I am one of the three people whom the cops are looking for in
connection with the attempted action against the deportation prison in
Grunau. As one of the people involved, I would like to address a few
points, because I think people are very unclear as to how we should deal
with all of this. Just as it looked, the cops' success was the result of
pure chance as well mistakes made by us; it was not the result of police
infiltration or some kind of evil counter-insurgency. The fact we are in
deep shit because of this may be sad, but it's not the end of the world.
Life goes on. Our present situation is the day-to-day reality of
thousands of refugees in Germany, in fact we're probably better off than
most of them. We have decided not to turn ourselves in, nor will we let
the cops catch us. We won't change our minds about this.
Perhaps you all are expecting me to explain why my ID card or
license plates or my whatever else was in the immediate vicinity of a
highly-armed vehicle, but it wouldn't be wise for me at the present time
to explain this, since the cops have several years to think about such
things.
No statements to the cops - ever!
But it's a mystery to me why I should keep my mouth completely
shut when the cops are running around arresting people or making up all
sorts of false accusations and constructions. Why aren't such attacks
being made public and exposed? It goes without saying that the cops and
the justice system don't play by their own rules if things are kept in
the dark and they don't face public scrutiny.
The defendants [in the Kaindl Trial] charged with the action in
the Chinese restaurant weren't given such "mild" sentences because Judge
Eschenbach understood the need for anti-fascist resistance on the part of
immigrants, rather because the murder charges could not be sustained when
exposed to the public view and when the racist nature of the prosecution
was exposed. For example, the cops put Beate in jail even though they
knew she wasn't involved. Eventually they had to let her go because their
"evidence" had seemingly been made up. The whole thing was like being
"kidnapped"! Of course, the main responsibility for the fact that Beate
and others could have gotten stuck with the blame lies in the fact that
mistakes were made during the action itself. And since there is a real
danger that the cops will take this same route once again, we can't just
leave them in peace. The nation-wide raids and house searchers on
13.6.1995 were intended to mix together the entire radical-left and
intimidate people and bring about a few trials. If there is not an
offensive response to this attack by many people, they will have reached
their goal. Now more than ever it is more important not to be intimidated
and to sit alone and wait for the cops to make their next move, rather we
need to come together and move forward to expose the cops' bullshit, to
organize support for those affected persons, and to deal with the
criminalized themes.
I'd like to say a few things about the politics of the AIZ, even
though my comments are nothing new. The fact that this criticism comes
after the massive wave of repression, which was justified with, among
other things, an alleged search for AIZ members, may seem out of line.
But I think that in a situation like this it's more important to have a
discussion like this than to exchange a few polite words. First of all,
it's admirable to see people working so seriously and putting their asses
on the line for a revolutionary perspective at a such a gloomy time.
Also, I largely agree with the analyses put forward in their communiques.
But when I look at the group's praxis, I get anxious. For one thing, it's
wrong to view militant politics exclusively as a "part of the front in
the international struggle for liberation" without any sort of local
point of reference, no matter how shitty the social conditions here are
for that sort of thing. In practical terms, that means abandoning the
tricky stuff to the anti-imps, who can't really relate things to that
many people and thus they also cannot lead more people to take up the
ideas of liberation, so nothing changes in the long run. Other people
realized this long ago. In a situation of heightened struggle, where the
question of taking power is at hand, such concerns naturally become
secondary, because the main task at hand is to cause material damage to
the enemy. But we have not reached that stage yet.
Given the present situation, the purpose of our initiatives, in
addition to pushing through concrete demands, should be propaganda, to
show that resistance is possible. To motivate people to take action
themselves.
Secondly, I think it's really shitty to be so nonchalant when
dealing with other people's lives like the AIZ are. Perhaps your actions
weren't so carelessly done as the media have stated. But your call for
"potentially deadly actions" seems to convey a real lack of
responsibility. Either you decide to do something or you don't, but
either way you need good justifications. Whether you like it or not, you
must see to it that nothing unintended happens. You can't just stick a
bomb on someone's front porch and they say, we don't care if they get
killed, we just want to scare them. In general, I recommend that you all
put your project on hold for the time being and think things through some
more. Learn what your goals are!
The cops have put four comrades in jail and are now searching for
others just because they allegedly helped publish Radikal. In the 12
years since it was outlawed, Radikal has brought people uncensored
information, opinions, and practical tips. Despite lots of harassment
against printing shops and infoshops, the cops have never been able to
disrupt its production and distribution. This is the first periodical in
the history of the Federal Republic of Germany which has been
consistently published nation-wide with progressive content that is free
from state censorship. Of course, it has never managed to get beyond its
"autonomist" readers circle, but in addition to its practical use for
many radical-leftists it is also living proof that it is possible to
organize functioning structures outside of state control. We can't just
let them do this to us. Let's prevent them from locking these four people
up! Under the theme of freedom of expression it must be possible to
create a broad base of support, because the reasoning behind the house
searches and arrests is not at all solid. The justice system has messed
up in the past when it tried to shut down Radikal. If we are able to make
their charges fall apart, that won't just mean protection for the
individuals concerned, but we would also have won ourselves a bit of
freedom: the possibility to continue an open discussion of leftist
strategies. To the producers of the paper: don't stop publishing Radikal!
"That which is true will continue to be said, to be written, and to be
published!"
