Riot Police
stormed EKH
(more
informations on: TATblatt,
www.no-racism.net)
Open letter to the chief of police, Mr.Schnabel | What the hell is "Opernball" ? | WHAT IST THE EKH | Press Release
Press
release of the Ernst-Kirchweger-Haus in Vienna
(this was the first text in the morning of 23.2.2001)
Knocking on doors in the way of Vienna Police
Today, in the morning
of February 23rd, 300 members of Vienna riot police stormed at 5 am the autonomous-centre
Ernst-Kirchweger-Haus in Vienna. Police said, that the cause of this was the
demonstration against the Opernball and the Austrian government in Vienna last
night. At that demonstration about 50 people were detended. More than 1000 riot
police protected the Opernball. 900 people took part at the demonstration. Police
escalated the situation for several times.
When they were searching the EKH police said that they are searching for people
and things thrown at the demonstration. Many doors in the house were broken,
alle people had been threatened by guns. Also the part of the EKH where mostly
refugees from Pakistan and India are living had been searched . All refugees
had to show their permission to stay in Austria. Nobody was arrested in the
house.
We would please you urgently to release that information as far it is possible for you. What the police also said was, that this could be the end for the EKH.
Pressrelease from
ekh
ekhaus@angelfire.com
The land to those,
who work on it
The means of produktion to those who use them
The houses to those who live in it
After the Opernballdemonstration, the following house search in the Ernst-Kirchweger House / E.K.H. and the medial mad rush, once more we have to point out some facts:
The E.K.H. defines
itself as a free-space for cultural, political and artistic activities. It was
squatted in 1990 by activistes of the viennese squatting scene and turkish left-wing
organisation ATIGF.
As an international, multicultural, antifascist centre it was named after Ernst
Kirchweger, an antifascist who was killed during a demonstration in the 1960s.
Independent and autonomous structures and activities established in the house.
The Flughafensozialdienst, an organisation to support refugees and migrants
got rooms for cases of emergency for asylum seekers and migrants.
An infoshop ( a cafeteria with political book- and newspaper - offer), a public
library and an archiv,music-experimenting-room, a sound-studio and workshops
developed. The umbrella-organisation of jugoslavian groups and the office of
the newspaper TATblatt moved in. KINOKI shows films and documentations, the
"Volxtheatre Favoriten" produces operas and pieces. Concerts, discussions
and solidarity-events take place.
People from all over the world live in the house. Nobody in the house is working
for personal profit, without payment, just for the interests on the project
itself. We don`t want, and we don`t get subvention or public support.
With our work, our living-together and political engagement we want to spread
an alternative project of living.
In the last few years our work was accomponied by observing, spying, police-troops,
who every now and then attack the house.
The house defines itself as a place of discussion, information and resistance
against the dominaiting, non-worth-living circumstances of living here and everywhere
else.
Some people of
EKH
ekhaus@angelfire.com
What the hell is "Opernball" ?
The Opernball is
a long traditioned, high society event in the viennese opera in the austrian
carneval season. It is a symbol of burgeois prepotence and it is a meeting of
the economic who is who.
In 1987 the bavarian prime minister F.J. Strauss who persueded the raising of
the nuclear reprocessing station in Wackersdorf came to the Opernball.
For the first time massive riots of some thousand german and austrian autonomous,
anti-nuclear, grass root and anarchist protestors took place in Vienna. From
this on the anti-Opernball protests became a symbol of "rioter`s violence"
and police repression. The fairytale of travelling german autonomous protestors
coming to destroy "peaceful" Austria was established. For years, in
times of the Openball, all radical political groups have been observed, regulary
people were arrested and beaten.
The last Opernball riot took place in the beginning of the 90ies.
In the year 2000 the anti-fascist street carneval party took place in front
of the opera. Thousands of peaceful, creative anti-government protestors reclaimed
the streets. Nevertheless 3 people were arrested and beaten uo severly on their
way home, by a new invented under cover police troop, disguised as demonstrators.
( This police, called the SEK, was originally invented for the biggest racist
razzia, called "operation spring", where twohundred africans were
criminalized as drug dealers; for more information look at www.no-racism.net,
in a while also available in english.) All were charged and found guilty.
This year blocades of the opera were planned but cancelled after the minister
of interior announced massive repression on every kind of blocade.
Since 19th of febuary 2000 every thursday a demonstration against the extremly
right government marches through the center of the capital. Opernball also takes
place on a thursday. A lot of agent provocateurs were smuggled in the demonstration.
Containers were burnt, glasses were broken, police cars were attacked, barricades
were built. Riot police in heavy gear with water-cannons attacked the demonstration,
beat up everybody they could catch, up to a female teenager on her way home.
Pools of blood decorated the shopping street. The mad rush of the police lasted
three hours, where they tried to beat as many demonstrators as possible.
42 people, all under the age of 25, were detained and charged with property
demage, breach of the peace, serious physical injury and resistance against
the state violence.
41 of them were released in the next three days, two of them could escape remand
pending deportation.
One heavily beaten up 21-year-old is still jail.
On the 23rd of febuary, at 5 o`clock in the morning police in terror gear with
masks and colts in their hands, supported by a new (on 22nd of febuary) legalized
raiding party made a house search in the Ernst Kirchweger squat. (more information
below).
Some people of
ekhaus
Open letter to the chief of police, Mr.Schnabel
Owner of the Golden Key to the E.K.H.
(given to him at a public discussion about police brutality and youth)
After the house-search
in the E.K.H. on the 23rd of february 2001, police is proud of attacking the
"bastion of the autonomous", the so called "center of the chaos"
(source: mediaprint 23.2.2001).
Wild weapons have been confiscated:
The search after the famous "cache of the anarchists" (Quotation ORF,
ZiB 25.2.2001) was, according to the statements of the police, a so called great
success. Cobblestones from various political agitation-tours and study trips
to training camps in lybia, jordan, cuba, sibiria and anares have been surveied
and found for a size of 10 x 10 cm, others have been decamouflaged as candles.
These weapons have been confiscated.
Furthermore 5 liters of highly explosive wallcolor, were found in the cache.
In addition we are said to have developed a special pitch. It is the well-known
"Präzessionsschläuderkrähenweitwerfen" ("precise-sling-crowsfeet-wide-throwing")
which is detailed presented in the NeueKronenZeitung from the 25.2.2001. We
are sorry, but until now we did not achiv the recognition of this kind of sport
as an olympic disciplin, because we could not agree on the rules yet. In reality,
we don`t have any idea how this "Präzesionsschläuderkrähenwerfen"
should function.
Stop joking-the
situation is serious enough
In the course of the Opernballdemonstration it came to heavy police-attacks
against demonstrators, suspects and uninvolved persons. According to police
information from the 26th of february 2001 there are investigations against
90 persons. One person is still kept in custody.
The so called "street-battle" was a police mad rush on demonstrators.
42 persons have been arrested. Meanwhile it is evident, that many people have
been beaten and mistreated by police. None of the arrested persons is older
than 25 years - this is what youth politics looks like in Vienna !
In the early morning, there was a brutal raid against left-winged structures.
The E.K.H. has been brutally attacked and criminalized by police and media.
Doors have been broken, human beings have been dragged out of their beds with
colts, handcuffed thrown to the floor.
This is an attempt to silence critical voices who are questioning the ruling
conditions. The right-extreme/ right wing government in Austria must be able
to count on a braod basis, not only in times of election campaigns. To take
vigorous action is a well working method in Austria.
The action may appear as a levying of hallucinized caches but police consciously
attacked left wing structures.
This course of events can only serve the threatening of political activists
and may be used as an example.
An autonomous centre like the E.K.H. is an easy target for state arbitrary measures.
But moreover we ask ourselves, who profits from this ? It will always be useful
for the powerful.
Every government needs human beings, but no human being needs governments.
It is evident for us, that every government is able to force such actions.
Resistance starts where the established borders, defined by the repressive state,
are went beyond without permission. The opposition must be beaten back beyond
the borders.
The police attacks of the 22nd and 23rd of february fit in the picture of a
government with FPOE contribution, who politically prepares racist attacks in
the streets, support politics which contempts women and follows revisionism
of history.
Such politics needs to be answered in various forms of protests. Legal protest
is part of state and social structure and cannot radically change society. The
different forms of protests against the dominating should have one common aim:
the unlimited possibility of all to move and live in a free way in a society
without monopols of violence. It is impossible for us to see the protests in
Vienna apart from global protests against neoliberal interests. Still the wealthy
Europe profits from hundreds of years colonizing huge parts of the world. Neoliberalism,
also persueded by the FPOEVP government, encreases the difference in a violent
capitalistic structur.
This government quits subvention for political/non-conform projects with the
same aim as the assault of the autonomous center. We don`t get subvention and
we don`t want to get subvention. We want to decide by ourselves, how and where
we live and how we formulate and realise our demands.
The autonomous center, E.K.H., is beside all (self-) critics an attempt to learn
to live a society without capitalism.
They cannot threat
us - they connot stop us
Solidarity with all political prisoners - immediatly release the last detained
of the Opernballdemonstration
Abandonment of all legal proceeding
Some people of EKH
more informations
on: TATblatt,
www.no-racism.net
