The “owners” of Køpi project, Startezia GmbH (a shell company of Sanus AG), will take Køpi to court on 6 November 2024 , 10:15, at the Moabit Criminal Court (Turmstraße 91, 10559 Berlin). This is the same postbox company that evicted Køpi Wagenplatz in 2021.
Unfortunately we cannot give any more information on the situation as the project is in talks with our legal team, but we can tell you that the future of Køpi as we know it is under threat. [Read More]
Berlin: Køpi is in danger!
Rotterdam: Catullusweg stays!
We are really grateful to everyone that has helped out and stood by us, it truly means a lot!!
On the 22nd of august we got a letter for a speed court case for the eviction of Catullusweg 11.
In the morning of august 23rd we went to court, and we’re happy to announce that we won!!!
Even though we don’t have anything nice to say about the judicial system, we feel a weight taken off our shoulders knowing that in the coming time there won’t be any attempts of eviction by the state and its servants.
Now that this squat has more stability, we will put even more time into setting up a social space including a library, free shop, cinema/theater, community kitchen etc.
This is a callout to gather and organise together. Come by share your ideas and don’t don’t hesitate to join in on the fun! We’re looking forward to your ideas and initiatives. [Read More]
Amsterdam: Vossiusstraat 16 under threat – Removal of Russian oligarch Arkady Volozh from the sanctions list
The Russian oligarch and founder of Yandex, Arkady Volozh, the owner of the squatted building Vossiusstraat 16, was removed from the European sanctions list on the 12th of March 2024. This is likely to lead to a new court case and the eviction of the squat.
This statement begins with a legal overview of the Vossiusstraat 16 case, and then summarises the changes that led to Volozh’s removal from the sanctions list. Finally, we present reasons why his removal from the list should not have taken place. [Read More]
Ile-Saint-Denis: the Malvassé squat under eviction threat since mid-december
We are about twenty people who have been living in Malva since May 2022, a squatted building on Île Saint-Denis, at 62 avenue Jean Jaurès. The Malvassé has been under eviction threat since December 15, 2023 following a procedure that does not grant us any delay and abolishes the winter truce. (December 18, 2023 – the winter truce would be granted, “the owner having withdrawn his request to cancel the truce”).
Our place of residence is currently squatted, among others, by vulnerable people, families with children attending school in the same commune and in Saint-Denis. The neighbouring lots are also squatted by about sixty other very precarious people, including a dozen families with children, who also attend school on the Ile-Saint-Denis. [Read More]
Athens: Steki Ano Kato Patission resquatted
[Update: During the resquat, 11 arrests were made on misdemeanor charges. The trial of the comrades has been postponed until February 13. The legal costs to be collected are many, your financial support is welcome.]
On saturday december 9, 2023, the Steki Ano Kato Patission was resquatted by 80 comrades. Then 250 people gathered in front to support the reoccupation. This gathering was attacked by cops and people were trapped in apartment buildings, in the adjacent dormitories and in the Steki itself. At the same time, teargas was thrown into cars, cops shouted at people that they would burn them alive, arrests were made, and people were beaten up. The cops also surrounded the Steki, teargas was thrown inside. People defended the Steki and kept it. There are seriously injured comrades, they are taken to the hospital. Around 19 people were arrested. On sunday 10, solidarity rally for those arrested during the Steki Ano-Kato Patission resquat at 11:00, Dikastiria (Evelpidon).
The Ano-Kato resquat took place on the nationwide day of action in solidarity with the squats, with a demonstration at Monastiraki in Athens. The attacks on our squats confirm once again that solidarity, self-organization and unmediated struggle are a formidable enemy for the state. The call out was made by Ano Kato Patission, ASP (Autonomous Polytechnic Steki), Evagelismos and Zizania.
STRUGGLES ARE NOT EMPTIED, IDEAS ARE NOT SEALED
SOLIDARITY WITH SQUATS
Statement from Steki Ano-Kato Patission:
We said that we are not leaving and we mean it [Read More]
Amsterdam: news from Vossiusstraat 16
Why there are no public events anymore, comment on Volozh’s statement against the war
Soon Vossiusstraat 16 will have existed for one year!
During the last few months, many changes happened. We won the court case and its appeal and this stability allowed us to make this house our home. While the doors of Vossiusstraat 16 were initially open, there have not been any public events in the past few months. This statement is here to explain why that is.
We will also comment on a statement issued by the owner of Vossiusstraat 16, Russian oligarch Arkady Volozh, where he claims he is against the war.
Why we don’t organize public events anymore
When the Vossisstraat 16 squat opened, we decided that it would be both a place to house ourselves and new people and a social space where anyone who wants can come and organise. Many discussions, benefit evenings, meetings, workshops, and more initiatives took place at Vossiusstraat over the span of several months. We really appreciate the fact that so many people were able to use the building and that Vossiusstraat 16 could be a place for political organising and for people to meet.
However, for the past few months, there have not been any public events organised at Vossiusstraat 16. This is a decision we took in response to the verdict of the appeals court. [Read More]
Netherlands: Vogelvrij Newsletter #2
Vogelvrij brings you a bunch of news from squats all around the Netherlands. There is always space for more news in the newsletter, so mail us your updates or publish them on a open publishing platform such as Indymedia.nl, or send your statements to Squat.net, and announce your events on Radar.squat.net. [Read More]
Amsterdam: open call in solidarity with Villa Fuerte hearing
In 2010 the squatting ban was introduced. In theory, this law was created to criminalize squatting whilst fighting against houses being empty. In reality, its purpose was to please some politicians and their questionable neoliberal agenda. We see that there is no political will to fight emptiness, the local governments never put any effort into finding the owners that keep their houses empty. This law has only been used to evict squatters and make them homeless, while still many houses are left empty. In June 2022, another new law has been put into practice. It had as its goal to shorten the time span between the announcement of eviction and the moment of the actual eviction. By doing this they take away the rights of the squatters to legally defend themselves. Now after one year of this law existing in Amsterdam, we feel the repression. We are worried about how the hearings are going and how unjust their practice is. The way squatters are being evicted now is not through a court case but through a criminal hearing. The judge commissioner (RC) is the one to decide if the squatters will be evicted or not. To get all the information for the case, the RC invites the officer of justice who is an investigator cop, her name is Petra van Laeren. There is nobody to witness how these hearings go, it is not a public court case so no media or people interested in the case can be there. We, the squatters in Amsterdam, are starting to see that these hearings are a joke of justice. We figured out that there is a connection between the RC and the officer of justice, showing that they know each other better than just from the court. In the hearings, intimidation is going on, cops are waiting in front of the room to take pictures of the squatters. It is the same people taking the same decisions all the time behind closed doors and the decisions are not publicly posted. It is unfair that we have to blindly go to these hearings under their conditions. To not have an audience, no media, nothing is published. It is a blur of what goes on in these office rooms and how the decisions are being made. Justice is out of balance and we are mad about it. [Read More]
Amsterdam: Squatters Takland occupy adjacent building
Today we have expanded Takland. After we squatted the building at Taksteeg 8 on King’s Day – renamed Housing Day – today it is the turn of the adjacent building Taksteeg 6, which has also been vacant for years. Come and support Takland!
After declaring our independence from the state, they opened the hunt for us. The first time we saw them in court, we won. In doing so, we have ensured that red-handed is once again a means of struggle: the judge forbade eviction in the act if the police do not actually catch the squatter in the act. The second time we saw them in court, they punished us. The judge-commissioner, Eduard Messer, agreed with the owner. The judge and the officer are biased, feel contempt for the people in society hardest hit by the housing crisis, and don’t follow their own rules. Takland should be evicted by Thursday. But Takland is stronger than the state. Takland fights back. [Read More]
Amsterdam: squatters of Russian billionaire’s estate face intimidation in lead-up to higher appeal
Activists who took over the multi-million property (Vossiusstraat 16) owned by Russian sanctioned billionaire Arkady Volozh last October, are facing another court case this coming Wednesday.
Volozh, the founder of Russian search engine Yandex, lost an earlier court case against the squatters in November. At that time the judge ruled the squatters would not have to vacate the property because it is frozen as a result of the sanctions and would thus remain unused, since Volozh is barred from entering Europe after being placed on the EU sanctions list for promoting the war with Ukraine through his search engine. The legal situation remains unchanged since November, as Volozh is still on the EU sanctions list. He nonetheless will try his luck again in a higher appeal set to take place this Wednesday.
The squatters attest that the opposing party has submitted last-minute evidence in an attempt to discredit the new residents. The evidence includes videos and pictures taken from inside the squatted building and screenshots from an internal group chat. According to the squatters these videos were taken without their knowledge and consent over a period of two months by a man who claimed to be a refugee from Ukraine in need of a place to stay. [Read More]
Ghent: The verdict gives Pandemistes 8 days to leave as soon as the City sends the bailiff
An expected deadline. Because property rights are greater than the right of residence. Makes sense, right? That is certainly the logic of the rich. For those who do not have a home, this makes less sense. “But that’s their problem.” Among the Pandemistes there are effectively a number of people who will no longer have a home, but fortunately can go somewhere temporarily. This is less obvious to those who are undocumented. “But that’s their problem.”
We might have been able to get a longer term from the judge if we had put more effort into PROVING our positive impact on the neighborhood. But frankly, we much prefer to focus on BEING a positive influence on the neighborhood. By organizing countless events and giving people a taste of the freedom of such a place. [Read More]
Amsterdam: Demonstration against Eviction of Vossiusstraat 16
Sunday 9 April 2023, Leidseplein, Amsterdam, 15:00 https://squ.at/r/9c98
On the 12th of April the Vossiusstraat 16 has their second court case, the appeal to the decision that was given in November and which had allowed the squatters to stay.
To show support to the squatters, and in order to voice our disagreement with the the high presence of Yandex in the Netherlands, a demonstration will take place on Sunday the 9th of April. It will start on Leidseplein at 3pm!
Volozh, the billionaire Maltese passport-purchaser, was put on the sanctions list because Yandex promoted Kremlin propaganda and passed on data about activists to the state. All while being registered as a company in the Netherlands. Yandex’s news site has in the meantime been bought by the Russian state and now the company thinks they can turn over a bright new leaf as a normal. Since the first court case, Volozh’s company Yandex has massively expanded their presence in the Netherlands. Other EU countries have banned Yandex services from operating in their country, but not the Netherlands! [Read More]
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