Black Block Page #4

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They called the embassy in Rome,

they called everyone.

My brother looked everywhere

without finding out where we were

and

Yes, sorry but this is

the hardest part for me.

My brother, without knowing...

som

My brother simply got into his car

to come and get me.

He found out where I was

and he came to the police station.

I was inside and I saw him outside.

We touched hands but it wasn't easy

because of the metal ban.

I hadn't had any contact with

my loved ones for four days.

I was...

I felt completely alone,

I didn't even know

what had happened to Lena.

I was lost, at the mercy of the police

and the prison guards.

for years I was unable to sleep,

I had nightmares.

I couldn't forget about

what had happened.

In the end I realized that

I was suffering from a "trauma".

I accepted this fact

for the first time in 2004

when I saw it on the leaflet

of a group.

The leaflet described post traumatic

stress disorder and its symptoms.

I think I cried all night long.

I was so relieved that someone

had described my situation.

I realized that I wasn't

completely mad,

that I wasn't weak and that

I wasn't crazy

but that mine was a normal reaction

to an abnormal event.

So after 5 years

I felt a glimmer of hope,

when I went back to Genoa

for the trials.

And so I started living again.

I had to pull through for myself.

And that's when I started from.

GENOA:

After giving evidence in Genoa

l started seeing a psychotherapist

who helped me a gnat deal.

for me starting over

was really important

because after Genoa

I'd taken a long pause.

I'd not done much politically.

I felt like they'd taken away

my ability to take action.

As soon as I saw a group of

police officers, I'd start sweating.

Even participating in normal

demonstrations had become hard.

I've never analyzed it fully.

I met people who'd had similar

experiences to mine,

people who came from leRist

political activism

and they each had their own experience

they had to work though.

And we created a group that deals

with this sort of thing.

It's called

"Activist trauma support".

They wom a bit like paramedics

at demonstrations.

Their task is to stitch up

physical wounds.

Whereas we are there

to heal the mental wounds.

At the G8 in Germany we eectively

provided this psychological support

to provide people with help

and information.

It was a good way for me to restart

taking part in political resistance.

The G8 has become a sort of symbol.

We'll try to stop the next G8 as well.

But I wanted to continue with this

direction because I'd experienced it.

So for three years I attended

an alternative medicine course.

It allows you to work in the medical

field without being a doctor.

After doing this initial course

I'd have the opportunity

to continue with my studies.

I could go to university

and study psychology

and then I'd finally be able

to offer therapy for traumas.

I'm still politically active.

I try to do things that go beyond

my daily work.

What's dierent about how my life

was before Genoa

is that I do things

on a non personal level.

When I was younger politics

meant big demonstrations for me,

action, meeting people.

But now politics

influences my daily life.

I try to live what I think could and

should exist even on a wider scale.

That which I fight for.

But only a revolution would achieve

this. I don't think that'll happen.

But this is how I want to live,

it's my way of fighting for the cause.

I still think today that what

was done to us at the Diaz School

was, considering what happened,

an act of forced repression.

They wanted to show what can happen

when you bother those in power,

when you get too close to them.

The fact that they beat us up

until we were black, blue and purple

was their objective

and they achieved this.

When I returned to Berlin,

people hugged me, crying.

They were crying, not me,

even though I'd been through it.

I think their aim was to traumatize

the movement

with what they did to us.

Lots of things have happened to m e

in my life.

Genoa was such a powerful experience

that it mamed me deeply

and the one thing the police did not

achieve was to make me give up.

can say they achieved

the opposite.

I cannot, nor do I want to ntin

and lead a bourgeois life.

I don't want to do that.

Maybe I'm no longer on the front line

in many demonstrations.

But I'll continue doing what

I want to do.

They failed to break my spirit

in that school.

After the police raid on the Diaz

School, 93 people wen arrested.

They were charged with aiding

and abetting destruction and theft,

aggravated resistance

possession of firearms .

After 3 years of investigations,

the charges were dropped.

following the protesters' statements

29 officers wen investigated

and committed for trail for assault

and making false accusations.

On Appeal 25 officers were sentenced

to a total of 85 years in prison

and disqualified from public

offices for 5 years.

The protester received

one million euros in compensation.

While awaiting the Court of

Cassation the police oicers

have kept their jobs or received

promotions.

The chief of police, De Gennaro,

was sentenced to 1 year and 4 months

for induction to perjuy in a trail

connected with the Diaz School.

At present, he is the chief of the

Department of Information Security,

a body which supervises

the Italian secret services.

Ulnch Reichel:
"Muli" -After the traumatic events of 2001 , Ulnch began

his training as an alternative therapist. father of a daughter just a year

old, he lives in an occupied house in Benin with his Italian girlfriend,

and wishes to enwl in university to earn a degree in psychology.

Michael Gieser -A businessman, he is continuing his activity as

multilingual facilitator in creative learning methods. He lives in

southern France with his two children, who an 3 and 5 years old.

Daniel Mc auillan - In 2001 , after founding Multikulti, the multilingual

website for asylum applicants and refugees, he met and married

Njomeza, a refugee from Kosovo

The father of two children 3 and 7 years old, he is now a university

instructor. He organizes international "hack days" to create innovations

using digital technologies.

Niels Martensen -A vegan, since before 2001 he has been active in

defending the environment and tnes in particular.

Today, Niels is a professional agriculturist and has founded and

directs, along with Lena, the Arbonrtist cooperative, which has 15

employees. He lives in Hamburg in a genplatz.

Chabi Nogueras - Lives in Zaragoza and, a conscientious objector, has

been in the Antimilitay Alternative since before the G8. He now works at

the Pantera Rossa, an independent social centre. In a few months, his

daughter will be born, and he dreams of returning to Genoa with her.

Mina Zapatew - Upon completing her Arabic studies, she moved to

Beirut in 2002.

She now lives in Paris, where she is active in the world of independent

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