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!