The Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network exists to provide information on people imprisoned for actions in defence of the earth and its inhabitants. We include people, animal and earth liberationists, those fighting on anti-nuclear and peace issues, indigenous struggles, anti-fascists, MOVE prisoners and more. Subscribe to our bi-monthly email newsletter, Spirit Of Freedom, by emailing us and asking to be added. Subscribe to ELP Extra! to be emailed the latest breaking news.

ELP has learnt that two American animal rights activists have been remanded accused of stalking. At the moment information is very sketchy, but more info will follow. In the mean time please send letters of support to:

Linda Greene, #1300927
Century Regional Detention Facility
11705 S.
Alameda Street
Lynwood, CA 90262
USA

Kevin Olliff, #1300931
Terminal Annex
P.O.
Box 86164
Los Angeles, CA 90086-0164
USA

As some people will be aware, a Dutch animal rights activist, Peter Janssen, was arrested accused of releasing mink from a fur farm. ELP has just learnt that following a recent court appearance, Peter has been remanded into custody.

Please send urgent letters of support to:

PI Noordsingel
Peter Janssen 5102880
Postbus 37066
3005 LB Rotterdam
Holland

Below is a mailout from his support campaign...

At this moment Peter is still in custody on suspicion of setting free of minks on a furfarm last month in Stavenisse. His arrest is remanded for another 2 weeks and he is being brought to a prison in Rotterdam.

This morning Peter has contacted us, with this circumstances he is doing fine. Animal Rights Media is giving Peter support as a supportersgroup. It would be very nice if all our visitors could write a letter of support to Peter. It isn't nice to stay inside the prison, so a small card or letter would make his stay there a little more pleasant. We urge everyone to send him a letter (see details below). You can also support Peter financial by transfering money to the bankaccount of Animal Rights Media. We'll take care that the money will be transfer to his 'prisoner bankaccount' so he can get something from the prisonershop, like phonecards.
If you are writing a letter to Peter, please include also envelopes and (dutch) poststamps so he can write back to the outside world. Please take notice that letters can be read by employees of the prison. Don't write things what might be harming you, others or Peter. By our website (www.AnimalRights.nl) we keep you all up to date.

Address:
PI Noordsingel
Peter Janssen 5102880
Postbus 37066
3005 LB Rotterdam

More information or if you have any qeustions, please contact Supportgroup Peter at redactie@animalrights.nl starting the subject with 'Steungroep Peter'!

ELP has learnt that a number of Mexican animal rights activists were arrested in February and are in need of support with their case. Below is a mailout from their supporters explaining their situation.

SOLIDARITY NEEDED FOR MEXICAN ANIMAL LIBERATION ACTIVISTS

Thirteen activists arrested during an anti-bullfighting protest in Mexico City in February 2009 need help with their legal costs.

On Thursday 5 February at around 3.30pm thirteen comrades were arrested in an annual anti-bullfighting protest in Mexico City. During the protest there was a confrontation with the police and some vehicles were damaged.

Among those arrested were young anti-authoritarians, punks, and students.

The names we have at the moment are:

Emmanuel Miranda
Mario Antonio Lopez
Vilchis
Gonzales
Juan Carlos Palafox
Jair Parras
Ulises Pazaran Vargas
Diego
Tellez
Calos Quintana Torrecilla
Israel Canek Perez
Juan Antonio
Villa
Adrian Caballero Morales

Juan Carlos Palafox has the heaviest charges as another of the arrestees denounced him as the "ringleader" in order to get their charges dropped.

It appears that all those arrested have now been released on bail. However bail costs varied and most of the arrestees had to organise loans, which now need to be paid back.

For example: Four of the arrestees had to borrow a total of 53,000 pesos (approx $6,640 NZD) to cover their bail costs and now need help to repay this.

Meanwhile another arrestee owes 700 pesos (about $100 NZD) that he borrowed to pay his bail.

Many of the charges have since been dropped but there is the possiblity that new charges may now be laid. Those arrested are still awaiting trial so also have legal fees to pay and possible fines if convicted.

I hope to have more information to hand soon. I don't have an official contact email for this group of people but
emails sent to rechazo_autonomo@riseup.net should be passed on to the right people. Any emails to this address should ideally be in spanish, however the person checking the mail does also speak some english.

IN SOLIDARITY WITH FREEDOM FIGHTERS EVERYWHERE!

ELP has the details of two new British animal rights prisoners. As some ELP supporters will be aware, last week there was a terrible and tragic accident during whilst Hunt Monitors monitored a Fox Hunt to ensure they did not break the law.

Two Hunt Monitors were in a privately owned Gyrocopter. The Gyrocopter landed for fuel and at least one of the hunt suppoters went up to confront the Hunt Monitors. Sadly in doing so the hunt supporter was hit by the gyrocopter and died. It was clearly an accident.

However, despite the obvious facts this was an accident, the police decided to arrest the two people in the gyrocopter on suspicion of murder!!! As a result of that, Bryan Griffiths (the pilot of the gyrocopter) has now been formally charged with murder and has been remanded into custody.

This is such a blatent miscarriage of justice its unbelievable and if anyone is a member of Amnesty International we encourage them to contact Amnesty about this. In the mean time please send urgent letters of support to:

Bryan Griffiths XW8892
HMP Hewell
Hewell Lane
Redditch B97 6QS
England

Bryan is a vegetarian.

Please remember,when writing to Bryan that he is up on a very very very serious charge, so despite your views on fox hunting, don't say anything like "the bastard deserved it" or anything like that. This was a tragic accident and Bryan never intended to even injure the hunt supporter, yet alone kill him.

ELP has learnt that earlier today Nicole Vosper appeared in court and made a plea at Winchester Crown Court today charges relating to Huntingdon Life Sciences. We're unsure what those exact charges are as yet, but please send urgent letters of support to:

Nicole Vosper VM9385
HMP Bronzefield
Woodhthorpe Road
Ashford
Middx
TW15 3JZ
England

ELP has just learnt that yesterday, 13th of March, an American animal rights activist, Jordan Halliday, was jailed for contempt of court after he refused to testify before a Grand Jury.

Please send letters of support to:

Jordan Halliday #324013
c/o Salt Lake County Metro Jail
3415 S. 900 W.
Salt Lake City, UT 84119
USA

On Thursday the 5th of March two Americans, William "BJ" Veihl and Alex Hall, were raided and arrested accused of raiding a mink farm in Utah, last August, and attempting to raid a second mind farm, in October 2008. Both are being held at Salt Lake County Jailed charged with Animal Enterprise Terrorism.

Both BJ and Alex are vegan, but both are being denied vegan meals (this is despite the fact their friends and supporters are being told, by the jail, they are getting vegan food!!!). People are working on assuring BJ and Alex get the food they require. But in the mean time please send urgent letters of support to:

William Veihl
Booking #:906617
Prisoner ID: 323754
c/o Salt Lake County Metro Jail
3415 S. 900 W.
Salt Lake City, UT 84119
USA

Alex Jason Hall
Booking number: 906610
Prisoner ID: 323748
c/o Salt Lake County Metro Jail
3415 S. 900 W.
Salt Lake City, UT 84119
USA

E-mailed messages of support can be sent to bjandalexsupport@gmail.com However remember no prisoner has access to e-mail, so if you want a reply you'll need to include a postal address.

ELP has recently received some excellent news. The French eco-activist, Yildune Levy, who was on remand accused of sabotaging railway lines to protest against the nuclear power industry, has been released from prison pending her trial. However as far as we are aware, her co-defendant Julien Coupat remains in prison. Therefore please continue to send letters of support to:

Julien COUPAT
N° d'écrou 290173
42 rue de la santé
75014 Paris
France

Other good news is the Antifa prisoners Vahtang Devitlidze from Russia and Yuri Yurevich from Belarus have both been released from prison. Yuri, who was on remand, apparently received a 1.5 years "public works" sentence after he was convicted of fighting with a neo-nazi.

And finally, Olga Aleksandrovna Nevskaya, the Russian eco-activist serving 6 years for arson, criminal damage and causing explosions in protest at the war in Chechnya, has been released from prison.

However, despite the good news, ELP has also been told about a number of new prisoners who are being added to our Antifa lists.

Russian Antifa activist, Aleksey Bychin, has been remanded for fighting with neo-nazis. Whilst Andrei Mergenov has been sentenced to 3 years for a fight with neo-nazis.

Please send letters of support to:

Aleksey Bychin
SIZO 47/2
ul. Akademika Lebedeva, dom. 39
195005 St. Peterburg
Russia

Andrei Mergenov
FGU IZ 64/1 OKB 2 komn. 73
Up. Kutyakova 107
410601 Saratov
Russia

Finally, ELP has learnt about an Anarchist/Animal Rights activist who has been jailed for non-animal rights reasons. Pavel Delidon was indispute with his employer over some wages which he had not received. Pavel allegedly took direct action to try and gather his wages and has subsequently been jailed, for merely trying to take money owed to him.

Pavel's address is:

Pavel Delidon
ul. Timiryazeva-1
FGU IK-7
309990 Valuyki
Russia

ELP has just learnt some great news. German Antifa Prisoner, Andrea Neff has been released from prison! This is brilliant news and we wish her well for the future.

ELP has just learnt about Natalja Liebich, a 'Party & Protest' anti-Globalisation prisoner who took part in both the anti-G8 protests in Heiligendamm in 2007 and the anti-NATO security conference protest in Munich in 2008, has been in prison for a while and is due to remain in prison until June of this year. Please send letters of support to:

Justizvollzugsanstalt Aichach
Natalja Liebich
Postfach 1380
86544 Aichach
Germany

Also check out her support blog site at natalja.blogsport.de

Supporters on the ELP-Extra mailing list may remember a posting a couple of years ago about three young German squatters who, during a police raid, threw rocks at the police. All three have been found guilty of throwing rocks and sentenced to five years imprisonment. For more info check out their support hausbesetzerinnensoli.de.vu

Although the three have been imprisoned for an action that falls outside of ELP's remit for support, if anyone would like to support them their addresses are:

Lukas Winkler
Marktplatz 1
96157 Ebrach
Germany

Stephanie Träger
Am Neudeck 10
Germany
Sven Maurer
Stadelheimerstr. 12
81549 München
Germany

Many thanks to the ABC group that sent us this information. As always, ELP welcomes all and any prisoner information we receive. As a small group of volunteers we rely upon our supporters to keep us up-to-date with prisoner news. So if you are aware of any prisoners who are not listed by ELP, but who you feel we might be interested in, please do let us know. Even if we don't list the prisoners ourselves, we're more than likely to pass on their details to other who may wish to support them.

ELP has just heard that two Swedish boys/young men have been remanded into custody today accused of an arson against a fur/leathershop in Orebro.

Both of them are young and this is their first time in custody so it might be a bit rough for them. Please take a few minutes to write them an e-mail of support. They have full restrictions which means no phone calls are allowed. They can receieve letters and cards but the prosecutor must first read them and this means it might take up to two weeks for them to receive their messages of support.

For legal reasons ELP can not name the two prisoners, but messages of support can be e-mailed to them at orebro2@gmail.com The e-mails will be printed and sent off on a daily basis.

Receiving letters of support when you are inside is always really important, so please do send them an e-mail today.

ELP has just received the following e-mail from Eric McDavid's support campaign.

> Dear friends,
>
> Last month marked the 3rd year that Eric has spent behind bars. His
> arrest and imprisonment were a direct result of government infiltration
> and entrapment - Eric has spent the last three years of his life in a cage
> for what amounts to thought crime. Those years have been full of
> challenges and struggle, but Eric has met all of them with the utmost
> courage and integrity.
>
> Most recently, Eric has been enduring lockdowns at the prison, the loss of
> phone and internet access, and a move. On December 23, a "riot" broke out
> at Victorville, sending 6 inmates to the hospital and forcing 17 to be
> treated at the prison for injuries ranging from stab wounds to blunt
> trauma. We waited for two weeks to hear from Eric - not knowing whether
> or not he was ok. On January 5 he was finally able to call and let us
> know he was ok. Victorville remains on lockdown, but they were easing up
> on restrictions and he was able to receive visitors two weeks ago
> (although that has changed yet again...).
>
> During the lockdown it became difficult for Eric to get vegan food.
> Normally this is not a problem for him - chowhall has plenty of vegan
> options, and he can supplement this with items from the commissary to
> round out his diet. But during the lockdown, prisoners only had access to
> the food brought to them in their cells. This greatly limited Eric's
> diet. Fortunately, after trying various avenues for redress, the food
> situation improved and Eric is now (last we heard) receiving enough food.
>
> However, as part of the attempt to get vegan food, an "illegal" (according
> to the prison) phone call was made. As punishment for trying to get
> himself food, Eric's phone and email access was turned off for 60 days.
> Other than letters and face to face visits, which are difficult and costly
> for friends and family (and as a result, they don't happen very often),
> phones and email are Eric's main lifeline outside the prison.
>
> Unfortunately, this is not the only thing... Over the weekend, an
> incident at one of the facilities at Victorville (it is unclear which
> facility) caused both the Medium I and the Medium II facilities to go on
> lockdown, which means visitation has been canceled until further notice.
> After discovering this, we checked to make sure that Eric was still at the
> Medium II facility and found that he has, in fact, been moved to the
> Medium I at Victorville. This is difficult news for a variety of reasons.
>
> We are left wondering why Eric was moved in the first place, but also it
> means that Eric's life has been uprooted and scrambled once again. It is
> doubtful that he got to take much - if anything - from his previous cell
> with him. It's possible he lost letters, addresses, pictures, etc. Eric
> now has to start all over in a new environment, which can be extremely
> complicated and stressful when that environment is a federal prison.
>
> We will keep you updated on this situation as we find out more.
>
> The appeals process has been delayed multiple times. Eric's opening brief
> is now due March 5. He has multiple strong arguments on appeal, and we
> look forward to getting the process moving. If all goes well, everything
> could be filed for review by the appeals court sometime this summer.
>
> Thank you all for your continued support. Eric has been receiving your
> letters and they have definitely helped him through these winter months -
> especially during these lockdowns when he has not been able to have
> contact with his loved ones.
>
> Please remember that Eric has been moved - which means he has a new address:
>
> Eric McDavid 16209-097
> FCI Victorville Medium I
> Federal Correctional Institution
> PO Box 5300
> Adelanto, CA 92301
>
> We'll keep you updated as things moved forward with the appeals.
>
> Yours,
> SPS
>
> www.supporteric.org

ELP has just learnt that the SPEAK spokesperon, Mel Broughton, who has campaigned tirelessly against vivisection taking place at Oxford University, was today convicted of "conspiracy to commit arson" and sentenced to ten years imprisonment.

ELP regards the trial of Mel as an overt polictical act, which came around to try and silence this dedicated campaigner from taking part in a highly successful lawful campaign against Oxford University and its animal torture activities.

The New Labour Government has consistantly shown its contempt for animal rights campaigns and Mel is the latest victim in a long line of campaigners who have been jailed for apposing the vivisection industry, which the New Labour Government has committed itself to defending at all costs.

ELP fully supports Mel and we encourage everyone to send urgent letters of support to:

Mel Broughton TN9138
HMP Woodhill
Tattenhoe Street
Milton Keynes
Bucks
MK4 4DA
England.

ELP has just heard the results of the British SHAC Trial.

Heather Nicholson received 11 years.
Greg Avery and Natasha Avery received 9 years.
Gavin Med-Hall received 8 years.
Dan Wadham received 5 years.
Dan Amos and a seventh defendant received 4 years.

At this moment it time it is not known if the 7th defendant wishes to receive prisoner support or not. Prisoner support activists are trying to contact them and ELP will let you know if this person wants support or not as soon as we know ourselves.

In the mean time please send urgent letters of support to:

Dan Amos VN7818
HMP Winchester
Romsey Road
Winchester SO22 5DF
England

Gregg Avery TA7450
HMP Winchester
Romsey Road
Winchester, SO22 5DF
England

Natasha Avery NR8987
HMP Bronzefield
Woodthorpe Road
Ashford, Middx TW15 3JZ.
England

Gavin Medd-Hall WV9475
HMP Winchester
Romsey Road
Winchester SO22 5DF
England

Heather Nicholson VM4859
HMP Bronzefield
Woodthorpe Road
Ashford,
Middx TW15 3JZ.
England

Dan Wadham WV9474
HMP Winchester
Romsey Road
Winchester SO22 5DF
England

As a lot of ELP supporters will be aware, last year the British police raided a large number of properties across Britain and into mainland Europe, seeking out SHAC activists. Although the main purpose of these raids appears to of been designed to intimidate lawful campaigners from involving themselves with a very sucessful lawful campaign, eight of those arrested were later charged with "conspiracy to blackmail". The evidence appears to of been that they were involved with a lawful campaign but some people, unknown to them, carried out illegal activities against SHAC campaign targets and therefore they were conspiring to blackmail. I know, it doesn't make sense to us either, but thats the British legal system for you!

Prior to the trial starting three of the defendants, Gregg Avery, Natasha Avery and Daniel Amos pleaded guilty to their nonsense charge, whilst the others pleaded not guilty.

Following a long trial, today the Jury returned their verdict finding Heather Nicholson, Gerrah Selby, Daniel Wadham, and Gavin Medd-Hall, guilty. Fifth defendants, Trevor Holmes, was found not guilty.

Following the guilty verdicts sentencing has been set for the 19th of January 2009. Gerrah, Dan W, and Gavin were all bailed pending sentencing. The others, who were already on remand, were sent back to prison pending sentencing.

Please send urgent letters of support to:

Dan Amos VN7818
HMP Winchester
Romsey Road
Winchester
SO22 5DF
England.

Gregg Avery TA7450
HMP Winchester
Romsey Road
Winchester
SO22 5DF
England.

Natasha Avery NR8987
HMP Bronzefield
Woodthorpe Road
Ashford
Middx.
TW15 3JZ
England.

Heather Nicholson VM4859
HMP Bronzefield
Woodthorpe Road
Ashford
Middx.
TW15 3JZ
England.

As ELP recently reported, a number of French Anarchists have been arrested accused of sabotaging railway lines in protest at nuclear convoy trains. The majority of the defendants, known at the Tarnac 9, have been bailed pending their trial. However two of the defendants, Yildune Levy [RELEASED!] and Julien Coupat, have been remanded into custody. Their prison address are:

Julien Coupat
N° d'écrou 290173
42 rue de la santé
F-75014 Paris
France

However supporters of the Tarnac 9 have said they believe both remaining prisoners may be released tomorrow. ELP will bring you more information on this as we receive it. In the meantime, please check of the following websites for further information on the case:

* http://www.soutien11novembre.org (French language site)
* http://tarnac9.noblogs.org (German language site)
* http://tarnac9.wordpress.com (English language site)

Finally, not wishing to depress people during this festive season, but it appears the Dutch police are looking to have their own persecution of animal rights activists. The following article was spotted on the internet:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-12/22/content_10544561.htm

BRUSSELS, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Netherlands will set up a special police
unit to address radical actions against individuals and companies by animal
rights activists, the Home Affairs Ministry said.

The special team, which also includes members from the public prosecution
department and the Dutch intelligence service, will try to prevent dangerous
intimidation practices by extreme animal rights organizations, Home Affairs
Minister Guusje ter Horst was quoted by local newspaper De Telegraaf as
saying Sunday.

The decision followed repeated attacks on company or individual properties
in the Netherlands by animal rights activists.

The latest one occurred early Saturday morning when two cars of a top
executive of NYSE Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange, which were parked in
front of his home in the western Dutch town of Wassenaar, were set on fire.

The shares of Huntingdon Life Sciences, a British animal testing center, are
traded on Euronext.

Although no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, a similar attack
last month a former senior executive of Euronext in the central Dutch town
of Hilversum was claimed by an animal rights group.

In March, several houses of Euronext executives were covered with graffiti
after British animal activists published their personal details on websites.
The website called on visitors to send unwanted e-mails to the executives
every day.

The violence used by activists is "very dangerous" and "an unacceptable form
of intimidation directed at people who are simply doing their job," Ter
Horst told Dutch TV broadcaster NOS on Sunday. "We must come down hard on
it," she said.

The new Dutch team is modeled on a similar British force combating animal
rights extremism.

In reaction to Saturday's attack, a spokesman for the Dutch animal rights
group Respect for Animals said such sort of attack is acceptable.

"We think the fact that animals are used in pointless experiments is worse.
Cars do not have feelings," he said.

Jonatan, the 20-year old Swedish eco-activist who carried out a number of eco-sabotage actions, has been sentenced to 15 months imprisonment. He has also been given a 36,000 SEK fine.

Following the sentence Jonatan's lawyer lauched an appeal and this appeal will be heard on the 8th of January 2009. Whilst awaiting his appeal Jonatan will remain free.

It is the opinion of the "tingsrätt" (the Swedish low court that passed the sentence) that Jonatan is "capable of causing society so much damage/danger that even though he is under 21 there is no other possible punishment but [a] prison sentence". However it is now up to the "Göta Hovrätt" (high court) to decide if Jonatan does indeed have to go to prison.

ELP will bring you more news as we get it, but in the mean time we urge everyone to send messages to support to Jonatan by e-mailing freejonatan@yahoo.se

ELP has learnt that a British vegan anarchist has been remanded into prison for alleged animal rights activity.

Dean Cain is alleged to have trespassed at a rabbit farm, and has been charged with:

1. SOCPA 145 (interfering with a contractual relationship so as to harm an animal research organisation).
2. Conspiracy to commit SOCPA 145.
3. Conspiracy to commit criminal damage.

Dean applied for but was refused bail because he was already on bail for taking part in a protest against the Chinese Embassy earlier this year.

Dean has asked to be added to mailing lists and is particularly interested in anarchist publications. Please send urgent letters of support to:

Dean Cain
WJ4309
HMP Lincoln
Greetwell Rd
Lincoln
LN2 4BD
England

The American prisoner, Marie Mason, has been moved to a new prison address. As all ELP supporters will be aware, Marie recently admitted her involvement with an ELF arson campaign aimed at a University involved with GM crop tests. She was also named by the police as a participant in a number of other ELF actions. Marie is currently on remand awaiting sentencing where she is expected to receive 15-20 years imprisonment.

Please send letters of support to:

Marie Jeanette Mason
Clinton County Jail
1347 E Townsend Rd.
Saint Johns, MI 48879
USA

Marie is a vegan so it is essential she is also supported in making sure she receives the correct diet.