Amadeu wins demands, hungerstrike ends - campaign continues

by required reading Tue Sep 09, 2008 11:50

Amadeu is recovering favorably from his hunger strike & has been moved from the "l'Hospital Penitenciari" or prison hospital in the city of Terrassa back to the prison he was in before in the city of Granollers. He's now in the infirmary wing. Mail to the prison goes through a postal box address. So here it is :

Amadeu Casellas Ramón

Centre Penitenciari Quatre Camins
Ap. de Correus 335
Granollers
08400
Catalunya
Spain

by smile Sun Sep 07, 2008 10:52

Diana Reig (lawyer) confirmed to "Rojo y Negro" the esteemed journal of the other anarchosyndicalist union in the Spanish state the CGT (as opposed [¿?] to the CNT from which they split in '79) that Amadeu has a job as soon as he's well enough to enjoy that "open prison" type regime. http://www.rojoynegro.info/2004/spip.php?article23583

I'm sure some readers realised that 3ºgrade allowing for a prisoner to work all day outside the prison and only go back for "bedding & morning prayers" really raised the logical question had he or was he going to get a job. Then what kind of job and more importantly what kind of boss. But any doubts raised by that are now allayed.

However, let's not leave it there - in addition to writing to him at th above address (until a new one is available and he's moved from the hospital wing *) expressing solidarity, thanks for the issues he's raised etc., we should examine or publicise the conditions of "open prison" in Europe. I believe that most of the times the subject is raised in media or public debate it falls into two general areas. One is the outrage that soft or rich prisoners don't deserve full prison regimes the other is that too many prisoners of the unpopular physical or sexual crime nature are moved too easily to open prisons.

I suggest Amadeu's case should help groups throughout Europe bring attention to the fate of long term prisoners, Amadeu is topping 20 years straight and has in total been imprisoned almost 30 years of his life. There are many such prisoners who perhaps illustrate well the retributive slant of penitenciary systems for the simple fact that when supposed reinsertion or rehabilitative privileges such as the Catalan 3rd grade arrive - such a long time has been spent incarcerated within the penal system that the irony of "degrees of freedom" ought be plainly obvious.

(*) though not immediately relevant now to Amadeu's victory, recovery, two 48 hour passes to see his mother & then freedom to work a shift outside the walls - it might be noted that disregard the Catalan prison system met Amadeu's request not to be returned to one prison, the prison in fact where many of his health issues began. But I reckon soon enough he will be housed on "half board" somewhere else. I'm not sure it's a "loose end". But there's enough threads here to weave many campaigns.

In comparison to some other places the response amongst the Irish appeared to be spontaneous and widespread. Going through the motions of the secret Gardaí in Dublin and apparantly not really going through the motions of the secret PSNI in Belfast. There wasn't anything in England. Perhaps they are too scared to touch any prison sentance of more than a few years which isn't animal rights related. Each to their own.

by J Sat Sep 06, 2008 21:21

International solidarity gets the goods!