To all friends of forests and people worldwide!
Support Russian activists September 17-20
In a historically courageous struggle people in Russia have been able to
halt the construction of a highway through the Khimki forest. While the
forests were burning all over Russia the authorities started a wave of
detaining, torturing and harassing people in movements defending the Khimki
forest close to Moscow. They need our solidarity.
We call upon the whole international environmental and social justice
movement and all wanting to stop criminalization of protest to support our
friends in Russia. Take action on 17-20 September! Follow the call enclosed
below issued by The Campaign for the Release of the Khimki Hostages for
making actions at embassies and other places representing Russia.
Immediate actions are necessary. The decision by president Medvedev to halt
the construction of the high way is only temporary. The heavy repression of
the protest movement and especially the antifascist activists makes no halt.
Environmentalists, human rights activists, journalists fighting corruption,
Anarchists and other antifascists, alter globalization movement, Liberal,
Communist and Left wing parties have been able to struggle in solidarity in
the midst of heavy repression achieving this first victory. This in spite of
different ideological positions and views on tactics. Their unity is an
example for the rest of the world and needs support.
The Khimki forest conflict have become historically important and of global
concern. Behind the destruction of the forest in Russia is a neoliberal
development model which do not care for the environment. Three years ago the
federal forest protection service was closed down and 70 000 workers mainly
working in the field fired and replaced by 12 000 bureaucrats supposed to
see to that others should do what the workers had done earlier. The result
is a reduced lack of capacity to halt fires when the weather gets warmer and
warmer. At the same time is dismantling of public services and support of
privatization also at the core of construction of roads and cities were
private profit becomes more important than protection of nature or the
interest of people in common. Through the Khimki forest is the first toll
high way in Russia between Moscow and St Petersburg planned making an odd
detour through the green belt. Road construction is highly lucrative in
Russia with its added possibilities for exploitation of land beside the
road. Close ties between economic and political interests makes it possible
to use any means against those opposing this neoliberal development model, a
reason for why those openly criticizing the corruption in Khimki are
murdered or maltreated followed by no serious investigation by the police.
Those making much profit out of the environmentally destructive development
model are European banks and corporations. The high way is planned to be
financed primarily by European banks and the French construction company
Vinci is a main contractor. When our Russian friends are struggling to
defend the Khimki forest they are also struggling against a neoliberal
development model making Russia into a profitable market for Western
corporations.
The Russian movement to defend the Khimki forest is a movement defending all
forests. If corporations and politicians working in the interest of a global
neoliberal and environmentally destructive model is able to exploit the
Khimki forest and continue repressing the activists in spite of a
historically broad and strong movement in Russia defending the forest, than
it can be done anywhere. Solidarity with the activists is the only way to
both stop repression and to save the Khimki forest more permanently. Please
join the action called for by our Russian friends!
Patrick Bond, Centre for Civil Society Environmental Justice Project,
Durban, South Africa
Mark Brown, Art Not Oil/Rising Tide, UK
Carmen Buerba de Comite de Defensa Ecologica Michoacana, Mexico
Nicola Bullard, Focus on the Global South, Thailand
Ellie Cijvat, Friends of the Earth Sweden
Joshua Kahn Russell, Ruckus Society, USA
Tom Kucharz, Ecologistas en Acción, Spain
Maduresh Kumar, National Alliance of People’s Movements, India
Marea Creciente Mexico
Adriana Matalonga, Miguel Valencia y Mauricio Villegas from Ecomunidades and
Klimaforum10, Mexico
Uddhab Pyakurel, South Asian Dialogue on Ecological Democracy, India
Josie Riffaud, Via Campesina, France
Marko Ulvila and Thomas Wallgren, Democracy Forum Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,
Finland
You find information and the call for action September 17-20 issued by
Campaign for the Release of the Khimki Hostages in many languages at
www.khimkibattle.org.
A Call for International Days of Action in Support of Alexei Gaskarov and
Maxim Solopov
September 17-20, 2010
On July 28, 2010, more than two hundred young antifascists and anarchists
carried out a spontaneous demonstration outside the town administration
building in Khimki, a suburb of Moscow. They demonstrated in defence of the
Khimki Forest, which was at that time in the process of beings cutting down
for the needs of big business. The demonstration, during which several
windows were broken, received a great deal of public attention. The
authorities responded with a wave of repressions. The day after the
demonstration, two well-known social activists, Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim
Solopov, were arrested. They are now threatened with up to seven years in
prison for disorderly conduct, although there is no evidence of their
complicity in illegal activities. Meanwhile, the police continue to hunt
down and harass other activists, especially those involved in the
antifascist movement.
The campaign to save the Khimki Forest has been going on for the past three
years. The authorities had decided to build a segment of a planned
Moscow-Saint Petersburg toll highway, the first of its kind in Russia,
through the forest. This would lead to the deterioration of environmental
conditions in the region, and local residents and Muscovites would be
deprived of yet another recreation zone. Despite the availability of
alternative routes that would not require clear-cutting the forest and
vigorous protests by environmentalists and ordinary citizens against the
planned route, the authorities f0r a long time ignored the voice of society
and on several occasions took measures to suppress their critics.
Khimki authorities and the highway project contractor have used violence and
other tactics against Khimki Forest defenders. They refused to give
permission for protest demonstrations, recruited nationalist thugs to break
up a peaceful protest camp organized by environmentalists and local
residents, and illegally arrested and beat up journalists covering the
story. Nearly two years ago, Mikhail Beketov, editor-in-chief of the
newspaper Khimkinskaya Pravda and a critic of the local administration, was
severely beaten by persons unknown; the attack left Beketov permanently
disabled. Sergei Protozanov, the layout designer of another local opposition
paper, was murdered in similar circumstances six months later.
After the July 28 demonstration, the Russian police and secret services
unleashed an unprecedented dragnet against antifascists. People who had even
just once come to the attention of the Center for Extremism Prevention and
FSB for their involvement with the antifascist movement have been forcibly
taken in for questioning. In several cases they have been subjected to
harsh physical coercion in order to compel them to give the testimony
required by investigators. In addition, illegal searches have been carried
out in their apartments. All these actions on the part of law enforcement
authorities are violations of Russian and international law.
Frightened by the numerous and growing protests against the clear-cutting of
the Khimki Forest, the authorities have finally made concessions by agreeing
to review the advisability of the planned route for the toll highway. But
this does not mean victory. Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov are still in
police custody for no reason at all. They are hostages of the authorities.
In late September, the next hearing in their case will take place. The judge
will decide whether to keep them in police custody pending completion of the
investigation and trial. Everyone who cares about the fate of these two
young men must do everything in their power to see that they are set free.
The Campaign for the Release of the Khimki Hostages calls on people around
the world to organize days of action on September 17, 18, 19, and 20 to
pressure the Russian authorities to release Alexei and Maxim.
We ask you to hold protests outside of Russian Federation embassies,
consulates, trade missions, and cultural centers, as well as at public
events and concerts connected to Russia. We also ask you to send faxes,
e-mails, and protest letters to the court, the prosecutor’s office, and the
country’s political leadership. In the very nearfuture we will inform you of
addresses where you can send these protests as well as more details about
the ongoing repressions in Russia. Look for this information on our website
http://khimkibattle.org in English, German, Russian, and French.
Join our campaign!
Campaign for the Release of the Khimki Hostages
+7 (915) 053-5912 * info@khimkibattle.org * http://khimkibattle.org
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