Noborders festival shut down by polish police

30.May.01 - After initial permission was granted to hold a two-day festival as part of a no-borders camp, secret police forced the mayor of border town Krynki to shut us down. The festival (which was actually being organized by the local House of Culture in conjuction with anarchists) was to showcase folk emsembles, famous Belarussian poets and was to be a large multi-cultural event. No-border activists were to hold events simultaneously and in subsequent days in the same location. At this point, locals in the town are terrified and it is unlikely they will stand up to the secret police.The European Union has ordered Poland to tighten its borders and Interpol is trying to fight anarchist activity on an international level. The UOP (Polish secret police) has been trying to put pressure on camp activists for a while, calling at least one person in for an interrogation and asking about plans. We see this activity as an unacceptable provocation and will be running a protest campaign in the near future. Camp plans will now by made in top secret and the camp will take on a more confrontational attitude than the peaceful, communitarian one we had previously adopted.