Austria: Write letters of support to ten animal welfare workers

June 13, 2008

Dear Friends,

Your help is needed to write a letter of support to ten animal welfare workers within Austria who have been locked in jail without charges since May 21. Section 278a of the Austrian Criminal Code has been invoked to accuse them of being members of a criminal organisation responsible for unsolved cases of damage to property dating back over a number of years.

Amnesty International, the Austrian Socialist Party (SPÖ) and the Austrian Green Party have all reacted to what is seen as a violation of human rights. For copies of press releases and reports on the protest demonstrations taking place within Austria and elsewhere, see the website of the Association Against Animal Factories *.

As animal welfare workers ourselves, we cannot say that we know more than the Austrian justice system about this case but in the absence of the presentation of specific charges and actionable evidence, we can surely give the detainees moral support and express the hope that the situation will be rapidly clarified.

Our vegetarian friends very much need this support.

They were awoken at 6 a.m. by heavily armed masked police and carried off, terrified, without the slightest information as to what they were accused of. Some of them were deprived of lawyers during early interrogations and were unable to see friends or family members for several days.

The office equipment and records of several associations were seized, effectively shutting down the operations of publicly registered organisations working in a perfectly non-violent way for animals. Some of them had contributed to a number of important reforms in Austrian animal law, including a ban on fur farms, battery cages for hens and the use of wild animals in circuses.

Since all ten detainees are being held separately, whatever you write can be duplicated for all those to whom you have the time to write. Only the name of the person to whom each copy is addressed needs to be changed. In fact even just a postcard to some of them would be a great help.

Put each letter you write into a separate, unsealed envelope with the name of the person written in pencil on it. Then put the envelopes in a bigger one and send it by airmail to the
Vegan Society of Austria: Vegane Gesellschaft Österreich
Waidhausen Strasse 13/1
1140 Vienna
Austria

The other possibility is simply to send your messages by e-mail: info@vegan.at

The more letters our friends receive, the greater the pressure the authorities will feel to bring charges against the detainees or else release them.

Thank you for your help.

EVANA,
taking part in this international scheme of support


===

Mail the Authorities

Online Petition

Source: e-mail address for Sabine, Jan, Martin, Jürgen, Christoph, Chris, Elmar, Felix, Leo and Kevin

Link: *Association Against Animal Factories


Other EVANA-articles about this topic:
Austria/Martin Balluch: My message to the international animal rights movement (en)
War and Wave of Repression against Austrian Professionals and Activists (en)
Austria: Who's being caged? (en)
Austrian activists in prison - UN Charter says '...innocent until proved guilty ...' (en)
Wave of Police Repression in Austria (en)