Theoretic background of the charges with 'subversive association' and 'armed gang' ORAI (Organizzazione Rivoluzionaria Anarchica Insurrezionalista)
According to the arrest warrant and its reasons:
The criminalised lecture was held in Greek in a series of lectures, by other Italian comrades too, on the topic of rebellion. Amongst others in the university of Salonicco in front of 1.500 listeners, print and TV media; it was published in #72 of Anarchismo and in 1995 published in an anthology together with other analytical and theoretical contributions on the subject of rebellion by Il Culmine/GAS. I tried to translate the latter and proposed to the comrades and publishers Guido Mantelli and Roberta Nano (who were later charged with armed robbery by the chief witness) to distribute it in german-speaking areas. As the two comrades decided to escape their arrests the translation couldn't get distributed. It was seized from me and other comrades, meanwhile we managed to get new copies of it. New Changes in Capitalism deals with the following topics: at first a resume of the last 20 years' capitalism and resistance against it; about the new mentality of productiveness and democracy; obstacles to the insurrectional fight against post-industrial capitalism and state; technological reconstruction; political, economical and military reconstruction; breakdown of the states of real-socialism and arising of nationalism; possibilities of the development of mass insurrection and furthermore anarchist communism; anarchist revolutionary organisation ("L'organizzazione rivoluzionaria anarchica"), why we are insurrectionalist anarchists.
The charges of 'association' and 'armed gang' plus the name given for it 'ORAI' is based on the subtopic before last. The concept of "organizzazione rivoluzionaria anarchica insurrezionalista" was till the series of lectures in Greek designated (in Italian language) as "organizzazione informale" only (informal, not formal...) Because of the Greek understanding of language in this specific context this designation was not understandable.
As it was not useful for a charge, because the state's and justice's understanding of an 'association' and an 'armed gang', i.e. hierarchical stable structures) has nothing to do with informality. And for sure the exact and clear description of the concept, as well as the concept like it is, is incompatible to what the accuser make of it by breaking pieces out of its context and interpreting it arbitrarily. The text, in full length, is as follows:
or, if you prefer
We guess that, instead of the unions and traditionally organised groups legitimised by economical and social structures not existent any longer, affinity groups have to be brought up consisting of not too large a number of comrades connected by a deep knowledge of each other that are able to connect by means of fights happening periodically - fights for the realisation of certain action against the enemy.
During such actions a possibility has to be arranged for discussion and thereby deepening of the theoretical and practical aspects of actions possible in the future.
The praxis of working together of groups and individuals is co-ordinated by getting means, documentation and everything needed for the specific action. Analyses are spread as wide as possible by own press, in meetings and in debates concerning specific points. Therefore the central reference point of an insurrectional organisational structure is not the congress held periodically, as it is usual in the big synthetic organisations and unions of the movement, but in the connection of all fighting situations evolving into attacks against the class enemy and into moments of theoretical reflection and deepening.
The affinity groups can play a role in establishing base cells for the purpose to replace the old unionist and Resistenza's organisations as well as those insisting of the anarcho-syndicalist ideology in the sphere of intermediary fights (lotte intermedie). Activity fields of base cells therefore include factories or what is left of them, city quarters, schools, social ghettos, and all those situations that realise the exclusion of the class, the segregation between 'included' and 'excluded'.
Each base group comes into being almost always because of the propulsive activity of the insurrectional anarchists but is not limited to consist of them only. In the plenary assemblies as the decision-makers the anarchists have to evolve their propulsive duty against the aims of the class enemy to a maximum.
Several base cells might form co-ordination for the same purpose by establishing specific structures but always in compliance with the principals of permanent conflictuality, of self-determination and of attack.
As permanent conflictuality we understand the permanent and drastic fight against the real expressions of class power and its makers and managers.
As self-determination we understand the complete independence of each party, union and clientele. The fight therefore has to organise its means by spontaneous donations only.
As attack we understand the refusal to negotiate, arrange, pacify and compromise with the class enemy.
The activity field of affinity groups and base cells are mass fights. Nearly always such fights are intermediary ones without direct destructive effects but with simple demands to rally more powers to help developing the fights against other aims. Anyway the final aim of those fights is the attack. Of course individual comrades or affinity groups might decide to attack single structures, individuals, and organisations of capital and state directly.
In this world consolidating in the eyes of all of us where the informational capital is developing circumstances of control and power in a completeness like never before by using a technology that is only able to stabilise that dominion sabotage evolves into the classic weapon of the excluded again."
This description is one of a concept of an anarchist
mass organisation. The functional misinterpretation by the chargers
turns this into a specific ideological, self-contained organisation
of anarchists, the concept of a horizontal mass organisation gets
disfigured in a vertical organisation that in turn is used on
each group of radical anarchists defined and collected by them
to claim a non-existent ideological and criminal collective responsibility.
Novara, 10 April, 1997 Marco Camenisch