Act now
Custody
On 21 May 2008 at 6am, special units of the Austrian police stormed into 23 private houses and offices. Doors were smashed down, beds were surrounded by masked police men and half-sleeping inhabitants were threatened with firearms pointed at their heads. Ten long-term animal protection activists were sent to prison on remand custody. The Ministry of the Interior boasted they had hunted down a large criminal gang responsible for numerous cases of damage to property, arson, gas attacks and bomb threats.
But the imprisoned activists were not informed about what exactly they were supposed to have done. Access to the prosecution files was simply withheld. As a result, some of the prisoners went on hunger strike, asking to see the evidence or be released immediately. Protests emerged both in Austria and abroad. Fierce criticism came from Amnesty International, the Austrian Green Party and some social democrats; well-known personalities, such as Nobel Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek, wrote protest letters. Demonstrations were held in front of Austrian embassies around the world.
When some parts of the files were finally made available, the activists and their lawyers unanimously insisted that the disclosed papers did not contain any evidence of criminal behaviour but rather a list of completely normal NGO activities, such as organising demonstrations or public conferences. The state prosecution refused to comment on these serious objections, referring to continuing investigation and supposed independence of the court. One of the prisoners, Martin Balluch, a double doctor and former science assistant at Cambridge University, continued on hunger strike and persisted for admirable 39 days.
"On day 36 I reached a new low point, which gave me near death experiences. I had this strong impression of being suspend above a complete void. I was about to fall into it. I pictured my situation as being up to the neck in a crevice, standing on such thin ice that could not hold my weight much longer. I could not get out anymore by myself." Martin Balluch in a later letter from prison.
The activists were forced to stay in conditions which didn't even remotely correspond to the principle of presumption of innocence. They were locked up for 23 hours a day in small cells; they were allowed to exercise for just one hour a day in a concrete courtyard. They could only have a shower or accept visits twice a week and were denied physical contact with their loved ones as they could only speak to them via a glass panel for 30 minutes. No wonder some of the activists were forced to use anti-depressive drugs.