Monthly Archives: January 2019

[Röszke11] Kommt Ahmed H. bald frei?

Im Januar erreicht uns die Nachricht, dass Ahmed H., die letzte Person der Röszke 11 die noch in Haft in Budapest war, nach dreieinhalb Jahren Haft endlich freigelassen werden soll. Über die anstehende Freilassung hat Amnesty International Ungarn einen Artikel geschrieben (s.u.). Es zeigt sich, dass die ungarische Regierung über die Freilassung nicht sehr erfreut ist. Es gibt auch keine Fortschritte bei der Freilassung und Ahmed ist weiter in Haft. Sobald es mehr Informationen zu seiner aktuellen Situation gibt und er tatsächlich frei ist, werden wir hier darüber berichten. Free Ahmed H.!

Artikel von Amnesty International Ungarn (https://www.amnesty.eu/news/hungary-release-of-syrian-man-wrongly-convicted-of-terrorism-an-overwhelming-relief/?utm_source=ECRE+Newsletters&utm_campaign=58311b223a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_01_22_12_40&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3ec9497afd-58311b223a-422315073):

Hungary: Release of Syrian man wrongly convicted of terrorism, an “overwhelming relief”

• Spokesperson available on the groundAhead of tomorrow’s early release of Ahmed H, a Syrian man who was unfairly jailed for “complicity in an act of terror” during clashes with police at the Serbia-Hungary border in September 2015, Eda Seyhan, Amnesty International’s Europe Counter Terrorism Campaigner, said:“After spending three-and-a-half years behind bars, Ahmed will finally be reunited with his wife and two young daughters. His release is an overwhelming relief for the family, but the fact is he should never have been prosecuted, let alone convicted, for this offence in the first place.

“The absurd charges against Ahmed were emblematic of the systematic scapegoating of refugees and migrants, and those seeking to defend them. His prosecution was a potent symbol of Prime Minister Orbán’s ‘illiberal democracy’. It had nothing to do with justice but was instead part of the Hungarian government’s draconian crackdown on human rights.

“By blatantly misusing terrorism-related provisions and riding roughshod over the law in their treatment of Ahmed, the Hungarian authorities showed they will stop at nothing to demonize refugees and migrants.”

Ahmed is expected to fly back to Cyprus to be reunited with his family soon after his release.

Photos and footage available are here (will be updated after his return to Cyprus) https://adam.amnesty.org/asset-bank/images/assetbox/02b445c9-8e7b-4be0-a31e-7411960c79d6/assetbox.html

For more information or to arrange an interview on the ground contact Aron Demeter demeter.aron@amnesty.hu or +36 709401043 or stefan.simanowitz@amnesty.org / +447936766445 or +44 2030365599
In August 2015, Ahmed left his family home in Cyprus to go and help his elderly parents and six other family members flee Syria and find safety in Europe. One month later, they found themselves among hundreds of refugees stranded at the Hungarian border after police fenced off the crossing with Serbia.

Clashes broke out as some refugees attempted to get through. Hungary’s police responded with tear gas and water cannon, injuring dozens. Some people threw stones, including Ahmed. But news footage also clearly shows Ahmed using a megaphone to call on both sides to remain calm before the clashes.

For this, a Hungarian court found him guilty of involvement in an “act of terror”, under Hungary’s extremely vague counter-terrorism laws, and sentenced him to 10 years in prison, later reduced to 7 years and then 5 with eligibility for early release.

Solidaritätserklärung: Solidarität mit der Roten Hilfe!

Laut einem Bericht des Focus plant Bundesinnenminister Horst
Seehofer (CSU) ein Verbot der Solidaritätsorganisation Rote Hilfe e.V.. Dies
fügt sich ein in den derzeitigen gesellschaftlichen Diskurs:

Ob Verschärfungen von Polizeigesetzen oder das Verbot von linksunten.indymedia – der Rechtsruck geht einher mit Repressionen gegen die, die sich dagegen wehren; so auch gegen linke Aktivist*innen. Um diese Repressionen noch effizienter und wirksamer
umsetzen zu können, werden wichtige und strömungsübergreifende Strukturen wie die Rote Hilfe kriminalisiert.

 

Solidarität ist eine Waffe, aber kein Verbrechen!

Die Rote Hilfe ist eine legitime Organisation, die Menschen, welche
von staatlichen Repressionen betroffen sind, unterstützt. Sie ist
eine essentielle Struktur für alle die links-politisch aktiv sind. Ein
Verbot der Roten Hilfe ist ein weiterer Angriff auf uns alle und auf
die Idee einer besseren Zukunft – die Idee Solidarität.

Die Kampagne „You can’t evict Solidarity” erklärt sich deshalb
solidarisch mit der Roten Hilfe!

[Harmanli21] 4 Angeklagte weiter in Haft – andere zur “freiwilligen” Rückkehr gezwungen

Ein Artikel eines Genossen von bordermonitoring.eu (https://bulgaria.bordermonitoring.eu/):

Harmanli 21: Four stay in Lyubimets – the others have asked for repatriation

On the 24th and 25th of October 2018 another court session against the Harmanli 21 took place. The session was attended by seven people out of the 10 people who attended the last court cases. It was reported, that the three missing people have already asked for repatriation and they have returned to Afghanistan. Furthermore three other people out of the seven had as well asked for their repatriation. That means that at the moment four out the initial 21 accused are continuing to stay in the closed facility of Luybimets. They claimed that they will struggle to prove their innocence.

During the two days of the trial in October 30 witnesses of the events from the 24th of November 2016 were testifying. Many of them were representatives of the riot police from Kazanlak, Pleven and Plovdiv and some employees of the State Agency for Refugees (SAR), in particular the ones who are working in the Open Camp of Harmanli. Since now, no accused migrant was allowed to speak about his own perspective. Because of that since the beginning of the trial the police violence was not mentioned once in front of the court. Although the official and appointed defenders (from the state) were shortly asked about it, but they claimed that the accused did not say anything on this topic.

It is interesting to hear that during the quarantine, the camp was totally overcrowded and  it is quite astonishing that the access to the working places of the SAR employees at the open camp in Harmanli was not denied. Neither police members nor SAR workers could identify the accused migrants as part of the group of 50 people who were rioting in November 2016 – out of several thousands who were living there during this moment and protesting peacefully.

Bordermonitoring Bulgaria (BMB) notes that it is very obvious that the Bulgarian State is not interested in a clear enlightenment of what happened on the 24th of November 2016. Instead of that people, who once fled their country and once were registered as asylum seekers in Bulgaria, are urged to leave the country ‚voluntarily‘