A-Infos (en) Italy, Umanità Nova #4: Freedom for all anti-fascist people (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

It will soon be a year that Ilaria Salis has been incarcerated in 
Hungary. Like her, Tobias, Gabriele and Maja are also under arrest. The 
first, like Ilaria, is detained in Hungary, while the last two have been 
under arrest since November following a European mandate, in Italy and 
Germany respectively. Deprived of liberty because they opposed a 
neo-Nazi march in Budapest. In recent months, news of the terrible 
conditions of detention to which Ilaria is forced - chained, deprived 
even of necessities such as toilet paper and sanitary napkins - have 
also been reported by the official media, finally raising some attention 
to the case. But the cloak of silence on this repressive affair has yet 
to be overturned. This is why it is important to talk about the story of 
Ilaria, Tobias, Gabriele and Maja and the political context in which it 
is placed of international repression of anti-fascist movements.

"Ilaria has been detained since February 2023 in a maximum security 
prison in Budapest, Hungary, in inhumane conditions. During the hearings 
she was kept on a leash by a policeman and moved with her hands and feet 
tied by a chain." Thus reports the Ilaria Salis Committee, founded last 
December, with the primary objective of obtaining Ilaria's return to 
Italy, who "risks sixteen years in prison - the Committee always reports 
- since she was accused, during a neo-Nazi demonstration, of having been 
part of a group of people who carried out an attack in which two men 
suffered injuries, which healed in five to eight days. An unacceptable 
disproportion".

In fact, the message from the Budapest government is clear, the Nazi 
marches cannot be touched, while the anti-fascist militants must be 
persecuted. The henchmen of the reactionary European governments must 
not be disturbed in their nostalgic parades and identity ceremonies, the 
European neo-Nazi network must be able to grow in these aggregative 
moments that consolidate organizational ties. This does not only happen 
in Orban's Hungary - which is only now being defined as a regime by our 
media - it also happens in Italy, just think of the commemorations in 
Acca Larentia, even the founding myth of the same ruling class, or the 
other similar fascist initiatives. For this reason Ilaria and three 
other companions are under arrest, because they dared to say no to the 
annual march with which the Nazis of half of Europe commemorate the "day 
of honour" in Budapest, one of the last battles fought - and lost - by 
the Nazi troops against the 'Red Army on 11 February 1945. In the same 
period of February another international neo-Nazi rally was held in 
Sofia, Bulgaria, the "Lukov marsh" march which celebrates General Hristo 
Lukov, leader of the Bulgarian National Legions, Nazi formations, killed 
by Bulgarian partisans on 17 February 1943.

In both Hungary and Bulgaria, neo-Nazi squad or paramilitary 
organizations have a strong presence, and these marches provide an 
important moment of legitimation.

Last January 13th in Milan over a thousand people marched through the 
city behind the "Free all antifas" banner to demand the release of 
Ilaria, Tobias, Gabriele and Maja. The convocation text. An important 
demonstration, even more so because the hearing of the Milan appeal 
court was scheduled for January 16th which was to decide on Gabriele's 
extradition to Hungary, a hearing which was then postponed to February 13th.

The text convening the event speaks clearly: "In this general framework, 
while the European Union is evaluating the possibility of including 
anti-fascist groups in the list of those indicated as terrorists, two 
comrades have been in prison in Hungary since February 2023. Both are 
involved in an investigation by the Hungarian police for the attacks 
suffered by some neo-Nazis who came to Budapest from all over Europe 
during the 'day of honour' weekend[...]However, the accusatory castle of 
the Magyar prosecutors is not limited to the events that happened in 
Budapest nor on the days of the commemoration: as part of an 
increasingly dense collaboration between European states and police 
forces, the investigators' attempt is to link the actions that took 
place in Hungary to a much broader proceeding opened in Germany starting 
from 2018: the so-called "AntifaOst" investigation which sees numerous 
German comrades accused of attacks against leading exponents of the 
German neo-Nazi world. The attempt is to affirm the existence of a 
mysterious criminal association that organized the attacks that occurred 
in Hungary.
For this reason, in addition to Ilaria and Tobias, detained in Budapest, 
the Hungarian prosecutor's office has asked to issue 14 European Arrest 
Warrants (MAE) against as many German, Italian, Albanian and Syrian 
comrades. Many of them have not been found to date.
Gabriele, a companion from Milan, has, however, been under house arrest 
with all restrictions since November 22nd, following the execution of 
one of these MAEs.[...]We have chosen not to delegate the fight against 
fascists and Nazis to those democratic institutional systems that do 
nothing but defend and legitimize them in the name of a vaunted "freedom 
of expression". We are convinced that fascists must be fought directly, 
in this historical moment more than ever. We claim militant practices 
and believe it is necessary to implement them at all latitudes to stop 
Nazi groups. Even in Italian cities, albeit less violently than in other 
European contexts, fascists are present and trying to raise their heads. 
These servants of capital, fake rebels useful only to maintain the 
current social order, must be stopped in the bud! Every day in our 
struggles, in our journeys, we choose to be with those who oppose the 
bosses, those who are exploited, those who suffer repression, those who 
resist imperialist wars and decide to respond, with those who do not 
delegate their freedom."

We were in the square on the 13th in Milan taking part in the procession 
and it is important to relaunch initiatives for the liberation of the 
arrested comrade, and to relaunch internationalist solidarity in the 
fight against fascism. It is essential at this moment to intensify the 
information and the initiative for the release of Ilaria, Tobias, 
Gabriele and Maja, a commitment to be carried forward for the weeks to 
come, since on 13 February there will be a hearing in Milan for 
Gabriele's extradition and Ilaria's trial began on January 29th. Appeals 
have been launched in recent days for the anti-fascist demonstrations 
which will also be held this year in Hungary and Bulgaria. In Budapest 
the event is on February 10th at 2.30pm in Széll Kálmán Square with the 
slogan "Stop glorifying the nazis!". In Sofia, anti-fascists will take 
to the streets on February 17th shouting "No Nazis in our streets!". 
Supporting these demonstrations, even from where you live, is the first 
important gesture of solidarity.

Dario Antonelli

https://collettivoanarchico.noblogs.org/post/2024/01/30/liberta-per-tuttx-lx-antifascistx/
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