Dr. Saibaba, who is presently lodged in the notorious Anda Barrack of the Nagpur Prison has been denied bail twice by the Sessions Court, Gadchiroli and once by the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court. In the last order by the Sessions Court dated 4th March, 2015 the Sessions Judge referred to the reports of the Superintendent and the Chief Medical Officer of the Nagpur Central Prison which, while admitting the delicate medical condition of Saibaba, stated that he was being treated at the Government Medical College Hospital as well as the Super Speciality Hospital in Nagpur and that they were providing food supplements as per his medical requirements. It was on the basis of such reports that bail on medical grounds was denied to Saibaba. However, despite such claims by the prison … [read more]

Andrei is a staunch communist, an opponent of the Yeltsin and Putin regimes. In Russia, he spent a total of nine years in prison on political charges. At the same time, like any true leftist, he is an ardent supporter of the popular uprising in Donbass. Andrei writes from jail: "Today was the first court session. It was held in Berdyansk Court (Judge O.G. Pakhomenko), but they did not even bring me there – it was a video conference. From the prison. They want to condemn me remotely! Tomorrow at 10 am is the next ‘session.’ I demanded an interpreter, they postponed the trial until tomorrow when he will arrive. And I will make a motion to receive a paid lawyer and be personally present at the trial. We need to contact the media to make the maximum publicity, as they want to … [read more]

*** Text on a street poster in Odessa: A seperatist is desacrating national symbols waiting for the arrival of “Russian peace” If you hear or see something – call us Hotline of the Ukrainian Intelligence *** This is the tug of war over implementation of the Minsk-2 agreements. Yesterday the leadership of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) demanded that their representatives finally be included in the discussion of constitutional reform. “All matters relating to elections and constitutional reform, according to the terms of the agreement, should be agreed with us. As prescribed by the terms of the agreement, representatives of the DPR and LPR will necessarily participate in the decision-making in the tripartite contact group," DRP envoy Dennis Pushilin told … [read more]

Berlin: nothing short than full-fletched capitulation The German minister of finance, Wolfgang Schäuble, has made it candid-clear: no credit extension without complete surrender to the conditions dictated by the creditors’ financial oligarchy. This despite the fact that everybody knows that Greece will under no conditions be able to serve its debt. The German message therefore serves first of all to make clear to the entire southern periphery as to who is to command and who to obey. This will turn out to be a hubris of the type of Bush’s military “export of democracy” to Iraq. Syriza not to accept complete surrender For the last two months the Greek government has been trying to play cat and mouse. On one hand they signaled their readiness to agree to the troika’s … [read more]

Saudi Arabia is trying to present the operation “Decisive Storm” as a regional coalition to support the “legitimate government” of Yemen against the advancing “pro-Iranian” Houthi militia. In the Western world, instead, the conflict is being inaccurately described as an attempt of a Sunni coalition to prevent Shia from coming into power. The situation in Yemen is much more complex and entering into all its aspects would exceed the scope of this statement. However, we would like to state the following: 1. The conflict in Yemen is not a confessional war yet. It is a power struggle among rivaling groups, which is unluckily taking place against the background of a regional conflict between the West and Saudi Arabia on the one side and Iran on the other. Neither is this a … [read more]

A break with the Euro-German creditor’s oligarchy will most likely run through Syriza. An anti-EU liberation front will become necessary comprising all forces determined to defend the popular classes rallying the majority. They will need massive international solidarity especially from the anti-systemic forces within the Euro core countries. The International Anti-EU Forum scheduled for the end of June in Athens will be the place to forge this European alliance. The Left Platform of Syriza together with all the Greek forces preparing for the Euro exit are preparing this meeting. Following excerpts of an interview with the Greek minister of reconstruction of production, environment & energy whose original has been published on the website of the ministry. It was originally … [read more]

Friday 17.00 – 19.15 workshops 1. From economic to political crisis. The examples of Italy and Spain * Enea Boria, Movement ORA, Italy * Giannis Kibouropoulos, journalist, Greece * Manolo Moreneo, Frente Civico “Somos Mayoria”, Spain, 2. The conflict in Ukraine and the geopolitics of the European Union and NATO * Kostas Gousis, Solidarity campaign with the Antifascist Resistance in Ukraine, Greece * Mariia Muratova, Borotba, Ukraine * Petros Papakonstantinou, writer-journalist, Greece * Dimitris Patelis, MARS (Frontal Left Alignment) , Greece * Rainer Rupp, journalist, Germany 3. The workers' and popular resistance against neoliberal policies in the EU * Giorgio Cremaschi, ex president of FIOM (Federazione Impiegati Operai Metallurgici), Italy * Benoit … [read more]

They just take as valid the narration of pro-euro mass media which in their turn repeat and amplify the German version, that is intended to prove that the Greek government signed the terms of unilateral surrender. But it is not just that! It’s evident that they are so much blind with their conceit to point the finger at the victims and not at the torturers. The moral of the story is that, in their opinion, Euro-Germany scored a massive victory and, furthermore, the Greek matter would be closed, deleted. Probably things are not like that. It is a fact that the SYRIZA government, in return for some money that was urgently needed, undertook to effectuate most of the oppressive clauses of the old Memorandum enjoined by troika. But this is not all. SYRIZA also initiated emergency … [read more]

The signing of Eurogroup’s 20/2/2015 declaration by the SYRIZA-ANELL government signifies a point of no return. During the previous period SYRIZA has been retreating continuously from its programme and his electoral declarations. He has already abandoned debt’s write off and is begging for its extension. He has abandoned the nationalization of the banking system. He has forgotten his declarations about ‘tearing apart the Memorandum’ and already declared that it accepts 70% of it. He has abandoned any notion of confrontation with the EU and its policies and instead, by hiding behind the unrealistic and hypocritical position of ‘no confrontation, no submission’, he accepts a disgraceful compromise with EU’s dominant countries. SYRIZA in the post-electoral negotiations with … [read more]

Up to now the bold posture of the Greek prime minister Aléxis Tsípras against the European oligarchy and especially the German rulers has won him the hearts of the popular masses – this is true not only for Greece. Across Europe Tsípras has become the rising star of the victims of neo-liberalism and the capitalist crisis directly challenging Angela Merkel’s leadership. His message was crystal clear: an end to the lies of the elites, who say salvation can be brought only by driving down peoples’ living and social standards – while the oligarchy continues to shamelessly enrich itself. The new Greek government defies the appalling logic of the financial markets, the alleged reason of the economy, which has continuously been widening the gap between poor and rich. Democracy is … [read more]

1. The victory of a party of the left and the defeat of the hateful coalition forces of ND-PASOK and those managed the Memoranda of the last four years (GAP, LAOS, DIMAR) are very important developments and the positive outcomes of the elections. The forces that pushed the people into economic devastation, that humiliated, fooled and belched the people, they received a powerful blow. The rates, however, of ND did not precipitate, we did not have a collapse of the same type as PASOK, and the ND will be the main political pole of the bourgeois interests, along with the Nazi party, which remains strong despite its downturn, and constitutes a significant force to the right-extreme right of the political system. 2. We had a pre- electoral period, in which the winner was already known and … [read more]

The elites and their media are however continuing with their campaign, and cry “populism”: they say it is necessary to make cuts, because Greece supposedly had lived beyond its means. And they try to frighten the public: without austerity, there will inevitably be insolvency. What they keep to themselves is, that at the heart of the matter this is a question of distribution. Obviously it is a global matter, but if we restrict the view to the national level. Even if we take as granted the current level of capacity of the Greek economy set by the global frame, there is absolutely no reason that a tiny elite is unflinchingly enriching itself, while the vast majority – and especially the poorest strata – are impoverished. (In fact Greece could be much more productive, and of course … [read more]

The groups already involved at that time coming from France, Spain and Austria were again present. Only the Greek participants could not come for obvious reasons but pledged to continue their participation. (See the Assisi call with the detailed names of the groups involved. ) The Finnish Independence Party joined in. The biggest part of the participants came from Italy. A new development was the strong involvement of activists and personalities from the Five Stars Movement among them also several members of parliament. Members of Rifundazione Comunista as well as several leftist groups were also present. The former voice minister of economy, Stefano Fassina, conveyed greetings. It emerged as a consensus that the next step would be to enlarge the “Leftist Co-ordination against the … [read more]

France Arrests a Comedian For His Facebook Comments, Showing the Sham of the West’s “Free Speech” Celebration Forty-eight hours after hosting a massive march under the banner of free expression, France opened a criminal investigation of a controversial French comedian for a Facebook post he wrote about the Charlie Hebdo attack, and then this morning, arrested him for that post on charges of “defending terrorism.” The comedian,  Dieudonné, previously sought elective office in France on what he called an “anti-Zionist” platform, has had his show banned by numerous government officials in cities throughout France, and has been criminally prosecuted several times before for expressing ideas banned in that country.   The apparently criminal … [read more]

The attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is a further escalation in the unequal confrontation between the West and the Islamic world, which is increasingly taking the form of a kulturkampf or clash of civilizations. We condemn the attack on Charlie Hebdo. At the same time, we do not join the ranks of the united front for the defence of the imperialist West and its “superior civilization”, which is emerging as a reaction to the attack. In France, this front ranges from the secularist left all across to the radical right of Jean-Marie Le Pen. As anti-imperialists, social revolutionaries and “enlightened”, rationally thinking people, we insist: 1. Not to forget the imperialist character of the present world order, which denies the majority of humankind any perspective … [read more]

Facing the crisis the tiny and omnipotent global oligarchy so far did not change paradigm. To overcome the problems they even radicalised the neo-liberal policies which had led to the systemic collapse. A new and even more devastating disaster is looming. It is not by accident that the European Union is the epicentre of the systemic crisis. This stems from its very structure, from the criteria on which the common market and the single currency has been built. Despite the obvious insustainability of the Euro, the rulers have been doing whatever possible to keep the single currency alive. The consequences for the people are devastating especially for those considered peripheral. To avoid decline and destruction leaving the Euro and the European Union as well as regaining national … [read more]

1. To find a national, reasonable political solution to the Syrian conflict. 2. To follow up on the points that were agreed upon at the first conference in Schlaining in March 2014, to examine their validity, and to present a practical plan for the continuation of the peace process in Syria. 3. To discuss the plan to hold a national, all-encompassing conference of all Syrian political forces in Damascus or somewhere in Syria. The two-days discussions were characterized by a seriousness and a spirit of responsibility, despite of some mutual accusations between the different groups who blamed each other for prolonging the war. Nonetheless, the determination of the participants to reach an agreement on some common points prompted them to identify the points of agreement, and to … [read more]

I ask independent media to publish this appeal, which I write while sitting in a Moldovan prison cell. To begin with (for those who still do not know), my criminal case was fabricated and all the criminal charges are politically motivated. I permit myself to make this appeal in the form of congratulations to representatives of the Western diplomatic missions. Today, they can celebrate the results of the recent parliamentary elections in Moldova. So I want to first of all congratulate the U.S. ambassador and head of the EU delegation in Moldova. Distinguished diplomats: While you provided all possible moral and financial support to the corrupt government of oligarchs and bribe-takers (in the opinion of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova), the first political … [read more]

Demise of the French elites For the EU France is not one country among others. She neither belongs to the southern periphery such as Greece and Portugal, nor the peripheral centre like Italy. Paris used to be the union’s spiritus rector, its very demiurge. It was the French bureaucracy to forge the German-French axis, the European integration with the aim to build a supra-national regime of the capitalist classes. Together with their partners they wanted to institutionally strengthen themselves to wipe out the social and democratic gains achieved by the popular classes after WWII. The goal was a European quasi-state. In this way they wanted at the same time to control the stronger and potentially dangerous German neighbour. The formula: In exchange to adopting the German economic … [read more]

Emiliano Brancaccio, economist, professor at the university of Sannio, author of “Austerity is right wing” Stefano Fassina, former deputy minister for economy, representative of the left wing of the Partito Democratico Paolo Ferrero, secretary of Rifundazione Comunista Vladimiro Giacchè, economist, representative of the Partito dei Comunisti Italiani, president of economic institute Centro Europa Ricerche Enrico Grazzini, economic journalist for MicroMega and l’Espresso Leonardo Mazzei, representative of the Coordinamento sinistra contro l’Euro and the Movimento Populare di Liberazione The single currency, conceived as instrument to overcome the imbalances between the European countries and to enable the union to face the challenges of globalization, failed on … [read more]