Statement concerning the death of Sista Mimi and the detention of Gerhart-Hauptmann-School residents
They didn’t even stop in the middle of a memorial service
We are appalled and angry about the most recent events at
Gerhart-Hauptmann-School (GHS) and we utterly condemn the behavior of
the Kreuzberg district authorities and the Berlin police.
On the morning of 10.12.14, the International Day of Human Rights, the
police and the district authorities entered the GHS on Ohlauer Street at
5am without any prior arrangement or advance notice. The police forced
open the doors to the sleeping rooms, vandalized the rooms of the
residents and detained three people straight out of their beds. The raid
on the school, an act which was ordered and carried out by the district
authorities, took place under the pretext of enforcing fire safety
regulations. We believe that aims of this enforcement of the fire safety
regulations were to intimidate the residents, carry out detentions and
try to find reasons for an eviction. If this was only about fire safety
regulations, why where the residents not priorly informed? Why was this
carried out at 5am accompanied by massive force and presence of the
police?
On the morning of 11.12.14 the police yet again outdid itself in
rudeness and lack of respect: during the memorial service for friend and
activist Sista Mimi in front of the Gerhart-Hauptmann-School, the
policed blocked the sidewalk and prevented the first mourners from
stepping to the front of the school in order lay down flowers and
candles for Sista Mimi. We find this behavior abhorrent. During the
entire service the police did not keep a respectful distance from the
mourning community. During the commemoration the police detained another
resident of the school, while he was bidding farewell to his fellow
fighter. They didn’t even stop during a memorial service.
The police purposefully detains residents in order to further
criminalize the refugees and weaken their political will through massive
intimidation.
We shall not accept this. In sorrow and with anger we will take to the
streets to remember Sista Mimi and to stand together. The meeting point
of the memorial March is Oranienplatz, Saturday, 13 December 2014 at
2pm.
“Equal Rights and Justice – we say we will never stop fighting for it.
We keep doing this and we will never stop. Peace!” (Sista Mimi in THE
FREEUGEE MOVEMENT – The Calling)
Bündnis gegen Rassismus
(Alliance against Racism)