Iceland’s Post-Collapse Trial (Anarchist News, 4.7.2010)

http://anarchistnews.org/?q=node/11661

Articles and other material concerning the trial of the Reykjavik Nine in English.

http://www.rvk9.org/in-english/

RVK 9's Blog

http://anarchistnews.org/?q=blog/3441

A translation of the Indictment against the Reykjavík nine in English

A translation of the declaration of solidarity with the Reykjavik nine in English

News

Upcoming: A short hearing January 12th, from 09:15 to 09:45 in Reykjavík District Court.

Court procedure in January 2011: It has now been confirmed that the court procedure will take place in January 2011. It will take at least three full days, January 18th, 19th and 20th, from 09:15 to 17:15 each day. More information as it arrives

http://www.rvk9.org/in-english/

Political Persecution: Setting Examples

http://grapevine.is/Home/ReadArticle/Political-Persecution-Setting-Examples-issue-18

8.12.2010

Words by Snorri Páll Jónsson Úlfhildarson

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December 8 marks the two-year anniversary of an event that was later turned into a textbook example of political persecution. Thirty people tried to enter the public benches of Iceland’s Parliament but were stopped by guards and police. For almost a year now, nine of those thirty—myself included—have been threatened with between one and sixteen years in prison for supposedly “attacking” the parliament.

In between the event itself and the start of the court case, the nine of us—often referred to as the Reykjavík 9—were part of a historical resistance movement that, among other things, achieved toppling a government in January 2009. Forced to recognise the legitimacy of these protests, the heads of the current system also need to make sure that bringing down governments or any acts of that kind does not get normalised. To maintain ruling order, every resistance movement, successful or not, has to be punished. An example has to be set.

This is nothing new. Similar cases are happening everywhere around the planet, and have been throughout history. Only a week ago, two women were sentenced in Denmark for “organising and encouraging sabotage and violence against the police” during the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen in December of last year. Thousands of people took to the streets during the summit and protested against green capitalist solutions, but not a single person has been accused for executing the women’s alleged plans. In the US, one man is facing a prison sentence of up to 21 years for alleged property destruction and concealing his identity during a mass protest against World Bank and the IMF in Washington D.C., April 2009. And soon Greece will see four people—the Thessaloniki 4—showing up in court for their participation in resisting the 2003 EU Summit in Theassaloniki, facing between four and eight years in prison for “distinguished and repeated rebellion”.

Just like the thousands who protested in Copenhagen, Washington, Thessaloniki or anywhere else, the movement that filled the streets of Iceland after the 2008 economic collapse was far from being united. Conflicts rose during that winter’s protests, about political aims and ideologies as well as tactics and strategies. But sharing at least one big common goal made the movement strong enough to leave the internal conflicts behind when needed and focus on getting rid of the right wing government in office at that time. What would come after the government’s collapse was a topic for discussion, or more honestly, another fight on a different battlefield. Some wanted a leftist government while others wanted radical system change or better yet, the dismantling of the system.

From those who were a part of this movement, the case against the Reykjavík 9 should be treated like the right wing government. Where one is located on the axis of minimal to radical—or pacifist to militant—does not alter the simple fact that political persecution is unjust. Entering the building where the state’s most powerful people are located and encouraging them to leave their seats of power can rightly be seen as an act of civil disobedience in a democratic society, as well as a living being’s natural reaction towards an oppressing and dominating, globally totalitarian system. Similarly, a prison sentence over people who dare to resist can be opposed from a variety of perspectives. The fact that we don’t all agree on how to categorise acts like this or court cases like aforementioned ones, does not stop us from uniting in resisting the oppression implied in these cases.

The court procedure will finally happen during three days in January, from the 18th to the 20th. The third day will mark another two year anniversary, this time of a series of protests that started with the destruction of a yellow police line distinguishing those who hold institutional power from those who do not, and did not come to an end until a common goal was accomplished.

By remembering these recent events and getting influenced by them, we are able to achieve amazing things. When it came to it, who had thought toppling a government was as easy as it was?

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The Kitchenware Revolution: Two Years Later

In October of 2008 it became evident that a group of people with economical and political powers had ruined Iceland’s economic system, making the country bankrupt by relentlessly attacking it from the inside. Iceland “crashed” just like Argentina a few years earlier. Public protests, direct actions and mass demonstrations grew in numbers by the week.

On December 8th, a group of just over thirty people came to visit the Parliament. Their intentions were to exercise their civil rights to enter the public benches, built for subordinates to observe the elected officials at work. There they wanted to read out a statement expressing a dissent of Parliament and its public servants, namely the governing parliamentarians.  

The staff of Alþingi and police tried their best to keep the people from getting there, resulting in pushing and shoving in the staircase. Two people did manage to get up to the benches and shout out the message of the statement in a nutshell: “Get out! Get the fuck out! This house does not serve its purpose any longer!”

Forty days, many demonstrations and actions later, where that same demand was delivered by the shouting and acting of thousands of people, right outside that same house, under the banging beat of pots, drums and pans, the government “got the fuck out”.


Solidarity with The Reykjavík 9  

Two years later, the aftermath of Iceland´s crash, and the so-called Kitchenware Revolution of the people’s mass movement, is evident in the courts.

Nine people are on trial, seemingly picked at random out of the group of the thirty or so that entered Parliament that December-day.  They are charged under the 100th article of Icelandic penal law, for “attacking” the Parliament. For the first time since 1949, when riots took place because of Iceland’s joining NATO, the state is charging people with this article, punishable by a sentence from one year to life in jail, which in Iceland amounts to sixteen years in prison.

The coming Wednesday, December 8th marks the two years anniversary of the visit to Alþingi. In solidarity with The Reykjavík 9 there will be an opportunity to show support by visiting the parliament’s public benches at 14:30, and to have your photo taken with a message of support to post on the support webpage.  

Nine people cannot take the fall for a whole movement. Support The Reykjavík 9! They are nine of us! See you at Alþingi, Wednesday December 8, at 14:30. 

What: Solidarity + Support

Where: Alþingi, guest entrance

When: December 8th 2010, 14:30

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Protests Inside Parliament Over the Reykjavík Nine

Protesters who filled the audience balcony inside the halls of parliament grew so loud that the session needed to be cancelled and the attendees vacated.

As the Grapevine reported, supporters of the so-called Reykjavík Nine - a group of protesters who face criminal charges of "attacking parliament" - called upon people to converge on parliament yesterday to call for the charges against the nine to be dropped.

The accused allegedly tried to force their way into parliament in December 2008, resulting in a confrontation with security. Video footage of the incident in question contradicts the official version of events, however, and many Icelanders - including some members of parliament - have called for charges against the nine to be dropped.

Yesterday, police are alleged to have denied some people access into parliament, despite there being room in the audience balcony for more people. Some scuffles were reported, but there were no injuries.

When parliamentary president Ásta R. Jóhannesdóttir began to speak at the opening of the session, people in the audience balcony held nine fingers aloft in a show of support for the accused. Then others began to yell so loudly that parliament could not continue, and a recess was called. Security then vacated everyone from the balcony, and parliament resumed again.

MP for The Movement Birgitta Jónsdóttir told Grapevine yesterday, "If someone was injured [during the 2008 incident], and if there was violence involved, then that is a different story. But the decision for who to charge was so random that it seems to me that the issue is first and foremost politically motivated. This is political persecution."

For more on the Reykjavík Nine, read

Grapevine's coverage of the matter

, and visit the homepage of

the Nine's supporters

.