by thecollective Aug 4, 2026
ABC Belarus got rejected from the Anarchist Bookfair in Bremgarten, Switzerland

From ABC Belarus

Here’s how you can support us

This year, we applied to participate in the Anarchist Bookfair in Bremgarten with a presentation on repressions in Belarus and our distro table. We were rejected “because of the war topic”. As we have not received further rationale behind rejecting our request, we can only guess this relates to our stance on the war in Ukraine and the participation of anti-authoritarians in it.

While we acknowledge and understand that the bookfair organizers can  have a different position to ours, we find this decision disappointing. Not just because we see it as a choice of isolation instead of dialogue. More importantly, it directly interferes with our ability to care for imprisoned comrades in Belarus.

Currently, we have 15 people in prison we support. Their remaining sentences vary from several months to 18+ years.

Many of our comrades face intensified pressure and harassment in prison because of their associations with anarchist movement. They regularly experience solitary confinement, psychological pressure, isolation, deliberate denial of medical care, and time added to their sentences under made-up reasons.

On top of the prison support, we continue to support the comrades who were recently released and forcefully deported without an option to return. They find themselves in a situation where they need to build their life from zero while trying to cover basic needs like food and housing. 

To put it straightforwardly, all this work requires a lot of money.

In-person events for us are more than chances to talk about Belarusian anarchism and meet new comrades. They are also a way to raise money for the prisoners – and a very effective way.

International bookfairs usually bring us about 2 000 – 3000 euro in donations and distro sales every year. In Belarus, this sum can cover 15 lawyer visits, or 7 care packages with food, clothes, and medicine for the prisoner, or a couple months of living expenses for a deported comrade. 

Our monthly donations equal about 400-500 euro, which are not able to cover the needs of all the comrades we support.

All of this to say, we want to turn this rejection into a call for international solidarity, especially to the comrades in Switzerland. 

Here’s how you can support us:

This is not the first time ABC Belarus is blocked from events like these , and we believe this tendency will only accelerate.The possibility that we won’t be able to support our comrades in prison worries us greatly. 

Yet, we are not just a “fund” that will avoid uncomfortable topics in order to keep the resources flowing. We are a political collective and our analysis of how dictatorships function and reinforce each other is as much a part of our anarchism as our anti-prison work.

Therefore, we will keep war in Ukraine on our agenda instead of looking away.

Every day in our struggle we see international solidarity in action, even our comrades behind the thick walls of Belarusian prisons can feel it. 

This solidarity gives us revolutionary hope, hope that no matter how strong the state, imperialism, patriarchy are, we will prevail. 

Thank you for your solidarity and this hope. 

Anarchist Black Cross Belarus

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Comments

Malatester (not verified) Tue, 08/04/2026 - 07:26

Maybe don't throw prisoners under the bus in order to support a state (which imprisons people, including for not fighting in your favorite war) and its soldiers and then you could present at anarchist bookfairs and better support prisoners. Who could have guessed?

anonymous (not verified) Tue, 08/04/2026 - 07:51

your comment doesn't make sense. abc b is not throwing prisoners under the bus. i disagree with their ukraine stance and it's fine for them to bear the consequences of an inconsistent practice, but you're doing a blame the victim thing here, which is confusing and weird. 

Malatester (not verified) Tue, 08/04/2026 - 12:58

Who's the victim? ABC Belarus? Victim of who or what? Their own decision to be liberals regarding an inter-state NATO-backed war? I think the real victims are the prisoners of the Ukrainian and Belarusian states that ABC Belarus cares less about than they do supporting the Ukrainian state and NATO. If ABC Belarus had anti-politics and didn't support states, the prisoners they claim to care about would be getting more airtime via ABC Belarus and the anarchist bookfairs they could attend. Nobody is forcing them to be liberals, as far as we know. They could make better decisions. Would make more sense than the rest of the anarchist movement turning liberal to support their bad decisions and politics.

anonymous (not verified) Tue, 08/04/2026 - 09:46

That's unfortunate. I don't see a problem with a diversity of opinion about participating in a war of defense, especially against such a fashy invader. It's not like Kropotkin going senile and supporting WWI or something.

Kopa (not verified) Tue, 08/04/2026 - 12:17

“war of defense” is my favorite oxymoron. I'll add it to my list of other oxymorons. I already have these, for example: “revolutionary government,” “anarchists in government,” “national self-determination,” “supporting democracy in the struggle for anarchy.” “Participation in Elections as a Means of Combating Parliamentarism”.....

Here are a few good reasons not to work with ABC Belarus: Response to the pro-war left’s “petition” https://antimilitarismus.noblogs.org/post/2026/01/03/response-to-the-pr…

Malatester (not verified) Tue, 08/04/2026 - 12:53

I'd say it's actually worse than what Kropotkin did, given that we now have the benefit of hindsight, we're amidst climate catastrophe, and people in Ukraine are killing other people with drones, like cowards, instead of fighting face to face, where you could end up with things like the Christmas truce of WWI.

anonymous (not verified) Tue, 08/04/2026 - 12:37

>talk about our work and the prisoners we care for

Okay, that's no problem.
ABC Belarus actively supports Dmitry Dubovsky, who testified against three of his comrades, who are also currently in prison. At first, ABC Belarus tried to convince everyone that his testimony was the result of a deal with his comrades, but when it became clear that this was a lie and that no one except Dubovsky testified against their comrades, ABC Belarus stopped discussing the matter. I suggest sending ABC Belarus more donations, enough to cover not only the drones but also delicious tea and candy for their good friend Dmitry Dubovsky.

Hrom (not verified) Wed, 08/05/2026 - 10:23

What you're writing here about Dmitry Dubovsky is shocking. I'd like to learn more about this topic. Could you share links to related statements from ABC Belarus or from people who have commented on this issue? I'd also like to read what evidence you're basing these serious allegations on.

Hrom (not verified) Thu, 08/06/2026 - 04:55

Thanks for the links. It's really interesting and shocking. I'm not very familiar with the Russian-language media landscape. I'm not familiar with the “naroborona” project you linked to on Telegram. Is there any public information available about this project? A website, for example?

Hrom (not verified) Thu, 08/06/2026 - 05:25

I couldn't find a statement on the ABC Belarus website that would be related in any way to Dubovsky's snitching. Can you share a link here? I want to understand the context better and know the ABC group's position. I believe that what Dubovsky did is unacceptable. It shouldn't be tolerated, and we shouldn't look for excuses to defend it.

Wayne@ (not verified) Thu, 08/06/2026 - 10:29

(1) ABC-Belarus states that it continues being in contact with this prisoner despite his snitching because he underwent a year of imprisonment and torture and was subsequently still sentenced to a long term of imprisonment, and because his fellow anarchist prisoners did not reject him. Whether ABC was right in this conclusion (clearly they do not justify his actions) can be debated but is not a major issue.

(2) Was it justified for the German anarchists to exclude the Belarusians from an anarchist book fair for no other reason than their opinion on the Ukrainian-Russian war? Were any other groups excluded for any other unorthodox anarchist positions? Is there a list of dissident minority opinions for which anarchists may be excluded from gatherings? If there is a major dispute among anarchists, should we encourage exchanges of views, or should we try to shut down debate (which never works anyway)? If you dare not argue with other anarchists, how will you be able to argue with non-anarchists (most people)?

anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/06/2026 - 12:41

I'm glad you remain true to yourself and are willing to publicly justify any abomination committed by your fellow camp members.

>Was it justified for the German anarchists to exclude the Belarusians from an anarchist book fair for no other reason than their opinion on the Ukrainian-Russian war?
Yes, supporting the state is enough to keep you from attending anarchist events.

Wayne@ (not verified) Fri, 08/07/2026 - 13:28

You declare, "Yes, supporting the state is enough to keep you from attending anarchist events."

But apparently it's okay to attend anarchist events even if you oppose the defense of an oppressed nation from an imperialist invasion?

(Fundamentally anarchism is against *all* forms of oppression, of which opposition to the state is only one aspect.)

SPEC OPS: THE LINE (not verified) Fri, 08/07/2026 - 03:36

I’m convinced Wayne is a LLM. Optimistic boomer normative nostalgic slop. “If you dare not argue with other anarchists”, never responds to being told anything lol

anonymous (not verified) Fri, 08/07/2026 - 15:03

"The Ukrainian state remains a state and a barrier to freeing people from power, but no Ukrainian politician would allow himself the level of state violence that the Putin regime allows."

"And in resisting the violence of Russian authoritarianism, the Ukrainian people have found a temporary ally in the Ukrainian state, which has its own goals in this war."

"We consider a temporary truce between the anarchists and leftists on one side and the Ukrainian state on the other as forced and inevitable in the conditions of the modern European war."

Sentences that speak for themselves. In sum: no, it's not possible to fight a local oppressor when a bigger oppressor is threatening. Similar sentiment in this IGD interview:

https://itsgoingdown.org/a-front-line-report-from-the-west-bank-of-occu…

The interviewee claims all other differences & hierarchies among Palestinians become irrelevant in the face of israel's response to al-Aqsa Flood.

Wayne@ (not verified) Sat, 08/08/2026 - 15:36

Let me clarify the claims of the ABC-Belarusian statement and the Palestinian interview: For example, when anarchists join an Anti-fascist demo, our focus is on fighting the fascists. We do not focus equally on fighting the fascists and also the bourgeois-democrats (liberal Democrats or even non-fascist conservatives). Our *immediate* enemy is the fascists and we will ally with any liberals who will fight them. But we might still distribute leaflets saying, "Don't Trust the Democrats to Resist Fascism!" We will oppose their politics.

In Ukraine, the *immediate* enemy is the imperialist invader. Anarchists should work with Ukrainian bourgeois-democrats to fight the occupiers. All guns should be pointed one way, at the immediate enemy--until we are strong enough to overturn the capitalist state. BUT (and this is the weakness of the "temporary ally" term) we should be only the *military* ally of the state, not the *political* ally or supporter. Anarchists are still opponents of the Ukrainian capitalist state, say so as openly as possible, and have the eventual goal of revolution by the workers and all oppressed.

And the same goes for Palestinian anarchists. The immediate enemy is the Zionist state, but that must not be interpreted to mean being silent about anarchist opposition to jihadists or Marxist-Leninists.

Malatester (not verified) Sun, 08/09/2026 - 12:21

Those are not "anarchist" positions, they are simply your individual positions.

A) I agree on the need to focus on particular things at certain times, but I do not agree, for instance, to "ally with any liberals who will fight" the fascists. I would agree to temporarily ally with certain liberals so long as and until they interfere with my objectives. Alliances should not be unconditional.

B) It's partially true that "in Ukraine, the 'immediate' enemy is the imperialist invader," but what's equally important to keep in mind is that we are not in Ukraine, so Russia is not our immediate enemy, our own states and NATO are, and Ukrainian state agents forcibly conscripting Ukrainians are also the immediate enemy of Ukrainians, just as Russia is. Any anarchist who promotes conscription or tolerates other anarchists who do, such as Dmitry Petrov, should be expelled from the movement.

C) We will never get "strong enough to overturn the capitalist state" through enlisting in state forces or collaborating with state forces. Anarchism requires the unity of means and ends, and if we use statist means, as you promote, we will only reach statist ends.

D) Revolution is never an "eventual" goal for anarchists, but always an immediate goal. As usual, you confuse Marxist positions with anarchist ones. Which doesn't mean the revolution is always possible at any moment, only that we don't intentionally put it off for state collaboration purposes.

E) If Palestinian anarchists' immediate enemy is Israel rather than Russia, this only reconfirms the thesis that Russia is not our immediate enemy in North America, NATO and our own states and capitalists are. Ukraine is allied, on multiple levels, not only with NATO but also Israel. Beyond just the political support for Israel and the buying of Israeli weapons, which helps Israel build more weapons to use against Palestinians, Ukraine is now more actively involved, in the form of weapons exports and attacks (in fact Ukraine even already armed Saudi Arabia years ago), on the side of Israel and the America's war on Iran, Lebanon, Palestine and Yemen. To support the Ukrainian state is to support NATO and Israeli imperialism and to put a stick in the spokes of our own bicycle.

anonymous (not verified) Mon, 08/10/2026 - 13:10

You're in no position to determine who the "*immediate* enemy" is for anyone except yourself. But in doing so anyway & marginalizing those who consider some entities (Ukrainian oppressors) no less "immediate" than others (Russian oppressors), you are reiterating garden-variety leftism & european politicking more generally.

Malatester (not verified) Mon, 08/10/2026 - 22:48

It's funny how lazy your reading comprehension is. I said that Ukrainian oppressors (specifically conscription agents, but not only them) are no less immediate for Ukrainians than Russian ones are. You're getting mad at your own imagination. Maybe you need to marginalize your own fantasies before you start typing.

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