Drugs as a pretext for eviction in Nora219(A)

Some days before the full clearance, police, border and forest guards entered the camp saying that an intervention had been called and they were searching for drugs. Strategy at this time was to play it cool by some on the ground, and others to get away into the forest and up the trees. This was the second time this year they entered like this. The third was the occasion that they brought arborists, fire fighters, aggressively got people out of treehouses and even raised a gun on someone. 
The activists remained as peaceful as possible, going through the motions of being detained for hours on site and in the station. They reminded each other to keep quiet, yet some engaged in dialogue with the cops whether through nervousness, fear or lack of awareness that anything we say could possibly be used against us; the right to remain silent against those that harm us is a practice lik bye any other. Activists checked in with one another to make sure all were as OK as could be, yet some could not even make eye contact; losing one’s safer space and rich ecosystem is a devastating experience. At moments they broke out in song, slogans got chanted and one another’s spirits kept up by making fun of those carrying out this highly stupid procedure; the arborists arguing amongst themselves “no you go up the tree” – “no you go up the tree” scared of their own lack of competence or of the firey spirit who was up there and what that might bring? Split pants, (brutal behavior will and should fuck up ugly civil cop clothing), cringy pop music in the police van (so this is how they cope with such an oppressive job?) 
Activists were hoarded together into a police station office, and so made use of the hot water, made drinks and snacks brought with them and shared the bullshit cops try to lay “all your friends answered our questions”, ” they all gave their DNA” “we will deport you”.
All were released by the end of the night, but one, who had to wait for ID confirmation at another station. The next day the person fought to speak to the embassy themselves, although against these governmental bodies, they wanted to make sure the police knew a higher body was watching the situation, (they had already fucked up but not allowing activists their medicine). In the meantime the person was given warm veggie food, tea, a shower, clean underwear and had a double cell but were alone with their book and heavy emotions.
Unfortunately cops found this person’s backpack with their personal camp in the forest, and in that 25mg of hashish. This is the only illegal substance a member of the occupation has laid claim to. The ” dealer amount” of narcotics and scales claimed to have been found by cops under the caravan are very suspicious. It is not uncommon that infiltrators of any kind try to break movements by planting illegal substances, machistic behaviour, distraction or fear and distrust with misinformation in order to tear us apart and continue their life destroying behaviour.
The consequences of the found hash were a €220/600 szloty fine, paid with the person’s personal account, and a lost medicinal used for improved mood and calm sleep. The occupants have also experienced harassment with the disillusioned abuse of terms like “junkies” thrown at them because of this pretext for eviction.
Our struggle for precious, biodiverse spaces is quite obviously intersectional with that of ending the drug war. We want a conscious revolution, and act against the toxicity of ourselves and our environment which make us ill. We are interdependent with the plant world and whether those plants be within or outside the law, we care more about community agreements where we know enough about each other in order to make decisions that work towards our common goals – namely to defend our natural world, and specifically within the context of Nora219@ and its Polish border region, the queer, freedom loving, wonderful beings that have inhabitated it.
Comrades were waiting the whole night until the next outside the station for the persecuted person, with only the little information that a not-so-bastardly-cop was willing to give.
The person, along with many others was lied to by the forestry office that their valuable personal belongings, which included sleeping stuff, clothes, books etc would be given to the municipality lost and found after police investigation for collection the next week, the reality discovered, that days later, this stuff which had been locked up was put in a special 3 container lorry taken to be incinerated.
The activists have managed to reclaim some backpacks, climbing gear and electronics and have had to dive into what the forestry office considered “trash” outside this locked garage. This on a second night time reclamation led to another confrontation with the cops. 
And their reclaimed banner ” Destroy Patriarchy not the Nature” was hung higher over the what was occupation, and removed by the ecociders days later. The healing and recovery process goes on, we all know that they can take down our signs, banners and treehouses, call us names and try to intimadate us, but they will never ever take down our love and imagination for a wildly beautiful, free and queer future which we ardently continue to create!
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Eviction in Nora!

On 8th August, on the 583rd day of the occupation of section 219a, uniformed forces – border guards, forest guards and criminal police – invaded Nora, and began a violent eviction of the camp. They took advantage of the moment when a large number of people, including non-Polish visitors, was attending an open skillshare&careshare event in the camp. The occupants were violently handcuffed and detained by the police.

The cops claim to have found drugs in Nora. They had made a similar claim here a week earlier, when they searched one of the on-ground inhabited structure and the private belongings of the person who was staying there at the time. No drugs were found at the time. Despite this, the services came back with the same suspicion, a clear indication that the “drugs” are only a pretext to pacify the protest.

We strongly deny the accusations of the uniformed services. We do not possess nor use any substances other than generally available medical drugs. We are here to protect the naturally valuable forest from the destructive and predatory exploitation known as forest management, not for partying and recreational purposes. In our camp kitchen, which had been destroyed and hauled away with heavy-duty equipment, there was a handbook displayed which clearly stated that we do not recommend the use of stimulants (“3.5. Drugs. We recommend no use of alcohol or drugs, this is an area of permanent protest. Smokers please be considerate of those around you and ask permission to smoke in their company”).

More than 20 people were violently detained during the eviction. Physical force was used against them, they were threatened with weapons, handcuffed and taken out of the forest and were denied the right to take their private belongings, including medicines. Some of the people were on the aerial structures, but the services, using violence and threatening to use pepper spray, took them all down. Lacking the necessary skills, cops asked for support from the fire brigade and mountain rescue services, who helped evict the highest structures.

The occupants were taken to the police station and kept there for many hours; some spent the night deprived of their liberty. The last person was not released until the late evening of 9th August. No one was charged, which makes it more clear that the argument of drug possession was merely a pretext for getting rid of the people protecting the forest.

At the time the cops entered the camp there were also three dogs present who are now safe and looked after.

While people were being detained, some of the uniformed services started to destroy the structures that had been our home and shelter for over 20 months. The structures that we had built together were cut up and taken out of the forest by the vehicles that are normally used for logging. The camp site was cordoned off by the cops, who threatened whoever came to see what was happening in Nora with guns.

On 9th August, machines drove into the separation ready for logging. The cutting in the section itself has not begun, however, it is apparent that the loggers are ready to start work.

All people detained in Nora have received legal support, for which we need financial support. We also need people on the ground and media support all the time. We call for solidarity actions in all corners of so-called Poland and the world. Free forests for all creatures!

 

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Solidarity with Agnes

We stand in solidarity with Agnes who survived rape at Wroclaw police station. Police is an institution of violence, defender of status quo and the most priviledged. It  supports domination based on patriarchal, class and rasist exploitation. Police never existed to defend the citizens. We need to defend ourselves in the violent state, where queer and flinta people are the most precarious. That’s why we need to support ourselves, show solidarity and rage. That’s what we do now in nora219a ✊ You will never walk alone! 

Link to crowdfunding supporting Agnes: https://opencollective.com/radical-carnations

More info about the case: https://carnations.noblogs.org/why-didnt-he-kill-me-the-rape-proceedings-are-pending-at-the-police-station-in-wroclaw/

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Solidarity with Ella

Our friend Ella has been incarcerated for more than 7 Months and they received a sentence of 2 years and 3 months prison. Just because they were occupying a tree during the eviction of the dannenröder forest in germany last automn.

They were accused of hurting a police officer with their foot, even if the films of the action show nothing like that. But the special force officers lied (they remained anonymous in court and were masked up) and the judge prefered to listen to what they said instead of seeing the evidence of the videos.

Germany is losing the separation between the three powers, the judges just obey to what the executive and the legislative tell them.

Ella is in prison as an example, to scare climate activists from taking actions in the futur. They are in there for all of us who are free today.

So let’s write letters to them.

JVA Preungesheim
JVA 3 z.H. UWP Eins
Obere Kreuzäckerstraße 4
60435 Frankfurt am Main
Germany

More infos here

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Manifesto

We are a family group of Wolfens, that is a grassroot movement for the protection of the Carpathian Forest. We operate as an intersectional collective. We make decisions by consensus. We believe that we can function as we would like the world to function: without hierarchy, human domination over other beings, patriarchy, queerphobia and fascism. With radical empathy and care.
We do not agree to the devastation of wildlife and the exploitation of valuable forests as wood inventories. Bieszczady forests are an extremely complex, sensitive ecosystem that performs many very important functions. These forests are soil and water-protective, therefore the amount of water in the country depends on their condition. This is where the most rain and snow falls. Mountain streams feed rivers and the excess water is stored by the forest. Forests, especially the old, natural ones, play a key role in climate protection.
If they continue to be massively cut, the soil crushed with heavy equipment, and the deep ruts of skid roads continue to run a sea of ​​mud into mountain streams, we have no chance in the fight against drought in the country, floods, not to mention the climate disaster. Meanwhile, the State Forests institution consistently implement a plan to destroy forests in areas that could be included in national parks or where reserves are designed, so as to diminish their natural value, so that there are no longer grounds for protecting them.
We believe that it is our moral duty to fight to defend our common good, and in the face of planned logging in one of the most valuable areas of mountain forests in Poland, we feel that the only way left is to block them directly. In order for us to succeed, we need financial support to cover logistics costs, purchase materials for building houses, climbing equipment, and provide legal support.
 
Today we, the Wolfens, stand up for the forest.
On behalf of all beings, we demand interspecies justice.
We demand the cessation of logging and hunting in over a hundred-year-old stands in the buffer zone of the Bieszczady National Park, in already planned and designed nature reserves and in all forests in the country, indicated by the public and the scientific community as forests that should be excluded from forest management.
We demand undertaking immediate protective measures and the reform of the State Forests institution conducted in line with social expectations. The climate future, our water safety and the welfare of other species depend on this for they have the same right to live, be free and fulfill their natural needs, in an environment free from human pressure.
Anthropocentric capitalism hijacks the land and destroys nature. Wild animals now make up only 4% of all mammals living on the planet. Piece by piece, we take away their habitats and transform them for our own needs, completely disregarding the rest of the creatures.
Old forests, of a natural character, such as the one we defend, are home to countless species – the Carpathian Forest is not only a bear, a wolf, a lynx and a wildcat, but also thousands of other, no less important, species of animals, plants and fungi.
Since all other methods have failed, we have decided to look after their welfare and protect the forest from greed and man’s lust for power. Shoulder to shoulder, paw to paw, no matter what, we drive back and begin the Forest Revolution!
Join us and stand on the side of those who cannot fight themselves!
Free forests for all creatures!
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