Sinds juni 2018 zit anarchist Amadeu Casellas terug gevangen. Hij wordt ervan beschuldigd 300.000 euro gestolen te hebben in Sabadell, Catalonië.
Amadeu was in zijn huis aan het werk toen de arrestatie plaatsvond, bij het doorzoeken van z’n huis werd er niets gevonden en het slachtoffer herkende hem ook niet. De rechter nam deze feiten echter niet in acht en het verdict luidde opsluiting. Momenteel wordt hij vastgehouden in de Brians I gevangenis in Catalonië. Het volgend interview komt van de revolutionaire website La Haine.
Schrijven naar Amadeu: Amadeu Casellas C.P. Brians I 08365 Sant Esteve de Sesrovires
I first send my solidarity and that of La Haine to you in this new prison in which you’ve been suffering for months. How do you feel?
Very good.
How was your arrest and this new accusation?
At about 5 am they blew open the door where I lived. I was sleeping. I heard the noise and at first thought it was a neighbor, did not even think it was for me. Hooded police entered, threw themselves on me. I was hurt in the fifth and sixth vertebrae and I had to be taken to Granollers hospital. I had to wear a collar for about 20 days and was prescribed an anti-inflammatory.
I was accused of armed robbery. Some 20 policemen checked, and found nothing.
After spending years in prison, you came out in 2010 and now, 9 years later, you’ve been taken back to prison. Have you seen any change in the prison reality between these days?
Yes, the conditions have fallen between 30 and 40 years ago and now, in all aspects. You cannot even maintain a hygienic value; they do not provide prisoners with any free products, so whoever cannot afford to buy it does not have access to them. Those that do not have hygiene are more likely to have scabies (which has already appeared in some prisons), tuberculosis, etc …
Also the food has gotten worse, is less in quality, and cold; menus are repetitive and also they cheat with the portions: for example, in the menu it indicates that there are 4 patties per person and they distribute 3, and so on with everything.
The commissary prices have doubled; if it was already expensive before, it is now much more; a liter of milk, which in a store costs about 60⁄70 cents, here costs € 1.60.
Not only that, the laundry machine is broken and there is no money to fix it. The other day, a light bulb melted and they had no money to change it at that time. Where is that money? Where is that percentage of profit they get from the commissary going?
You have participated in numerous protests in prison in the different stages that you have been imprisoned. How is the current struggle in prisons?
I tried to collect signatures on the subject of food, I got very few, about 20 and 30, people are afraid and some came to say that they pulled back from the protest…
In the years you were out of prison, you witnessed the fascistization (even more, if possible) of the state and the expansion of repression in large parts of society. How have you experienced this process?
It is also something that is experienced inside, even as some officials carry the flag.
From the outside, how can we help your situation to denounce injustice and fight for your freedom?
Go pestering the court of Instruction No. 3 of Sabadell and especially create a lot of publicity, especially with those releases that come out.
From your perspective as an anarchist, how do you describe the present political situation in the Spanish state?
Currently, there is no talk of politics, but of parties; people are leaving things as important as the social aspects (health, evictions, maintenance of forests to prevent fires, maintenance of infrastructure to prevent flooding) and are devoted only to discussing and accusing the opposing parties without contributing anything.
Finally, what message do you want to say to move all people struggling against repression and against prisons?
Much strength to you all, the struggle continues. Even though we are few, do not be discouraged; it is a matter of desire and not quantity. Often one person or few can move a crowd.
It is a struggle for social inequalities, against sexism, racism; if we do not fight, it will finish worse than in the Franco era.
Strength and onward!
Many thanks comrade, and much encouragement and support from outside those walls.
- Special thanks to our comrades of the Grup de Amadeu Casellas Suport for making this interview possible.