At present, the PublixTheatre Caravan remains incarcerated following the demonstrations in Genoa. The twenty-five performers were arrested on 22 August and potentially face six months of pre-trial detention before their cases will be decided. Below is their first statement from jail and information on ways to offer much needed public support.

Background:

On Sunday, 22 July at 6:30 pm, police arrested twenty-five activists from the "PublixTheatre Caravan NO Border NO Nation", approximately 15 km from Genoa town centre. The group included individuals from Austria, U.S., Slovakia, Germany, Australia, and Sweden. Italian police have accused the performers of willful damage to property and looting. The Caravan is also being charged with membership in the "black bloc" (which authorities allege to be a "criminal organization"), due to the presence of stage props and several black t-shirts amongst their belongings.

In detaining the PublixTheatre Caravan, officials are evidently attempting to justify the brutal police repression which resulted in at least one death during the G8 Summit. The Caravan, part of the "European Noborder Network"- united in a platform against racism, utilized artistic performance as a non-violent tool for demonstrating.

Update:

The Caravan's next legal hearing will occur on Monday 13th of August, when the judge will decide whether the Caravan members will be released or spend up to six more months in pre-trial detention. At present, all twenty-five people remain incarcerated.


PublixTheatre Caravan's Statement:

Cultural Stiff 01- First letter of the imprisoned

The text was written by the Caravan men imprisoned in Alessandria, Italy . The women, held in Voghera, Italy, read it and agreed to publish it.

Cultural Stiff 01

"Freedom of Movement" is the main concern of the european NOborder-network and the Publixtheatrecaravan - Volxtheaterkarawane which is embedded in the network in the summer of 2001.
We are on tour from Nickelsdorf through Salzburg, Lendava (Slo), Eisenkappel (A), Genova (I) to Frankfurt/Main (D), where we never arrived because of our arrests after the G8-summit in Genua.
Tourdiary: http://www.no-racism.net/nobordertour

So far we felt like air castles builder, cyberartists, jugglers and scrutinizing nomads. As a theatregroup we feel obliged to the tradition of improvisation and we dont let put ourselves in costumes which try to knit makeup out of woolen hats.

About our arrest:
- 3 hours in front of shotguns and MG4's pointing on us - finger on the trigger
- records about us were made by the italian police - hittings, kickings and humiliations
- no sleep (under threats)

Later (after 30 hours) in prison:
- no telephone calls
- until now nearly no contact to lawyers
- bad interpreters (during the time while they proved the reasons for our arrests)
- no access to media
- for six days nothing to write
- nektor, z nas nemali ziaden kontakt s konzulatum
- nothing to read or juggle

Although we have been split - without reason - from the arrested women, from the outside world and therefore from information we try to take a stand with following demands:

- Our protest and our political claim - no matter which time and which place - will carry our specific cultural expression which we will develop
- we demand to stop the classification of people in "wanted" and "unwanted" and the stop of the restriction of the freedom of the movement like f.e. the duty of residence for people seeking for asylum or the producing of lists about political unwelcomed people.
- we demand the stop of all proceedings concerning the G8-protests and the freedom for all prisoners who were arrested because of G8-protests and the solving of the happenings in Genua in particular the death of Carlos Giuliani and the storming of "Scuola Diaz"
- we want to leave the prisons together with our dog Pogo, with our theatre props, our kitchen, our vehicles, computer, cameras and our stinkin' socks.

We are not swedes, australians, americans, slovakians, germans, austrians - we are Publixtheatrecaravan

We work out a play in which we take a stand to everything that happened during our tour. For us theatre is an important political expression. This play should help to clear and digest all the happenings we are confrontated with now.
Working title: Genova - premiere: uncertain

PS: Greetings to the bordercamp at the airport in Frankfurt/Main and to all people outside there who declared their solidarity!

Abolition of internment and deportation - worldwide

NOborder - NOnation - NOone is illegal!!!!


Support the Caravan by:

**Signing the online petitions at
http://www.no-racism.net/cgi-bin/subscribe.cgi
and
http://www.noborder.org/noprison/sign.html

**Writing letters to the Caravan members in prison:
(women)
casa circondariale voghera
via prati nuovi 7
I - 27058 voghera

(men)
casa di reclusione
alessandria - san michele
strada statale 31
I - 15040 alessandria

**Calling the prisons to express your support for the Caravan (and all G8 prisoners) immediate release:

0039-0383-212222/women`s prison in voghera and
0039-0131-361781/men`s prison in alessandria

**Pressuring Embassies in Italy for their release:

American Embassy in Rome: 0039-02-290 351
and American Consulate in Milano: 0039-06-46741

Australian Embassy: 0039-06-852 721

German Consulate in Milano: 0039-02-623 110

Slovakian Embassy: 0039-06-363 086 17

Austrian Embassy: 0039-02-481 2937

Swedish Consulate in Milano: 0039-02-869 3688

For fax document & numbers visit: http://www.no-racism.net/nobordertour/noprison/protest.html#en

**Donations:
Extensive Funds will be needed for lawyers' fees, as well as transport home for the (hopefully, soon to be released) members of the PublixTheatreCaravan. For details on donating visit- http://www.no-racism.net/nobordertour/noprison/donate_uk.html

**For more information visit:
http://www.no-racism.net/nobordertour/index_uk.html