the history of a militant anti-atom-lobby-activist:
solidarity for marco camenisch!

freecamenisch.net (april 2004)

marco camenisch was born in 1952 at schiers and raised in a petit bourgeois environment in canton graubünden (switzerland). he broke off high school at schiers, where careerist conceit and elitist thinking prevailed. during his apprenticeship as farmer at "plantahof" school, he opposed to current notions, that fertilizing must be done with chemicals. marco went to alps, freeing himself, but soon he realized, that conditions won't change, as long as you're not resisting.

in the late 70s, as a militant of the movement against nuclear power plants, marco was involved acitvely in struggles against the local nuclear mafia. in switzerland, as in other countries too, the movement against nuclear power plants resorted to means of direct action: cutting down pylons, sabotage against power stations, direct actions against protagonists of the nuclear mafia.

in january 1980, together with others, marco was arrested, and after a year being on remand, the court of canton in chur / graubünden pronounced a 10 year prison sentence, for direct action against a pylon and against a power station of NOK ("nordostschweizer kraftwerke" = "north-east swiss power stations") at bad ragaz. an other co-defendant got 7.5 years of prison. marco refused to cooperate with judicial authority, because he didn't acknowledged their legitimacy. instead of this, in court he called a statement, in which he connected the direct actions as a protest against ecocide of the energy industry with the prospect of struggling against capitalist social order.

in december 1981, together with 5 other prisoners, he succeded in escaping from prison of regensdorf nearby zurich. on this occasion, a prison warder died, one more got seriously injured. marco wasn't part of the group, which shot. after the escape, for him, ten years of clandestine living and strugging followed. in 1989, swiss federal police and media claimed him responsible for the killing of a swiss border police officer at brusio.

after a shooting with carabinieri, he was arrested in november 1992 in toscana area (italy). the italian state condemned him to 12 years of prison in april 1993, for bodily harm and several direct actions against pylons. 9 years, he served in high security prisons under the condition of permanent small-group solitary confinement.

in april 2002, marco was extradited to switzerland. first, he served in high security prison of pfäffikon nearby zurich, then in prison of thorberg nearby bern. in january 2003, after a hunger strike against the bad conditions of imprisonment he was suffering, and several direct actions of an international solidarity movement, they transferred him to prison of chur and improved the conditions. only a short time ago, they re-transferred him back to prison of pfäffikon and cancelled the improvements, above all, marco struggled for.

in switzerland, for direct action against the NOK, there are 8 years of prison sentence outstanding. also, there exist arrest warrants for escaping from prison of regensdorf and for killing a border police officer. marco now is exspecting the trial -- probably, it'll take place even this year.

after all the years in prison, marco, who calls himself an anarchist, didn't let them change his mind about his political convinctions. instead of this, behind bars, he stayed a political activist. by means of writing letters, he organized a far-reaching network of political and personal relations. the bad conditions of imprisonment he was/is subjected to in switzerland clearly pursue an objective: at the sight of his steadfast political identity and his refusal to cooperate with judicial authority, they want to break him politically and personally.

friends and supporters of marco camenisch, april 2003.

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some actions in solidarity with marco camenisch

25-07-1999 – novarra, italy – demonstration in solidarity outside the prison.
01-08-1999 – turin, italy – explosive device full of red paint is thrown against swatch shop.
13-09-2002 – international day of solidarity – demonstrations in bergamo, bologna, florence, genova, naples, triest and madrid.
14-09-2002 – turin, italy – windows of credit suisse broken.
16-09-2002 – pavia, italy – fire to a mobile phone antenna in solidarity to marco and all prisoners in struggle.
.. -12-2002 – rome, italy – an envelope full of bullets is sent to the swiss ambassador in rome with the message: free marco camenisch, death to the swiss state and its cops.
12-01-2003 – paris, france – during the night a few boutiques of swiss bosses were damaged and the surrounding walls filled with writings such as ‘free marco’, ‘switzerland is destroying you, we are gonna destroy it’. the locks of adia and adecco (swiss work agencies) and of lloyd continental were superglued.
18-01-2003 – buenos aires, argentinia – posters claiming marco’s freedom are put on the walls of the swiss embassy. also demonstration in brussels in front of the swiss embassy.
19-01-2003 – abetone, italy – a ski lift in the ski resort in the appenines is completely destroyed by fire, bringing the tourist industry to a halt for the whole season. the claim: ‘fire to the exploiters, free marco’.
20-01-2003 – carrara , italy – three mobile phone transmitters are destroyed by fire in solidarity with marco.
29-01-2003 – bergamo, italy – a rai (italian national television) transmitter is set on fire.
01-02-2003 – barcelona, spain – the locks of zurich insurance company are blocked with glue and on the glass of the windows is written: ‘destroy all prisons’, ‘free camenisch’, ‘stop nuclear power’.
11-02-2003 – imperia, italy – fire to omnitel transmitter. the claim: ‘free marco’.

between september and october 2003, following the orders of the genoan police prosecuter, a series of raids took place all over italy against a great number of comrades who showed their solidarity to marco.
on 17 september the ros (carabinieri special operations) search marco’s cell and seize his computer, notes and letters. soon after even manuella, marco’s wife, is searched. both are accused of ‘terrorist activities’. the same happened to about one hundred italian comrades from all over the country. most of them are still under investigation.