Cardiff: Prison squat resists eviction from High Court bailiffs

From Cardiff Squatters Network:

On Thursday 8^th August, at approximately 10am, High Court bailiffs showed up to join United Welsh representatives, police and contractors booked to secure buildings, in an attempt to evict Rumpoles, Moira Terrace, Cardiff, CF24 0NE (aka: prison squat / 0ne squat). By 12pm, without even attempting to enter, they left the occupiers in possession of the building.

At 9:30am the first few supporters started arriving outside, while some squatters took to the peak of the roof. The outside had been barricaded with furniture, gas bottles, compressed air canisters and a piano, while the inside was  well secured. A ‘Fire 2 the prisons’ banner had also been dropped from the windows the night before, during significant disturbances within Cardiff prison over the road.

Four police officers from Roath arrived warning the resisters that possessions used to barricade would be cleared away by the council, stating ‘Your rubbish makes Roath look poor’, even though the squat is in Adamsdown, but otherwise ignored the situation and promptly left.  At this point neighbouring prisoners began shouting  in support  of the squatters and against the cops.

The rest of the day was spent receiving strong support from, passersby and locals, particularly in the neighbouring Adamscourt, also owned by United Welsh Housing Association. While supporters continued to play piano and eat the skipped bakery goods from the night before.

Prison squat has been lived in for 3 weeks, and has hosted an anti-fascist benefit gig, No Borders film screening, prisoner letter writing, as well as other events. United Welsh plan to demolish the building. This work is to start no sooner than February 2014, in order to build 49 1 to 2 bedroom flats for ‘vulnerable people’, whilst denying the Adamscourt residents access to communal greenland in the process. Attempts from squatters to negotiate with owners have repeatedly failed.

South Wales Echo article – http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/masked-squatters-barricade-themselves-inside-5680263

Calais: Squat illegally evicted by PAF

From Calais Migrant Solidarity:

On Wednesday morning banners were dropped from a disused building belonging to the State on Rue de Quatre Coins reading ‘A Roof is a Right’ and ‘This is a legal squat’. The building had been occupied for many days beforehand, although clandestinely, and being safely past the 48 hour point, after which the police cannot enter or evict without a court order by French law, the occupants decided to make their occupation public. Police Nationale arrived shortly after but then left again to return with more police, but did not try to enter seemingly understanding their legal position and respecting the rights of those inside. A representative from the town hall also showed up, as well as a police forensics technician, who both took pictures of the door (and the legal notice that had been taped to it) but did not find anything to have been damaged and left again.

However, the next day at 7:30 AM around thirty PAF arrived and forced entry into the building by breaking the front door and climbing in an upper story window. Three people who were inside were arrested and taken to Coquelle, where they were held without food for ten hours, but then released without any charge or summons despite refusing to cooperate with police or identify themselves.

Police apparently also returned on Friday morning and went inside again as a banner reading ‘Ceci Reste un Squat Legal’ had been hung during the night.

*The door after police had broken it in with the legal notice still there; an indication of how much the PAF respect the law.

This occupation was intended to secure the building and force a legal procedure, so that it could later be opened up as a secure social center and sleeping place for people free from police raids and ID controls.

This occupation came just days after the Mayor of Calais was received by the French Minister of the Interior to explain the situation with migrants in the city and to plead with him for more police in Calais and to designate the city a ‘zones de sécurité prioritaire’. In their meeting she directly discussed the case of Rue Caillette and lamented her inability to get her papers in order before going to court, resulting in the court being unable to receive the complaint. But rather than understand that it is the city’s own incompetency which was responsible for this outcome, she blamed the law which is protecting the inhabitants of the squats that she considers a blight on the city’s image. She then cynically referred to the terrible living conditions inside the squats as further reason to evict them immediately, but without mentioning the complete lack of support or accommodation that the city provides which may allow people to live in more dignified conditions.

In any case, what is apparent after this eviction is that the city does not want any more legal squats, and is happier to continue breaking the law and keeping people on the street than see them exist in self-organized and autonomous spaces. For too long now though squats in Calais have been raided and evicted with impunity. This eviction presents a good opportunity to make a formal complaint and take the police and city to court for the actions.

London: Brixton squatters fight back against eviction

From Eviction Resistance:

Yesterday morning, Lambeth Council, the National Eviction Team and dozens of cops evicted 75 people from their homes in Rushcroft Road, Brixton. After 32 years, Lambeth Council has now decided to sell off the properties to estate agent giant and notorious tax dodger Foxtons. Fuelled by anger at the increasing gentrification of Brixton alongside Lambeth councils continuous failure to provide affordable housing, squatters, residents and locals put up a strong fight against the evictions.

A very excellent eyewitness account of yesterdays events can be found here.

And a Vice magazine article with some good pic’s here.

Although the evictions did go ahead, despite the resistance, all was not lost. Those who turned up in solidarity with the residents of Rushcroft Road sent the council a very clear message – ‘We will not go without a fight’. And with every eviction resistance, those involved becomes stronger and more united. The show of solidarity on Rushcroft Road yesterday, as with many other eviction resistances, really highlights the power of community. As Izzy put it in her eyewitness account, ‘ Looking back that evening at the days events people remarked what a strong resistance it was from a smallish group. It felt like some fucking feat to have kept them (the bailiffs) off so long, to have made their job so difficult, to defend the homes as best as we could. Just imagine what we could have done with even more people.’

Expect many more resistances like Rushcroft Road over the coming months.

Bristol: Respect to the braggs lane rooftop climbing club!

braggs lane rooftop climbing team

In unrooted news…  there was an overnight successful eviction resistance in Bristol this week. Keep up the good work Bristol rebels! ACAB forever.

From Squat.net:

The squat at Bragg’s Lane / West Street in Old Market, Bristol, was on the night of Monday 4th besieged by cops as part of an illegal aviction attempt. After an overnight rooftop protest and negoitation, possession was then regained by 6pm the following day.

See below the updates from ‘braggs lane rooftop climbing club’ from Tuesday 5th for more information on their inspiring eviction resistance: