Date: Sun, 3 Mar 2002 20:16:33 -0800 (PST)
From: asc <satellitecrash-AT-yahoo.com>
Subject: AUT: Fwd: Anarchist Resistance Legal Defense Fund



> Hey folks,
> 
> Please read the message below and please support
> this newly-formed DC-based 
> collective -- all funds raised will go to the aid of
> our fellow defendants 
> to help cover travel expenses so we can all get to
> NYC for court appearances 
> and won't have to plead guilty just because of an
> inability to afford to get 
> to NYC to fight the charges.  In addition to simply
> soliciting donations 
> (which can be sent by snail mail or online by Paypal
> at the address or URLs 
> below), we are also planning to raise funds via
> benefit shows, house 
> parties, t-shirt sales, etc.
> 
> We hope that some of you will form ARLDF chapters
> wherever you live, and 
> join together in federation with the DC-based
> collective, to raise funds 
> locally to help with this important fundraising
> effort.
> 
> If anyone has room in your email inbox for a Word
> attachment that's a 2-page flyer (back & front of a
single piece of paper) explaining who the ARLDF are
and what we're doing and why, and you're willing to
distribute the flyer in coffee shops, alternative
music stores, at shows or bookfairs or other
gatherings or whatever, please contact me and I'll be
happy to email the flyer to you.  We want to spread
the word to everyone who might be receptive.
  Thanks,
  jth
> 
> SUPPORT ANTI-WEF DEFENDANTS
> 
> SUPPORT THE RIGHT TO DISSENT BY DONATING TO THE
> ANARCHIST RESISTANCE LEGAL 
> DEFENSE FUND
> 
>           During the World Economic Forum, more than
> 200 people from all 
> over the world were arrested and are
>           facing criminal charges for participating
> in protests against the 
> exploitive agenda promoted by this
>           concentration of the world's wealthiest
> and most powerful people. 
> The vast majority of the charges are
>           baseless and were trumped up by the
> police. These protestors were 
> arrested for simply expressing their
>           beliefs. Even if any of these charges are
> factually accurate, they 
> are illegitimate attempts by the state to
>           punish political expression.
> 
>           However, many defendants are unable to
> afford to travel from their 
> homes to New York for the numerous
>           court appearances that they must attend to
> fight their charges. 
> Without help to pay travel expenses, many
>           of these people will be unable to attend
> their court hearings. The 
> prosecutors know that many defendants
>           cannot afford such travel expenses, and
> they are exploiting that 
> fact to coerce defendants into guilty pleas.
>           At least one defendant has already pled
> guilty, accepting a 
> permanent criminal record, because she knew
>           that she could not afford to travel to New
> York for future court 
> appearances.
> 
>           The Anarchist Resistance Legal Defense
> Fund is committed to 
> raising funds to cover defendants' travel
>           expenses, so that defendants who do not
> live in New York City can 
> return to the city to tell the truth to the
>           court: that they are not guilty of any
> conduct warranting 
> punishment. We are profoundly and passionately
>           opposed to a so-called "justice" system in
> which one's criminal 
> guilt or innocence is determined by one's
>           financial means.
> 
>           Please help the defendants stand up to the
> state and defend 
> themselves against these illegitimate charges.
> 
> 
> 
>           Q: What is the Anarchist Resistance Legal
> Defense Fund (ARLDF)?
> 
>           A: The ARLDF is a Washington, DC-based
> anarchist collective 
> committed to raising money to help
>           anarchists and other political activists
> defend themselves against 
> criminal charges arising from their
>           participation in popular demonstrations.
> All of the ARLDF's 
> founding members are anarchists who, along
>           with demonstrators of other political
> persuasions, were arrested 
> during the WEF for peacefully expressing
>           their political opinions. We do not
> recognize the authority of the 
> State to sanction us and others for
>           resistance against systematic oppression
> and exploitation. We plan 
> to continue providing legal defense
>           support to political activists arrested in
> the future, and we hope 
> to inspire a federation of ARLDF collectives
>           throughout the world to defend against
> States' efforts to use 
> legal systems to deter and punish dissidence.
> 
>           Q: What will the ARLDF do with the funds
> it raises?
> 
>           A: The ARLDF -- being a DC-based
> collective -- is starting its 
> efforts on a local level, focusing its initial
>           fundraising efforts in DC and first
> applying those funds to ensure 
> that DC-area defendants can fight the
>           charges. We anticipate that we will easily
> raise more than enough 
> money to cover the needs of those
>           DC-area defendants who need assistance, so
> we expect that we will 
> apply the bulk of the funds we raise to
>           provide mutual aid to fellow defendants
> from other parts of the 
> country.>
> 
>           Q: Why were so many people protesting at
> the World Economic Forum?
> 
>           A: Nearly 15,000 people protested on the
> streets of New York City 
> because they refused to support this
>           gathering of the world's wealthiest, most
> powerful people. These 
> protestors marched against capitalist
>           globalization, a system which perpetuates
> a world where money is 
> deemed more important than human
>           lives. The protestors in New York included
> people from many 
> different countries and many different
>           backgrounds who came together to show
> their resistance to this 
> exploitive economic system.
> 
>           Q: What can I do to help?
> 
>           A: Your contribution will help ensure that
> no one is forced to 
> plead guilty solely for financial reasons. Please
>           help the defendants stand up to the state
> and defend themselves 
> against these illegitimate charges. You
>           can donate to the ARLDF online with your
> credit card at 
> http://www.infoshop.org/arldf.html or
> http://abolishthebank.org/arldf.html, 
> or you
>           can mail checks or money orders made
> payable to "ARLDF c/o Todd 
> Hutchins" or "ARLDF c/o Clarissa
>           Peterson" to P.O. Box 21372, Washington,
> DC 20009-1372. If you 
> would like more information, you can
>           contact us at arldf-AT-mutualaid.org.
> 
>           On behalf of freedom-lovers everywhere, we
> thank you for your 
> support!
> 
>           With love & rage,
>           Anarchist Resistance Legal Defense Fund



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