VIENNA: 18 MARCH RALLIES – AT THE DAY OF POLITICAL PRISONER’S SOLIDARITY
On March 18, the day of solidarity with political prisoners, a rally was held near the Opera house, in which solidarity was expressed with all anti-imperialist, anti-fascist prisoners worldwide, from Turkey to Palestine, from India to the Philippines, from the USA to Peru and from Spain to Greece, France, Germany and Ukraine.
The Solidarity Committee for Political Prisoners, which wants to strengthen solidarity with anti-imperialist and anti-fascist political prisoners, had called for action. The initiative arose from the weekly justice vigil for the freedom of the seriously ill prisoner Ali Osman Köse, which has been held weekly for 10 months, and which today also expresses its solidarity with the demands of the death fast resistance of Sibel Balaç and Gökhan Yıldırım.
The action, which involved 20 people, focused on dozens of political prisoners, from Turkey to Palestine, from the Philippines to India, from Iran to the USA, from Peru to Greece, and from Spain to France, Germany and Ukraine.
In the opening speech, the Solidarity Committee underlined the importance and necessity of practical solidarity with the anti-imperialist and anti-fascist prisoners and their struggles, conveying “greetings to all those who do not bow to the oppression and distortions of truth by the rulers and resist severe repression.”
Finally, an appeal for solidarity with all sick prisoners and with the death fast in Turkey, which has been going on for 90 days, was addressed to all participants and to the public and recalled the Grup Yorum members Helin Bölek and Ibrahim Gökçek, as well as the People’s Lawyer Ebru Timtik and Mustafa Koçak, immortalized in the resistance for justice in 2020.
In the following speeches, reference was made to the struggles of political prisoners worldwide.
A representative of the Red Flag reported among others on the Maoist prisoners in India, G. N. Saibaba and Varavara Rao, the Palestine Solidarity Austria on the illegal administrative detention of the Israeli security authorities against Palestinians, KOMintern on the anti-fascist history of March 18 with mention of numerous political prisoners of the present, Migrante Austria spoke about the targeted murders of political activists in the Philippines, as f. e. Chad Booc and he also mentioned the political prisoner Dr. Naty Castro, the representative of the People’s Council of the Syriacs also expressed solidarity with all the resisting political prisoners and with the death-fasting Sibel Balaç and Gökhan Yıldırım, a political activist from Iran spoke about the repression against prisoners, including those who died after being refused medical assistance.
In an audio message, a member of the antifascist union Borotba from Ukraine reported on the hounding of antifascists and their relatives by neo-Nazi militias in cooperation with the Ukrainian security forces and called for solidarity with all those affected by the repression.
Some participants of the action then took part as well in the rally of a solidarity platform, which in context of 18th of March called for the freedom of the Maoist, revolutionary prisoners in India, G. N. Saibaba and Varavara Rao in front of the Indian Embassy.
LONG LIVE MARCH 18TH! Solidarity and freedom for all political prisoners – in the fight for justice!
