T-shirt makers convicted of Terrorism

25.03.2009: Today the Danish High Court convicted six activists from the clothing company Fighters+Lovers guilty of supporting terror. The convicted state that in spite of today´s verdict the solidarity with liberation movements will continue together with the work for democratic rights.

The Supreme Court found that the company’s T-shirts violated the Danish terror legislation, because the sales would support the resistance movements PFLP in Palestine and FARC in Colombia. All the convicted got conditional prison sentences of between 2 and 6 months.

"I’m very surprised. I still don´t think that fight for freedom is terrorism, nor should solidarity be a crime”, says Katrine Willumsen, who was convicted 60 days of conditional prison and continues:

“Of course we do not regret that we have raised the debate about the undemocratic terror laws. But we think this should be discussed in a free public debate, and not in a court”, states Katrine Willumsen. “I’m angry because the verdict shows that the terror legislation is dangerous for democracy. It is time for it to be changed so that our political freedoms will again be secured, says Katrine Willumsen.

The trial created international headlines when Latin-American politicians in an open letter criticised the Minister of Justice Brian Mikkelsen. Prominent politicians from Chile, Bolivia, Guatemala and Venezuela stated that solidarity with armed resistance in several cases has paved the way for a deeply needed democratic change. They request an explanation from the Danish Minister of Justice. During the trial it was emphasized that activities, which the Danish prosecutor defines as serious violations of the terrorist legislation, are considered unproblematic in Norway and Sweden. Norway has decided to no longer apply the EU terrorist list. During the trial, it was revealed that in Sweden several acts of financial support for PFLP and FARC had not lead to judicial problems.

“Instead of criminalizing international solidarity, Denmark could have chosen another path, and followed Sweden and Norway. Denmark could instead play a positive role in the international society and work for dialogue and peaceful solutions”, says Ulrik Kohl, who was convicted 6 months of conditional prison.

In spite of the political ruling of the court, Ulrik Kohl states, that there has been a very positive result of the process: “We have seen a new movement evolve - a movement that dares to go against the attacks on our democratic rights, a movement for dialogue, peace and the right to speak up for justice. Sparked by the organization “Rebellion”, this movement counts old resistance fighters from the Danish resistance against the Nazi occupation in the 40’ties, it counts trade unionists, politicians and a lot of people from all over the world that want to defend democratic rights."

Besides Katrine Willumsen and Ulrik Kohl, four activists from Fighters+Lovers was sentenced between 2 and 6 month of conditional prison.

For more info or interviews: Tel: +45 2913 7138 E-mail: fightersandlovers@gmail.com

The trial short:

December 2007: Fighters+Lovers acquitted in the Municipal Court of Copenhagen. The court states that there is no evidence showing neither FARC nor PFLP should be categorised as terrorist organisations. The Public Prosecutor appeals the case to the Eastern High Court.

September 2008: High Court dismisses central elements of the Prosecutor’s evidence, documents and rulings from Colombia, because it of the use of torture in the Colombian legal system. However six activists from Fighters+Lovers are convicted of terrorism and sentenced from two to six months of prison. Link to the major national newspaper Politiken: http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/a... http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/a...

Background: Timeline, information etc: http://www.fightersandlovers.org/sp... http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/a... http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/200...

About Sweden and Norway: http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Udland/200... http://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/in...

Fighters+Lovers – The Short Version

In January 2006 Fighters+Lovers was established and launched a collection of T-shirts in the colours mango, fuchsia and white under the slogan ’Look Great And Stand Up For Freedom’. 5 Euro of every sold T-shirt from the 2006 collection is supposed to be transferred to the struggle for freedom. The collection generated a great deal of attention and had more than 600 orders from almost all continents and made headlines on both BBC and Al-Jazeera.

Both FARC and PFLP are on the EU terror list. On this terror list the EU makes no distinctions between terrorism and legitimate struggle for freedom. The EU terror list is a political document that has no judicial validity in Denmark. Through its products and communication projects F+L challenges the Danish terror-legislation that threatens our democratic liberties. This means that the core of the F+L project is civil disobedience. F+L stresses that the struggle for freedom should not be criminalised and that the solidarity with freedom fighters is legitimate.