We can choose what we want to sow, but we must reap what we have sown.
Supportolegale was born in 2004 to support all the defendants of the Genoa G8 court cases. Made up of many different people, but all of whom agree on a fundamental “rule”: that all defendants must be supported without falling into the logic of divide and rule which has characterised the behaviour of too many people these last 11 years. The division of protestors into good and bad was never our thing.
Today, 11 years after the G8 summit in Genoa, we find ourselves having to pick up the thread of this belief, with 10 people convicted for the insane crime of devastation and looting – two of whom are already in prison and another who is raising her daughter awaiting imprisonment. All of us and all of you have lost – this should be clear – and today, the natural consequence of the belief that “we must defend everyone” is that we must help everyone who has got caught in the spiral of genovese repression. Not merely as a grain of sand that on its own can sabotage a machine, but as a life that is sabotaged by that very machine.
We are back again to make sure that the people condemned for the G8 revolt get the support they need, primarily, a continued economic support and one to help them survive day-to-day life, even behind bars.
Memory is a collective mechanism, as is solidarity.
Now you could be the one – randomly photographed among thousands, even if you weren’t not dressed in black – to no longer be able to talk with friends about Genova.
It could be you inside those cells. Or now, to be sentenced to a temporary freedom, waiting for Justice to knock on your door again.
After 11 years, we must reiterate certain concepts and most importantly ask for financial support for a very clear purpose: we need to raise a lot of money to support the prisoners and their families, to pay legal fees and for damages to property.
During the trials we collected funds, using and distributing them in clear and transparent ways.
We now have to start doing this again and supportolegale is committed to support those who have been affected by repression, according to their needs and priorities, along with what we will collect.
We need go back and do work that we know how to do well but that cannot happen without the support you can give.
For all these reasons we ask you for help. Be it cash or over the internet. Fullstop.
Don’t let these walls separate us.
Legal Support – year zero
[Genoa, september 1st, 2012]