[Free Roger Noël, a Belgish anarchist imprisoned in Warsaw, Poland ]

descriptif :

Symbole(s) utilisé(s) : A cerclé (A encerclé) Ⓐ — poing levé — barreaux de prison

[ texte ; photo (Roger Noël) derrière barreaux dessinés ]

texte :

Free Roger Noël

a Belgium anarchist imprisoned in Warsaw … Poland

FREE ROGER NOEL, A BELGIAN ANARCHIST IMPRISONED IN WARSAW. POLAND
Roger Noel, a Belgian Anarchist, was arrested and imprisoned by the Polish police on the 6th July, 1982.
He was charged with helping Radio SolidarnosSc make illegal broadcasts in Warsaw.

Roger Noël - anarchist militant

Roger Noël (Babar) has been an Anarchist militant in Belgium for over twelve years. He has been involved in a large number of non-authoritarian campaigns in Brussels over the past decade. Babar was instrumental in the establishment of the first "free radio" in Brussels and is now the chairperson of a co-operative network of "free" radio stations in Belgium. Babar has been prominent in the Belgium anti-nuclear movement and has been involved in the struggle for the rights of migrant workers in Belgium.

ASBL 22 Mars

Roger Noël is first and foremost an Anarchist militant. He was disappointed with the inertia of the traditional Belgium Anarchist movement which was academically orientated. Roger Noël with a number of similarly disillusioned Belgian Anarchists pooled their resources and skills and six years ago opened up the ASBL 22 Mars printery. The printery initially began with old machinery but because of the quality of their work and reliability they have built up a large anti-authoritarian clientele and have built up a large printery with modern, up-to-date printing equipment and computer typesetting facilities.

As well as working with the printery Babar and the other members of the collective produce a monthly anti-authoritarian newspaper (which has an Anarchist insert) As a group they have involved themselves in 3 variety of anti-authoritarian struggles in Belgium.

ASBL 22 Mars helps solidarity

Solidarity has its headquarters in exile in Brussels. The ASBL 22 Mars printery printed material for Solidarity which was smuggled into Poland. Roger Noel went into Poland with Belgian food convoys on two occasions. During his stay in Poland, he made contact with various anarcho-syndicalists in Warsaw and brought out valuable information about the situation in Poland.

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In early July, he once again went into Poland with the Belgian food convoys. His knowledge of "pirate" radio stations and how to set up portable "pirate" radio stations was a great asset to the Solidarity underground. He was advising and helping Radio-Solidarnosc make "pirate" broadcasts when he was arrested by the Polish authorities.

The arrest

Roger Noël was arrested with two Radio-Solidarnosc workers Madame Romaszewski and Joanna Szczesna on the 6th of July, while broadcasting "illegally" to the Polish people. Fortunately other members making broadcasts were able to escape and after one month "illegal" broadcasts by Radio-Solidarnosc began again. Unfortunately, this second "pirate" radio station was seized by the Polish police on the 31st of August.

The situation today

Roger Noël (Babar) has been held in a Warsaw prison since the 6th of July. He has been charged with the offence of helping to make "illegal" broadcasts. Under martial law he is liable to spend the next three to twelve years of his life in prison.

He has been undergoing repeated interrogations and to date he has not been brought to trial.

The Belgian Ambassador in Warsaw has been able to see him every four weeks. He is not allowed other visitors and we have recently heard that his health is bad and his morale is low, because of constant harassment by the agents of the Polish dictatorship.

What can we do ?

Two members of the Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society stayed with Roger Noël (Babar in April this year while they were in Belgium. During their stay in Brussels they were impressed with Babar’s commitment, enthusiasm and energy in propagating Anarchist ideas in Belgium.

A ’Free Roger Noel’ committee has been established in Brussels. They are co-ordinating efforts to put pres-sure on the Polish authorities to release him. The Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society urge individuals and groups in Australia and overseas to put pressure on the Polish authorities to release Roger Noel, by
(a) writing to the Polish embassy, demanding roger Noël’s release, and demand information about
1) the charge against Roger Noel
2) information about his health
3) the date of his trial
4) the right to send him letters while he is in prison
5) etc.

Embassy of the Polish people’s republic
7 Turrana street
Yarralumla 2600
Canberra Australia.

(b) write to the Belgium embassy, asking about
1) the charge against Roger Noël
2) his state of health
3) what is the Belgian Government doing to secure his release

Embassy of Belgium
19 Arkana street
Yarralumla 2600
Canberra Australia

(c) write directly to Roger Noël, to keep up his morale and to let the Polish authorities know that he has friends all over the world who are working for his release

Roger Noël
Rakowieck prison
Warsaw Poland

(d) raise money for Roger Noel’s defence fund. This should be sent to Brussels, to

Free Roger Noël Committee
ASBL "22 Mars"
2 rue de l’Inquisition
1040 Brussels
Belgium Telephone 736 2776

We, the Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society, urge all individuals and groups who are involved in anti-authoritarian struggles to help Roger Noël. Anarchism knows no national boundaries. International Solidarity is one of the essential elements of Anarchism.

Roger Noël needs International Solidarity in order to have a chance of being released by the Polish authorities. We urge all people who come across this leaflet to show it to their friends, send it to newspapers, and publicise Babar’s plight, so that international pressure can be brought to bear on the Polish military dictator-ship.

Please address all enquiries about this leaflet to

LIBERTARIAN WORKERS FOR A SELF-MANAGED SOCIETY
P.O. Box 20
Parkville 3052
Melbourne Australia

The LIBERTARIAN WORKERS is an organised group of people who are unified around the essential demand .for workers and community councils as the basis of real democracy. In these councils people will have equal decision-making and be paid an equal wage. We do not see ourselves as yet another leadership, but merely people in socialist struggle where we live and work. We do not reflect values of leadership internally. Our structure is based on equal decision-making and autonomy. As an individual member or as a minority, different political opinions on the best way to achieve these aims are able to be held and publicly articulated as the position of a minority as opposed to the majority. The function of this statement is to help all those who are in conflict with the present authoritarian social structure, both in industry and in society at large, to generalise their experience. to make a total critique of their conditions and its causes, not just ones of their particular situation, and to build autonomous organisations which will develop the people’s revolutionary consciousness which is necessary if society is to be totally transformed. We encourage you to join an organised struggle for these aims because isolated individual acts, no matter how courageous or hull of integrity, are easily defeated by ruling class oppression.

In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
Georges Orwell

[logo :] LW

Libertarian Workers for a Self-managed Society
PO Box 20
Parkville 3052
Melbourne Australia

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