be properly compensated for the work they do — it is part of the American dream and bedrock of the capitalist system,” said As You Sow CEO Andrew Behar. “However, as shown in this report, the process which determines CEO pay is broken.”

And maybe — just maybe — the system is too.