http://www.noborder.org info at noborder.org
FREE THE PUBLIX THEATRE CARAVAN!
On Monday July 24, the Publix Theatre Caravan, an international multimedia performance group was stopped by police in Recco, a small city near Genoa. 25 persons from Australia, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Slovakia and the US were arrested.
For several weeks the Publix Theatre Caravan was travelling along and across borders: From refugee camps to nobordercamps and counter-summits. Artists, actors and experimental theatre activists staged performances, played music and shot videos. On leaving Genoa the Publix Theatre Caravan on their way to the nobordercamp in Frankfurt was stopped and arrested by italian police. At the moment they are held in imprisonment on remand, awaiting a trail within the next six months.
The accusations levelled against them are as absurd as they could possibly be: The artist group is accused of vandalism and endangering public safety. The court acts on the assumption that the Publix Theatre Caravan is the core of a so called "black bloc"!
Not only do we worry about reported and confirmed violations of basic human rights. But we also suspect, that it did not happen by accident, that a group of artists and independent media activists is purposely being targeted as a scapegoat for the violence in Genoa.
We urgently demand the immediate release of the participants of the Publix Theatre Caravan!
Please spread widely information about the fate of participants of the Publix Theatre Caravan! Sign this statement! Create, upload and download banners! Link to the websites and disseminate the content and the work of the Publix Theatre Caravan! Police forces may be able to arrest individuals, but they can not break down the resistance of the multitudes.
Helpful links:
[publix theatre caravan] http://www.no-racism.net/nobordertour/index_uk.html
[sign the "free publix theatre caravan call"] http://www.noborder.org/noprison
[download the banner] http://www.noborder.org/images/noprison.gif
[streaming video from the caravan] http://www.noborder.org/camps/slo/video.html
[noborder network] http://www.noborder.org