Grateful Lost

This is a follow-up post to Morpheus Laughing, it’s important you read that first.

It was about 6am when I was taken into the cell block in Vester Fængsel, a prison in Copenhagen. My relief at the lack of a cavity search was soon overshadowed by the large, muscly, Danish prisoner walking down the hall past me, with a fork in his hand, and a creepy smile on his face… I thought to myself… I’m not gonna last 5 minutes in here, I need to get myself thrown into solitary… It works in the movies…

I hadn’t seen a judge yet, or talked to a lawyer, and the phone call the police promised my while I was at the station was denied to me when I was transferred to the prison before a prelim because they arrested so many damn people there weren’t enough judges to see them all…

I soon learned that I was to be charged with being part of an illegal demonstration, helping construct and light barricades on fire, throwing rocks, bottles and fire bombs, resisting arrest and assaulting an officer…

I only did some of those things… So when I finally went to court, after my lawyer complained to the judge at my right to speak with him pretrial being violated, I pleaded not guilty. The judge didn’t want to sentence me without the video, so i had to wait another 6 hours before it came in. And in the only video they could find that clearly showed me, I was moving some logs around in a barricade. Unfortunately that was enough to put me behind bars… and despite my having an excellent lawyer, and making a pretty good case… Back to Vester I was sent… I was to be held until Cop15 was over, and then released on the condition that I would return for trial.

I was led into a cell where I was promised I would only be put with other activists… My cell mate was pretty big, with tattoos and didn’t speak a lot of english, as I spoke with him it became clear, he was not an activist at all… He was a drug dealer from Christiania who joined the protesters in defense of the hippy paradise when the police attacked… Normally I wouldn’t fear a drug dealer, some of my good friends are dealers, but to be a dealer in Christiania, you need to be associated with one of two rival gangs, the Hells Angels, or the Black Scorpions.

We talked for a while, about what we had done to arrive there, and shared our thoughts on how awesome Christiania is. We watched sports and some movies and chilled, he explained the way the prison system worked, and gave me a winter cap to wear when we went outside. He turned out to be a really great guy, and made my experience in Vester much less stressful than it might have been otherwise.

He introduced me to some of the other non-protester inmates, there on a variety of charges, everything from weapons and drugs to murder… I got along well with the other prisoners, and became fast friends with the man I mentioned at the beginning of the story, with the fork and the smile. turns out, that was his genuinely friendly smile, and he was a puppy dog. He is well-educated Buddhist with 2 university degrees, but was arrested with over 2 million dollars of cocaine with intent to distribute. He is to this day one of the most kindred spirits I have ever met, and the thought of him rotting behind prison bars, being guarded by a bunch of uneducated, uncivilized assholes, as if HE is the danger, is something that will bother me for a long time… (approx 5 years, since that’s his sentence)

I remember the first impression I gave most of the other prisoners, I was given a phone call to tell my parents I was in Jail, I got the machine, and not knowing when I might get another opportunity, I left the following message…

“hey guys, how are you, hows Cozmo, I’m good, Copenhagen is really cool and one of my favorite cities in Europe, and don’t freak out, but im in prison, im fine, ill be out soon, love you and merry Christmas”

I turned to see a whole bunch of hardcore criminals, gang members and murderers looking at me in shock… When I asked what was wrong, one of them said “dude… you can’t tell your parents you’re in prison, a few days before Christmas, over an answering machine, and not give them any way to contact someone and ask about you”
It was amazing to see these guys lecture me on my etiquette, and the longer I was there the more I realized I could take a lesson or two from most of these guys, and like I said, it still hurts me to think where they are, and who is keeping them there…

The meals were pretty good, considering I had been backpacking, living on a TIGHT budget up till then, 3 meals a day was a dream… The TV has lots of channels, the bed was comfortable, I had oranges to juggle, my room-mate was cool… to be honest, compared with the diet and accommodation and loneliness of the road I had been accustomed to before Vester.. it wasn’t too bad.. Although it was the longest I’d gone without alcohol in a loooong time.. A group I’d never heard of before, ABC (Anarchist Black Cross) sent us all some money, some clothes, and letters of solidarity from around the world. It made such a huge difference, I have no way of sharing just how important and helpful it was to read those letters, and I would appreciate if you could (at least) join this facebook group and (if you can) support this cause by donating a little.

Anthony, an Anarchist from France, Johannes, and anarchist from Germany, and I (the only non-European charged) were the only ones who had clearly broken laws… The rest of the activists were arrested on some very stupid charges! One of them while videoing, another few had unfurled a banner at a dinner for all the politicians who ended up sinking any progress at that summit, the head of Greenpeace Italy was there, all he had done was tell CJA they should try and enlist anarchists from eastern Europe, it was caught on a wire tap, and they decided this advice was criminal…

I was released 2 days before Christmas, and within a week left Denmark, probably for good, because a few weeks later they held my trial without me, and I was convicted to 3 months in jail and 3000$ in court/lawyer costs.

Some of the other activist ended up a lot worse than me, since they were all EU, they had to pay those fees, and many of them served a lot more jail time and one of them was banned from schengen countries…

Meanwhile, the “leaders” of this world, the ones who are protecting you all from the evils of this world, which apparently include anyone who protests, ended up making Cop15 was a complete failure, because lobbyist and corporate interest were put above the well-being of the world, and all who inhabit it…

One day we will bring the corporate criminals and their accomplices to justice, and the crimes against humanity will be answered for, and Steven Harper be someones jail bride. But until then, we must have solidarity for those who are sent to prison in their place.

Peace

River

P.S. I have omitted names of anyone from prison who was not an activist. I know it looks impersonal to call them all “he” but these are members of gangs, and I mention their crimes, so I do not want to associate that with any names.

P.P.S most of the news reports the night I was arrested were down right lies, as usual, The Guardian is fair and balanced.