Repression
At the European level, there is a brutal repression of the environmental movement, and even the right to protest is being called into question. Activists who have already been arrested or detained are being prevented from attending demonstrations, with some placed under house arrest. This has happened in Germany, as well as in the United Kingdom. In France, one of the collectives was outlawed for a year. For about nine months now, some of us have been charged with belonging to a criminal organization, which creates a lot of fear and forces you to confront aspects of your life that you never wanted to face.
Impacts
And from a personal impact, it’s the fact that you have the possibility of going to prison… It makes you think a lot personally…
Where will I be in four or five years, or even two? Can I go study somewhere else? Or start a career, start vocational training, start studies? Or will I be able to finish? Will I not be able to finish… I want to have a child or a pet…
How are they protected?
Since at Futuro Vegetal we have faced a lot of repression over at least two or three years, we’ve learned some things. Some protocols have had to be changed, and there’s no going back because the psychological damage is already done. One of the things we’ve realized is that we need to build much stronger networks among ourselves, because if a police officer wants to infiltrate, they will get in, and they’ll be there. At least, we try to make sure it doesn’t cause psychological harm, and if they have to do their job, let them do it.
