19-05-2022
Republished from a counter-information website.

On Wednesday 11 May, a banner of solidarity with comrade Demeter, who is being persecuted for her anti-migrant action, was put up at the Polytechnic.

HUNTING TO HUNTERS

NO INDIVIDUAL ALONE IN THE HANDS OF THE STATE

* here is the comrade’s text on the case

https://athens.indymedia.org/post/1618240/ (editor’s note: you can find it translated inside the blog here)

*we also call to the solidarity microphonic organized by the Initiative Against Hunting on Monday 23/5

https://athens.indymedia.org/post/1618667/ (editor’s note: you can find it translated inside the blog here)

Anarcho-abnormal antispe

[Monday 23/05- 20:00] Microphonic intervention in solidarity with comrade D. who is persecuted for her anti-hunting action

Hunting is not a hobby

It’s murder.

“The liberation of non-human animals from the shackles of human domination is the cornerstone of anti-capitalism, just as the liberation of all from the shackles of all powers is the core of total liberation.” Dimitra

On May 26, 2022, a case is being heard at the Single-Member Court of Appeal of the Criminal Court of Appeal in Chalkida, for which two people are being prosecuted, one of whom is comrade Dimitra, concerning the incident of a conflict with a hunter in Evia in 2018. After a dispute, the disarming of the hunter and the prevention of his murderous activity became possible. The uniformed garbage proceeded to an arrest under the law that defines any act of liberation from the shackles of power, whatever form it takes, as illegal. After 3.5 years, the comrade is on trial for this anti-hunting intervention, which resulted in the loss of the hunter-killer’s shotgun and mobile phone, on the basis of which the charges of robbery and theft were formed.

In the face of the hunters’ lobbies that are standing with announcements, publications and financial support for the hunter-killer and their ‘like-minded’ comrade demanding the conviction of the anti-hunter action, all we can say is that the comrade is not alone. We will continue to oppose all authoritarian and speceisist logic and actions. Despite the war that society, the state and their laws declare against us, our struggle will not stop until total liberation.

Antispeceisist actions oppose death, exploitation and the authoritarian imposition of species upon species. Authority, aided by the laws it enacts, paves the way for this hunt for profit and pleasure derived from suffering and imposition, and formed by a perverse superiority, competition, habit and tolerance.

Protective laws, prizes, bonus cartridges per head, appropriate seasons and species to be hunted, sometimes as dangerous and for the preservation of fauna and sometimes as surplus, objects of research or recreation and sporting activity. We do not understand any legitimacy and of course we cannot accept legal hunting nor the institutionality of the clubs and associations of the murderer-hobbyist-professional hunter of the capitalist western world. No amount of cooperation between animal welfare and environmental organisations, universities and veterinarians will convince us that the normalisation of the killing of living beings is for their well-being.

Guns, upgraded technology, false scents, radars, hunting towers, and even the use of other animals such as dogs signify an unequal battle. We abhor the logic that perceives non-human animals as prey to be eaten, processed and turned into clothes, skinned flesh, relics and jewelry, trophies in photos that smell of death, to adorn chalets and salons, to be served with a smile and devoured with gluttony, or mere carcasses to be discarded lifeless and useless.

The time has come for us to set traps for the hunters, to photograph our trophies that express no superiority and to stand by our comrades, human and non-human, as part of this world and not as its exploiters and managers.

NO INDIVIDUAL ALONE IN THE HANDS OF THE STATE

UNTIL WE ARE ALL FREE

UNTIL ANARCHY

Initiative against hunting

30-01-2021
Republished from a counter-information website.

“Banner for D&Th.

A banner of solidarity with the D&Th. persecuted for the anti-hunting action in Evia. The banners were hung in the fertilizer park in Drapetsona and on a bridge on Petrou Ralli road in the area of Renti.”

“Solidarity with D. and Th. who are being prosecuted for the anti-hunting action in Euboea

With regard to the upcoming trial in the case of the defendents who intervened in the prevention of the murder of non human animals by a hunter in Euboea two years ago see (https://parasita.espivblogs.net/2019/03/11/gia-ton-afoplismo-kynigoy-stin-eyvoia/), we feel the need to voice our unreserved support for these persecuted individuals, and to stress once again that in this dismal world we occupy we have no choice but to fight for the absolute freedom of human and non human animals. We won’t go into the details of the incident as it is documented clearly here (https://athens.indymedia.org/post/1609553/) by the involved individuals, but what interests us more is to point out the act of resistance against the hunter, which is not only just but also necessary.

Globally hunting constitutes a dispicable activity through which countless non human animals are murdered. Even so officially and to a large extent in society it is considered and catagorised as a “sport” and treated as such. The reason is simply because as in all sports in it’s participation the individual draws pleasure from this, an act which for them is legitimately ethical. This legitimacy is based on speciesism, in other words on doctrine that allows us to view animals as inferior entities and as a resource for our use to eat or exploit in the production of wealth, for entertainment or in the context of some “sports” and much more. Based on this doctrine the non human animals have no independent value but are viewed purely as a commodity that is meant solely as usable asset. Having this perspective of animals there is no doubt why many end up murdering them and if hunting is considered a sport it can only be a sport of murderers.

Setting aside the lawful and social construct of hunting as a sport, another justification expressed is that it is done as a means for hunters to feed themselves. They support that hunting constitutes a more “natural” way of obtaining food comparing to buying dead flesh from super markets and meat markets. However, except for the fact that for most of them their diet is not entirely based on hunting, they seem to forget that their hyper-modern weapons which most of them use are coming from a well-established international trade market, which of course is based upon an equally huge production system for all the necessary for their construction metals. Similar conditions are true also for the additional equipment that plenty of them use in hunting, such as the special cameras that detect animals’ movements even at night, as well as the devices which imitate animals’ voices in order to attract them. In any case, it is widely known that human’s nutritional needs can be completely covered by non-animal products, so either with shotguns or with bows and narrows, real dilemma does not exist. What exists, though, is nothing more than an effort to a brutal practice exercised on animals for the pleasure of worthless bipods with a use of totally feeble and hypocritical excuses.

At the same time hunting is used for commercial purposes as in the sale of non human animals to third parties as well as to organizations of oppression such as circuses, zoos and pet shops where they are sold alive after being captured and taken from their natural habitat during hunting. Similarly, hunter believing that they are superior from the non-human animals and that they belong to them, they behave as their owners and after they kidnap them they use them as commodities for economical profit. Their actions moreover constitute the first stage in a life-chain for the animals which is completely stripped of their freedom and consists solely of captivity, brutality and torture.

The belief of the hunters that non human animals are inferior to them, that they are not living subjects and thus, they have no inherent value reminds us bygone times when slaves were considered a inferior human and were equated to other non-human animals and treated much like them, that is, with their bosses marked them, castrated them and kept them chained. What we must not overlook, though, is the fact that this degrading use of slaves mimicked the already established practice exercised by humans on animals, which were the first to be treated like that, exactly because they were regarded as an “inferior form of life” made for every kind of exploitation.

Modern civilization putting human being and its needs in the center of everything, brings as in a situation to face an inconvenient truth, that this civilization is constructed based on the slaughter of non human animals. The realization that its foundation is mostly based on this brutality enforced on these creatures, but also on the nature that generally surround us, leaves us no choice but to oppose this culture and it’s values. Today especially the exploitation of non-human animals has reached extreme levels and the examples are endless, hunting and fishing for example -which themselves support a huge production of the relevant equipment- and of course the meat, dairy, egg, fur and fish industries as well as the circuses, zoos, wildlife trade, animal testing for cosmetics, pharmacy, detergents, poisons and many more.

All forms of exploitation of non human animals are totally disgusting to us and we will never stop fighting until they stop. We therefore stand in solidarity with any act that prevents hunters , fishermen and other animal murderers and torturers of carrying out their plans, and we will put forward the total liberation fights for a world that will understand and be sensitive to everyone’s needs, be they human or non-human animals.

We support the call of the open antispeceisist assembly which has been scheduled for Wednesday 27.1.2021 at FEPA and will be focused on organizing actions for solidarity to the antispeceisists D. and Th.

IT’S TIME TO HUNT THE HUNTERS

SOLIDARITY WITH D. and Th.

NO ONE ALONE AT THE STATE’S HANDS

PARASITA – Anarchical Collective for the Total Liberation

[email protected]

parasita@riseup.net “

25-01-2021
Republished from a counter-information website.

” Microphone intervention at ‘Areos pedion’ [Antispeciesist assembly]

In the context of solidarity actions towards D. and Th. who are being persecuted for their anti-hunting action and in view of the trial scheduled for 28/1, we held a microphone intervention at the Areos pedion.

We hung banners, distributed texts and threw flyers for total liberation and against hunting. The microphone was accompanied by comrades and there was no disturbance from cops except for two motorbikes that passed by the spot.

After the end of the microphone intervention, a spontaneous small scale demonstration with banners and slogans took place inside the park, which ended in Protomagias Square. The banner was hung at FEPA on Ulof Palme.

At this link you can find the text which was distributed during the intervention : https://athens.indymedia.org/post/1609742/

SOLIDARITY WITH D. AND TH. PERSECUTED FOR THEIR ANTI-HUNTING ACTION

HUNTING IS NOT A HOBBY, IT IS A MURDER, STRUGGLE FOR LIFE AND FREEDOM

HUNT THE HUNTERS

UNTIL THE TOTAL LIBERATION OF LIFE AND LAND.

Antispeciesist Assembly

[email protected]”

” Update for the legal battle regarding the incident that happened on 26/12/2018 in Evia, between us and a hunter, which was spread by the media under the title: “a couple of ecologists attacked a hunter and took his shotgun”.

The incident concerns a conflict with a hunter who was exercising his favorite “hobby”. In our  attempt to prevent him from murdering an animal, and after repeatedly asking him to stop and  leave, tension followed and the result was a shotgun thrown somewhere in the woods. After leaving the spot asap, trying to get away from the furious hunter, we got pulled over by several police vehicles and we were arrested. At the police department they announced us that we were  charged with robbery which is a felony and cell phone theft that is a misdemeanor. O f course, if  someone looks at the legal definition of robbery, he/she will understand that this accusation has nothing to do with our action as we had no intention of appropriating the shotgun. The hunter himself admitted that the whole dispute focused on his “fun activity” and that our motives were  “ecological”. In addition, the gun was later found at the place it was thrown away. The theft accusation makes no sense as well. Not only the mobile phone wasn’t found on us, but it’s also obvious that the last thing we wanted to do at that moment would be to steal the hunter’s phone.

It must be noted that an important role in the legal case has been played by the local hunting club, of Istiaia and the D’ Hunting Federation of Central Greece (D’ KOSE), as they pay for the legal costs, as well as provide the legal representation for the case. This is obviously not a surprise as it  is not a surprise either that, as stated by the D ‘ KOSE in their announcement, “they will do everything possible for the exemplary punishment of the perpetrators”. The same also states the president of the local hunting club of Istiaia, who published an announcement full of lies about the case. In addition, indicative is the passion of the hunting press, both the printed and the digital ones, which rushed to escalate the issue from the first moment, posting articles and photos of the hunter and congratulating him on his “calm” attitude. Moreover, they tried to victimize him using even his age and presenting him as a lovely old man who, while out for his usual walk, at which he happens to carry a gun and murder, fell the “absurd” victim to two violent and ruthless perpetrators. Clearly, if we’re going to talk about victims and perpetrators, the only victims in this particular case are the animals and we don’t understand how is preventing a murder making us “extremists” and turns the killer from a perpetrator into a victim.

Furthermore, we don’t consider neither the absurd accusations proposed by the police against us  nor the fact that they were accepted by the prosecutor to be a random incident as we clearly deal with vengeful charges that have nothing to do with what actually happened. After all, the general affectionate relationship between the state and the hunters is not hidden. This relationship between hunters and state, ministries and party mechanisms is also evident by the close  connection between hunting clubs and the state with examples like that of the cooperation  between the Ministry of Environment and Energy & Climate Change and the D ‘ KOSE, the VI  Hunting Federation Macedonia – Thrace, the ST’ Hunting Federation of Peloponnese and others. This relationship is sometimes expressed by the presence of parliament members and party representatives at the various events organized by hunting clubs, a fact that they make sure to  spread by posting articles and photos on their websites. Finally, the influence of hunting clubs in  parliament–passed laws on hunting, such as on the annual regulatory authority, is widely known.  In addition, hunters also threaten political parties sometimes by stating that they will not vote in elections as hunting clubs have as members a significant number of voters. It is also indicative that during Christmas while the state had imposed a strict lockdown that banned most human public
activity, it allowed the hunters to go hunting.

Of course, to be fair, we must say that hunters don’t seem to behave abhorrently just to – and  devalue the lives of only – non–human animals, as we don’t forget that they were on the front line at the greek borders where they exercised their favorite sport hunting immigrants. A fact that also doesn’t surprise us, considering that the logic of underestimating a life as inferior and –based on that– justifying the violence against it is not limited to non–human animals but instead it can easily be used against humans as well, as we can see repeatedly in history.

More specifically about our trial, which was set two years later on 28.01.2021 at the Single Felony Court of Appeal in Chalkida, what we want to make clear is that in this trial we are not primarily judged as people who committed the lies that they accuse us of. We are judged as individuals who opposed the murder of animals and thus challenged the right of hunters and their associations to kill. This is why they ask for our exemplary punishment. Evident is the fact that the statements of the local hunting club president contradict each other as he first implies that we staged the whole incident in order to extract a hunting shotgun for “other uses” and then he admits that the incident is not only a concern for the specific hunter but for the whole “hunting family” who is under attack by “absurd” people.

So, clarifing our position in relation to the incident, we state that what we did, that is, our attempt to protect an animal from being murdered, was an instinctive move that in our opinion should be the obvious thing to do for everyone. However, unfortunately we live in a society with laws that allow animal killing and on the contrary criminalize actions which are trying to protect lives. But something being legal doesn’t make it also fair or moral. In the same way that even though slavery was legal in the past, this does not mean that slavery is fair and ethical.

We ask from people and groups who share our views and want to, to express their solidarity with us in any way they like. We hope that someday hunting, but also all the brutal actions animals are subjected to, will stop being socially acceptable and the laws allowing them will be thrown in the trash. Until then, let’s all of us stand, individually and collectively against hunting, the sport of murderers.

NO LIFE, HUMAN OR NOT IS EXPENDABLE HUNTING IS NOT A HOBBY, IT IS MURDER

Dimitra and Thodoris, 08/01/2021 “

“On 16/03/2019 we destroyed the entire facade of the 3rd Hunting Club of Athens at 19 Ephesou Street in Kaisariani. It was the minimal form of reaction to the violence that is practiced daily against non-human animals.
Hunting is one of the many authoritarian practices that are reproduced within the speciesist culture of domination. This culture is also legally sanctioned by the state and its institutions, expressing its punitive attitude towards those who actively resist it. A typical example is the incident in Evia in which a couple did the obvious by preventing a hunter from killing animals, resulting in their prosecution.
The relationship between the state and speciesism was also illustrated by the vote against the recently proposed constitutionalisation regarding the protection of animals. The influence of the hunting associations on the state institutions played a decisive role in this. Of course, we have no illusions on our part. The state will not provide us with a solution to the problem of speciesism. It will be given to us by self-organized direct actions.

PS: We are looking forward to more joyful news of the type “Tragic end for a hunter” or “SHOCK! Hunter shot hunter”. As for the rest, they will be taken care of by the big powerful one.

Big Powerful Hammerheads.”

“On 26 December 2018 we read a news item in the mainstream media about  “a couple of environmentalists attacked, beat and took the gun from a hunter”. So according to what has come out, some people who encountered a hunter on their way did the obvious: they intervened and attempted (successfully) to prevent him from killing free sentient creatures. The details of the incident are not known. In mid-February a text was released by these individuals in which they make a clear statement as to the motives and ideological context that motivated them to get involved in the incident. According to the individuals themselves, the altercation with the hunter resulted in the removal of his hunting weapon. Because of this, they face a felony charge of robbery. The fact that their motives do not indicate robbery, as is evident from their own text, shows that the state’s choice to formulate such an indictment against them can only be vindictive.

A large part of society was consumed with the question of whether or not violence should be used against the hunter. The individuals themselves deny hitting him. For our part, as an anarchist collective for total liberation, we are not concerned about whether or not there was a beating. In a war where you are called upon to take a practical stand, any harm, moral, physical or mental, that you can inflict on a murderer of free individuals in order to achieve a temporary or permanent stop to his actions is acceptable. In fact, it is necessary. Just as it would be necessary for “public opinion” in the case where the killer-hunter was hunting dogs instead of other kinds of animals. His purpose, whether it be for hobby, food, or whatever, is of no concern to us and in no way should be a criterion for the position we take towards him, after all, in neither scenario is there any real need.

The bile that has been spouted in the meantime by this whole social coterie consisting of hunting clubs, butchers, fishermen, sexists, and even “calm revolutionaries” does not surprise us. The problematic collective morality and culture is nothing more than an expression of the reality of the culture that domination has constructed. The logic of imposition, however repugnant it may be to many people, is an element by which the domesticated human has been raised to embrace. Even among that small segment of human society which abhors human’s authority over human, it is difficult to find individuals who are not alienated by the opposition to authority suffered by individuals who are not of the human species. Even the old age of the hunter was used by some individuals as an argument to avoid challenging the brutal for non-human animals normality, as if the purpose of the action was not the prevention of murders, but the demonstration of power. But even these rationales where an action is judged in terms of power demonstration are nothing more than part of the authoritarian society we have all grown up in. But it is this authoritarian society that we consciously choose to fight against.

In this text we would not want to analyze our arguments about the concept of speciesism and the self-evident inclusion of antispeciesism within the characteristics of an anarchist group. We would not want, therefore, to document here why we are proposing to attack every animal hunter, every slaughterer, every egg-dairy-meat industry, every fur, leather or other animal “products” industry, every pet shop owner, etc. We give the priority to the words of the two individuals who acted with actions. In their text, each and every one can find the analysis needed to understand the logic behind such prepositions.

In this text our purpose is to express our support and solidarity with every such “perpetrator” until such “perpetrators” become many and there are no more oppressors of any kind out there. We are not interested in the label that each struggling individual puts on himself or herself. We don’t care if he/she signs up as an anarchist. We harbor no illusions of uniformity among the world of struggle. Of course this does not mean that we accept as our comrades and uncritically support any individual. Our criterion is their words and actions, and words that are clearly oriented towards linking various forms of oppression are certainly words we support.

SOLIDARITY WITH THE TWO PERSECUTED INDIVIDUALS

HUNT THE HUNTERS

Anarchist Collective for Total Liberation

PARASITA

parasita.espivblogs.net

parasita@riseup.net

——————————————————–

Below we quote in full the entire text of these individuals:”

(editor’s note: you can read the text by clicking here)