Swedish Anti Fascist in custody after nazi attack against a peaceful demonstration
15th December 2013. A lokal network, Linje 17 (after the subwayline where the network was created), has a demonstration in the suburb Kärrtorp in southern Stockholm, Sweden. Young and old, parents with carriages, simply Anti Racists of different origins – in total of a few hundred. The reason for the demonstration is that the Nazi organisation SMR (Swedish resistance movement) has become more active in the area and has been spreading their hate propaganda around schools and other places.
When the demonstration have been going on for a while suddenly around 40 members of SMR apearred. They have their obligatory green scarfs and they are armed. They also carry home made shields. Panik develops in some parts of the demonstration. Bottles and stones rain down on the demonstration and people are running to protect themselves and their kids. But not everybody is running. A handfull organised Anti Fascists move themselves between the attackers and the demonstration. More people join up and together they push back the Nazis to an wooden area. They are beaten bloody and one is cut with a knife.
The events after were extremly strange. One of the Anti Faschists, Joel, is arrested and put in custody for the grave crime of attempted homocide. If he get the sentence he can spend many years in prison. The crime classification and the arrest is completly absurd. Joel took part in the defence of peaceful unarmed peoples protest against nazis trying to etablish a precens in Kärrtorp and sorounding neighbourhoods. He helped make sure the antiracists was not harmed. He is treated like a criminal despite his unselfish act of protecting the security of innocent people and their right to protest for a community free from Nazi violence and propaganda.
When this is written, in the middle of Januari 2014, Joel is still in custody with full restrictions. The prosecutor have been on christmas leave. So is the only (!) sniffer dog that can look through all the clothes and books that is sent to Joel. The treatment is inhuman: it takes week before he even can get a book from the prison library. He can´t see his child, he can´t read newspapers or see the letters and postcards that is sent to him from comrades. After some weeks he at least gets some of the letters. They are of course looktrought and cencored by the prosecutor. Throught his laywer he have been able to send one message: He is very grateful for the letter and postcards that is sent to him, they strengthen him. He also want people to write to other inprisoned comrades.
We in the Swedish antifashist movement call for alla Anti Faschists in Germany and other countries to show their solidarity with Joel. Write to the group Free Joel and the letters will be printed and sent to him [facebook.com/freejoel]. You can also buy a Danish Free Joel T – Shirt to support our comrade economically [facebook.com/projektantifa].
Spread this text to as many people as possible.
Repression is their weapon – Solidarity is our strenght.
Anti Faschism is always self defence! #Freejoel
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