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“FACED WITH THE GROWTH OF FASCISM, IT IS MORE THAN EVER NECESSARY TO GIVE AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE WORKING CLASS WITH ANTIFASCISM” – NAHUEL
NAHUEL HAS BEEN RELEASED AFTER OVER A YEAR IN JAIL. HE IS NOW WAITING FOR HIS TRAIL TO BEGIN. READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH HIM HERE:
FOR HOW LONG WERE YOU IN JAIL AND WHAT ARE YOU BEING PROSECUTED FOR?
I’ve been in jail almost 500 days. I was prosecuted for “terrorism”. Most of the Fiscal charges is about graffitti (Some of them are from google images or for other cities/countries), lyrics of hardcore bands, quotes of books, phylosophers or even memes!
The biggest accusations are the burning of two ATMs. Interestingly, the police have not shown, nor wanted to be shown, evidence as geolocation, or more importantly, the recordings of the cashiers (Something fundamental in some cases here in Spain).
I was like 9 months in isolation, but I got a judge to take me away from that place and were moved to a unit with other inmates. (Something that could help some political prisoner that wanted to be out of isolation) and in less than a year I was moved by 5 differents jails (Something unusual)
HOW DID YOU COPE WITH THE TIME IN JAIL? WHAT DID YOU DO WITH YOUR TIME?
Studying law, italian, japanese, reading a lot and running!
I remember that a lot of people were surprised that it was vegan, so they usually told me that I would be “tired” all the time and that I could not even last 20 minutes to run. I ran in the courtyard of either isolation or “module” (When you live with other prisoners) for about 45 or 60 minutes each day; Something necessary for the time I took away during the day and for the excessive amount of French fries and industrial pastries (the few “vegan” products were the least healthy) that I ate per day.
In Spanish jails there is a very serious problem of drug addiction. Especially in the conflictive modules, which is where I was always sent after leaving isolation. Being Straight Edge served me a lot in that regard. In jail I took it with greater conviction, which filled me with pride and with the capacity to withstand any adversity that arose (which was almost every day).
I can sum it up with the lyrics of “La marca del honor” (“The mark of honor”) of the band VSXE argentina NUEVA ÉTICA.
“Today I’m going to continue
Building my destiny
My will refuses to lose
In this fight I must continue.
For the pride I feel
Commitment is not broken.
For the pride I feel
Loyalty is not broken.
I turn my back on your insults
My pride is still intact
The loyalty that resists
The feeling that refuses to die.
Far from being defeated
This flame is still burning
Today stronger than ever
Our voices are heard.
For the truth, for the honor
What makes me feel
For the truth, for the honor.
Our words every time
Are stronger
True at any price
Accepting the commitment
Our lives make sense
For the truth, for the honor
That makes me feel.
For the truth, for the honor
That makes me feel,
Be part of the NEW ETHICS
Loyalty today will follow one more time. ”
Especially this phrase: “For the pride I feel
Commitment is not broken.
For the pride I feel
Loyalty is not broken”.
DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU WERE DIFFRENTLY TREATED BY THE PRISON AUTHORITY BECAUSE YOU WERE A POLITICAL PRISONER?
Of course. The first day of entering the prison I was sent to isolation and I was introduced to a special file called FIES (File of Special Follow-Up Interns). The truth is that it is a curious thing to be a file, which in the end becomes a special life regime, because it has no legal basis and is considered to be illegal according to European and international standards.
Being included in that file, specifically FIES 3, led me to be in confinement for a long time. However, many political prisoners may be in that position.
“Certain inmates in Spain’s penal system have been placed under the FIES, which exercises total control over them, places them in solitary confinement and deprives them of their privacy by recording all of their written and oral communications .
The country has been subject to certain prisoners for this system for years. The European Prison Rules, adopted by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers on 11 January 2006, establish (in Rule 60.5) that solitary confinement may only be imposed in exceptional cases and for a short period. In May 2015, the United Nations Committee against Torture reiterated, in point 17 of its observations, that excessive use of solitary confinement constituted cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment or even torture if it exceeded 15 days “.
(Http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do…)
HAVE YOU GOTTEN ENOUGH OF SUPPORT DURING YOUR TIME IN JAIL?
I received the support of many people. Although it was impossible for me to know about what was happening outside, the truth is that through letters I felt a lot of solidarity. Many people wrote me constantly, especially from Belgium, Germany and Sweden.
Anything I can say will never express the feeling of gratitude to all the people who have given their best effort to help me.
I KNOW YOU WERNT ALLOWED TO SEND AS MANY LETTERS AS YOU WANTED. HOW DID YOU KEEP CONTACT WITH THE PEOPLE ON THE OUTSIDE?
Through my family and friends. The problem is that just sending 2 letters a week and having only 8 calls of 5 minutes a week became eternal. Although, in the end, you always manage to find some way to contact as many people as you can.
Perhaps the only problem I had to communicate was when they forbade me to be able to make calls with anyone other than my mother. I had the maximum restriction, 3 months.
DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS TO SOMEONE WHO ARE FACING TIME IN JAIL IN PRISON?
I think the best thing you can do in that situation is to face it as something painful that is not eternal. Sometimes we are afraid of pain or suffering forgetting that it is part of life. I think it is essential to take advantage of this pain to continue and understand that time in prison is not the end of your life but a new chapter where to continue a new struggle by changing reality within.
To support the day to day I used to make very strict schedules of studies, training and to write letters. Having such a fragmented time, having scheduled schedules makes the stay faster.
ANY FINAL WORDS?
Faced with the growth of fascism, it is more than ever necessary to give an alternative to working classes with antifascism. We can not forget that extreme right parties or their leaders are nourishing themselves with an absurd hatred and a cynical and hypocritical anti-capitalist discourse. This shows us that people want a change, the question is Where did that change go?
“In the animal world we have seen that the vast majority of species live in societies, and that they find in association the best arms for the struggle for life: understood, of course, in its wide Darwinian sense – not as a struggle for the Sheer means of existence, but a struggle against all natural conditions unfavorable to the species.
(…) The unsociable species, on the contrary, are doomed to decay. ”
– Kropotkin.
Solidarity is our best weapon.
“Side by side
Standing tall
With clear minds
We’ll never fail
Join with us
In our fight
In our hearts
The flame burns bright”
– Few and the proud, Turning Point.
Nahuel, Vegan Straight Edge.
Derry Anarchist Black Cross 