From jo at xs4all.nl  Fri Aug  7 16:14:10 2009
From: jo at xs4all.nl (Jo van der Spek M2M)
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2009 16:14:10 +0200
Subject: <m2m-eng> M2M live stream from Schiphol Fire trial, 10-14 August
Message-ID: <A9C31FFFC0C940C5B49DA479C03CD47E@jom2m>

Announcement from M2M, Migrant to Migrant and All Included  Amsterdam, 
Holland:

Campaign FREE AHMED ISA:

Survivors of the Schiphol Fire demand freedom for Ahmed Issa


The trial of the Schiphol Fire is a test case for human rights in The 
Netherlands

M2M Radio will be reporting live from the Court in Amsterdam

Join the live stream from Monday 10th of August 9.30 a.m. 5 p.m. every day 
until Friday 14th

Go to: http://m2m.streamtime.org

Together with survivors and relatives of the Schiphol People, M2M and All 
Included initiated a campaign to claim freedom for Ahmed Isa and justice for 
all survivors of the fire.
Eleven migrants died during a fire in Block K of the detention complex 
Schiphol East (on the Airport of Amsterdam) in the night of 26-27 October 
2005. The inmates of Block K and J were transferred to other Dutch prisons, 
most of the 300 detainees were deported after the fire. One of the victims 
of the fire, Ahmed Issa, was sentenced to three years in prison by the Court 
of Haarlem in 2007. From August 10 until 14 the High Court of Amsterdam 
deals with his appeal.

The survivors of the fire will will express their solidarity with Ahmed Issa 
("Everybody in Block K smoked, so we are all guilty") with  a collective 
statement to the judges by Mrs. Gladys Toekaja, mother of the deceased 
Robert Arah on Wednesday 12th at 9.30 a.m.

The Dutch authorities are putting all the blame of Ahmed Issa claiming that 
his cigarette started the fire.  The Dutch government is responsible for 
building this prison and is also responsible for the well being and safety 
of the inmates. They try to evade their shame by using Ahmed Issa as their 
scape goat. The disaster was not caused by a cigarette, but by a sustained 
policy of criminalising irregular migrants, neglecting and violating safety 
regulations.

The Security Board, an independent investigative body  established the fact 
the there would have been ?no or less? casualties, if the authorities had 
complied with  their own safety regulations. The deportation and detention 
complex  Schiphol-East was built as expeditiously and cheaply as possible to 
satisfy the political clamour to create a large number of low-cost cells at 
the earliest possible notice. The complex was made of containers and meant 
to keep drug swallowers in custody for only a few days. But up to this day, 
irregular migrants are being held here, sometimes for more than a year. 
Safety was not an issue: efficiency was key. The fire at Schiphol thus shows 
the true face of Dutch immigration policies in all its horror.

The M2M Foundation promotes free communication of migrants and seeks to 
demonstrate that there are better ways of approaching the realities of 
global migration issues: Look with us, not at us. All included.

no borders between us

If you want to support this campaign financially, please donate to:
ING Bank 4864527 All Included, Amsterdam, ref. Free Ahmed Issa

If you want to support M2M, Migrant to Migrant and empower the victims of 
the Schiphol fire, please donate to:

39.02.71.918 Stichting M2M, Amsterdam
Triodos Bank, Postbus 55, 3700 AB Zeist
IBAN: NL03 TRIO 0390 2719 18
BIC: TRIONL2U Bank account .





From jo at xs4all.nl  Sun Aug  9 12:37:58 2009
From: jo at xs4all.nl (Jo van der Spek M2M)
Date: Sun, 9 Aug 2009 12:37:58 +0200
Subject: <m2m-eng> M2M Webcast from Court on Schiphol Fire,
	Amsterdam August 10-14
Message-ID: <90FBF2DFC4314677A1AD40BABFC0833B@jom2m>

Announcement from M2M, Migrant to Migrant and All Included  Amsterdam, 
Holland:

Campaign FREE AHMED ISA:

Survivors of the Schiphol Fire demand freedom for Ahmed Issa

The trial of the Schiphol Fire is a test case for human rights in The 
Netherlands

M2M Radio will be reporting live from the Court in Amsterdam (Prinsengracht 
426)

Join the live stream from Monday 10th of August 9.30 a.m. till 5 p.m. every 
day until Friday 14th
Go to: http://m2m.streamtime.org

Together with survivors and relatives of the Schiphol People, M2M and All 
Included initiated a campaign to claim freedom for Ahmed Isa and justice for 
all survivors of the fire.
Eleven migrants died during a fire in Block K of the detention complex 
Schiphol East (on the Airport of Amsterdam) in the night of 26-27 October 
2005. The inmates of Block K and J were transferred to other Dutch prisons, 
most of the 300 detainees were deported after the fire. One of the victims 
of the fire, Ahmed Issa, was sentenced to three years in prison by the Court 
of Haarlem in 2007. From August 10 until 14 the High Court of Amsterdam 
deals with his appeal.

The survivors of the fire will will express their solidarity with Ahmed Issa 
("Everybody in Block K smoked, so we are all guilty") with  a collective 
statement to the judges by Mrs. Gladys Toekaja, mother of the deceased 
Robert Arah on Wednesday 12th at 9.30 a.m.
The Dutch authorities are putting all the blame of Ahmed Issa claiming that 
his cigarette started the fire.  The Dutch government is responsible for 
building this prison and is also responsible for the well being and safety 
of the inmates. They try to evade their shame by using Ahmed Issa as their 
scape goat. The disaster was not caused by a cigarette, but by a sustained 
policy of criminalising irregular migrants, neglecting and violating safety 
regulations.

The Security Board, an independent investigative body  established the fact 
the there would have been ?no or less? casualties, if the authorities had 
complied with  their own safety regulations. The deportation and detention 
complex  Schiphol-East was built as expeditiously and cheaply as possible to 
satisfy the political clamour to create a large number of low-cost cells at 
the earliest possible notice. The complex was made of containers and meant 
to keep drug swallowers in custody for only a few days. But up to this day, 
irregular migrants are being held here, sometimes for more than a year. 
Safety was not an issue: efficiency was key. The fire at Schiphol thus shows 
the true face of Dutch immigration policies in all its horror.

The M2M Foundation promotes free communication of migrants and seeks to 
demonstrate that there are better ways of approaching the realities of 
global migration issues: Look with us, not at us. All included. No borders 
between us!
If you want to support this campaign financially, please donate to:
ING Bank 4864527 All Included, Amsterdam, ref. Free Ahmed Issa

If you want to support M2M, Migrant to Migrant and empower the victims of 
the Schiphol fire, please donate to:

39.02.71.918 Stichting M2M, Amsterdam
Triodos Bank, Postbus 55, 3700 AB Zeist
IBAN: NL03 TRIO 0390 2719 18
BIC: TRIONL2U 




From jo at xs4all.nl  Wed Aug 12 07:18:54 2009
From: jo at xs4all.nl (jo van der spek)
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 07:18:54 +0200
Subject: <m2m-eng> Report on the Schiphol Fire trial in Amsterdam.NL
Message-ID: <9666520240f8f4f1eb8b5daf70db0b9b.squirrel@webmail.xs4all.nl>

Today, Thursday 12th of August the victims and survivors of the Schiphol
Fire will speak collectively to the judges of Ahmed Issa. Mrs. Toekaja who
lost her son and found the surviving migrants in the process of the
commemorations of the fire, will speak also  on their behalf and claim the
release of Ahmed Issa, decent treatment of the relatives of the eleven
dead and recognition of guilt by the state.
The Campaign Free Ahmed Issa, initiated by M2M and All Included, invite
you to witness and share the feeling. And distribute the information. (Jo)

M2M Radio is all week live streaming at
http://m2m.streamtime.org:8000/radioM2M.mp3.m3u

NO CONVINCING EVIDENCE FOUND AGAINST AHMED ISSA
after two days of the Schiphol Fire trial in Amsterdam.nl

The High Court of Amsterdam has questioned three experts on the possible
causes of the Schiphol Fire during the first two days of the appeal case
against Ahmed Issa.
Three conflicting visions were presented based on different methods of
investigation.   Prof. Olivier Delemont, from the University of Lausanne,
who was charged by the court to serach for possible technical failures
that could have caused the fire. Delemont did not find any so the
prosecution followed his logic of elimination: if there is no technical
explanation, it must have been a human action that set fire and killed
eleven sans-papiers. And since the fire started in cel 11 of Block K, it
must have been Ahmed Issa?s cigarette that set fire to the sheets on his
bed.
On the first day however it was established that Delemont had overlooked
the possibility of an electrical failure in the lights on the ceiling.
This could have produced the fatal spark. The elimination method has thus
been eliminated, Delemont admitted.

On the second day Fred Vos testified as to his conclusion that the fire
started not in the cell, but in the space between the container cell and
the roof. Fred Was is a former officer of the fire brigade and he sharply
criticized Delemont for overlooking essential evidence and neglecting
crucial questions. He told the judges that he found electrical wiring
close to wood or isolation material.  Rodents may have caused a short cut
or overheating by nibbling on the coating of these wires.
In the afternoon Bas van den Heuvel presented his method of image
analysis. This expert makes a living with applying high tech software on
camera footage, using pixel compression to make visible what is not
visible to the normal eye. Van den Heuvel has analysed the footage of the
security cameras in the evening of the fire, October 26th 2005. He stated
that smoke was visible in Block K already at ten past 8, indicating that
the start of the fire lies at least 3 hours before Ahmed Issa fell asleep,
after tipping his cigarette bud away.

None of the experts was convinced by their respective collegues and that
was the news, according to the Dutch press covering the case.

Today and tomorrow Ahmed Issa who was present all the time, showing
himself amazingly powerful after nearly four years of misery, will hear
the evidence against him, presented by Mr. Hans Wesseling. Assisted by his
lawyer Eduard Damman he will defend himself by exposing the teatment he
received from the police investigators who questioned him after days, in
which he was held in artificial coma to survive the pains of the fire
wounds on his arms and feet. And the expert opinion of the psychology
professors Wagenaar en Van Koppen will be highlighted by his lawyer. They
have concluded that the memory of the suspect, who admitted throwing away
this cigarette, is highly unreliable. He seems to have had this habit of
tipping away cigarettes, like many other smokers do. So he could not
possibly remeber accurately whether or not he did this also in the evening
of the fire.
The defense hopes to convince the judges, presided by Mrs. Margriet
Houben, that technically and humanly Ahmed Issa cannot be found guilty. If
he succeeds, the responsibility and the blame for the fire will rest
completely on the state that detains undocumented migrants in unsafe
prisons, and sells them tobacco. All inmates of Block K were smoking and
thatb is what made one of the exclaim: ?If Ahmed Issa is guilty, that we
are all guilty.?

The prosecution and the defence will read their conclusions on Friday
14th. The High Court sentences on August 28th.

M2M









From jo at xs4all.nl  Thu Aug 13 16:30:40 2009
From: jo at xs4all.nl (jo van der spek)
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:30:40 +0200
Subject: <m2m-eng> Join Campaign on Migration Politics. NOW in Amsterdam.NL
Message-ID: <f9fff152b29e66f92b5a61754c38eb5a.squirrel@webmail.xs4all.nl>

Public announcement. Do distribute widely please (Jo, M2M)

Major Campaign on Migration Politics going on in Amsterdam. NL

a chance to join the survivors of the Schiphol Fire!

check please and spread it out (Jo van der Spek, director of M2M)

http://m2m.streamtime.org

youtube chaneel M2M

vimeo channel M2M


All this week Aug. 10-14) in Amsterdam,nl the Campaign Free Ahmed ISSA is
camping in front of the Palace of Justice in support of Ahmed Issa, who
stands in court accused of staring the Schiphol Fire that killed eleven
undocumented migrants, Oct. 26 2005.

Thursday evening at ca. 10.30 a visual art work by Lars Berg will
"explode" on the facade of the Palace. It is a videojamming, a.k.a. urban
projection including works by several young artists with frontruner Lars
Berg.
.
The survivors of the fire can be seen planting a tree as part of the
memorial for the eleven dead of the Schiphol Fire, last Oct. 26. They key
slogan of the yearly commemoration, as designed by Cheikh "Papa" Sakho:

we are here

to make a life again

together as one.

The next memorial will be held on Monday 26th 2009 at the fence of the
detention Complex, that is still functioning to keep deportable migrants.

Location: Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Schiphol Oost,
Ten Pol 64, Oude Meer.

check please and spread it out

http://m2m.streamtime.org

youtube chaneel M2M

vimeo channel M2M

contact with, and donations to M2M:

http://m2m.streamtime.org/index.php/contact/






From jo at xs4all.nl  Mon Aug 17 06:50:13 2009
From: jo at xs4all.nl (jo van der spek)
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2009 06:50:13 +0200
Subject: <m2m-eng> M2M website down
Message-ID: <a094087fc1bd3504a1e13cd46442aae7.squirrel@webmail.xs4all.nl>

Due to human error the website of M2M is down since last Thursday 13th.
It will be up soon after the end of Hacking at Random, the event that
keeps many of our technicians and programmers busy until Sunday 16th.

M2M is looking forward to a succesfull and adecuate upgrade and possbible
migration in the near future.

In the meantime the essential radio reports of the Campaign FREE AHMED
ISSA will be available at http://www.vertrokkengezichten.net

with apologies for the inconvenience

the management




From jo at xs4all.nl  Fri Aug 28 09:40:10 2009
From: jo at xs4all.nl (Jo van der Spek M2M)
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 09:40:10 +0200
Subject: <m2m-eng> Welcome Ahmed Issa, 3 september in Amsterdam
Message-ID: <B6F4E56CA6DC4D10AB4B39784FCE8095@jom2m>

brothers and sisters,

Ahmed Issa will hear from the judge if he is guilty or not for the
Schiphol Fire. This is the verdict that she will pronounce on Thursday the
3rd
of September.
We will be there, with our bus and friends to support and welcome Ahmed
Issa.
We hope you can be with us, to show the world that we are together in our
struggle for justice, to make a life again.

The prosecutor has created confusion when he demanded "only" 2 years
and 24 days in prison. This is exactly the time he has been in prison
after the fire. This means that he still thinks Ahmed Issa is guilty, but
has been punished enough.

Lawyer Eduard Damman has demanded "vrijspraak", acquittal for Ahmed Issa,
because there is no evidence that he did it. And we all know that the
state built that bloody detention complex and is responsible for the well
being of
all inside.

But the judges decide: guilty or free. That is what matters. And that is
what happens on Thursday 3rd of September in Amsterdam at 1.30 p.m.

After the verdict we will create a special ceremony to welcome Ahmed Issa.
We
invite artists, musicians, performers, etc. to create an event that looks
a bit like the commemoration. It will be a spontaneous event, to share the
feeling and say what we have to say. We announce this in the media and caal
on everybody to join us.
We have a license for this manifestation and we are cool with the court, so
we don't have to be afraid of the cops.

At 3 o'clock we go to De Balie, just around the corner on the Leidseplein,
to give a press
conference. In the Press Conference, we bring a theatre called "Donner".
Ex-minister of Justice is struggling with his words, and his bad
conscience. He tries to make a confession to a priest, but it doesn't
work.

With this act we make clear who is really responsible, and who should
really do something to make things better for Ahmed Issa, the Schiphol
People and all other migrants. It is for the government to learn from
their mistakes.

Another problem

After the verdict Ahmed Issa can be arrested by the IND and transferred to
prison, in vreemdelingenbewaring! When the case is closed, he can be thrown
out of the country,
because he has no residence permit, no papers, no verblijfsvergunning.
This means that even if he is free, he can go to prison immediately after
the judge has spoken.

Now we cannot believe that this will really happen, but three lawyers have
told us that it is possible according to the law. And we know that the IND
can do what they want with socalled illegal migrants. We know that Miloud
Fritass was deported last January, even though he was in K, is traumatized
and recognized as a victim. He even received compensation money. So we
have no guarantee that they will let Ahmed Issa walk free.

That is another reason why we have to be there,
to make sure that Ahmed Issa is really free
to make him feel good and comfortable when he comes out of the palace of
Justice

to say WELCOME AHMED ISSA!

After the verdict, the welcome ceremony and the press conference with
theatre we can relax and hopefully celebrate.

Ahmed Issa has told us that he observes Ramadan, like many of us. This
means: no food or drinks before sunset.

Jo and Sakho and Vincent

M2M and All Included
tel 0624148872

ciao









From jo at xs4all.nl  Mon Aug 31 09:51:47 2009
From: jo at xs4all.nl (Jo van der Spek M2M)
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2009 09:51:47 +0200
Subject: <m2m-eng> Welcome Ahmed Issa, Sept.3rd
Message-ID: <544729B78733405AB58F5F613B5A85AE@jom2m>

dear all,

The Campaign FREE AHMED ISSA reaches it's climax in 3 days. M2M and All 
Included inform and invite you to join!
On Thursday the 3rd of September Ahmed Issa will hear the judge's verdict as 
to whether he is guilty for the Schiphol Fire. We will be there, with our 
bus and friends to support and welcome Ahmed Issa.
We hope you can be with us, to show the world that we are together in our 
struggle for justice, to make a life again.
The prosecutor, Mr. Hans Wesselink, has created some confusion by demanding 
"only" 2 years and 24 days in prison. This is exactly the amount of time 
Ahmed has already spent in prison following the fire. Thus, this means that 
he still thinks Ahmed Issa is guilty, but has been punished enough. Many 
people think that he has been acquitted already, but that's a wrong 
conclusion.
Lawyer Eduard Damman has demanded "vrijspraak", acquittal for Ahmed Issa, as 
there is no evidence that he did it. We all know that the state built that 
bloody detention complex and is responsible for the well being of all 
inside.
But on Thursday Septemer 3rd at 1.30 p.m. the judges will decide: guilty or 
free. That is what matters.
After the verdict we will create a special ceremony to welcome Ahmed Issa. 
We invite artists, musicians, performers, etc. to create an event that looks 
a bit like the commemoration. Jos Zandvliet, Jose Tojo and Appa have already 
promised to come. Sjors Knol needs only 165 Euro to create 10 of his Dutch 
flags sown to the trousers of the artist, and pulling legs:)
see the picture at m2m.streamtime.org!

It will be a spontaneous event, to share the feeling and say what we have to 
say. We have announced this to the media and call on everybody to join us.
We have a license for this manifestation and we are cool with the court, so 
we don't have to be afraid of the cops.
At 3 o'clock we will go to De Balie, just around the corner on the 
Leidseplein, to give a press conference. In the Press Conference, we will 
present a theatre called "Donner". In this production, an ex-minister of 
Justice is struggling with his words, and his bad conscience, trying to make 
a confession to a priest, but failing.
With this act we make clear who is really responsible, and who should really 
do something to make things better for Ahmed Issa, the Schiphol People and 
all other migrants. It is for the government to learn from their mistakes.
Another problem
After the verdict Ahmed Issa can be arrested by the IND (the Immigration and 
Naturalisation Service) as he continues to be an "illegal alien" under Dutch 
law. While the possibility of him being arrested is slim, it is nonetheless 
a concern. Especially because he maybe jailed in a detention comlex again...
So even if he is free, he can go to prison immediately afterthe judge has 
spoken. Three lawyers have confirmed to M2M that this is possible. And we 
know that the IND can do what they want with socalled illegal migrants. We 
know that Miloud Fritass was deported last January, even though he was in K, 
is traumatized and recognized as a victim. He even received compensation 
money. So we have no guarantee that they will let Ahmed Issa walk free.
That is another reason why we have to be there,to make sure that Ahmed Issa 
is really freeto make him feel good and comfortable when he comes out of the 
palace ofJustice
to say WELCOME AHMED ISSA!
After the verdict, the welcome ceremony and the press conference with 
theatre we can relax and hopefully celebrate.Ahmed Issa has told us that he 
observes Ramadan, like many of us. This means: no food or drinks before 
sunset. Respect.Jo and Sakho and Vincent
Campaign FREE AHMED ISSA
M2M and All Included
tel 0624148872

Donations are very welcome too!
Triodos bank 390271918 St. M2M Amsterdam
IBAN: NL03 TRIO
BIC: TRIONL2U