London anti-fascists hold memorial

On the 9^th of February 2012 a janitor found the body of Nikita Kalin, a Russian anarchist and anti-fascist. Nikita was murdered by a group of Nazis, brutally stabbed 61 times, besides this his ribs were fractured multiple times and his head was also wounded. Currently only one suspect has been arrested, and was confirmed off the record by Nikita’s mother that this person was a National Socialist. Nikita was from a simple working-class family, and never attempted to hide his anarchist and anti-fascist views. It is due to this news, that London anti-fascists decided to host a memorial in respect to Nikita, his friends and family and to show solidarity to the Russian anti-fascists who face as what can only be described as a horrible situation. The memorial was hosted beside the iconic Cable Street mural, speeches were made and a banner was hoisted. We stand in solidarity with our Russian counterparts and all anti-fascists in struggle!

 

From ALARM

 

‘Violence with Violence’ – 1993 documentary on anti-fascists

‘Violence with Violence’ – a World in Action documentary covering anti-fascist groups first aired in 1993 – is now available to watch online. It contains footage of the ‘Battle of Welling’ and other anti-fascist demonstrations. Militant anti-fascist organisations, Red Action and Anti-Fascist Action, are featured from around 18.20.

Untitled from richard marks on Vimeo.

Anti-fascist murdered in Russia

Taken from avtonom.org–

9th of February, 6:30 in the morning in area of institute “FIAN” a janitor found body of Nikita Kalin, born in 1991. 8:00 police arrived, and 11:00 AM  police contacted mother of the murdered. According to mother, Nikita was stabbed 61 times, besides this his ribs were fractured multiple times, and head was wounded as well. No property was stolen. Currently a suspect of the murder is arrested, blood of Nikita was found in clothes of the arrested.

It is obvious, that Nikita was attacked with a group, and police also told to mother off the record, that detained suspect is a national socialist activist, and refuses to name any suspects. Besides brutality of the murder, investigation has still not questioned mother of Nikita, or his friend who was the last person who saw it. Due to this, we suppose that there will be an attempt to cover the case, as it often hapens in Russia. However, suspect has already hired a lawyer.

We suspect, that investigation is working on interests of the arrested, and thus support is necessary. At this point, a human rights organisation has provided a lawyer, but funds are still needed for funeral costs.

Nikita was from a simple working class family, and never hide his anti-fascist and anarchist views.

In case you want to help friends and family of Nikita with funeral costs, you may donate to Anarchist Black Cross of Moscow:

http://wiki.avtonom.org/en/index.php/Donate

3 Counties Anti-fascists would like to send our solidarity to the family, friends and comrades of Nikita. Our thoughts are with you and all of the Russian anti-fascists who dare to stand up and fight in the face of such extreme violence. 

Local fascists terrorist links

In a recent report on ‘radicalisation,’ the Home Affairs Committee warned of the threat posed by extreme far-right terrorism. MPs said, “We received persuasive evidence about the potential threat from extreme far-right terrorism.”

“The ease of travel and communications between countries in Europe and the growth of far-right organisations… suggest that the current lack of firm evidence should not be a reason for neglecting this area of risk.”

Terrorism is not a new or unheard of phenomenon within British fascism. The most noteworthy case happened in 1999, when David Copeland, a neo-Nazi and former British National Party member, killed 3 people and injured 139 in nail bomb attacks in London.

The aftermath of the bomb blast at the Admiral Duncan pub in Soho. The bomb was part of a campaign against black people and homosexuals by neo-Nazi David Copeland.

More recently, sinister but thankfully less deadly attacks have been thwarted. In 2007 a British People’s Party regional organiser, Martyn Gilleard, was jailed for 16 years after police found him in possession of explosives, live ammunition and 39,000 child porn images. In 2010, Ian Davison and his son Nicky, both of County Durham, were jailed for producing a chemical weapon. The ‘Aryan Strike Force’ members had manufactured enough ricin to kill 9 people.

But far-right terrorism can also been found closer to home.

Bep (left) and his friend – also a South African white-supremacist – Arthur Kemp

One of the founding members of the Herefordshire British National Party branch is a convicted terrorist. South African, Lambertus Nieuwhof (or ‘Bep’ as he is more commonly known), is a previous member of a white supremacist group that planted a bomb in a mixed-race school in 1992. Bep, who was part of Eugene Terre’Blanche’s Afrikaner Resistance Movement, apparently received a 12 month suspended sentence for his part in the bomb plot.

In 1994 he moved to Britain and became involved in far-right politics, setting up and administering a number of BNP websites. Since his exposure he seems to have dropped out of political activity, at least locally. Instead he has spent his time running website-hosting services, ‘Vidronic Online’ and ‘Noisy Dinosaur,’ from his home in Peterchurch, Herefordshire.

Martin Roberts – ex-Worcester BNP

Previous candidate, organiser and treasurer of the Worcester BNP branch, Martin Roberts, also has some unsavoury terrorist links. Roberts, who now lives in Potter Heigham in Norfolk, was once described as ‘the Godfather of Worcestershire nationalism’ by his colleagues within the local group.

Last year he was emailed by Norwegian ultra-right terrorist and murderer, Anders Breivik. Breivik, who killed 76 people, had sent out his manifesto to contacts before carrying out his attacks.

Roberts had also run a web-shop selling tacky far-right merchandise, called ‘Calder Designs.’ Items he sold included badges bearing the names and logos of neo-Nazi groups ‘Combat 18’ and ‘Blood & Honour.’ The website was hosted by Nieuwhof’s company, Noisy Dinosaur.

Anti-fascist prisoners Austen Jackson and Phil de Souza released

UK antifascist prisoners, Austen Jackson and Phil de Souza have been released from prison. Austen has completed his full sentence and Phil has been released on electronic ‘tag’. Thank you to the many people who have supported them while they were inside. 3 Counties Anti-Fascist Alliance wish them the very best.

Ravi Gill is the only antifascist remaining inside. If you wish to write to him you can find the details on our prisoners support page.

Leeds Anti-Fascist Film Festival a ‘Storming Success’

No Pasaran!  took place at the Space Project close to Leeds city centre over the weekend of the 4th and 5th of February. For all their boasts of attacking the event, the best the neo-Nazi stormtroopers could manage was a few swastikas, daubed in the dead of night on a wall below the venue, and quickly painted over long before the event commenced.

Despite the freezing outside temperatures and thick snow, No Pasaran! was attended by antifascists from all over the country, with a fantastic atmosphere throughout. A great deal of effort was put into the event, so it was very gratifying to receive such unanimously positive feedback from those who attended. As well as educating people about past and present antifascist struggles, and hopefully inspiring them to stand up (or continue to stand) and be counted as an antifascist, the festival was also a benefit for antifascist prisoners, and we are grateful for the generosity of the donations received. Many thanks to everyone who came along to support the event and to those who helped out over the weekend.

Leeds Anarchist Black Cross

To read the full report go here

Beating the Fascists

Here’s a newly released video promoting the 2010 book, Beating the Fascists – The Untold Story of Anti-Fascist Action, containing many rarely seen pictures and videos of militant anti-fascist activism from the 1980s and 90s.

A new blog, Anti-Fascist Archive, has also been set up, with the aim of documenting militant anti-fascism in the 70s, 80s and 90s. It currently contains pictures of demonstrations and clashes, along with Red Action and Anti-Fascist Action pamphlets and stickers.