PRC-UTE
11th October 2004, 00:57
Solidarity with Gabriel, José, Bart and Begoña. Anarchists arrested in Aachen, Germany
On June, 28 2004, four people were arrested in Aachen, Germany, after a shooting with the police and hostage-taking, while attempting to escape a police control. These four persons are Bart De Geeter, José Fernandez Delgado, Gabriel Pombo da Silva and Begoña Pombo da Silva.
Bart De Geeter is a Belgian anarchist, 26 years old, active within the movement for several years, particularly within the solidarity work with prisoners (as a member of the Anarchist Black Cross – Ghent, Belgium) and people without papers. Gabriel Pombo da Silva is a well-known Spanish anarchist, 36 years old, who spent 20 years in prison of which 14 in the infamous FIES isolation regime. In October last year he escaped from prison and ran away from Spain. Gabriel is one of the social rebels/anarchists who struggled for years against the brutal conditions, the isolation, torture and mistreatment within the Spanish prisons. The 44 year old José Fernandez Delgado is another Spanish anarchist who escaped from prison recently after spending at least 8 years in prison. Begoña is 34 years old and is Gabriel’s sister. She lives in Germany and has a 7 year old daughter. Except for being the sister of Gabriel, she has no relation to the anarchist movement.
The four were stopped by the German police just beyond the German border, at a petrol station on the way to Aachen. The reason for the police intervention seems to have been a drug control. When the police wanted to search the car, one of the 4 pulled a gun and shot in the air. In the next moments, the three men took a couple as hostages and fled with a car; the woman though was jumped upon and arrested by the police. The three men were chased by the police, a shooting took place way and back, and when their car broke down they let the hostages go and fled with another car. Finally the three hid in a garage, where they were surrounded by the police, and after some time the three gave themselves up.
The three men have been charged by the public prosecutor of Aachen with murder attempt (9 times), hostage taking (2 times), armed robbery, planning of a robbery and serious traffic violations. Given the course of the events, it is likely that Begoña is held with less serious charges.
At this moment, an international investigation is going on against the international radical left movement, that is: Spanish, Belgian and German anarchists are under investigation and are considered as an “international network”. As far as we know, no investigation has been opened on the basis of article 129a/b of the German Criminal Code (terrorism). There is also no extradition demand from Spain or Belgium, since the events took place in Germany. Whether more charges will follow, eventually by other EU countries, remains to be seen.
The fact that an international investigation of the international radical left movement is going on became very clear when on August 4, 2004, in Dresden, Germany, the police raided the house of two woman comrades. Both are long time activists within the prisoners’ solidarity movement and the organisation Rote Hilfe (Red Help) in Germany. They were asked by the Anarchist Black Cross – Ghent, Belgium, to provide for lawyers for the detained, and since then they follow up the case together with the ABC-Ghent. The two women are now suspected of having planned a robbery together with the four arrested!! According to the police, in the car of the arrested a city map of Dresden was found on which weapon shops and police stations are marked. Also an eventual escape route to the Czech Republic was on this map. This city map, together with the fact that both activists provided for a lawyer for Bart and asked for a visit permit, seemed to have been sufficient reason for the police to raid the house of the two women. During the house search, by the LandesKriminalAmt Sachsen and the Aachen police, mobiles, computers, writings, letters of prisoners, etc. were confiscated. The two women were not arrested. One of the women made a complaint about the house search, but it was refused as ungrounded by the regional court of Aachen. She appealed this decision.
In the media, the case was initially covered as a spectacular event, good to fill the front pages and to fulfil the need for sensation, and to spread a bit more the fear for all those “dangerous criminals”. When it became known that there is a political background, the first stories about possible connections with ETA, etc. showed up – as usual when it is about Spain/Spaniards. From journalists who don’t know more than what governments, police and justice tell them, you can’t expect more… .
We though know that it’s our comrades that have been captured and that they wage a struggle, as we do, against repression and prison, against poverty and exploitation, against exclusion and alienation. We have no doubt that they will continue the struggle inside prison, and we will be on their side outside.
We are all outsiders because we neither want nor accept nor are resigned to this miserable world full of injustices, lies and suffering.
We call for international solidarity with our comrades captured because they struggle, by the force of the circumstances and by the force of the will, to break down all walls and frontiers and for freedom for all.
_______
The prisoners are dispersed to different prisons and kept in isolation, which means they are at least 23 hours locked up in their cells, have no contact with other prisoners and have to wear prison clothes. Gabriel is watched every half hour through the spyhole and the guards arbitrarily put on the lights in his cell, which leads to sleep shortage. From José we know that the first weeks he didn’t have one single period of exercise and thus stayed in his cell for 24 hours. Bart’s prison conditions seem to be slightly better, but he is also regularly transferred from one cell/wing to the other.
Write to the prisoners:
Bart De Geeter JVA Düsseldorf Ulmenstasse 95 40476 Düsseldorf Germany
Gabriel Pombo da Silva JVA Aachen Krefelder Strasse 251 52070 Aachen Germany
José Fernandez Delgado JVA Wuppertal Simonshöfchen 26 42327 Wuppertal Germany
Begoña Pombo da Silva (has been transferred from Heidelberg to Köln) JVA Köln Rochusstraße 350 50827 Köln Germany
!!Since all correspondence is first sent to the public prosecutor to be read and eventually allowed, refused or censured, it is easier (faster) to send your cards/letters (as well as magazines/books/cd’s) directly to the address of the public prosecutor:
(name of prisoner) c/o Staatsanwaltschaft Aachen AZ 401 JS 284/04 Stiftstrasse 39-43 52062 aachen Germany
Financial support (hard needed) can be send to the account of the Anarchist Black Cross – Gent: 001 – 3364945 – 91 IBAN: BE23 001336494591 BIC: GEBABEBB
You can also send money to the prisoners individually (you need to mention full names and birth date of the prisoner):
Gabriel Pombo da Silva, 18.11.1967 Account of JVA Aachen Postbank Koln account nr. : 5211 20-507 (BLZ 370 100 50) DE 37370100500521120507 (IBAN) PBNKDEFF (BIC)
Bart De Geeter, 11.10.1978 Account of JVA Düsseldorf: Postbank Köln account nr.: 106 925 08 (BLZ 370 100 50) DE 98370100500010692508 (IBAN) PBNKDEFF (BIC)
José Fernandez Delgado, 09.05.1960 Account of JVA Düsseldorf Postbank Köln account nr.: 10 691 506 (Blz 370 100 50) DE 89370100500010691506 (IBAN) PBNKDEFF (BIC)
Begoña Pombo da Silva, 05.02.1970 Postbank Karlsruhe account nr.: 4384755 (BLZ 66010075) DE 83660100750004384755 (IBAN) PBNKDEFF (BIC)
source (http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=04/10/07/5109216)
On June, 28 2004, four people were arrested in Aachen, Germany, after a shooting with the police and hostage-taking, while attempting to escape a police control. These four persons are Bart De Geeter, José Fernandez Delgado, Gabriel Pombo da Silva and Begoña Pombo da Silva.
Bart De Geeter is a Belgian anarchist, 26 years old, active within the movement for several years, particularly within the solidarity work with prisoners (as a member of the Anarchist Black Cross – Ghent, Belgium) and people without papers. Gabriel Pombo da Silva is a well-known Spanish anarchist, 36 years old, who spent 20 years in prison of which 14 in the infamous FIES isolation regime. In October last year he escaped from prison and ran away from Spain. Gabriel is one of the social rebels/anarchists who struggled for years against the brutal conditions, the isolation, torture and mistreatment within the Spanish prisons. The 44 year old José Fernandez Delgado is another Spanish anarchist who escaped from prison recently after spending at least 8 years in prison. Begoña is 34 years old and is Gabriel’s sister. She lives in Germany and has a 7 year old daughter. Except for being the sister of Gabriel, she has no relation to the anarchist movement.
The four were stopped by the German police just beyond the German border, at a petrol station on the way to Aachen. The reason for the police intervention seems to have been a drug control. When the police wanted to search the car, one of the 4 pulled a gun and shot in the air. In the next moments, the three men took a couple as hostages and fled with a car; the woman though was jumped upon and arrested by the police. The three men were chased by the police, a shooting took place way and back, and when their car broke down they let the hostages go and fled with another car. Finally the three hid in a garage, where they were surrounded by the police, and after some time the three gave themselves up.
The three men have been charged by the public prosecutor of Aachen with murder attempt (9 times), hostage taking (2 times), armed robbery, planning of a robbery and serious traffic violations. Given the course of the events, it is likely that Begoña is held with less serious charges.
At this moment, an international investigation is going on against the international radical left movement, that is: Spanish, Belgian and German anarchists are under investigation and are considered as an “international network”. As far as we know, no investigation has been opened on the basis of article 129a/b of the German Criminal Code (terrorism). There is also no extradition demand from Spain or Belgium, since the events took place in Germany. Whether more charges will follow, eventually by other EU countries, remains to be seen.
The fact that an international investigation of the international radical left movement is going on became very clear when on August 4, 2004, in Dresden, Germany, the police raided the house of two woman comrades. Both are long time activists within the prisoners’ solidarity movement and the organisation Rote Hilfe (Red Help) in Germany. They were asked by the Anarchist Black Cross – Ghent, Belgium, to provide for lawyers for the detained, and since then they follow up the case together with the ABC-Ghent. The two women are now suspected of having planned a robbery together with the four arrested!! According to the police, in the car of the arrested a city map of Dresden was found on which weapon shops and police stations are marked. Also an eventual escape route to the Czech Republic was on this map. This city map, together with the fact that both activists provided for a lawyer for Bart and asked for a visit permit, seemed to have been sufficient reason for the police to raid the house of the two women. During the house search, by the LandesKriminalAmt Sachsen and the Aachen police, mobiles, computers, writings, letters of prisoners, etc. were confiscated. The two women were not arrested. One of the women made a complaint about the house search, but it was refused as ungrounded by the regional court of Aachen. She appealed this decision.
In the media, the case was initially covered as a spectacular event, good to fill the front pages and to fulfil the need for sensation, and to spread a bit more the fear for all those “dangerous criminals”. When it became known that there is a political background, the first stories about possible connections with ETA, etc. showed up – as usual when it is about Spain/Spaniards. From journalists who don’t know more than what governments, police and justice tell them, you can’t expect more… .
We though know that it’s our comrades that have been captured and that they wage a struggle, as we do, against repression and prison, against poverty and exploitation, against exclusion and alienation. We have no doubt that they will continue the struggle inside prison, and we will be on their side outside.
We are all outsiders because we neither want nor accept nor are resigned to this miserable world full of injustices, lies and suffering.
We call for international solidarity with our comrades captured because they struggle, by the force of the circumstances and by the force of the will, to break down all walls and frontiers and for freedom for all.
_______
The prisoners are dispersed to different prisons and kept in isolation, which means they are at least 23 hours locked up in their cells, have no contact with other prisoners and have to wear prison clothes. Gabriel is watched every half hour through the spyhole and the guards arbitrarily put on the lights in his cell, which leads to sleep shortage. From José we know that the first weeks he didn’t have one single period of exercise and thus stayed in his cell for 24 hours. Bart’s prison conditions seem to be slightly better, but he is also regularly transferred from one cell/wing to the other.
Write to the prisoners:
Bart De Geeter JVA Düsseldorf Ulmenstasse 95 40476 Düsseldorf Germany
Gabriel Pombo da Silva JVA Aachen Krefelder Strasse 251 52070 Aachen Germany
José Fernandez Delgado JVA Wuppertal Simonshöfchen 26 42327 Wuppertal Germany
Begoña Pombo da Silva (has been transferred from Heidelberg to Köln) JVA Köln Rochusstraße 350 50827 Köln Germany
!!Since all correspondence is first sent to the public prosecutor to be read and eventually allowed, refused or censured, it is easier (faster) to send your cards/letters (as well as magazines/books/cd’s) directly to the address of the public prosecutor:
(name of prisoner) c/o Staatsanwaltschaft Aachen AZ 401 JS 284/04 Stiftstrasse 39-43 52062 aachen Germany
Financial support (hard needed) can be send to the account of the Anarchist Black Cross – Gent: 001 – 3364945 – 91 IBAN: BE23 001336494591 BIC: GEBABEBB
You can also send money to the prisoners individually (you need to mention full names and birth date of the prisoner):
Gabriel Pombo da Silva, 18.11.1967 Account of JVA Aachen Postbank Koln account nr. : 5211 20-507 (BLZ 370 100 50) DE 37370100500521120507 (IBAN) PBNKDEFF (BIC)
Bart De Geeter, 11.10.1978 Account of JVA Düsseldorf: Postbank Köln account nr.: 106 925 08 (BLZ 370 100 50) DE 98370100500010692508 (IBAN) PBNKDEFF (BIC)
José Fernandez Delgado, 09.05.1960 Account of JVA Düsseldorf Postbank Köln account nr.: 10 691 506 (Blz 370 100 50) DE 89370100500010691506 (IBAN) PBNKDEFF (BIC)
Begoña Pombo da Silva, 05.02.1970 Postbank Karlsruhe account nr.: 4384755 (BLZ 66010075) DE 83660100750004384755 (IBAN) PBNKDEFF (BIC)
source (http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=04/10/07/5109216)