A-Infos (en) Mass revolts in Slovenia, december 2012 - from: Federation for anarchist organizing (FAO), Slovenia

Slovenia is being shaken by the first massive revolt in two decades and the first that is 
predominantly oriented against political establishment, austerity measures and is in some 
cities already gaining anti-capitalist character. ---- In less than three weeks there have 
been 35 protests in 18 cities, where more then 70.000 people participated altogether. 
Protests often turn into clashes with police that is violently breaking up the 
demonstrations. 284 people were arrested, some released, some not. Many people have been 
injured. ---- It all started in the middle of November with people protesting against the 
corrupt mayor of second largest city in Slovenia, Maribor (he already resigned). They came 
up with the sort of slogan He is finished (Gotof je) that has later been alternated to 
address more or less every politician in the country.

Protests spread throughout the country in only few days. They are becoming more and more 
the channel for the people to express the anger over the general conditions of the 
society: of having no jobs, security, rights, future.

Protests are decentralized, anti-authoritarian and non-hierarchical. People who never hit 
the streets before are participating in it. They are happening in villages and towns that 
never saw a single protest before. People are creating new alliances, becoming comrades in 
struggle and are determined to continue for as long as it takes. We do not know how long 
we will manage to stay on the streets. But one thing is for sure. People experienced the 
process of emancipation and gained voice that has been violently taken from them in the 
past. And this is something no one can take from them.

Below you can find the statement by the groups of Federation for anarchist organizing 
(FAO), some photo and video material and chronology of events until now.

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No discrimination, they are all finished!


Last few days have seen history crashing down on us in full force. Revolt in Maribor 
initiated what few had imagined was possible: people self-organized and pushed their local 
sheriff to the corner, then finally forced him to flee in disgrace. This was the spark 
that ignited a wider revolt against the political-economic elite and the whole capitalist 
system. We do not possess a crystal ball to tell what follows, but what we are certain of 
is that we can expect nothing from romanticizing and naivetÃ, yet a lot from organization 
and courage.

From below to the top and from periphery to the center
As protests spread throughout the country they grew into a wider revolt against the ruling 
elite and existing order. People of each region are creatively using their own local 
dialects to articulate the same message to the politicians: you are all finished. The 
decentralized character of the revolt is among the key aspects of events so far. The other 
is the fact that the whole process up until this point remains completely bottom-up in 
character; there are no leaders doing the organizing, just the people that are not being 
represented by anyone. In order to defend this solidarity among people and block the 
recuperation of the revolt from the hand of the political class, it is exactly this 
decentralization that we need to defend, promote and strengthen!

Police everywhere, justice nowhere

Police brutality on the protests should come as no surprise. What is surprising are all 
the illusions on police joining us. It is true that the police are not the primary target 
of this revolt and that the clash between police and protesters is not its final and only 
horizon. What people are targeting in this conflict is the capitalist and political class 
and the system as a whole. Yet it is also absolutely true that the police are not our 
allies and due to their role in the system can never and nowhere be allies of this revolt. 
Let us remind ourselves: police is a part of the repressive apparatus of state. Its 
structural function is to defend the existing order and interests of the ruling class. It 
does not matter how exploited the individuals in uniforms may be! While they follow orders 
from their superiors they remain policemen and policewomen. When they stop doing so, they 
can become a part of a revolt.

Nurturing any illusions that they are on our side is therefore naive to the extreme. Were 
their interventions on protests in these last few days really so unproblematic as some 
present it and really in the interest of the people on the streets? Have we already 
forgotten the brutal suppression of Maribor protests and the threats of Gorenak (minister 
of interior) that they will hunt down all the organizers of âillegalâ protests?

We are also not surprised by all the moralization on âriotersâ and âviolenceâ, that has 
been spreading through social networks. Government and the media have thrown a bone at us 
and some have immediately fallen for it. But what are ten broken windows, a smashed door 
of the city hall and a street where paving stones were torn out in comparison to the 
structural violence of the state? Youth without future, unemployment, precarity, reduction 
of scholarships, reduction in number of meals in schools that are paid from public funds, 
decreasing number of carers in kindergartens, diminishing rights to health services, 
reductions in public funding for education and research, imposition of increasingly higher 
retirement age, lowering of wages and pensions, decreasing of work-free days, shortage of 
non-profit dwellings, youth forced to live in rented flats or with parents until old age, 
denial of rights to homosexuals, migrants, women and to people whose social background is 
not one of the major religions and ethnicity and more and more. And we havenât even 
touched on the corruption, nepotism, clientelism and criminality of the ruling elite. They 
force us to work more, yet the fruits of our labor are constantly being appropriated by 
the capitalist class. This exploitation is what is at the core of this system. Tell us 
now, who is committing violence over whom? How dare we condemn people whose future has 
been stolen? The youth is angry and has nothing to lose. Stop condemning them; together we 
have to re-focus on the real problems.

Even more dangerous are various calls for self-repression and cooperation with the police. 
Are we not already faced with unacceptable levels of surveillance, CCTV usage and 
repression? Are these people proposing that we help the police in the search for 
âriotersâ, give the latter over to the police and thus exclude a lot of young people from 
the revolt to which they have significantly contributed? To cooperate with the police 
amounts to shooting ourselves in the foot and to condemn the young that express their 
positions in a more direct way is to be instrumental in blocking the further realization 
of the potential of this revolt.

Today it is an act of smashing the window that is defined as violence by the authorities. 
Yet it has to be clear that the same tag can soon be applied to all forms of protests that 
will not be approved or permitted by the same authorities, that will not be passive enough 
and will therefore not be completely benign. Let it be made clear then that in the eyes of 
the system that is humiliating us, robbing us and suppressing us year after year we are 
all rioters.

Once again we state our full solidarity with all detained, demand their immediate release, 
and call for the end of their judicial and media prosecution and nullification of all the 
financial and other sanctions that were issued to people due to their participation in the 
protests.


Power to the people, not to political parties

After the initial spontaneous bustle of the revolt, when creativity of the masses was 
thoroughly manifested, a new space for strategic reflections opened up as well. If we want 
the revolt to develop into social movement with concrete demands, aims and visions, we 
must find ways to articulate those same demands, that are already present within the 
revolt, and come up with the organizational form that can make this process possible. 
Without that the revolt will quickly die out and things will remain the same.

Concerning the demands we must proceed step by step and begin with embracing those that 
have already been articulated within the revolt. For sure we must preserve welfare 
structures such as public health and education system. We must also preserve existing 
workers rights. Having stated that we have to also clearly say that we are not struggling 
for the preservation of the old system. While we do not allow the rights that were gained 
in the past struggles to be taken from us, we must maintain a core strategic perspective 
as well. As long as capital and the state exist, patterns of exploitation and oppression 
will remain in public education, health and social welfare system as well. This is why we 
must also self-organize within these structures, not merely negotiate for crumbs. Rights 
are never granted, they have to be fought for!

A segment of the corrupt political elite will perhaps realize that they are in fact all 
finished and will leave the political arena. But soon enough they will be replaced by new 
politicians that will again, without us providing them with any legitimacy whatsoever, 
make decisions in our name. Their interest are not ours, and they are showing us that 
every day by numerous examples of nepotism, corruption and through passing various reform 
and anti-crisis laws that are pushing us even further to the margins of society and beyond.

This is why all of them must go, from the first to the last. It would be sheer naivetà to 
believe that there are pure, uncorrupted people somewhere, that have only our best 
interest in their hearts and that they would lead us from the crisis, we only need to find 
them and vote for them in the elections. It is the political and economic system with its 
inherent authoritarianism and hierarchical character that makes it impossible for us to 
live in a non-alienated way and according to our desires and needs. As long as there is 
capitalism, where the minority rules over the majority and pushes us to the economic and 
social margins, our lives will be empty. If we do not resist and fight for alternatives, 
there will always be someone that will rule over us; patriarchs in our households, deans 
and student officials at our faculties, bosses at our jobs and politicians in the 
government. False democracy that they are offering us in form of elections is not the only 
possible form of organizing our social lives.

Letâs organize where we live, work and study

If we want the revolt and its demands to produce actual social power, we must 
self-organize. When we talk about the organization of the revolt we necessarily think 
about forms that are different from socio-political ways of organizing that we are used 
to. We must organize from below, without hierarchies and leaders; everywhere, where we are 
exploited and oppressed: in our neighborhoods, in our work places, in our educational 
institutions. Farmers should link into cooperatives; cooperatives should connect with the 
urban environment. Self-organization should be spontaneous and creative; it should develop 
free relations and establish structures that will enable full emancipation of individuals. 
It should follow the principles of direct democracy, mutual solidarity, 
non-authoritarianism and anti-fascism.

For initial method of such organizing we suggest the institution of direct-democratic 
assembly that has been a practice of insurrectionary movements all over the globe in last 
couple of years. We can organize locally into small groups and together shape the future 
by recognizing our needs and by that the needs of our towns and villages. Together we can 
form proposals and discover our potentials, that will also enable us to realize that we 
are capable of realizing more or less all of the former by ourselves. This is how we will 
build sister- and brotherhood and unity, where there is plenty for everyone, but nothing 
for those that would like to rule over us.

For the next step we suggest mutual coordination of these groups and to establish new 
forms of organizing of this dispersed, developing revolt. We suggest that, based on our 
common principles, we unite into a front of groups, organizations and individuals. This 
front should be ideologically open, inclusive and based on common demands. It should be 
organized horizontally, without central bodies and officials; and based on the autonomy of 
individuals and direct democratic decision making process.

We call upon all groups, organizations and individuals that find this idea suitable, to 
organize in our local communities into open assemblies, that can later connect with each 
other. Letâs take our lives back together!

From the streets and squares, 6. December 2012

Federation for anarchist organizing (FAO), Slovenia
a-federacija.org //// inter@a-federacija.org

Link to videos at:
http://www.a-federacija.org/2012/12/11/mass-revolts-in-slovenia-december-2012
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Ljubljana 3/12/12


Riots in Maribor 3/12/12


Ljubljana 7/12/12


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Chronology of the uprising
(City, date, number of people attending, number of protesters arrested, and number of 
people injured):

Maribor, Wednesday, 21. November, 1.500 people

Maribor, Monday, 26. November, 10.000 people, 31 arrested (all released the next day)

Ljubljana, Tuesday, 27. November, 1.000 people

Jesenice, Wednesday, 28. November, 200 people

Kranj, Thursday, 29. November, 1.000 people, 2 arrested

Ljubljana, Friday, 30. November, 10.000 people, 33 arrested, 17 injured

Koper, Friday, 30. November, 300 people

Nova Gorica, Friday 30. November, 800 people

Novo mesto, Friday 30. November, 300 people

Velenje, Friday 30. November, 500 people

AjdovÅÄina, Friday 30. November, 200 people

Trbovlje, Friday 30. November, 300 people

KrÅko, Saturday, 1. December, 300 people

Maribor, Monday, 3. December, 20.000 people, 160 arrested, 38 injured

Ljubljana, Moday, 3. December, 6.000 people

Celje, Monday, 3. December, 3.000 people, 15 arrested

Ptuj, Monday, 3. December, 600 people

Ravne na KoroÅkem, Monday, 3. December, 500 people

Trbovlje, Monday, 3. December, 400 people

Jesenice, Tuesday, 4. December, 300 people, 41 arrested

BreÅice, Tuesday, 4. December, 250 people

Ljubljana, Wednesday, 5. December, student protest in front of Faculty of Arts, 500 people

Ljubljana, Thursday, 6. December, student protest in front of parliament, 4.000 people

Koper, Thursday, 6. December, 1.000 people, 2 arrested

Kranj, Thursday, 6. December, 500 people

Izola, Thursday, 6. December, 50 people

Murska Sobota, Friday, 7. December, 3.000 people

Bohinjska Bistrica, Friday, 7. December, 50 people

AjdovÅÄina, Friday, 7. December, 150 people

Ljubljana, Friday, 7. December 3.000 people

Nova Gorica, Saturday, 8. December, 300 people

BreÅice, Sunday, 9. December 200 people

Ljubljana, Monday, 10. December, 100 people

Maribor, Monday, 10. December, 200 people (solidarity protest for imprisoned)

Ptuj, Monday, 10. December, 200 people

ANNOUNCED:

Ljubljana, Thursday, 13. December
Maribor, Friday, 14. December
SLOVENIA (in all towns), 21. December
_________________________________________
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