Solidarity with French comrades against state repression! – An International call for a week of action!

On Tuesday, December 8, 2020, 9 anarchist comrades were arrested by the French anti-terrorist police (DGSI), across France. In Toulouse, in Dordogne, in the Paris region, in Brittany, and in Rennes.

They are accused of being a “..criminal association planning a terrorist attack”, even though there is no real evidence of this.  So, what did they do?

The French State has used the following “evidence” to back up the charges of terrorism:

• The use of digital privacy tools (such as Signal, VPN’s etc.) and the refusal to give decryption codes to phones or hard drives;

• The occasional use of air-guns in a “paintball type survival” game;

• Travels (to Belgium, Czechia, Greece, Colombia, etc.);

• Volunteering to in Rojava against Islamic State, and

• Possession of ‘elements or substances’ used in the composition of explosives (everyday household products including bleach and other cleaning items).

None of these activities amount to terrorism and most are not even a criminal offence.

In order to build a case for the resulting “terrorist” threat, the DGSI created the story of a “group” that would conduct “paramilitary training” to prepare “acts of terrorism” against “law enforcement or military”, while consulting for this purpose with members of various groups having the same objectives in France and abroad, and by means of encrypted communication.

This scenario is identical to the one that has been used against many internationalist comrades. Where political opinions (true or supposed), lifestyles (squat, mobile housing, international activism, autonomy) and profiles of the accused people, become sufficient elements to charge activists with the crime of terrorism! 

Exactly as we saw in the UK’s famously farcical ‘Persons Unknown’ trial of anarchists in the 1970’s. A familiar déjà vu.

We are aware that our comrades were subjected to ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ – sensory deprivation and subjection to white noise.  Torture in other words!

To be clear: the anarchist ideals of our comrades and the presumption of guilt is what maintains the “terrorist” accusation although there is no proof.  ‘Thought Police’ terrorism!

The DGSI and the French Anti-terrorist Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) is also trying to transpose the judicial treatment of people who joined the Islamic State to activists who fought against them or who have been designated as far-left.

The fight for a social revolution is not a terrorist act!

The real terrorists are those who hold weapons of mass destruction and the most powerful armies in history. They are the ones who destroy our planet and exploit its resources and us in the pursuit of profit.  They are the ones who enslave the people and massacre those that resist.

Both France and the UK welcome bloodthirsty dictators, like Erdogan or Mohammed bin Salman, and are in the top ten arms exporters (France now being the 2nd, with the UK hovering around 7th).

As long as oppression exists, as long as capitalist power continues, its destruction we will continue to exist.  We cannot be beaten or destroyed!

The AnarCom Network will be taking action in the form of leafleting/info stalls throughout the week in various locations – reports will follow!