Repression Against The Anarchist Movement In Italy On the morning of September 17, 1996, around 300 members of the Carabinieri special squads carried out raids and arrests against anarchists across Italy. This act of repression is part of a campaign orchestrated by the Roman judge Antonio Marini and the prosecutors Ionta and Vigna, a campaign which seeks to prove the existence of a mythical subversive anarchist paramilitary organisation. The first wave of raids occurred in February 1995, but at that time the authorities found neither weapons nor bankrolls nor hideouts nor documents concerning the 'gang', which lacked indeed even a name. The actions of Tuesday, September 17 were carried out by masked and armed Carabinieri. The results were very serious: 29 arrest warrants and dozens of people that have been officially informed to be under investigation. Some of the accused were arrested and immediately taken to the Rebibbia prison to await judge Marini's pleasure; others are currently in hiding. It is still not known exactly how many or who has been arrested - the latter have been denied the right to see anyone, and have not even been able to talk to their own lawyers. The charges are very serious and range from subversive association to robbery, the manufacture of weapons and homicide. In practice this means accusing the anarchist movement of all the unsolved crimes of recent years, without any proof being offered. An indication of the climate of persecution surrounding the arrests is the judge's statement that "I want to arrest a gang of terrorists before I retire". Another very disturbing matter is the press release issued by the Carabinieri, which talks of a non-existent subversive organisation structured on two levels: the first, hidden and illegal, is said to be protected by a more visible "second level", ideal for "camouflaging itself in the social milieu and interacting with other subversive cells in a dangerous, criminal brotherhood". It's clear that this notion of a "second level" is intended to strike at all those situations of widespread sociality and solidarity (like El Paso in Turin and other occupied places throughout Italy) which have furnished and continue to furnish support to all those who will not submit to the repressive apparatuses of the State. The theorem of the "second level" is the mechanism through which a very violent attack could be carried out against many situations of the movement in the near future. More news and communiques will be posted in the days to come. (Source: A-Infos List) ----- News From The Mainstream Media: Police Crackdown On Anarchist Organization Rome, Italy (ANSA - September 17, 1996) A force of 300 special branch Carabinieri policemen arrested ten people and conducted a series of searches in six Italian regions on 29 warrants signed by Rome prosecutors in a crackdown on an anarchist organization allegedly led by Alfredo Maria Bonanno, 59. The charges named in the warrants, issued by prosecutors Antonio Marini and Franco Ionta, were subversive association, association for purposes of terrorism and subversion, forming an armed band, kidnapping and illegal possession of firearms and explosives. The alleged head of the anarchists targeted by the police is a journalist who lived in the Sicilian city of Catania until he moved to Florence two years ago, where he started up the publication of a daily 'Cane Nero' (Black Dog) in 1994 to flank his sheet entitled, 'Anarchismo'. The Rome magistrates said Bonanno was arrested in 1989 and charged with the robbery of a jewelry store, with an alleged fellow anarchist, Giuseppe Steri of Palermo. At the time, Bonanno said he carried out robberies to finance his publication activities. Also his former wife, Jean Helene Weir, 52, from Scotland, was described as an anarchist. Ms Weir is now serving time for the robbery, with five accomplices, of a bank in Serravalle all'Adige, near the northern Italian city of Trento. In 1991, Bonanno's name was added to a list of anarchists to keep under police surveillance. The police searches carried out at dawn by Carabinieri and Criminalpol police in eastern Sicily, Lazio, Umbria, Emilia Romagna, Rome and the northern Piedmont and Lombardy regions yielded a number of illegal firearms, said police sources. Rome Police Arrest Group For Terrorism Rome, Italy (AP - September 17, 1996) Police arrested 12 people Tuesday on charges of terrorism and homicide in a 20-year spree of armed robberies, kidnappings and bombings throughout Italy. Authorities are still looking for another nine members of the group, which is suspected of placing car bombs outside military facilities in Rome and Florence the past year, police spokesman Capt. Vittorio Pagliccia said. The group, called the Revolutionary Anarchic Insurrectionist Organization, has claimed responsibility for some of the crimes, which date back to the mid-1970s. They are also charged with two murders, Pagliccia added. Prosecutors are also seeking the indictment of another 68 people allegedly connected to the crimes. ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++ ++++ see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist information collective based in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of material, including political prisoners, national liberation struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our writings, research, and translation materials in our magazine and bulletins called Arm The Spirit. For more information, contact: Arm The Spirit P.O. Box 6326, Stn. 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