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Title: Disturbing Public Peace Author: Anonymous Date: Autumn 2018 Language: en Topics: riots, poster, repression, court, G20, Hamburg, Berlin, The Local Kids, The Local Kids #2 Source: Translated for The Local Kids, Issue 2 Notes: First pronounced in a courtroom in Berlin, 8th of August 2018
After the riots in Hamburg on the occasion of the G20 summit in July
2017 the authorities were under intense pressure: Thousands of
investigations followed, as well as public calls for denunciation, the
publishing of photos of hundreds of wanted persons, several - partly
trans-national - waves of house-searches and now also international
arrest warrants and extraditions (in October a comrade was arrested in
France and transferred to Germany) were launched. The revenge of the
Justice system is targeting also those who continue to defend the
rioting and keep on antagonizing the state after the turbulent weekend
in Hamburg.
This May the anarchist library Kalabalik in Berlin as well as two
private flats got searched by the cops to prosecute the pasting of a
poster, which showed the photos of some politicians in Hamburg, some G20
responsibles and some cops in the style of a “wanted terrorists” poster.
In August a trial took place against a comrade who was accused of
pasting a poster. The prosecution assessed this as a “disturbance of
public peace” and attempted to prosecute the pasting as a “particularly
serious case of civil disorder”, since the poster was not only approving
of the rioting, but also calling to reproduce it. As a result in Berlin
several events and discussions were taking place around the topic of how
the state can be faced with an offensive attitude in the context of
repression and trials. Thus it was attempted to tackle the trial on a
collective level to not put the question of guilt or innocence,
conviction or acquittal in the center of attention, but to put the focus
rather on the strength and complicity which can grow out of a common
process of action and discussion. Only those can create the
circumstances which give us the courage and determination to encounter
the state offensively and minimize the fear of consequences which this
can result in. So the posters kept on appearing on the streets of Berlin
and different calls were published to be present during the trial which
unexpectedly even ended with a discharge.
This declaration was read out at the beginning of the trial:
For me, the court, this building of authority, is not a meaningful
setting for anarchist and revolutionary confrontation with domination.
The struggles for a world without exploiters and exploited take place in
everyday life and on the streets. A trial is an imposed snapshot that
seeks to weaken current and past struggles and to deprive them of their
fellow combatants.
In a way, however, I involve myself with this juridical spectacle by
sitting in the dock today. I could have simply paid the fixed fine to
avoid this trial. But to pay for what? I am here today to create a
certain publicity that should show that state repression can be
counteracted by combative deeds. Therefore, it is not my intention to
negotiate with the prosecutor and to enter into the discourse of
innocence or guilt. It is perfectly clear to me that if I am convicted -
as in principle is true for all accused - I will be convicted as an
example, to deter others from committing the reproached deeds. I doubt
that in this case the intent of overall repression and oppression will
have an effect, because I do not feel attacked as a person, but mainly
for my idea of a human coexistence without any domination. But this idea
does not solely belong to me. Thousands of comrades showed this clearly
in July 2017 in Hamburg - among other dates - where for a brief moment
state control has failed altogether, despite massive security measures.
During this moment, the will to create a rupture with the existing order
has moved and inspired many people to act in solidarity.
That today a public prosecutor will judge me, is to me an admission of
the vulnerability of the state. In that sense, I'm certainly not the one
who is justifying himself with this trial and judgment, but you: who
must defend your blood-soaked power and submission to the state and
capital!
Because of my views, I certainly do not insist on the right to freedom
of expression, because the language of the law is not mine. Accordingly,
I expect and demand nothing from this court and its servants, because as
I have already said: the struggles for a liberated society and against
the existing order will be fought elsewhere.