fear to sleep: #OccupyAbay: latest developments of protests in Moscow

domenica 20 maggio 2012

#OccupyAbay: latest developments of protests in Moscow

So, now we have our first successfull attempt of occupying a public place - namely a square around the monument of Abai Qunanbaiuli (a XIX century Kazakh poet) in Moscow. However, we have not much else to be proud of - just like the whole Occupy movement, this protest has achieved nothing so far, except for partially breaking the mass media blockade. However, the lack of consciousness and coherent ideology in such protests is sad, but unsurprising. In order to have a big and conscious leftist movement, we should do a lot of outreach, and as long as it isn't done, the protest movement will suffer from "liberalism as an infantile disorder". Moreover, the government has started a big defamation campaign against all protesting forces (which was also expected, though).

During 8-9th of May, there was no major chashes with police - however, dozens of people were arrested. There was a general consensus among anarchists and other protesting forces to refrain from violent riots on 9th of May, and I agree it was a good idea. The weather conditions also weren't that good for any outdoor activities. Maybe thunderstorm is a perfect weather for revolution in aesthetical sense, but not in practical one. Anyway, it's obvious that we can't do anything substantial right now - Putin and his clique have enough money and power to successfully suppress any opposition movement, and even if they hadn't, the revolutionary situation would be extremely dangerous because of the amount of fascist elements here (see my previous entry) and current absence of any powerful force to counter them. So, from now I'm continuing to post music (not forgetting to write about politics at some occasions, though).

P.S. Should also mention an ongoing conflict regarding the forest near Zhukovsky (in the vicinity of Moscow). The situation is almost completely identical to the situation with the Khimki forest:

http://r-a-b-m.blogspot.com/2012/05/occupyabay-latest-developments-of.html

(from 2010)

Radical eco-defense in Moscow / Khimki (and the consequent repressions)

First of all, I've reuploaded all files reported as corrupt ("Narcotized" & "Burning Roots" compilations) to Multiupload, which allows to download files from several various sources. Hope it will work. As for your mail, I read all of it, but I hadn't enough time to reply (and to listen to all the demos you've sent to me). Don't worry, I'll answer a little later.
I've got also a lot of leftist industrial rock and metal albums, so the next weekend probably would be an "industrial" weekend in my blog. All the black metal and blackened crust stuff will come later (I've got plenty of it too). And right now I have to write about politics and eco-defense.
Khimki Forest is an unique mixed forest in the near vicinity of Moscow, which is a part of the so-called "Green Belt". Without the forests of "Green Belt", the ecological situation in Moscow (which already is a most polluted city in Europe) would became much worse. Recently, the Khimki Forest was proposed to be chopped down for a construction of a new high-speed road. This decision has triggered large protests, which started with a construction of an ecological camp in the forest on 15 July. In the next two weeks, the activists in the camp tried to prevent the trees from being cut down, clashing with the construction workers, police, various paramilitary units and nazi hooligans (who apparently were acting in concert with officials). According to antifa.ru:

"On July 23, at about 5AM, the protestors and two journalists were attacked and beaten by a gang of several dozen thugs with white T-shirts masking their faces. From all indications, this was an organized group of neofascists, wearing such symbols on their shirts. The police arrived and started arresting the activists, not the attackers, which indicated that this was an attack carried out in coordination with the police. Security guards hired by the firm carrying out the destruction also took part. 15 people were arrested at that time. Later in the day, the police arrived again, taking away dozens of people...
There is a history of violence sponsored by the local authorities in Khimki. In the most famous case of political terrorism, in November 2008, Mikhail Beketov, outspoken editor-in-chief of the regional "Khimkinskaya Pravda" (Khimki Truth) newspaper, was savagely beaten in front of his home. The attack was clearly related to his criticism of local authorities and the highway being built. As a result of his injuries one of his legs was amputated, and head traumas he suffered during the attack have left him unable to speak. Current reports on his condition indicate that his second leg may have to be amputated"

On July 28, 2010, ~400-500 anarchists and anti-fascists stormed the government offices in Khimki. This was the first such large direct action in the post-Soviet Russia so far:

--video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqQFtJMBPbc&feature=player_embedded

The action was exceptionally successful, and none of the activists were arrested. However, several illegal arrests of anti-nazi activists (most of whom had nothing to do with Khimki protesters) followed in the next few days. Now the funds are being raised for the lawyers, and and any your help would be appreciated. For more information, see the links below:

Although the official media have been spreading a lot of lies about the protests, they were generally well received by citizens of Moscow and Khimki. On August 22, an eco-defense rally took place in Moscow, with about 4000-5000 people participating. There also should be a gig with DDT, the legends of Russian political rock, and some other rock bands. But the authorities banned the use of any sound amplifiers, so Yuriy Shevchuk, the frontman of DDT, decided to make an acoustic concert:

In Russian (left-wing media):

In Russian (mainstream media):

In other languages:

More info:

And finally, on 26 August 2010, president Dmitry Medvedev ordered the construction of the highway to be halted. Yes, it's a victory, but some of our comrades still are arrested, and the struggle against corrupt officials and shitty system still continues. Even though the authorities and the official media are doing everything to keep the masses dumb and obedient, the protests are becoming more and more large, and it's good to see that the tradition of anarchism in Russia is revived.
Not GreenPeace... GREEN WAR!