The content:

RHINELAND
BlockNeurath: Prison sentence after coal power plant blockade
Camping against imprisonment and coal power 12-16.5.
Trial dates around Lützerath
Activists not guilty: acquittals for „Lebenslaute“ musicians and for digger blockade

EAST
Prison letters to Finn!

SOUTH
Heilbronn: Prison sentences for Last Generation

FOCUS ON EMOTIONAL ANTIREPRESSION
What is helpful for me?
Affinity group
Out of Action
Psychologists for future
Other options
Not also repression against each other
Literature tips

Enjoy reading and do not let it get you down!

RHINELAND

BlockNeurath: Prison sentence after coal power plant blockade

In April, the district court of Grevenbroich sentenced an activist to nine months imprisonment without probation for blocking the coal-fired power plant in Neurath in November 2021, parallel to the COP26. The criminal offense is said to be disturbance of public operations. Because RWE had to throttle the power plant, a loss of 1.4 million euros is said to have been incurred. The unexpectedly high judgement was pronounced after six hearing days with quite spectacular moments. The accused person appeared chained to a friend at the last hearing day. An appeal has been filed, so the next round will take place at the regional court.
There are also trials against other persons (even though the police did not identify most of those involved) – on 15.5. at 11 a.m. and on 13.6. at 10 a.m., again in front of the district court of Grevenbroich. And again they are with judge Dr. Zieschang, who attaches importance to her doctor title, but thinks the climate crisis is trivial.
Come by or organize events in your city!
More info: https://antirrr.nirgendwo.info/block-neurath

Camping against imprisonment and coal power

On the occasion of the next trial around BlockNeurath, where another person will be sentenced, there will be a camp against imprisonment and coal power from 12. to 16.5.2023 in Grevenbroich. Come by and be in solidarity: https://antirrr.nirgendwo.info/block-neurath/camp/

Trial dates around Lützerath

In Rhineland there are also several other trial dates.
On 09.05. there is a court case because of the resistance against the building of an earth wall construction by RWE in summer 2022. On 22.05. there will be a trial because of the cross in Lüterzath in May 22 (the group had held church services near the open pit mine) – all in front of the district court in Erkelenz (that’s right next to the train station there).
On 24.08. and 14.09. 2023 there will be trials at the district court Erkelenz concerning a house occupation in Lützerath from 2020, these dates should also take place in May but were postponed.
It always feels better not to be alone in court, so support the defendants by attending trials – this can also help to lose fear of your own trials!
We try to keep the overview on https://antirrr.nirgendwo.info/termine/ up to date, but always check the linked pages to see if the trial is taking place.
Feel free to send your own trial dates to antirrr@riseup.net for publication.

Activists not guilty: acquittals for „Lebenslaute“ musicians and for digger blockade

In order to announce not only bad news, here are some good news: Activists of Lebenslaute, a group that had given a classical concert in the open pit mine, were acquitted by the district court of Mönchengladbach. Although the Higher Regional Court had overturned the first decision that RWE would also have to put up with people trespassing on RWE’s property because of their constant expropriations, it now acquitted them because the Garzweiler open pit mine was not completely enclosed at the time of the action.

Thereupon also the district court Grevenbroich saw that it had to acquit, as at the end of April. A person was accused there because of an excavator blockade. Trial report: https://antirrr.nirgendwo.info/2023/04/27/heute-freispruch-in-grevenbroich/

EAST

Prison letters to Finn!

Finn was arrested during the eviction of Heibo in February, a forest occupation against a gravel plant in Saxony, and has been in jail ever since. He has written a letter from prison and is happy to receive mail and postcards with Lützerath and Heibo motives.
You can find the address here .

SOUTH

Heilbronn: Prison sentences for Last Generation

The court in Heilbronn tries to deter necessary climate protest. Against activists of Last Generation, who partly glued themselves directly back to the streets after the last court verdict, prison sentences of up to 5 months were imposed. There is no probation because of the danger of repetition.

With all the bad news, we would like to remind you of our last newsletter, which focused on prison and pre-trial detention.

FOCUS ON EMOTIONAL ANTIREPRESSION

In our struggle for climate justice we are sometimes exposed to a lot of repression: Police violence through beatings, pepper spray or painful grips, harassment in the „Gesa“ (prisoner collection center at the police station), the fear of being identified, the pressure of criminal proceedings, the powerlessness experienced in courts, the helplessness when we or friends end up in jail or even the fear for our current or future jobs. All of this affects us in different ways, not only physically, but often emotionally and mental as well. It is normal not to be able to simply put it all behind us. Therefore, here are a few suggestions on how to deal with what we have experienced and what we will experience in the future.

What is helpful for me?

Let’s start with ourselves. Everyone reacts differently to stressful situations and has different ways of coping. At the police station, some people find it helpful to retreat into themselves, while others feel better if they take on the cops at every opportunity or find something to laugh about. It’s often helpful to get to know yourself and develop survival strategies for yourself. This is true for situations themselves and also the days after: Some need a lot of friends around them, some need peace and quiet, some need a cup of tea or a beer, sometimes it helps to write things down or tell them, to work out in sports or to distract oneself. Make sure you know more than one coping strategy that suits you, and don’t overdo it with things that harm your body.

Affinity group

In actions and common experiences we often get to know each other very differently and more intensively. It has proven effective to establish affinity groups to look after each other during the action. Sometimes our affinity groups are also the only ones who understand us or the only ones with whom we can talk about certain things at all, because no one else is allowed to know about them. Therefore, it has been good experience to talk about fears and needs in affinity groups before actions and to meet again afterwards, even a few days later, to talk about experiences, especially if they were bad.

• Checklist for affinity groups from skills4action (english)
• Checklist for affinity groups from the Rheinland EA (document only online until the end of the year, also english)

Out of Action

If you can’t cope with something alone or with your reference group, there is also “Out of Action”, a group that was founded by activists to support other activists with emotional stress or even trauma. In its self-conception it says: “The traumatization of individuals is generally intended to discourage political resistance by creating a feeling of inability to act and powerlessness in the face of state rule. Those affected often withdraw from the movement and also from their personal environment if they do not receive support in coping with what they have experienced.
The Emotional First Aid group Out of Action fights against these effects of violence and repression and for an open approach to each other in solidarity.”
Contacts to the different local groups can be found here .

Psychologists for future

In the Psy4Future groups (like fridays for future) psychologists/psychiatrists/psychotherapists have joined forces to fight for the climate. In some places, individuals of them also offer counseling and talks for activists. They themselves have varying degrees of activist experience.

Other options

Those in need of time out can also turn to the “Brush Your Teeth” project, which arranges places for rest and reflection, for example in ecovillages or communes: https://aktivisti-retreat.org/

For some years now, there have also been activists who work with the concept of Radical Therapy and have adapted it for nomadic activists. Radical Therapy is a self-organized group therapy in which people work without a therapist. A new group will be started soon. Interested people can contact nomadisches_rt@rumpelwicht.net . General information about the method can be found at: https://www.radikale-therapie.de/de/ .

Not also repression against each other

And finally, a little something on our own behalf. We all make mistakes. Especially when we are exposed to pressure from state repressive apparatuses, it is not always easy not to bury our heads in the sand or give in. We have also heard of people being afraid to contact anti-repression groups because they have done things “wrong”. Please don’t stress, we don’t want to be an additional repressive structure. Contact antirepression groups anyway, because even with mistakes or things that didn’t go well, it’s easier to find a way to deal with them in solidarity if we talk about it! Therefore, let’s not be hard on each other.

Literature tips

For the only german literature tips, look at the german version of the newsletter.

• Worth reading is Out of Action’s brochure on the topic
• And in Lützerath, the following reader on dealing with eviction situations was distributed
• About different facets of mental health and how to deal with crises, from an anti-psychiatric perspective
• Online course with anti-capitalist, anarchist, and intersectional perspectives on trauma

Closing words

Once again, thank you for reading and spreading the word. Feel free to send us your process dates and contributions to antirrr@riseup.net !

In solidarity,
your AntiRRR
https://antirrr.nirgendwo.info