Mobs and coppers… an anti-fascist day out by the seaside

23 04 2013

I’ve just been seeing some grade A bullshit about the MfE march on Sunday from ‘Casuals United’…Stories about 1 ‘lady’ beating up 7 antifa, and 8 casuals beating up 70 opposition. Are these people so fucking deluded they write blogs about what happened in their dreams? Whatever – Lies make any movement look weak. If Casuals United can provide any evidence in the form of pics we will gladly print them (not fake ones set in Marshy’s back yard tho!) Based on what happened at the weekend I’d wager that the antifascist movement has more casuals than ‘casuals united’ and all the other dumb EDL splinter groups put together.

Until we have heard from the kiddies at ‘casuals united’  here’s a repost from schnews:

“One guy went straight over the barricade into them – he was knocked down but everyone followed and soon the fascists were hiding behind the police” – eyewitness account of the the arrival of the South East Alliance into the March for England pen.

Another year, another March for England, another victory for the anti-fascist massive. Around 100-150 dregs of the EDL with the assistance of 700 police to march 400 yards along a cordoned off seafront and back. Turn-out against the march was huge with an estimated 2,000 counter-protestors turning out inside the police organised cordon re-inforced with a 200 strong black block roaming around the perimeter.

Photos (see below) of the event show the extent to which Brighton stood up for itself well against the various EDL splinter groups that make up the March for England. The far-right pulled out all the stops for this one with march organiser Dave Smeeton hitting the road to drum up support for the event. The basic message was: Last year they caught us by surprise – this year we must get the numbers and show the ‘commies’ who’s boss. Fascists travelled from around the country to be in Brighton and the day showed just how dispirited the remnants of the English Defence league are.

THEY GO WHERE WE WANT

A large number of old EDL faces were spotted on the day but the likes of Shane Calvert, Jeff Marsh and Liam Pinkham just can’t attract a following any more and are reduced to making idle threats on the internet. Fascists had promised a weekend of carnage, but in the end Jeff ‘Casuals United’ Marsh @wegowherewewant was reduced to tweeting on Saturday that the Casuals ‘totally owned Worthing’ which is a nice way of spinning the fact that they were too frightened to come fifteen miles along the coast to Brighton for the night.

Meanwhile Brighton’s anti-fascist coalition was busy building in the town itself conducting daily street stalls and plastering the place with stickers and flyposters. It was obvious by contrast that the March for England have no base in the town and no grass-roots support.

ALL BETS ARE OFF?

Sussex police claimed that they were putting in place the biggest public order operation in the force’s history and the barrier erected along the seafront was expensive but in the event nothing prevented fash and anti-fa from settling their differences.

Plod had originaly annnounced that the MfE were to be bussed into their start point from one of the train stations. In the event they were simply allowed to walk through town in small groups – unsurprisinglySchNEWS started hearing of small punch-ups erupting throughout the North and South Laines. The first real flashpoint came when groups of EDL started to get to the startpoint of their demo while waving flags. One group was immediatley chased into a bookmakers on St James St while anti-fascists fought with the police to get at them. They were only rescued by the arrival of mounted cops. Meanwhile the South East Alliance were trying to sing their way badly into the cordon while being pelted with bottles.

Eventually march organisers decided that sufficient numbers had arrived for the march to begin. The MfE began their dismal cordoned off trudge at 1p.m – realistically police presence and preparation meant that there was little chance of blocking the route. However the MfE had to run the gauntlet of 2,000 jeering opponents, comprised of trade unionists, the Unite Against Fascism crowd, the Green Party and hundreds of ordinary Brightonians.

BATTERED FASH

Meanwhile groups of fash and anti-fa played hide and seek in through the South Lanes. Groups of fash were continually sent packing, retreating behind police lines. A few anti-fascists got thumped but the opposition came off far, far worse. The militant block eventually made its way to the proposed end point of the march and waited there to bait the march. This was when the hardcore racists headed up by Steve ‘Sugar Plum Fairy’ Sands, launched their ill-fated kamikaze attack. Badly disguised as black block a handful of them began throwing punches at the masked up youth but were rapidly overwhelmed and were only just rescued by police after a proper pasting.(insert your own“ got a tasty smack in the mush off the lads/ claret all over the shop” type hooooligan narrative here). By the way Sands has pent the last two years bragging on facebook about ambushing anti-fascists during a 2010 demo in Brighton…best served cold eh?

TALE OF TWO MARCHES

The fash were marched back to the start point and police organised coaches began to arrive to cart them off to less fashionable parts of the country. A few hundred antis remained to see them on their way but the majority marched back through town under a rainbow flag and behind a banner marked ‘No Pasaran’. No cordons, no police, with the chant “Whose streets, our streets” ringing true. One particiapant told SchNEWS “This was a moment of true Brighton unity – we didn’t need cops to protect or facilitate our march because this is our town”. Video link

The above does not represent the whole story of the day which was often confusing and fragmentary with pockets and bursts of activity occurring across the whole town until late in the night. Anti-fascist coalitionStopMFE have put out an appeal for accounts of the day.

Altogether thirteen anti-fascists were arrested and although arrest support was provided if you need support or think you have important witness evidence then please contact stopmfe@ymail.com


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Brighton 24th April 2013 – something For everyone!!!

22 04 2013

We’re sure everyone is now aware of what a dismal day the fascists had in Brighton yesterday. The residents of Brighton again turned out to tell the scum to fuck off home, and militant antifascists made sure the trip out was as unpleasant as possible. As a lot of the info that’s circulating is kinda similar – here’s a first hand account from a militant antifascist, the comments are his own and do not necessarily reflect any person or group aligned to the Anti Fascist Network . The photo’s are taken from the AFA Ireland facebook page, most are by a photographer called Guy Smallman who is not connected too us. The group StopMFE are collating a load of accounts at the moment so we’ll re-post that when it’s out as hopefully it’ll be pretty concise,  what follows is only what the author saw.

The AFN banner makes an early apearence at the start while things remain calm.

The AFN banner makes an early appearance at the start while things remain calm.

The locals and some UAF (totaling around 1000) had lined the beach side of the sea front to get a good view of the marching dregs while about 200 militant anti-fascists and some more ‘up for it’ citizens stayed on the town side just behind a big hotel on the corner, controlling most of that area. It was already clear to most people (as the fascists bragged about it on facebook like they do everything) that a lot of the extreme right & groups such as Casuals United would not be joining the march and would be in the pubs awaiting chances to attack anyone who opposed the march and looked vulnerable. As the march on the front stuttered to a slow start a few brave (read suicidal) fascists tried to enter the area controlled by antifascists, from behind! They were swiftly dealt with – there’s a great video of that scumbag from the North West, Liam Pinkham, running off up an alley way on the Vice website.

A group of about 6 were chased by around 70 antifa onto St James Street – they narrowly managed to get inside a betting shop and get the door locked, as antifascists tried to kick through the door the master race were shitting themselves. Luckily for them the police showed up on horses.

Minor scuffles continued as now and again a fascist trying to infiltrate the Anti’s would be outed, or try their luck running the gauntlet. The crowds that were not on the seafront did not really notice that the March had finished, as it was out of view and quiet – it was only the shouts of ‘fuck off’ from the locals that let us know the march was coming to an end. At this point the UAF leadership tried to get the anti’s to get involved in a celebration march up to the station, they set off with their banner only to realise that only about 10 people were following, unlucky!..Maybe stop trying to tell people how to protest eh?! An impassioned plea was made from a female member of Brighton antifascists that we should stay put and occupy the space till 3pm, so that the fascists were not allowed to be dispersed into the town, and would have to be carted off in buses. The mob stayed until the buses went, and it was only following another speech from the top of a railing that the crowd agreed to move up to the clock tower “We dont want them on our streets, we don’t want them in our pubs, and we don’t want them in our town” (something like that). With that the victory parade started with the streets being taken over – note to the far right – this is going where we want, when we want, at least that phrase got used effectively eh? can we keep it? eh? Some shoppers looked bemused behind their camera phones as the mob made it’s way up to the station, with others cheering and cars tooting in support.

This was not the victory march I'm talking about, there must have been two! - Here young people are celebrating with the flag of the International Brigades from the Spannish Civil war

This was not the victory march written about here, there must have been two – Here young people are celebrating with the flag of the International Brigades from the Spanish Civil war

It was at the station a mate said he had just gone to a shop down the road, as he came out two fascists shouted something, you can imagine what happened next, his words were “they shat themselves, they won’t be doing that again”.

This was one of the Pompey fascists escorting Dave Smeeton About - He tried to 'Give it the big one' at the station and got slapped about for his efforts.

One of Smeetons Lookouts (from Portsmouth) got a few slaps at the station.

As antifascists waited at the station reports were coming in of gangs of fascists walking through town and enjoying the pubs…. not today. Again Antifasicists moved off, heading back towards the seaside to find a group small group, possibly CxF, who got safely behind the plod before trying to have a fight. They were escorted away in a moving kettle about 4 cops deep all around with vans all around them – it must have been at least 5 cops for every one fascist.

Groups of Antifascists had been split by the police and now in different groups set off towards the beach, presumably to meet up with each other, although unfortunately they kept coming across groups of fascists. The young group that I was with met about 8 or so scum near the old pier, clearly coked up to the eyeballs, with sticky white shit around the sides of there mouths they were incoherently screaming about being English, and being patriots, and that we were traitors. A brief standoff ensued and just when you thought it was going to pass the fascists lunged into the crowd with flailing arms. One of them who looked liked Jeff Marsh (but then a lot of them have very fat faces) was hitting a young antifascist girl around the back of the head with a brolly, he was soon relieved of the brolly and flailed around holding his head as the blows rained in. Needless to say the fascists couldn’t finish what they started. By the time the cops turned up they had taken a good shoeing, and as the antifascists began to back away one came back for more, hardly able to stand, he was put on his arse again, this time by a late arriving piggy who cuffed him. After a bit of a standoff  with the police and a lot of ripping the piss out of the battered ‘patriots’ and the confused and pale looking brolly guy, anti fascists dispersed into the back streets as quickly as they appeared.

Here’s someones snaps from a separate beach incidents:

Bish

Bish

Bash

Bash

Bosh

Bosh

-One commentator on the photo’s from AFA Ireland puts it well – ‘a stone island jacket and a pair of prada gutties might make you look hard but they’re no help when you’re getting a doing. fair play to the brighton black bloc’

Another antifa said he had come face to face with March for England Organiser Dave Smeeton in a side street, skulking around with fellow old gimmer Mickey Bayliss (see last post) and a few assorted numpties from Essex and Portsmouth, who it turns out had been trying to mingle with militant antifascists during the march. This was soon after the shitty march had ended, and at the opposite side of antifascist area – can it be that Smeeton organised the march only to leave it to go drinking with his racist buddies? Probably.

So the main ‘family friendly’ march of  200 drunk middle aged bald men passed off with rowdy but mostly peaceful opposition from 1000 local people, and based on the above snapshot of events it appears that anti-fascists really did give the guys who made the pre-match threats a good hiding. The far right were issuing threats up until the morning of the demo that they were going to smash the reds off the street. Again and again Brighton shows these muppets  the door – the facebook pages of the EDL are extremeley quiet today, with those that dare mention the day blaming the police for not protecting the fascists enough…Maybe next time be careful what you wish for eh?


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A lighthearted look At Brighton tomorrow

20 04 2013

Just for a bit of fun, and following on from the last article, here’s what we’re up against tomorrow. Fascists pretending to look like anarchists! Maybe we should all dress like joggers!? The award for most unconvincing anarchist at this point goes to Mickey ‘the mouse’ Bayliss, who has literally only just got away with daubing graffiti on a mosque and a Sikh  temple.

Joker - Bayliss masks up in Portsmouth on route to Brighton

Joker – Bayliss tries to mask up in Portsmouth on route to Brighton

Here’s some more hilarious shit ripped from his profile:

bayliss cunt1The old duffer is clearly delusional, Almost makes you feel sorry for him….almost.


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This is not England – this is Brighton!

20 04 2013

The waiting is almost over, tomorrow is going to see the extreme right wing try to take revenge on a town that keeps telling them to fuck off. The police seem to be taking the threat to locals seriously and have issued a number of draconian measures for the fascists to abide by. There’s a write up here in the Brighton Argus. Whilst trolling through the fascist facebook pages it’s hilarious to see them complaining about the police tactics, and whinging on about being persecuted whilst at the same time posting threats and discussing ‘smashing the reds’. Maybe they should not be so quick to critisise the police – these measures maybe meant to protect them?!

Av what?

Av what?

Unfortunately for those keyboard warriors who don’t manage to find an excuse for bailing out at the last minuet, a lot of the facebook material that’s already been screen grabbed could be used by the pigs to have them up on conspiracy to commit violent disorder charges should anything happen. By contrast the  Antifascist campaign leading up to the day has been entirely reasonable, we are not the ones who’ve blustered about this for months and made violent threats to anyone who’ll listen. If the fascists can’t follow through on their threats they’re going to  look very weak.

Hope Not Hate and EDL News have reported that Casuals United led by Jeff  Marsh have come up with an ingenious plan to wear all black and try to mingle with Antifascists. At first this might seem like a fairly clever idea, until you think about how outnumbered they are going to be, and the fact that we’ve been doing this for years, good luck with that lads! – Most antifascists know each other! Many fascists (including Marshy who will be staying at the Worthing Travel Lodge) will be making their way to Brighton today, some with no intention at all of going to the demo, they will probably try to mob up in pubs waiting for an easy target. Needless to say antifascists will be on alert throughout the weekend.

The media spotlight will be on the demo, and it will be the mass mobilisation of the decent folk who live in the town that are going to put an end to this pathetic parade and ultimately win the day. Twitter users who spot groups of fascists not on the march can use @stopmfe to pass on that, or any other info.

For any first time antifascists – stay aware, stick with your group, try to get a bust card with legal info on, and write a solicitors number on your arm. maybe have a look at Green and Black Cross.

Have a great day – See you on the Streets.

brightonrocks


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Stealing A March – Far right march in Brighton to be met with counter-protest.

15 04 2013

To give those travelling to Brighton on Sunday a taste of how the town is gearing up for the fascist scum here is a repost from Brightons weekly free sheet Schnews.

Sticker Bluemed

Oh Christ ..not again. About as welcome as the arrival of Jimmy Saville at an orphanage, it’s time for the outbreak of political venereal disease that is the March for England – set to tarnish the streets of Brighton again on April 21st. Following last year’s diverse, determined and ultimately effective opposition to the march, Brighton has become an emblematic issue on the far-right. They received a shock when a town they considered to be populated by communist homosexual freaks wasn’t the walkover they expected. The usual blood-curdling threats have been issued but nothing can conceal the panic on the far-right that Brighton will once again mount a succesful defence against racism and homophobia.

The March for England (MfE), confusingly the name of their organisation as well as their main event of the year, is a predecessor of the English Defence League and very much part of the counter-jihadist extreme right. Their focus is on a sense of English rather than British identity and opposition to Islam. In public they claim not to be racist but a trawl through the Facebook and Twitter feeds of their followers soon turns up terms of racist abuse and digging a little deeper uncovers the wonderful world of outright white supremacism (check out EDL News for a quick dip in the sewer if you must.). Their trade-marked chant of “You’re not English any more” is directed at anyone who disagrees with the narrow definition of what it means to be ‘English’.

Although the annual march in Brighton is the main public event organised by the group, their banners can be found at many other far-right protests across the country. Following the slow-motion collapse of the EDL over the last year MfE’s organisers have tried to distance themselves from the League, but their membership overlaps significantly with all the little splinter groups that have sprung up after the demise of Tommy’s little troopers. Dave Smeeton, the Portsmouth based organiser of the march, has been doing the rounds of any far-right group that will have him and appealing for unity on the right. For a full rundown anti-fascist coalition Stop the March for England have provided a fact-file. Organisations claiming that they’ll be making the trip to Brighton include an alphabetti spaghetti of the far-right SEA, NWFF, SIOE, NWI etc etc. How many of these groups are the same ten men under a variety of pseudonyms remains to be seen.

Certainly MfE view a successful march in Brighton as an essential first step in rebuilding the far-right – making effective opposition all the more important.

MESSAGE OF HATE

MfE have been coming to Brighton on the St George’s Day weekend for the last six years. At first they were given (in true Brighton style) the benefit of the doubt – a flag draped parade to celebrate the death of a dragon might not be everyone’s thing but whatever floats your boat, right? However MFE took the lack of opposition as a victory and showed their true colours by chanting racist and homophobic abuse. Since then the opposition has grown year on year.

Last year saw over a thousand counter-demonstrators out on the streets, and despite a massive operation by Sussex Police the march route was cut short as the road was blocked and barricaded. The fash were surrounded in their own pen and jeered out of town. For a full write-up FASH, BANG, WALLOP and for an excellent film of the day see This is not England this is Brighton.

Taking note, Sussex police have made the decision to move the march to the more easily policed sea front road. This alone is a victory for anti-fascists. The plan is to bring them in on buses from an as yet undisclosed train station to the march start point at Palace Pier, march them from there to Middle Street and back, and allow them to have a rally before putting them on buses for the return journey. The march is scheduled to begin at 12 noon but anti-fascist coalition Stop the March for England are urging supporters to gather in the vicinity of Palace Pier from 11 a.m to the line the route and “drown out the message of hate”. (See map below for route)

A word from our sponsors: “The real victory of the last year was a whole town saying ‘NO’. This had a knock on effect across the country and put Brighton on the anti-fascist map. The racists are desperate to make up ground so we urge everyone to stand together and give them a real Brighton welcome. Stay alert and be ready to move – see you on the streets.”

To get updates in the run-up and on the day @stopmfe on Twitter #stopmfe and StopMfe website

Fact-File on the March for England.

CASUAL INDIFFERENCE

As a minor footnote nine or so MfE types turned up to counter-protest the Unite Against Fascism meeting on Thursday night. Autonomous anti-fascists gathered to greet them. In the event thanks to the cops having everyone under heavy manners it amounted to what one anti-fascist told SchNEWS was “a supervised conversation with the fash”. Anti-fascists stood in the MfE demo, which had a celebrity guest appearance from Jeff “Casuals United” Marsh who is apparently down in Brighton to clear out Wetherspoons larder. In the event the MfE couldn’t deviate from the script and were still bellowing at the assembled UAF (who had a rooftop vantage point thanks to their meeting being on the fifth floor) to “come down here if you’re so hard” despite the fact that anti-fascists were mingling with them. After forty minutes and two half hearted choruses of “St George in my heart, keep me English” they retreated to Yates where a a proudly scruffy rentamob shouted at them through the windows in a fine example of a counter-counter demo. A brief bit of argy-bargy later and the assembled boneheads were loaded into a cop van to be driven to Brighton station and dispersed for their own safety.

And here’s a good example of the shit going around the EDL facebook pages.

threat

LOL! Lets hope they can live up to their threats, otherwise they gonna look stoopid!!


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Plymouth EDL flop again

14 04 2013

Plymouth EDL played another shocker yesterday with their anti-mosque protest outside an empty building that is probably not going to be a mosque anyway. Haley Wells Plymouth EDL organiser who escaped going to prison earlier this year by telling the judge she had nothing  to do with the EDL anymore was in attendance along with a collection of dregs from around the south.

Unhelpfully some antifascist groups have misrepresented  the numbers at the demo, why? The reason the Casuals United page is now a running joke is the fact they don’t even bother to make their bullshit believable, we don’t need to make shit up!

The police and Plymouth Herald put the EDL numbers at 25 – it looks about right, maybe a little generous but still some way off the 350 the racists wanted. It shows how much the Plymouth group has shrunk over the past year or so in line with the rest of the organisation, especially as they were bulked up by their fellow travelling class traitors from as far away as Berkshire. Weymouth division, Bournemouth and Poole, and Exeter also sent a car each so the amount of plymouthians actually opposed to the Islamic centre moving to Union Street must be about 5. Bournemouth Division also reckons there were Casuals and a new group South West Frontline Firm in attendance – does anyone else think these groups share members?

pretty standard stuff

pretty standard stuff

The EDL did manage to make some daft banners much to the delight of the opposing antifascist demo who looked on with bewilderment as the fascist on the megaphone ranted on about paedophiles. Not white paedophiles though, they don’t mind those. The antifascist demo was also small, a quick headcount revealed 29, but at least they were representative of Plymouth and not bussed in. There seems to have been some confusion with the counter protest leading to some people not getting the info in time, something to look at for next time.

Some more worrying events happened when a local Muslim lady approached the EDL demo – she was escorted away by police and told to stay at home. Another young Asian man seemingly unaware of what the fuck was going on was asked to cross the road by police to avoid the racists. As if we need any more evidence that the state cannot be relied upon when dealing with fascists.

All in all this little piss poor demo sums up the EDL nationwide, ie shit. Those that are left though are the hardcore fascists, and many that have left to start their own cults are still lurking around and willing to get on the streets. Plymouth Anti Fascists may also want to investigate EDL claims that the Firkin Doghouse on Union Street agreed to play host to the scum before and after the demo.


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Antifascist gig tonight!

13 04 2013

Apparently there’s something happening in Trafalgar Square tonight, but this is also in Brixton!!

united


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A call out for solidarity with anti-fascist prison resister Jock Palfreeman

9 04 2013
Post From Brighton ABC
jock
We are urgently calling all anarchist, anti-fascist and other anti-authoritarian left wing groups to act in solidarity with Jock Palfreeman (full story of his case is in the attached appeal below). Jock has already served several years of his 20 year sentence in Bulgaria. He actively works towards organising his fellow prisoners and highlights cases of repression by the prison authorities. He is one of the founders of the Bulgarian Prisoners Association. In the last few years, the response to his imprisonment and calls for solidarity with him from the anarchist and anti-fascist movement have been underwhelming. He needs more groups and individuals to join the campaign for his freedom. His family and some liberals have been organising support for him and trying to raise money for his fine; but Jock was always asking for a more direct kind of solidarity other than just politely asking the authorities to be nice. He needs people to not only constantly put pressure on the Bulgarian authorities in the form of letters and emails, but also organise demos and pickets outside embassies and/or any other Bulgarian institutions, generally spreading awareness about his case.Please keep publishing information about Jock on your blogs, websites and social media. We hope you will all join the upcoming International Week of Solidarity with Jock Palfreeman on 22nd-28th April, and use your creativity and imagination to express solidarity.

Brighton Anarchist Black Cross
http://www.brightonabc.org.uk

International Week of Solidarity with Jock Palfreeman – 22nd-28th April

Jock Palfreeman is an Australian who, on the 27th December 2007, on a night out in Sofia, Bulgaria; had the courage to stand up against a group of fascist hooligans. Witnessing the fascists chasing and attacking two young Roma boys, Jock ran to the boys’ aid. He did his best to keep the fascists at bay but they ended up turning on and attacking him. Left with nowhere to run, Jock had no choice but to defend himself. Andrey Monov, one of the racist gang, was stabbed and later died. Another, Anton Zahariev was injured. The Roma boys ran away. Jock has since been tried and sentenced for murder and attempted murder. He was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and has been given a fine running into hundreds of thousands of dollars. Andrey Monovs father is well known in Bulgaria and at his funeral there were a mixture of judges, police and politicians. Jock’s trial was (not surprisingly) a complete sham – yet another example of corruption, secret handshakes in the judicial system and media bias. The prosecutions case was built on the witness statements made by the other racists that were part of the attacking group, all claiming that Jock randomly attacked and chased them, with the intent of killing somebody. Key people and possible witnesses for Jocks defence were never interviewed by police and CCTV footage from the scene miraculously went missing. Many of the statements made at the time were different to the statements submitted to the court by the prosecution., while Jocks statement has remained consistent from the night in question.

You can read Jocks official statement at http://www.freejock.com You can also watch a documentary about his case that contains interviews with Jock at the following links:

Part 1:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8rLr…eature=related
Part 2:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdhA9…eature=related
Part 3:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8NRJ…eature=related

Jock appealed against his sentence and court hearings took place between October 2010 and January 2011. Despite some police officers confirming his version of events, despite one of the fascists making totally incoherent statements in court trying to explain why he changed his original testimony, despite mounting evidence of judicial errors during the initial trial and despite all other factors pointing to his innocence; his sentence of 20 years was upheld. (For Jocks statement about this please go to:  http://anarchistsolidarity.wordpress…fter-an-appeal )

Jock has now lost all his appeals and the only way left for him, is to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. He is also trying to secure his transfer to Australia to serve his sentence, which is proving difficult as the Bulgarian prosecution service is determined to keep him imprisoned in Bulgaria. Authorities refuse to even discuss his possible transfer until his fine is paid, effectively holding Jock to ransom. Jock’s family is currently collecting necessary funds and you can donate by visiting the http://www.freejock.com.

It is now more important than ever, that we collectively put as much pressure on the Bulgarian authorities as possible, to accept Jock’s transfer to Australia. Between the 22nd and 28th of April 2013 there will be an, International Week of Solidarity with Jock Palfreeman. We need to let Jock know that he is not alone in his struggle and that we are in it for the long run. Any solidarity actions can go a long way to assure that. He recently helped create the Bulgarian Association of Prisoners (www.bulgarianprisonersassociation.wordpress.com) and because he is its Chairman, he suffers repression from the prison’s administration, such as a recent refusal of computer access to continue his university education, which pushed Jock into a 30-day hunger-strike. Jock needs us to act and he needs our solidarity. The more creative the actions the better. Don’t let the Bulgarian state bury this courageous man alive in prison! Don’t let them think that they can get away with it!

Another important aspect is, especially for people in Australia , to keep the pressure on their government to do something for Jocks case. His case has been too quiet in his home country for far too long. It is time to change that!

If you are short of ideas why not try one of the following:

Organize solidarity actions outside Bulgarian Embassies, Consulates, etc. (for a list of the Bulgarian Embassies and Consulates please see,  http://www.buldir.com/bulgarian_embassies_abroad.html). Phone/write the Bulgarian Embassies and Consulates with your protests.

Help us to swamp the Bulgarian Authorities with letters of protest, condemnation and requests for Jocks appeal to be accepted. It is also vital that we send protest messages to the prosecutors directly responsible for blocking his transfer to Australia. (Please see below for a list of addresses).

Ideally protest letters are best written in your own words….. BUT, we have provided a sample letter (attached) that can be sent if you do not want to write your own. Just print it, sign it and post it, simple as that. Please feel free to reprint it and distribute it to anyone you think may send a copy. We need to get the pressure up, and keep it up!

Addresses to post, fax and email your letters of protest to:

Krassimira Vocheva
Head Prosecutor-Sofia
No.2 Vitosha blvd
Sofia
Bulgaria
Tel: +359 28051500
E-mail:  infocenter@prb.bg

Borish Velchev
Head Prosecutor-Sofia
No.2 Vitosha blvd
Sofia
Bulgaria
Tel: +359 28051500
E-mail:  infocenter@prb.bg

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria
Address: 2 Aleksander Zhendov Str
Sofia 1040
BULGARIA
Tel: +359 2 948 2999
 http://www.mfa.bg/en/contact/ (ready form for sending messages from their website, very helpful)

Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria LONDON
186-188 Queen’s Gate
London SW7 5HL
Tel.: (0044) (0) 207 584 9400, (0) 207 584 9433
Fax: (0044) (0) 207 584 4948
E-mail:  information@bulgarianembassy.org.uk

Information, Public Relations and European Communication Directorate
Director: Sofia Vladimirova
Tel: +359 2 971 1408. OR +359 2 971 3778. OR +359 2 948 2218.
Fax: +359 2 870 3041
E-mail:  iprd@mfa.government.bg

Ministry’s Reception Desk
Tel: +359 2 948 2018 or +359 2 971 1054
(opening hrs 09.30 – 12.00 and 14.00 – 16.00)

Ministry of Justice
No 1 Slavanska st
Sofia 1040
Bulgaria
E-mail:  pr@justice.government.bg

Finally, please write to Jock, even if it’s only a ‘good luck’ postcard. Any letters and postcards will help to keep Jock’s spirit up and feeling positive. All will be gratefully received. You can write to Jock at the following address:

Jock Palfreeman
Sofia Central Prison,
21 General Stoletov Boulevard,
Sofia 1309,
BULGARIA

———————————————————————————————–

To Whom it may concern,

I am writing to you regarding the Australian national Jock Palfreeman.

Mr. Palfreeman is currently imprisoned in Sofia Central Prison in Bulgaria. After defending two young innocent boys from a viscous attack by a group of drunken football hooligans; and later being forced to defend himself against the same assailants, he was sentenced to twenty years incarceration under charges of murder and attempted murder.

He is clearly only guilty of accidental homicide in self-defence.

Mr. Palfreeman witnessed a gang of around 16 men, attacking the two boys and ran to their aid. While trying to keep the gang at bay he suffered a viscous attack and was left with no choice but to defend himself. His version of events has remained consistent since the night in question and is supported by numerous witnesses. All of whom are prepared to testify in his defence.

It has since transpired at his trial, to my astonishment, that key people and possible witnesses were never interviewed by police, that the CCTV footage from the scene went missing and that many of the peoples statements submitted to the court by the prosecution were not the same as the statements made on the night in question. Anything favourable of Mr. Palfreemans’ defence was completely disregarded by the judge whilst the prosecutions case was built on the witness statements made by the football hooligans that initially attacked the two boys. All claiming that Mr. Palfreeman randomly attacked them and chased them with the intent of killing somebody. The trial was a farce, as so were all appeals.

I ask that the Bulgarian Authorities stop their attempts to keep him imprisoned in Bulgaria, and allow him to be transferred to an Australian prison where he can be closer to his family.

We will continue highlighting Mr. Palfreeman’s case and showing our solidarity with him, until our requests have been satisfied.

Mr. Palfreeman selflessly saved the lives of two young boys, risking his own safety, at the cost of his own freedom. He should be deemed a hero, not deemed a cold blooded killer!

Signed

Useful links:
http://www.freejock.com
http://www.jockpalfreeman.com
 http://bulgarianprisonersassociation.wordpress.com/

Brighton ABC
- Homepage: www.brightonabc.org.uk


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Plymouth EDL gear up for pointless demo

3 04 2013

A couple of years back Plymouth EDL tried to host a demo, it was pathetic – the organisers fucked up as much as possible, some people got the wrong meet up point, the other 100 got kettled in town while an energetic anti demo had the run of the streets. Things took a more precarious turn later in the day as some more up for it EDLers crept through the back door of a pub where the antifascsists were gathered outside. They then sent an older guy (who had spoken at the Fascist demo) out to drink among the antifascists in the hope of drawing people into a fight. The plan did not work however – as people started to tell the old chap to fuck off the police swooped and whisked him off. The lads in the pub were then escorted out by police through a hail of abuse and the odd bottle. Later in the evening they came back and thought about attacking an antifascist benefit gig but this also came to nothing.

Just last month Plymouth’s hapless EDL leaders Hayley Wells and Kelly Watterson escaped jail following a particularly cowardly attack on a Kurdish takeaway they targeted after a bout of heavy refreshment at an EDL meeting. Here’s the report from the local paper: Plymouth Herald. Rather than keeping their noses clean for a while they have jumped straight into organising an anti-mosque demo at the site of the disused Dance Academy building on Union Street in the city (poster below). The problem with this latest scheme is that the building is not going to be a mosque!! It was a suggestion that was made (It would not even be a new one but a change of venue for the existing Islamic centre) however there is a group with a serious interest in it here: Project Palace. Most people we’ve spoken to down in Plymouth do not want any kind of religious group to take over the historic building, but want something the whole community can use. Want they want even less though is the EDL muppets stirring up racial hatred in their city!

Moronic Protest

Moronic Protest

This Poster is doing the rounds on the EDL facebook pages, they’ve tried to make it look like it’s not an EDL event but here’s a previous picture for it: plymouth2

It was supposed to be a joint demo with Exeter EDL but it looks like they all fell out with each other again.  Bournemouth however are billing it as an ideal starting place for those who have not been to a demo before. So it’s a good guess that the hardcore remnants of the EDL will be in attendance.

Are they protesting so they can claim a victory? It’s difficult to understand the mind of a racist at the best of times!  The local community has again set up a facebook group to counter the demo if it does go ahead. Antifascists may want to take note that the Plymouth EDL group is no stranger to violence and there are also a number of wannabe paramilitary CXF lurking around, although they were seen off last time. Watch this space.


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Shame of Sunderland

1 04 2013

Here’s a picture of Paolo Di Canio with some fascist friends from the AFA Ireland facebook page. Solidarity with all those Sunderland Fans who don’t want him anywhere near the club.

paolo di canio

There’s a facebook page for fans of the club organising to get the bastard out: Sunderland Against fascist Di Canio


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