Category: Prisoner Support

The New York Anarchist Black Cross has published an up to date list of USA political prisoners and USA prisoners of war, alongside their charges and addresses to which you can send letters.

In the list, as well as Earth Liberation folks like Jessica and Marius, there are prisoners locked up for their work on black liberation, anarchist action and anti-police action. Every single one of those people listed was locked up because of their involvement in the fight for a better world. Some of them have been behind bars for decades, and all of them deserve support and solidarity.

We would love for you to have a look at their list, choose a couple of people and write a little something to send them a letter. It doesn’t need to be something very profound, you can talk to them about your day or your favourite place in the world. Describe to them a good walk with a dog companion, your favourite restaurant or that time you almost got caught dumpster diving behind the apple store!

Many folks celebrate the anonymous reports that Unoffensive Animal publishes, but only a small percentage of those will write a letter to a prisoner, who could’ve once upon a time sent one of those anonymous reports! So today is the day, write a letter to someone locked up, help them open a window to the outside! 

If you have a group of friends, why not organise a letter writting evening? Meet up, have some snacks and write letters to multiple prisoners that then you can combine postage for. Makes things extra easy!

Check the NY ABC prisoner list here:
https://nycabc.files.wordpress.com/2022/05/nycabc_polprisonerlisting_latestmay2022.pdf

SOLIDARITY IS OUR BIGGEST WEAPON!

In 2018 on the Greek island of Evia two individuals confronted a hunter as he attempted to murder free-living animals. They took his gun and threw it away, and were later arrested by multiple police officers not far from the scene. They were charged with robbery, which is a felony, despite the motive clearly not being to steal the weapon that was found in the woods.

Since the arrest, both the local and national hunting associations have unsurprisingly taken a great interest in the case. The hunting association of Greece (D’KCSE) has frequently attacked the anti hunting activists in the press and is even paying the legal costs for their prosecution.

The trial is set for this month, 26th of May 2022 and there has been a call for folks to show solidarity “in any way you like”. Since the call for solidarity there have been demonstrations, banner drops and the hunting association of Athens was spray painted.

In the words of the accused, “our attempt to protect an animal from being murdered, was an instinctive move that in our opinion should be the obvious thing for everyone.”

You can find more information here: https://sabfornonhumans.blackblogs.org/en/

Richii is a Swedish activist who has faced the law a few times because of his work fighting for animal liberation. Two years ago, during a demo at a fur farmer’s house in Falkenberg, Richii used the megaphone’s alarm sound. A journalist who was present at the demo claimed that it damaged their hearing (the press has been dealing a lot of low blows against activists in Sweden), and took him to court.

In court, he was trialed for the megaphone sound but also for a trespass action inside the fur farm. He was found guilty and ordered to pay fines, which the Swedish activists managed to raise funds for. Sadly, the fundraiser did not cover the court costs and they are in immediate need of funds to pay for them before the deadline, which is is approaching rapidly. He owes the courts 9000SEK which is about 870 EUR (720 GBP / 910 USD).

If anyone is able to donate it would be highly appreciated. Send Richii and the activists at Djurfront all your love and solidarity and share far and wide so we can all fundraise enough to cover the costs!

The best donation method is PayPal, you can send some coins to: paypal.me/DjurfrontSE

SOLIDARITY IS OUR BIGGEST WEAPON!

Eric was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2014 after a Molotov cocktail attack on a congressional office in Kansas City in solidarity with the Ferguson demonstrations. Since he was served his sentence, guards have conspired with white supremacist prisoners to beat Eric multiple times, and in 2018 Lieutenant Correctional Officer Donald Wilcox took him into a closet, away from cameras, and beat him as part of an “attitude adjustment”. Eric was later charged assaulting a corrections officer.

Throughout last week, his case was heard in court, and the guards told all sorts of lies like a bird had managed to enter the prison and messed up his cell and spilled coffee on his legal documents.

On Thursday, the jury returned a ‘Not Guilty’ verdict after seeing through the lies of the prison officers that had been conspiring to ultimately kill Eric.

Because of this Not Guilty verdict, Eric will be out of prison in December 2023, but until then he really needs to hear as much animal rights and antifascist news as possible. Eric needs to feel the support of his comrades and to know that he is not alone facing the fascist prison officers in the jail.

Please write to Eric and give him lots of love:

Eric King 27090045
FCI Englewood
9595 w Quincy Ave
Littleton co 80123
USA

SOLIDARITY IS OUR BIGGEST WEAPON!

On the 28th of January, nine activists will face a court trial in Le Mans, France. They are accused of criminal damage, the rescue of seven lambs and belonging to a liminal association. Multiple civil parties are involved red with the prosecution including FNSEA (national farmers association), Interveb (interprofessional association for livestock and meat) and Hendrix Genetics (a company specialising in the breeding of livestock that holds twenty-eight million animals in their breeding database).

The activists are facing a range of sentences, from very hefty fines to suspended sentences or even firm prison sentences.

Two of the seven lambs are also facing prosecution, and out of the outcome of the court case, the state is asking for the animals to be given back to the breeder.

Folks are asking for solidarity outside of court, at 9 am in front of the Cité Judiciarie in Le Mans, but they also wish for their story to be told and shared far and wide.

If you cannot show solidarity by being present during court, you can choose to take whatever action you feel makes sense in solidarity with the defendants and the lambs.

They also have a fundraiser to help with legal fees that you can find here: 

https://www.papayoux-solidarite.com/fr/collecte/proces-animal1st

SOLIDARITY!

Folks in the UK have been tirelessly fighting the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, a piece of legislation being pushed through that would drastically impact people’s right to protest legally. The bill gives police increased stop and search powers, it gives prison sentences for ‘locking on’, it criminalises trespass which will greatly affect the Gypsy, NFA, traveller and hunt sabbing community who already experience regular police harassment. It even gives the police the power to give ASBO like orders to protestors, regardless of if they have committed a crime. These orders aim to remove the freedom of speech and assembly of certain individuals and could ban them from seeing people or even sharing stuff online.

Bristol has been at the centre of a lot of resistance to this terrifying bill. On the 21st of March 2021 at a Bristol Kill the Bill demo, just weeks after the arrest, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a MET police officer, the protest erupted into a clash between protestors and police. The police dressed in full riot gear started hitting protesters round the head with batons and people took action to defend themselves and fight back. A cop shop and police vehicles were also targeted with windows smashed and vans set alight. Many arrests have been made since with some facing serious riot charges.

On Friday 30th of July, five ‘Kill the Bill’ protesters were collectively sentenced to over 14 years in jail. On the 9th of September, one person was sentenced to over 4 months for simply stealing a police officers hat. It is clear the police and courts are doing everything they can to try and repress the uprising against this bill and severely punish those caught fighting back. One person alone was sentenced to 14 years in prison for their part in the protest.

Bristol ABC have a list of ‘Kill the Bill’ prisoners and their addresses so please put pen to paper and send these folks letters,. Let them know they are supported and you are proud of their bravery and resilience in taking a stand and defending themselves and others from the brutality of the police.

Yasmin, another ‘Kill the Bill’ protestor brutally beaten by police and facing prison time for the privilege will be on trial in Bristol Crown Court on Monday 31st of January 2022. There is a call out for court support and a demo will be taking place outside the court starting at 8:30am.

We send our unconditional solidarity and support to all those facing state repression as a result of fighting this oppressive bill.

For more information regarding how to support ‘Kill the Bill’ prisoners check out: https://bristolabc.wordpress.com

They also have a fundraiser for prisoners sentenced as a result of the March ‘Kill the Bill’ protests

https://www.gofundme.com/f/ktb-prisoner-support-fund

Bristol Defendant Solidarity, @BristolDefenda1 on twitter, are offering unconditional support to people arrested at Bristol protests. From legal info to solidarity through arrest & court.

LOVE & RAGE

Porgreg was a farm in Canada set up in the 80s that was able to exploit up to 3500 pigs at any one time. In December 2019, a group of twelve activists decided to occupy the farm, demanding that the conditions of the pigs be publicised. What they found inside was nightmarish. The farrowing crates were littered with dead and decomposing piglets. The fattening pens, swimming pools of shit and piss. Pigs had nowhere to be warm, or dry, and their food simply sunk into the puddle of their waste.

The group of activists occupied the farm for six hours, asking the press to come in and film the conditions of the place. The police did not care and arrested all, charging them with breaking and entering and impeding a police officer.

After the action, the footage obtained was publicly released, causing a huge ripple effect. MAPAQ (the Ministry of Agriculture in Quebec), had never once inspected the Progreg farm in their forty years of existence. They visited the farm just a week after the occupation for the first time since the farm had opened.

Investors lost trust and pulled out. Meanwhile, retailers decided they were no longer going to buy pigs that were reared at the farm.

During the action’s trial in October 2021, which lasted seven days, the farmer explained; “we can no longer profit from farming pigs and had to close down”.

The activists will receive their verdict (and possible sentencing) on the 24th of February. We will make sure to cover what the results are.

SOLIDARITY!

A Swedish comrade contacted us to inform us of a court decision to fine them with 10600 SEK (885 GBP, 1171 USD, 1034 EUR) that they must pay before the 5th of January.

They were sentenced to two different crimes. They accepted the charge of vandalism at a mink farm, where whilst at a demonstration they painted the perimeter walls with “murderer” and splattered paint around. They were also accused of the liberation of a rabbit in a rabbit meat farm where ALF stickers and spray painting was also found. They maintained their innocence concerning the rabbit liberation, but the judge decided they were responsible for both of the actions.

They have also received a non-custodial, suspended sentence.

The comrade is not someone who can afford this fine. Whilst talking to them yesterday, they said that they were looking at taking a fast loan to pay for it and this is not something that we as a community should ever allow. We are all one, and we all will fight back against the injustice of the so-called justice system.

We know that 10000 SEK is a lot of money, and we know that not one single person can donate the whole amount, but we have a month to fundraise and we have no doubt that in between everybody that follows Unoffensive we can raise enough funds to help cover that fine and avoid a comrade fighting in the frontline to have to get into sticky situations taking loans with a horrible capitalist business that without a doubt will charge them a huge interest for it.

So please, if you have anything to spare, send a few coins. If you don’t, please reach out to everybody you know. Tag folks under our social media posts, ask them to help, interact, comment and send love to the comrade. We will constantly update the money raised and will ensure to let everybody know as soon as we hit the target of 850 GBP.

You can send a coin, or two, or a hundred over PayPal: unoffensive_animal(at)tutanota.com

We also have bitcoin and monero wallets, that can be found over on our website.

Simply write a little note on the donation saying “solidarity with our Swedish comrade” and we will ensure all money is put aside and sent to the person as soon as possible.

Solidarity is our biggest weapon. Let’s win this battle. 

UA

When was the last time you wrote a letter to a prisoner? From animal rights and eco struggle to anti-racist, anarchist and anti-fascist prisoners, many folks are locked up due to their political fight.

Sending dissenting activists to prison is a fairly common tactic by governments, not only in an attempt to silence those taking action but also to inflict fear and doubt in others who might consider doing the same.

For that reason, supporting political prisoners is not only a necessary act of solidarity with those incarcerated, it also is a way of ensuring that those who are not being targeted by the state feel that if the time ever comes they will also be supported.

Today, grab yourself some paper and write a letter to a prisoner. Write to someone you’ve written before, or write to a stranger, that does not matter! But ensure you write a letter to a prisoner and open a new window within their concrete walls.

If you don’t know what to say or you’ve never written to someone incarcerated, simply tell them about your day, or about the last time you went for a walk in nature or a moment in your life that made you very happy. It doesn’t matter, simply talk to them about anything and everything except for maybe their case (especially if they are awaiting trial) or anything that could be understood as illegal.

Every prison (and sometimes just some prisoners) have mail restrictions. These vary vastly but for the most part if they are allowed to receive mail the safest way to send it is on white paper and using black ink. You can check on specific prisoner support groups to know if the person you’re writing to has restrictions. If they don’t, colourful postcards, news clippings and photos will always be a wonderful addition to your letters!

You can find a handful of prisoners to write to here:

www.unoffensiveanimal.is/prisoner-support

If you want more addresses, we find Brighton ABC to have a very up to date list:

https://www.brightonabc.org.uk/prisoners.html

NewYork ABC also has very good lists on prisoners:

https://nycabc.wordpress.com/

If by any chance you feel the need to understand why we stand against prisons, against judges and against the police, we cannot recommend this read any more effusively:

What about the rapists?

Solidarity is our biggest weapon. Use it!