Patras, Greece : Joint attack by cops and nazis outside the Maragopouleio occupation

On the night of Monday, April 8th a group of comrades who were at the Ipsila Alonia square [in Patras] came under attack by fascists who frequent the Psitalonia grill-house (owned by the Golden Dawn member Sipsas). The attack was sparked by a t-shirt with an anti-fascist symbol wore by one of the comrades. The fascists attacked our comrades with stones, bottles and chairs from the inside of the grill-house. The comrades resisted and then moved toward the Maragopouleio occupation, where they pushed them back despite being fewer in numbers. The neonazis moved toward the occupation, where they were pushed back for a second time, effectively. The intervention of the cops was instant, supportive and salvational for the parastatists, who were causing damage to parked cars for that reason. In the next few hours, and in perfect coordination between them, the cops attacked the gathered comrades with tear gas shots in a straight line and stun grenades onto the heads of those at the occupation’s entrance, while at the same time offering cover to the neonazis who were hurdling stones and flash-grenades into the courtyard of the occupation, from a side street.

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Barcelona: C.S.O.A. La Nave Espacial threatened with eviction

C.S.O.A  La Nave Espacial in Barcelona received notice that they will be brought to court on the 28th of May.

What is La Nave Espacial?

We are a self-run Artistic Social Center that for the last five years has offered a free space for circus, music, theater and dance creation. Over the years we have successfully developed free workshops, cabarets, musical showcases, projections, expositions, family days and festivals (PobreNou, now in its fourth year). The Nave Espacial is at 176 Ávila street in Barcelona, in one of the old and previously-abandoned warehouses in the Poblenou neighborhood.

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London, UK : Open skillshare: Sat 6 April, 2pm – Taking creative action against high rents and rip-off letting agent fees

Are you a private renter?

Do you want to take action against high rents and rip-off letting agent fees?

Saturday 6 April, 2.00-5.30pm – skillshare: come and find out how to get involved

Unite Community Centre, St George’s Town Hall (basement), 236 Cable Street, London E1 0BL (map) – 2 mins from Shadwell station. (Please let us know if you’re a wheelchair user.)

We’re holding a skillshare for anyone, with any level of experience of protests and campaigns. We’ll be exploring what makes creative protest action, and why we might choose to do it. We’ll come up with ideas for action we could take as part of a day of action on 27 April, and work out what it would take to carry out these actions.

London,UK : SOL evicted – Eileen House sealed off from the public again

After 6 amazing weeks of self-organisation, hosting events and supporting communities, Self-organised London was evicted last night by High Court Bailiffs and Cops. At 4am in the morning, they stormed Eileen House, kicking in the front door of our social centre and causing mayhem. Luckily, we were well prepared; no one got arrested and we got our personal things and most of the social centre equipment out of the building. Just a short reminder: Once Boris Johnson finally (!!!) takes a decision, Eileen House is likely to be demolished. The planning application envisages the construction of a 41-storey biggie with 335 flats, NONE of them socially rented, not even 20% of them shared ownership. While SOL was trying to provide a space for the public, for the communities of the Elephant, for London activists, Eileen House is now sealed off and inaccessible to the public, awaiting its demolition.

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Thessaloniki: New trial against 6 comrades of Delta squat, that was evicted in September 2012

Delta squat, in Thessaloniki, was violently evicted on the 12th of September 2012. In the subsequent trial-farce, ten arrested comrades received suspended sentences and were ordered to pay fines (7,950 euros in total). One of the arrestees, anarchist immigrant Gustavo Quiroga, remained incarcerated and was even deported to Colombia on the 4th of November. That same month, the Greek State unleashed a new round of prosecutions against 6 of the anarchists that were arrested during the eviction. The 6 comrades are now accused of disturbance of the domestic peace (since 2008), as well as aggravated damages on the building of Delta squat. What’s more, the Alexandreio Technological Education Institute of Thessaloniki, which claims legal ownership of the evicted building, is letting it rot while its administrative board is seeking compensation of 3.5 million euros for alleged damages caused by the squatters.

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UK: 40 top lawyers sign Guardian anti-squatting law repeal letter

The letter reads:

It is just over six months since the offence of squatting in a residential building came into force. At the time the offence was proposed, government sources claimed it was necessary as the law “does not support police acting when there are squatters in someone’s home” and that “there are no powers to throw them out”. The signatories to this letter include many of the 160 lawyers who wrote to the Guardian (26 September 2011) pointing out that, as a matter of law, those statements were wrong, as such powers did exist and had done so since the enactment of the Criminal Law Act 1977.

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London, UK: Self-Organised London buzzing with activity

The Self-Organised London (SOL) squatted social centre continues to resist eviction at Elephant and Castle despite a court of their Order awarding its corrupt owners a possession order three weeks ago. In truth, the current occupiers never held any hope in the current State-Capital system to yield any justice to the local community, as the social elite push for more luxury homes for their own in the heart of London. To expect justice from a partnership which projects only to degrade everything public by converting it into a means for profit, which is the inherent desire of the ruling class in a world where the heads of the multinationals are the heads of State, is foolhardy indeed. And, like in Argentina, the majority of the population in the UK continues to live within the consumerist bubble without protesting, while people are being duped into the poverty of slavery by a lying Press which lives by the same axiom as the economists themselves.

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International day of action against eviction and displacement – Protest actions in UK, France, Germany and Spain

Today (March 18, 2013 – s!n) at lunchtime, a small but determined protest action took place in front of the Spanish embassy in London to show solidarity with the Mortgage Holders Platform (PAH). People handed out leaflets (attached) to passers-by and embassy staff. Other protest events took place in Edinburgh, Berlin, Paris, Barcelona and lots of other Spanish cities. The action in London was supported by local private tenants groups and Unite Community. The protest in Paris was organized by the “Association of the Right to Housing” (“Association Droit au Logement”, DAL), in Berlin the alliance “Prevent evictions” (“Zwangsraeumungen verhindern”) and “Kotti&Co”, amongst others, followed the call for action.
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Cologne, Germany : You wanna kick us out? We kick you out now!

First reactions on the termination of the use contract of Autonomous Centre Cologne (AZ Kalk).

The savings bank Sparkasse KölnBonn has cancelled the use contract with the AZ at the 13th of March 2013, as demanded by the politrix of the city of Cologne. Reactions of concerned and solidary structures were quick to come. Activists made a visit to the town hall and the head office of Sparkasse at Rudolfplatz on the following day. Later in the evening around 200 people made a spontaneous demonstration through the city centre.

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Notre-Dame-des-Landes, France: Message of Solidarity from La ZAD

Black February: Message of solidarity from some people of the ZAD (Zone A Défendre) and elsewhere in France, an occupied area against an international airport and metropolisation project.

With pleasure, we heard of the reactions of solidarity against the evictions at Athens in December and January: United States, India, England, Canada, Australia, Japan, Chile… and also the numerous actions and demonstrations throughout Greece.

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London: Feminists Evicted from Women’s Library

At 3.30pm on 9 March feminist protestors were evicted from their two-day occupation of The Women’s Library [1]. Defiant to the end, women had to be dragged from the soon-to-be-closed building by High Court Bailiffs and Police. Outside they were met with cheers from a one hundred-strong crowd of supporters.

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UK: “The Case Against Section 144″ Press Release

Press Release

For immediate release

Campaign to repeal new squatting law launched in Parliament

Entitled ‘The Case Against Section 144’, SQUASH (Squatters Action for Secure Homes) are launching a new report and campaign in Parliament today. The report’s findings suggest the major concerns regarding criminalisation that arose during the government’s consultation process have been proven right, with homeless and vulnerable people disproportionately affected. No arrests so far have been for squatters displacing anyone from their home, which does suggest that the Criminal Law Act 1977 was sufficient for dealing with squatters – as predicted by many legal experts.

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