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 ++++

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