News from the former Soviet Union

The idea of the action was a street theater against the war in Iraq. First, we made figures of Clinton, Hussein and Levinsky. Hussein and Clinton had moveable penises shaped like rockets that shot fireworks. Separately there was a giant penis that shot off dish washing liquid each time a rocket was fired. Then there was a street theater ensemble. Unfortunately half the people who were supposed to come didn't - I guess they were afraid to get arrested. Anyway, there was Clinton, Hussein, a harem, the 6th fleet, a story-teller and Clinton's penis.

We wrote a hysterical press realise and there was more media than participants. It was a real circus. As a matter of fact, we were the second story on the news and one channel showed us for about two minutes. The action was called "MAKE LOVE NOT WAR" which was in defense of Iraq and White House employees against Clinton, Clinton against journalists and sexophobia and free love against sublimated agression and the world against the militarism of hung-up politicians. It seems it's impossible to translate the text, but you get the idea. It was organized by many "groups" including (at least the ones that can translate): The "No-Limits" Association of Journalists, The Amazon Military Organization "Direct Action", The Emma Goldman Dancing Brigade, The Sigmund Freud Family Circle, The Moscow Committee for Sexual Revolution, The Union of Offended Secretaries, The Initiative for Videocameras in Presidential Bedrooms, The Arab Feminist Group (well, I can't translate the joke, something like veils for males) and the Moscow Section of the American-Iraqi Friendship Society. Well, you get the idea. It was funny, especially Levinsky who was played in drag and who was interviewed on TV and said hysterical stuff and the harem, which also had some guys in it. And the penis, which was a guy in plastic, with balloons and who kept getting erect and then going down and who was harrassing women and attacked Hussein.

News from Kuban Anarchist Federation

Activists from the Kuban Anarchist federation who wanted to create an independent radical students' movement decided to hold an illegal meeting outside the main entrance of Kuban University on Feb.19. They called for students to take action against the high cost of living in dormitories, against the plan to cancel free transport for students amd against harrassment of students by police and security pigs.

The leaflets announcing the action caused a big stir on campus and with the cops who held a meeting on the eve. On the morning of the action, the FSB (KGB) went around the dorms looking for the organizers and the uni was crawling with pigs. When the action started they quickly took in Maria Randina (already well known to the cops) and several others. In all, 12 people were arrested that day but were all released.

The arrested were questioned by high-ranking police. Maria, who was kicked out of the university, will probably not be reinstated. Maria was kicked out after writing on the doors of fascist students that "fascists live here". Her suspension was even discussed in the city Duma. Last week's action received rather negative press coverage.

-akai according to comrade kabanos

WHO'S POLICING THE POLICE?

-Moscow Anarchists raided by the Cops
If you think the police state is a thing of the past in Russia, think again.

Renegade and organized police harrassment is rampant and there is almost no recourse against it. There are so many ridiculous laws on the books that they almost always can find something to charge you with.

Recently Russian anarchists were dealt a number of blows, both literally and figuratively.

In Volgodonsk, about 50 anti-nuclear activists were attacked by 500 - 600 nuclear power plant workers, with the complicity of the police and local authorities. Many sustained serious bodily injuries. All the tents in the protest camp were set on fire and all photo and video cameras destroyed. The activists who wanted to report the incident were arrested. All were released. (See report from theRainbow Keepers)

Last year people were attacked at the same site.

In Moscow, the apartment of Laure Akai was raided for the 3rd time in as many months. The latest raid, committed while she was in NYC, comes on the heels of raids against Bylevsky, Sokolov and Kostenko (well-known leftists but of the authoritarian sort) in the governmentšs serach of left terrorist groups following a hot wave of political bombings in Moscow. In all cases computers, mailing lists, papers amd personal items were seized. Several people were brought in for questioning by the FSB and 18-year old Andrei Sokolov was arrested. Police now are conducting a criminal investigation which amounts to carte blanche to harrass anarchists and communists.

In the case of Akai, other personal items were taken. For the police it doesnšt matter; the last 2 times they illegally entered the house (with machine guns) and responded to protests with threats including imprisonment, framing another anarchist for murder, eviction, staking out the place to check for draft evaders and promises to visit for extortion money. Intervention on the part of government officials only led to additional harrassment, including attempts to deny them permission to stay in the country and illegal seizure of documents.

The illegal seizure of documents is something that a lot of people have ahd to deal with, particularly in Moscow. Despite the fact that this is illegal, police have been taking documents from arrested activists and aliens and then demanding exorbitant money in fines and bribes. It is a no win situation as it is illegal to be without a passport and failure to present documents on request will wind you up in jail. Police have been terrorizing refugees for years now for not having residency permits and anytime a dark-skinned person walks the street theyšll have documnets checked and will have to pay money to the cop so as not to have trouble. Much of this has to do with local police stations refusing to register people at their residences even if they are in the countryt legally. Now the Moscow city government is in the middle of "Operation Foreigner" which is not only an attempt to collect more bribe money from refugees but is an attempt to fine, detain and harrass Americans in retaliation for the Giuliani/ parking scandal. The city has also started a number of crackdowns in connection with the cityšs anniversary, including a plan to fine a maximum number of motorists and impound cars so as to lighten up traffic.

The police state is being helped along by dozens of legal catch-22s and ridiculous laws which only serve to help make the police money, Some examples:itšs illegal to drive a dirty car (!), which is almost impossible to avoid doing in such a muddy city; you often need to prove you have the right to live in a place before being registered there, but you canšt get these rights if youšre not registered; any number of acts will land you in jail for up to 15 days for łmalicious hooliganism˛ - cursing at a cop is an offence, etc., etc. And letšs not forget that many of our comrades have been drafted.

Anarchist comrades have been having little luck with countering police harrassment and attacks. Comrades brutally attacked on May Day found no way to legallyt fight police brutality; as a matter of fact, one had received "special treatment" just the week before that for letting police know that he knew his rights.

The ecological activists Rainbow Keepers could use some help replacing equipment destroyed in the attack and for legal and otehr related expenses. Laure needs to replace equipment to continue publishing anarchist magazines, publishing information, to retreive data concerning political repression in Belarus. Contributions can be made to NENW.

APPEAL FOR FUNDS

In the first week of August, the Moscow apartment of Laure Akai was raided for the third time in three months. These raids followed the raids of three other radical apartments in a government search for left terrorists. Aside from being the home of Akai, the place is used to house visitors from other cities and abroad, to have seminars and meetings and other activities. Following the first incident it became impossible to hold meetings there because of a police presence. In the most recent incident, all technical equipment was taken.

The equipment was used for various anarchist activities ranging from publishing magazines to coordinating information via e-mail to recording seminars. These activities will now be greatly hindered, if not virtually paralized. An old 286 computer was donated by NYC comrades but we need to Russify it, upgrade it and get a printer so that we can continue publishing things like "Naperekor" magazine.

In addition, we would like to start a Black Cross fund. This is especially important for us at this time as the state is going on a crusade against anarchists and others in attempt to find łterrorists˛. Nobody really has any money for lawyers or for protecting themselves from these raids. If any of our comrades are arrested we would be hard up to help financially.

If you can help out, please send a contribution to NENW. Remember that there are few people left in Russia fighting against totalitarianism and if the anarchists and their left radical sympathizers are terrorized and neutralized, itšs just the democrats, the reds and the browns.
make checks to
"Neither East Nor West" (or tax-deductible to "Aspect Foundation")
NENW c/o "b"oB McGlynn
528 5th St.
Brooklyn, NY 11215, U.S.
1-718-499-7720

DEATH TO THE BOSS'S TRADE UNIONS!
DOWN WITH SOCIAL PARTNERSHIP!
FUCK THE POLICE!

At about 10:20 today in Moscow, a really disgusting scene happened during the unions' annual May Day parade. A group of anarchists and left radicals, marching in the column of the independent trade union "Volya" were attacked by the police on the orders of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia.

Let us state right off that many left groups have long ago broken from the trade union's annual festivities and we too hold our own independent festival or demonstration but still, we, like many others, tend to go to the larger demonstrations as well to meet with the workers and to offer them more radical alternatives than the trade union bosses. Many of us have participated in this May First demo before and we partcipated in the March "strike" without any incident. Today, of all days, we were fewer people than usual (how many people want to meet at 8:30?) and we had brought of course radical banners, but were saving the real raucous stuff for our thing. Much of our literature was for self-management and did not even mention anarchism. The most radical things were banners reading "Death to the State and Capital" and "We'll Take our Pay by Force".

Obviously the "organizers" of this demo (whom, by the way, we know VERY WELL and include some of our ex-comrades who became bureaucrats) had a problem with us being there from the very start and asked the police to clear us out. They can of course now "innocently" claim that they didn't know what the police would do, that they didn't know that the police could beat or arrest us. That's just shit. They understood this - they don't give a shit. All they give a shit about is that there were no people there to tell the workers about what a bunch of traitor-whores they are. The police came and starting beating and arresting people. Three of our comrades were taken to the infamous 108th precinct (where many of us or our friends have been beaten seriously) and several were violently beaten. Now, two of our comrades, Larisa and Nirmal, are in Botkin hospital suffering from injuries inflicted by the police. Both have sustained concussions from being beaten on the head with riot sticks, both with beaten in the kidneys and Nirmal suffered some broken ribs. We will know more about the extent of their injuries later.

The three comrades taken in were fined and released. The police obviously did not want another big scandal. (Last week there were also arrests (Nirmal incidentally was one of those taken in) which led to a press conference and some noise.) At the station they met four Kurds who were also arrested for trying to celebrate May Day. So much for the holiday of workers' discontent.

So such are our fucking trade unions, the ones that try to get the government to outlaw the other unions all the time, the ones who are rich, who are in this all for their political careers. Obviously we are now at full blown war with them.

Despite these unpleasantries, we held our own demo outside of Gorky Park. The weather was georgeous and we had good leaflets but unfortunately they had set up all sorts of carusels and stuff next to our demo and we looked, well a little clownish trying to have a serious demo there. Had we known... but no matter. About 40-45 people came, which was a considerable drop from last year, but, in general there is a more apathetic climate than last year. (The morning's demo drew only about a quarter of the amount that came to the March demo.) After the demo we walked around the city tearing down, detourning and destroying fascist leafelts. (They're here and they're there and they're everywhere.) We stopped at the new Kropotkin statue (well, actually it's Engels, but we were tired of looking at Engels standing at the beginning of the former Kropotkin street, so we changed it a little) and on Gogol Boulevard before heading to the Balaklava Club for the Victor Serge Library party. On the way we agitated people on the metro. (In the good sense and, probably, the other as well.) At Balaklava we celebrated by singing revolutionary anarchist songs from all over the world. Tonight people will hold an anti-fascist concert in the abandoned Lenin Hills metro station. All in all, not a bad day, with the exception of the injuries to our friends. But we will try to answer that in kind.

Akai

Russian Workers paid with Dildos!

When Russian workers don't get their salaries paid out (typically because the directors of enterprises are busy building themselves mansions or diverting funds), they sometimes manage to at least get part of their production. It isn't uncommon for workers who produce pans to have to go out and hawk them to get money for food to go in them. Such payment of back wages has become increasingly common and leads on to wonder, if workers have to both make and sell what they produce, what the hell do they need the middlemen for?

Some of you will remember some of the tales (I've posted) of unusual compensation (such as the Ukrainian workers, who due to numerous trades and debts, wound up getting paid in coffins). Here's another. Workers in the Akhtuba factory in Volgograd haven't been paid for 13 months. The Defense Ministry should paid part of the debts for wages since the factory was converted from the defense industry and is now making various "appliances". But not all these appliances have sold well and apparently they overestimated the market demand for dildos. Workers now have a "choice"; go hungry, or sell off the sex toys.

We hope that the workers will at least have more use for the dildos than the coffins.

The story of the dildos themselves is typical of life in cash-strapped Russian. When the factory originally wanted to produce the "Adam" (in 93), it was designed as a vibrator but lack of cash for development means that they had to produce the cock as "hand-operated". Workers sell the dildos wholesale to sex shops for about $4 a piece, but apparently their production isn't selling well. (Maybe the real thing would work better?) As one sex shop owner commented, "They're primitive. The more expensive ones with more features sell better. People don't look for price. They look for quality."

Ah, the lessons of the market.

Akai

Moscow squat under siege

Moscow's oldest and most famous squatted apartment is under siege. Members of the Rainbow Keepers joined artists, musicians and others who live, used to live or just hang out at Bulgakov house to try to stop the eviction of apartment number five so that a development company can build luxury offices. A highly publicized stand-off is currently under way.

The building under question was once the residence of such luminaries as Sergei Esenin and Mikhail Bulgakov and is the setting for the novel "The Master and Margarita". In the mid-eighties it became something of an extraordinary place as some subcultural types actually managed to squat it. It turned into a low-keyed but still legendary hang out. Although it was never a radical living space, like many such squats in the West try to be, it was a very special thing, a little free space in an unfree city.

Now some of the cultural elite is trying to come to the rescue and raise 20million USD to keep the space.

The last great squat place, on Petrovsky Blvd., was wrecked to build a hotel complex. Gentrification is happening extremely quickly as the city makes great money by exploiting the housing shortage. There's not much hope in fighting the city, either. But hopefully we can finally find a place that people can call for at least a while.

(by Laure Akai)

WANTED: ANARCHIST AND RADICAL NEWS
for a russian samzidat publication

We are looking for short articles containing descriptions of anarchist actions, uprising and organizations
as well as biographical material on activists and theorists, especially from the following countries:
Turkey; Greece; Peru; Japan; Algeria; Australia; Brazil; Malta; Cyprus; Venezuela; Romania; Bulgaria.
Pleace send material or pass on contact addresses if you have them.

Pleace contact:
NEWS AND VIEWS
PO BOX 500
MOSCOW, RUSSIA 107061
e-mail: cube@glasnet.ru

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