Write to Austrian Minister of Justice
Write to Austrian Minister of Justice
Don’t allow Austria to criminalise animal advocacy
As the Austrian Ministry of Justice decides on how it should proceed in the case against the Austrian animal protection movement, VGT asks individuals to write to the Minister of Justice to express their concerns.
The Ministry is basing its decision on the final reports submitted by police. These reports have been made public by VGT and appear in full in this website in German:
http://www.vgt.at/hinweise/20090417Abschlussberichte/index.php
There are also detailed summaries of the reports in English:
http://www.vgt.at/presse/news/2009/news20090416_en.php
http://www.vgt.at/presse/news/2009/news20090417m_en.php
After 2 ½ years of intensive investigations involving phone tapping, email surveillance, vehicle tracking, concealed informers and four extensive electronic tracking operations, as well as 26 house searches of activists’ homes and 7 NGO offices, no direct evidence of any criminal activity has been found. The information presented on which the accusations are being based consists of personal opinions from private conversations, investigative work done by NGOs into the conditions animals are kept in and acts of civil disobedience. None of the aforementioned are criminal offences.
Please consider writing to the Minister of Justice. You can base your letter on the following sample letter:
To the Austrian Minister of Justice
I have recently been informed about the final reports of the police investigation into the animal advocacy movement in Austria. I understand that after more than two years of investigations, and with all technological means at the disposal of the police, including phone tapping, email surveillance, vehicle tracking, concealed informers and four extensive electronic tracking operations, as well as 26 house searches of activists’ homes and 7 NGO offices, no direct evidence of any criminal activity has been found. The information presented on which the accusations are being based appears to fall into one of three categories: Personal opinions from private conversations, investigative work done by NGOs into the conditions in which animals are kept in and acts of civil disobedience. None of the aforementioned are criminal offences.
It is of great concern to me that Austria is attempting to criminalise legitimate campaigning practices. This would indeed be the case should the final reports be followed up with charges against a whole section of the movement of being a criminal organisation according to section 278a of the penal code.
NGOs in the country I live in have used the practices brought forward by Austrian police as evidence for many years to achieve improvements in society, indeed, many of the aspects which we regard as inherent in a progressive society can be traced back to just this kind of campaigning. Should Austria attempt to criminalise what in other countries is regarded as legitimate social activism, it will be widely seen as departing from the standards of tolerance expected today of liberal democracies.
I therefore ask you as the Minister of Justice in Austria to reconsider such a move. Any free democracy must allow space for protest and the free expression of dissent. A protest movement for such important issues as animal welfare and animal rights is an essential part of any modern society. The right to protest must be upheld and no person should be prosecuted without evidence of criminal wrongdoing. We are very concerned that in Austria, these basic principles of freedom, justice and democracy are being eroded.
Yours faithfully
Please address your letter to:
Mag. Claudia Bandion-Ortner
Bundesministerin für Justiz
Palais Trautson
Museumstraße 7
Vienna 1070
Austria
Or email it to:
minister.justiz@bmj.gv.at (Note: In the email there are 2 x “j”, not “i”)
Important: Please send VGT a copy of your letter/mail and any reply to:
office@vgt.at
Don’t allow Austria to criminalise animal advocacy
As the Austrian Ministry of Justice decides on how it should proceed in the case against the Austrian animal protection movement, VGT asks individuals to write to the Minister of Justice to express their concerns.
The Ministry is basing its decision on the final reports submitted by police. These reports have been made public by VGT and appear in full in this website in German:
http://www.vgt.at/hinweise/20090417Abschlussberichte/index.php
There are also detailed summaries of the reports in English:
http://www.vgt.at/presse/news/2009/news20090416_en.php
http://www.vgt.at/presse/news/2009/news20090417m_en.php
After 2 ½ years of intensive investigations involving phone tapping, email surveillance, vehicle tracking, concealed informers and four extensive electronic tracking operations, as well as 26 house searches of activists’ homes and 7 NGO offices, no direct evidence of any criminal activity has been found. The information presented on which the accusations are being based consists of personal opinions from private conversations, investigative work done by NGOs into the conditions animals are kept in and acts of civil disobedience. None of the aforementioned are criminal offences.
Please consider writing to the Minister of Justice. You can base your letter on the following sample letter:
To the Austrian Minister of Justice
I have recently been informed about the final reports of the police investigation into the animal advocacy movement in Austria. I understand that after more than two years of investigations, and with all technological means at the disposal of the police, including phone tapping, email surveillance, vehicle tracking, concealed informers and four extensive electronic tracking operations, as well as 26 house searches of activists’ homes and 7 NGO offices, no direct evidence of any criminal activity has been found. The information presented on which the accusations are being based appears to fall into one of three categories: Personal opinions from private conversations, investigative work done by NGOs into the conditions in which animals are kept in and acts of civil disobedience. None of the aforementioned are criminal offences.
It is of great concern to me that Austria is attempting to criminalise legitimate campaigning practices. This would indeed be the case should the final reports be followed up with charges against a whole section of the movement of being a criminal organisation according to section 278a of the penal code.
NGOs in the country I live in have used the practices brought forward by Austrian police as evidence for many years to achieve improvements in society, indeed, many of the aspects which we regard as inherent in a progressive society can be traced back to just this kind of campaigning. Should Austria attempt to criminalise what in other countries is regarded as legitimate social activism, it will be widely seen as departing from the standards of tolerance expected today of liberal democracies.
I therefore ask you as the Minister of Justice in Austria to reconsider such a move. Any free democracy must allow space for protest and the free expression of dissent. A protest movement for such important issues as animal welfare and animal rights is an essential part of any modern society. The right to protest must be upheld and no person should be prosecuted without evidence of criminal wrongdoing. We are very concerned that in Austria, these basic principles of freedom, justice and democracy are being eroded.
Yours faithfully
Please address your letter to:
Mag. Claudia Bandion-Ortner
Bundesministerin für Justiz
Palais Trautson
Museumstraße 7
Vienna 1070
Austria
Or email it to:
minister.justiz@bmj.gv.at (Note: In the email there are 2 x “j”, not “i”)
Important: Please send VGT a copy of your letter/mail and any reply to:
office@vgt.at
Tags: activism, animal, austrian, help, letter, minister, repression, rights, support
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by BigG. on -
Little Violet,
No problemo.
Imho
I think getting an email from Canada or other parts of the world might get them to think about things a bit more.
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Permalink Reply by Jasmin on -
yes!! even pamela anderson talked to the minister, pamela is a supporter of peta & passionate about animal welfare. the polticians have to realize that this causa is internationally known! the repression has to stop!
more info (also in english) --> www.vgt.at
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Permalink Reply by pradtf on -
done lv!
i used the form they have here:
http://www.vgt.at/actionalert/repression/emailappell/index_en.php
which also has justice minister maria berger on it.
i'm providing the link to your blog here which shows police violence in action:
http://arawconnection.ning.com/profiles/blogs/repression-1
(there is a thread called equal opportunity violence which was started after watching this video).
i have also sent out the email copied below to my arissues list. mine is a small list, but there are some people on it who have enormous lists of their own, so if it makes it on to theirs, we may get some good action.
in friendship,
prad
====
Repression in Austria
Austria has one of the best records in the world as far as animal
rights efforts are concerned. As a result, those who profit from the
exploitation and abuse of animals, in league with certain government
officials and the police force are trying to destroy the movement with
a direct attack on some of the key individuals of the movement.
This sort of repression is not unusual whenever a social justice
movement gains a measure of prominence. You can read about such things
in this thread:
http://arawconnection.ning.com/forum/topics/equal-opportunity-violence
there is a link here leading to a video showing police violence towards
ar activists.
Please understand that this is no longer only about animal rights. The
Austria government is violating human rights as well. You can help
members of the Austrian government see the injustice of their actions
by writing to them.
Go here first to get some background on the illegal police activities:
http://arawconnection.ning.com/forum/topics/write-to-austrian-minis...
there are links worth looking at there too.
Then go here to write to government officials:
http://www.vgt.at/actionalert/repression/emailappell/index_en.php
it's simple, it's quick and it's important.
we need to show solidarity with those who fight for social justice and
worthwhile freedoms ... one day, our own may be at stake.
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Permalink Reply by Jasmin on
-
wow! this is amazing! THANK YOU SO MUCH, PRAD!!! :)
there is one point, however, that i have to correct:
the video shows violence against ANTI-FASCIST DEMONSTRATORS, not against ar activists. (we as SAVE are ar activists, but also antifascists. we see the unity of oppression. therefore, we as ar activists are also at antifa demos and events like that.)
concerning the repression against ar activists, it's even worse.
the weaponed policemen broke into 24 homes of ar activists in the middle of the night, imprisoned 10 of them, who had to stay over 100 days in prison without clear accusations, some were in hunger strike, ddr martin balluch had to be fed artificially; we have been spied upon, people have been tracked for weeks, they took dna of the people - all these measures led to NO EVIDENCE. nothing! and still they (the police) want to take 40 people of the austrian ar movement to court! if they are judged guilty they will possibly have to stay in prison for up to 5 years!!!
...
this is an older statement by harald balluch, one of those whose homes were raided:
"I awoke to the sound of the door being broken in, immediately a group of armed and masked people surrounded my bed where my girlfriend and I were sleeping and aimed their weapons at us. They screamed at me that they would shoot me if I moved. We have two elderly rescued dogs, who were brutally manhandled. As you can imagine, all four of us were absolutely terrified."
...
i could search for better videos, if you want? but as said this specific video on my blog is police violence against antifascists. it was at a demonstration against the nazis (yes, there are more & more nazis in austria... sad but true... but i think that the left wing movement is even more on the rise... there was a nazi demo last week, where about 500 ppl were; we made a contra-demo & were at least 1000-1500 ppl :D)...
thanks so much, prad!
violet
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Permalink Reply by pradtf on
-
thank you for the correction lv!
unfortunately, my email has already gone out so there isn't too much i can do about it, but since ar folks are opposed to fascism i guess there is still some merit in my statement. if you feel i should correct it though, let me know and i'll send out a correction, though i imagine people will find their way to this thread and read your correction anyway.
what always astonishes me is how there can still be a nazi movement, but the kkk are still around and genocide is certainly doing well. as bigG would say, "funny world we live in".
in friendship,
prad
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Permalink Reply by Jasmin on
-
no, it is ok. i hope the ppl who read your mail will find their way here. :)
what always astonishes me is how there can still be a nazi movement, but the kkk are still around and genocide is certainly doing well. as bigG would say, "funny world we live in".
yup, there is a kkk leader in salzburg, austria at the moment. of course the nazi scene in austria is very fond of this fact. i think it is mostly a consequence of missing knowledge & lack of education that there are still so many nazis.
we can discuss this topic elsewhere. :)
love&peace,
violet
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Permalink Reply by pradtf on
-
agreed!
one thing at a time.
let's get this info out to people we know and encourage some action.
in friendship,
prad
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Permalink Reply by BigG. on
-
Prad,
Thanks you can't get any simpler and easier to do then the form they provided.
Little Violet thanks for bringing attention to this.
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