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l. For more than a decade, Linksunten Indymedia, whose servers are physically located in Canada, served as the German Antifa platform. Despite their open advocating of militancy, and taking resposibility for violent attacks, German authorities never took any action against them. At this moment, it remains unclear what caused the sudden change of mind.

Last year, after a data theft, Linksunten Indymedia published thousands of private adresses of ordinary citizens who are members of the AfD (a center-right, Islam-critical oppositional party); and took responsibility for vandalizing the private house of Akif Pirincci (a famous German-Turkish author of bestselling cat novels, who, after criticizing German migrant and refugee policies, has fallen from grace with the Left).
None of this has ever resulted in any action by German authorities. Wikipedia still sugarcoat Indymedia as simply “a global open publishing network of journalist collectives that report on political and social issues.”

Indymedia Logo

It remains unclear what it was that suddenly caused German authorities to change their mind. One might speculate if it was the fact that this week, Indymedia took responsibility for an extensive series of sabotage acts on the German railway system which, even though it is completely concealed by the German mainstream press, put trains around Berlin to a complete halt for the whole last weekend, affecting thousands of commuters.
Der Spiegel speculates if it might have to do with the Antifa riots at the G20 summit in Hamburg last month.

As of 11 AM CET, the Linksunten Indymedia website is finally offline. Their twitter channels are still open.

The vandalized house of Akif Pirincci, as boasted on Antifa website Linksunten Indymedia

2. Der Spiegel: Interior Ministry Bans Left-Extreme Platform
“Linksunten.indymedia”
Interior Ministry Bans Left-Extreme Platform
According to Der Spiegel information, the Interior Ministry has banned the internet website “linksunten.indymedia.org”. The website is the most influential platform of the extreme left in Germany.
By Jörg Diehl

G20 riots in Hamburg

Friday, August 25, 2017, 7:12 AM
It is a serious blow against left extremes in Germany: According to Spiegel information, the Interior Ministry banned the website “linksunten.indymedia.org” on Friday morning. The decree was delivered to the operators of the platform, who live in Freiburg, in accordance with law of associations. The site were in its “purpose and actions violating criminal code” and were opposed to constitutional law, the Ministry’s announcement said. But the “Indymedia” website and their twitter channel are still available [the website has gone offline in the meantime, translator].

Security authorities deem the website, which was started in early 2009, the most influential platform of the left extreme scene in Germany – and as a forum for violent Autonomists [term the German Black Block use for themselves, translator].
In a self-portrayal from September 2016 (“Social revolution is and remains the only perspective”) the “Indymedia” organizers describe that their platform “developed intot he most important website of the radical left in German-speaking countries”: “Each day, thousands of leftists visit the website, to get the latest information about all aspects of antagonistical currents [sic!]. Occupations, attacks, debates or fights for wages – there are only few rebellions here and now that were not called for, or reported on, by ‘linksunten’.”
Each user can publish their own contributions, a team of administrators reviews the articles according to certain criteria, censors passages or completely removes texts – anonymity is the main priority of the virtual cooperation. The website provides advice for their users how to conceal their identity on the web.
In a confidential analysis, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution [German Intelligence, translator] lamented already months ago that Indymedia was a “lawless zone on the internet”. Due to their conspirational behavior, the authors of the texts, which in part are criminal, were impossible to identify, according to the investigators.

“All those beautiful claims of responsibility for attacks”
It appears that it is working principle of “Indymedia” to not know their authors: The operators cynically noted, when asked about their precautions against Ddos attacks and if they record their users’ IP adresses: “We do not want to know who publishes all those beautiful claims of responsibility for attacks..”
There are heaps of claims of responsibility on “linksunten.indymedia”, arsonry of cars of police, diplomats, security officers, Pegida followers. Paint bombs, molotov cocktails. Pepper spray attacks on fraternity members, fights with right extremists: “Hunt Nazis, Punch Nazis. And the cops too.”, an article published in December 2016 says.
Besides political statements, there constantly are instructions on how to build molotov cocktails, there are abuse and insults, calls for violence – like when in March a user wrote about the“fight against fascis” in Göttingen: “We will never again allow this, no matter how many windows we will have to break, how many barricades we will have to burn, and how many of those fascist-protecting cops will have to eat bricks.”

Responsible Heads Behind
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution [German intelligence, translator] identified three Freiburg residents as the responsible heads behind “linksunten.indymedia”. But the group of operators also includes many more moderators, technicians and administrators. According to „Indymedia“ self protrayal, coordination is done via mailing lists and member meetings in which about 30 people took place.
Authorities have been monitoring the forum for years, but the ban comes as a surprise – it might be a reaction to the severe riots during the G20 summit in Hamburg. Several CDU/CSU politicians had since demanded a tougher stance against left extremists. Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière (CDU) told “Stern”, Germany needed “a strong stance against left extremism just as against right extremism”.
The 19 CDU/CSU ministers for Interior and Justice plan to adopt a so-called ‘Berlin Declaration’ next week to present themselves as tokens for safety and order in the election campaign. Allegedly, the meeting will also deal with a stronger stance against leftist Autonomists [translator: Antifa/Black Block].

update:
3. German Left Howl: “Illegitimate Act of Censorship”
„The ban of indymedia.linksunten is an illegitimate act of censorship”, said the domestic speaker of Die Linke [“The Left”, former East German ruling party] Ulla Jelpke to Die Welt. „The project indymedia.linksunten stands for a leftist, anti-capitalist counter public. To restrict their reach and internal communications is an arbitrary curtailment of the freedom of opinion and press.“
She would not like everything on the website. But the ban were an act of censorship and intimidation. „Everyone who will be accused of continuing indymedia.linksunten in the future will have to be prepared to be punished [I sure hope so! translator] – not just for the contents of isolated contributions to the site, but alone for being a part of this left project“, Jelpke said. „The ban is a threat to all other media that still discuss revolutionary and anti-capitalist positions. The purpose of this is to intimidate the left scene in Germany as a whole.“ (source: Die Welt)

I guess it says a lot about your mindset when you think it is a ‘curtailment of freedom of opinion and press’ when a website is banned that instructs how to build weapons, that publishes the adresses, and calls for the targeting, of people whose only wrongdoing is to be members of a democratic, oppositional party, and that celebrates violence and assassination.

Ulla Jelpke of Die Linke, the former East German ruling party SED: “An illegitimate act of censorship”

The Black Block in Hamburg had their own paramedics, and a network of attorneys working for them during the riots; Mayor of Hamburg a member of that network.

Vlad posted a video of Andreas Beuth, speaker, and attorney, of the Black Block Hamburg earlier, where Beuth says he has sympathies for looting and rioting, but not in Antifa’s own neighborhood, the Schanze, please:

Beuth is a criminal attorney, legal representative of the Rote Flora, and functioned as the speaker of the Black Block at the G20 protests.
He has been defending accused against the city of Hamburg in high-profile cases since the 90s, for example, antifa members who were accused of attempted murder (Plattenlegerprozess), Somali pirates who had hijacked a freight ship under German flag and therefore had come into German custody (Piratenprozess), and militant “refugees” (Lampedusa case), to name a few.

Poster for Lampedusa pro refugee protest

The Rote Flora, of which Beuth is the legal representative, opened in 1888 as „Theater Flora“, and has been a squat ever since 1989. The senate of Hamburg could just never bring themselves to evict it.
Officially a „cultural centre“, it is a hub of Antifa and „Autonomen“ (Black Block), and the scene of increasingly brutal clashes with the police on a regular basis.

The Rote Flora is situated in the Sternschanze quarter, short Schanze or Schanzenviertel. Many locals – not just Antifa – fondly call the Rote Flora “the heart of the Schanze”.

The Schanze was the scene of the most severe clashes with police during the anti G20 riots on Friday night. „Protesters“ had positioned themselves on roofs of buildings, and were throwing stones and molotov cocktails down on the police, as filmed here from a police helicopter with an infrared camera:

The riots at Schanze Friday night, seen from a roof top, on the right the Rote Flora with the Slogan “NO G20”

This was when the police had to retreat, which left residents defenseless against lootings and arsons for about an hour or two, until the special forces were able to move in at 11:30 PM and take back the Schanze, house after house, street after street.

Just a bit further down the street from the Rote Flora, there is the attorney’s office Schulterblatt 36.
Schulterblatt 36 are the legal representatives of the anti G20 protest “Welcome to Hell” on Thursday, the event where the escalation of violence began.
Watch the rain of bottles and stones going down on the police, while the protesters’ loudspeaker van is announcing that the police are„out of control“ and „attacking“ a peaceful legitimate protest:
https://vid.me/ySg8g

Should you find yourself getting arrested for attacking an officer, no worries, there is a helpline to call, the “Anwaltliche Nothilfe” (“Legal Emergency Aid”).

This “Legal Emergency Aid” was specifically founded for G20 protesters, by the “Anwaltsverein”, a far left attorney’s organization, and the “Rote Hilfe” (“Red Help”, a far-left prisoner support group). The website of the “Legal Emergency Aid” is multilingual and in English, as protesters were expected from all across Europe, and they describe their work at the G20 as follows:

“Lawyers from the Legal Team will be present at demonstrations and other protest actions to support participants in realizing and protecting their basic rights and, if necessary, to represent them vis-à-vis the police.

One central task of the Legal Team of Lawyers will be the representation of persons detained in the context of the protests against the summit in Hamburg. To fulfill this task, the Legal Team will be present at demonstrations and protest actions, but also in the detention centers (Gefangenensammelstellen, GeSa) in order to advise those detained and to represent them, above all in court hearings concerning their detention.”

 

But the service does not end with legal aid. According to a firefighters spokesman, the protesters had their own paramedics at the protests, and were treated in a base hospital in the Rote Flora if necessary.

The idea behind this is obviously that when you are injured in a violent confrontation with police, you do not want to show up in a hospital, where you will be identified.

The “Anwaltsverein”, who is behind the Emergency Aid, describe themselves as a civil rights organization. Note how bland their website is, although a closer look reveals how it is solely specializing in defending political extremists and criminals, and how they choose unsuspicious names for their endeavors like “Anwaltsverein”, (“Society of Lawyers”), “Anwaltliche Nothilfe” (“Legal Emergency Aid”), and even the almost governmental-sounding “Ermittlungsausschuss” (“Investigative Committee”).

But they have just been declared „dangerous“ by the Police of Hamburg (Hamburger Abendblatt, 07.07.17)

It will hardly surprise anyone familiar with circumstances in Hamburg that a daily newspaper like the respectable Hamburger Abendblatt employs a member of “Anwaltsverein” as a contributing writer, and gives the “Legal Emergency Aid” a video platform to attack the police.

And it won’t surprise you either then that that the mayor of Hamburg, Olaf Scholz (SPD, Social Democrats), is a member of the “Anwaltsverein”, too.

Hamburg – Federal Police seized this equipment from a 20 year old “protester” Saturday afternoon. The second photo shows the leg injury a police officer sustained from a metal ball shot from a slingshot during the anti G20 “protests”. Another officer sustained a through-and-through-wound of the shoulder by such metal ball.
According to Police Hamburg’s statement on Facebook, they were under constant attack from slingshots, bricks and bottles.
The official count at midnight CET was 196 injured officers at the “protests” surrounding the G20 summit in Hamburg, the number should rise once it is updated. One officer sustained a fractured skull from an attack with an iron bar, another officer had to fire a warning shot in self defense.
There were 14 arrests and 63 temporary arrests made during the night from Friday to Saturday.

The most concerning aspect of all of this, of course, is, that it might be grist to the mills of the conservatives:

“The violent criminals of Hamburg might have the doubtful merit of causing a swing to the right that will surpass even Cologne!

In the end, the political Right will profit from violence, the aim of which is to discredit what peaceful globalism-critics are fighting for!”
(Ralf Stegner, SPD deputy and chairman, on Twitter)