On 13th June, the trial for a rally in front of the state parliament during the “Tour against Camp System and Racism” of Women in Exile in summer 2021 took place in Schwerin. Activists and friends of the defendant came as visitors to the trial and to a rally in front of the district court. We are especially happy that some of the Women in Exile came all the way from Berlin.
The trial was not finished on that day. On a further date witnesses are to be questioned and fundamental questions clarified. The defendant said today:
“This camp system makes me sick. For over 30 years I have been active in voluntary refugee work, professionally as a doctor I have had to experience in many cases that it is only through the living conditions in the camps here that people become psychologically demoralized and ill. Our small action should also be a small encouragement to stand up publicly against this situation of injustice and to bring this situation of injustice to a head, even if it would have consequences.
I ask you as a judge, is our perhaps small violation of rules, which is what Civil Disobedience stands for, not proportionate to the immense suffering and injustice done to the refugees?”
On our homepage you can find the background to the case, as well as the defendant’s plea in court. The defendant is conducting the trial without a lawyer – and he is doing so out of conviction. We believe that law and courts should function in such a way that it is possible for everyone to fight for his/her rights there without having to invest huge sums of money. This means that we actively deal with legal issues, basic but also procedural rights.
