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<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b><span
style="font-size: 14pt; color: navy;" lang="EN-US">Urgent Appeal for
International Solidarity! Stand up against police shooting of Maxwell
Itoya in Poland and the general criminalization of
immigrants in Europe on Wednesday, July 1<sup>st</sup>,
2010</span></b><span style="color: navy;" lang="EN-US"><br>
<br>
</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: navy;"
lang="EN-US">We send out this appeal to ask for your solidarity,
and more specifically, for action and reaction in international
solidarity to
the act of state violence that has recently taken place in Poland, but
which is
of great relevance to all those living within Fortress Europe.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: navy;"
lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: navy;"
lang="EN-US">We are a collective of Warsaw residents- immigrants and
non, alike-
currently engaged in struggle against state organs of repression- the
police in
particular- responsible for brutally murdering Maxwell Itoya, a Pole of
Nigerian origin on May 23, 2010. This fight is manifesting itself on
many
fronts, from the legal to the subversive; we are agitating in the
courts, the
media and the streets. Our aim is to bring to justice the guilty police
criminal, as well as the perverted racist system that has not only been
shielding this bastard under a veil of “objective” lies, but that has
also been
using the same bogus arguments to justify its atrocious criminalization
and
downright slaughter of the thousands of immigrants who try to traverse
the
barbed gates of Europe.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: navy;"
lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: navy;"
lang="EN-US">International pressure is crucial. The Polish police
is exerting all of its efforts to assure itself the undoubting faith of
public
opinion in the media while it carefully covers up the “accident,”
sweeping the
evidence under the rug of last week’s news. We refuse to allow this
matter to
disappear just the way that countless other acts of state and police
brutality
are regularly effaced from public consciousness. We will continue to
act and we
need your help!</span><b><span style="font-size: 13pt; color: navy;"
lang="EN-US">We call for international direct action and
demonstrations on Wednesday, July 1<sup>st</sup>, 2010 in the aim of
placing
pressure on the Polish government to guarantee a just and transparent
trial in
the case of Maxwell Itoya! We call for international solidarity in the
struggle
against exclusive citizenship regimes based on capitalist intents at
exploitation
and their armed bullies in the form of police, border guards and
Frontex!</span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: navy;"
lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: navy;"
lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="PL"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><strong><span style="color: navy;"
lang="EN-US">What happened on May 23?</span></strong><span
style="color: navy;" lang="EN-US"><br>
<br>
On May 23, around 10:00 am, during a routine control of shoe and
clothing
dealers- deemed "business criminals" by the authorities- at Warsaw's
main market,
non-uniformed police officers brutally arrested one of the sellers.
Witnesses
of the arrest, surprised by the unusual level of police violence, began
calling
on officers to regain calm. In reaction, one of the officers fired at
36
year-old Maxwell Itoya, a Pole of Nigerian origin, killing him on the
spot. The
police officer did not fire a warning shot in the air and the killing
occurred
in breach of legal procedure. All evidence reveals that Max did not
provoke
this radical act; he was not aggressive, rather, he called for peace
and calm.
The solidarity that Max showed towards his friends was answered by a
lethal
shot fired by a member of the police in his direction.<br>
<br>
Max's murder caused outrage in the crowd. 32 citizens of African
countries were
arrested and later charged with aggravated assault of police officers
and
destruction of property (stones were thrown at police cars). Currently,
there
is one- Agu Chidi- still being held under arrest and facing
deportation. Agu
Chidi has been held since May 23 without release and without any
information as
to his whereabouts.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: navy;"
lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: navy;"
lang="EN-US">Like many low-wage workers, Max sold goods at the
market on the weekends in order to support his family. His legal status
in Poland had been
fully regulated for years. He left behind a wife and three children.<br>
<br>
<b>We call on all those who want to help in bringing about a just trial
to
uphold the following demands in their own solidarity initiatives:</b></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="PL"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="color: navy;"
lang="EN-US">·Fundamental to a just and
transparent legal process is the authorities’ assurance that no
witnesses to
the crime shall be subject to deportation. The parties in this case are
representatives of the Polish government and immigrants. As the latter
party’s
well-being in Poland is evidently under the direct discretion of the
former,
fear of repercussions such as deportation or the denial to renew
temporary
residency permits so as to wield pressure on the witnesses is entirely
plausible. The only solution is thus to convey full legal status to the
witnesses:</span></b><span style="color: navy;" lang="EN-US"><br>
<span> </span>-<b>Amnesty for
Displaced Foreign Workers without legal status (“illegals”)</b><br>
<span> </span>-<b>Permanent
legal stay for witnesses in possession of temporary residency <span>permits</span></b><br>
<b>·We appeal for help and support for the family of the victim of this
brutal
police action.</b><br>
<b>·We demand explanation of the arrest of the 32 citizens of African
countries, their scandalous treatment, as well as of the attempts at
intimidation that have been directed towards them and their families by
police
officers.</b></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br>
<span style="color: navy;" lang="EN-US"></span></p>
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