2008-03-15

Update Martin Krämer

13/03/2008 (by email)

German activist Martin Kramer, en route to Japan to prepare for the Hokkaido G8 summit protests, was arrested by police in the city of Vanino in the Habarovsk region of the Russian Far East March 3. He was turned over the FSB agents, in whose hands he was harshly interrogated and beaten. Martin was accused of carrying “extremist” and “secret” documents. These included archival materials from the 1920s, long since made public, that Kramer had for research purposes. Also included was a copies of the Ukrainian anarchist paper Liva-Sprava and Udar, the paper of Autonomous Action of Vladivostok. After a few hours, he was put in a car and thrown out in a strange part of the city. On March 10, arriving in Sapporo via ship from Sakhalin, he was denied entry by Japanese authorities. As of March 11, he remained on board the ship, while local activists appealed to Japanese authorities.

12/03/2008 (by Esperanto League)

Dr. Martin Kraemer, who is an agriculture Doctor and professional artist from Germany, is sending out an SOS to public. He was refused to entry Japan as a tourist on March 10th 2008 and was now restrained in Otaru port, Hokkaido, Japan on the ship that he boarded from his last visiting country Russian Federation.

The Otaru port branch of Immigration Bureau of Japan unjustly refused Dr. Kraemer to enter Japan. Moreover, the chief officer of Otaru port branch is saying that they will transport Dr. Kraemer back to Russia, instead of his home country Germany, by the same ship on March 14th 2008. However, there is a fact that Dr. Kraemer was unreasonably constrained by the political police of Russia before he departed to Otaru. He was tortured and even was threatened his life during the custody. Thus, it will put his life in danger again if Immigration Bureau of Japan sends him back to Russia, where he almost lost his life but managed to get out of it. This is definitely the nonhumanitarian act and we need to prevent it. Here, we call for your help to do two things:

1. Call on Japanese government not to take the inhuman action that transporting Dr. Kraemer back to Russia.

2. Appeal to Germany Embassy in Japan to press Japanese government to assure their citizen’s safety so Immigration Bureau of Japan would not send him back to Russia.
http://www.tokyo.diplo.de/Vertretung/tokyo/de/Kontakt,templateId=sendKontaktMail.jsp

Here, we ask your help from the heart and it is time for us to get together to prevent this nonhumanitarian act!!

THE ESPERANTO LEAGUE for FREEDOM in HOKKAIDO

• naoto_5esperanto@ybb.ne.jp
• http://lea-h.sakura.ne.jp

11/03/2008 (by Indymedia Russia)

German left-wing activist Martin Kramer as been denied entry to Japan by the Japanese authorities. He is still on board of a ship in Sapporo (Japan), coming from Sakhalin, Russia.

The Japanese authorities don’t comment on their refusal but Martin is sure that this is political repression. The Japanese authorities, before the G8 summit to be held in Kioto, are already starting to filter the “undesired” people. Martin as a cirizen of Germany does not need a visa to Japan.
The ship under the flag of Panama came from Korsakov (Sakhalin, Russia) on the 7th of March. On the 14th of March it is due to leave back tu Russia but Martin’s Russian visa has expired on the 8th of March. Besides, before boarding the ship he has been detained several times and beaten by Russian police and state security (FSB) in Vanino (Khabarovsk region).

Thus Martin is threatened with deportation. He is ready to legalize his stay in Russia. One of Moscow institutes has already sent a request to make him a new visa for a year for scientific research (Martin studies Soviet history of the 1920s-30s). Also, Martin is waiting for his Chinese visa to be processed.

Thus, in order to avoid deportation from Japan and Russia as a degenerating and politically motivated act, martin decided to apply for a political asylum in a embassy in Japan of one of anti-imperialist countries of Latin America.

He has written letters to the embassies of Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador, Uruguay, as well as Panama (since he is on a Panamian ship). But Mrtin cannot pass these letters along. He asks to stay in an embassy until his Russian or Chinese visa is ready.

Martin has less than 72 hours left before he has to leave the ship. On the 14th of March, the ship leaves for Russia.

Please translate this letter into German and take whichever action you can.

This article is a translation from Russian.
The source is the Russian “Institute for Collective action” http://ikd.ru/node/5531

Many of us from Indymedia Ukraine, Indymedia Russia and Indymedia Belarus also know Martin personally.

10/03/2008 (by Martin Krämer/ MediaG8way)

After leaving Russian FSB detention, left activists is returned to sea by Sapporo authorities

Sapporo-Otaru. 10.03.08 – 13:00 GMT: The German left activist Dr. Martin Kraemer has been refused landing in the port of Sapporo-Otaru. He has been condemned by Japanese authorities to remain stay put on the Panama vessel BM-2, which had brought him from Sakhalin on Friday, 7th of March. “Just released from special confinement by the Russian political police FSB, it’s now the Japanese repressive forces who try to top them.

In Russia, I got kicked and received an official death threat in custody, but this is worse,” says Martin: “Today’s blow against Japanese dignity set in before I could even open my mouth in this splendid country.” The surprising decision by Japanese immigration officers was announced today after receiving central instructions at 16:00 o’clock local time (8:00 GMT). At that time, Dr. Kraemer had already spent 66 hours waiting in the port of Otaru to get landing permission.

Sapporo Esperanto activists and the German embassy in Tokyo tried to intervene favorably for Dr. Kramer, but all in vain. As a German citizen, Dr. Kraemer needs no visa to enter Japan. Landing permission for German tourists up to 90 days is normally a mere formality on entering Japan. Simultaneously, the eldest officer of Otaru Immigration control confirmed that according to his memory today’s refusal is an all time first for the port of Sapporo-Otaru. Today’s refusal was preceded by an 8 hours ordeal of repeated luggage searches virtually to the last sewing needle followed by meticulous cross examination of Dr. Kramer and the Japanese inviting part both alike in separated rooms respectively. Special emphasis was put on examining the question why Dr. Kraemer had been wearing a red hard-head on board of the ship and played the International on his trumpet when saying farewell to an enthusiast Russian crew on leaving the vessel. All this questioning however could bring up no presentable pretext for refusing Dr. Kraemer to land. “In the end they just hid behind paragraphs, they were cautious not to cite in detail,” records Martin Kraemer.

Dr. Kraemer is now in a special situation. He has been returned by force on the ship and refused permission to set his feet on Japanese soil whatsoever for the time being. However, the splendid hospitality of the Russian crew and captain welcoming him back after a long day has its limits. Their ship, which took Martin for free from Sakhalin to Hokkaido as a token of internationalist friendship, is to sail back to Russia on Friday. According to the Japanese authorities, Martin Kraemer is to stay with the crew, but his Russian visa has been cancelled on 6th of March by the port authorities of Korsakov (Russia). Within the next 72 hours he will now file a formal complaint will to the attention of the Japanese Ministry of Justice. If the ministry refuses to revoke today’s decision or if it takes longer than Friday to decide, the Japanese authorities will face the odd job of how to deport a German citizen from their waters, who has not even been granted to set foot on their soil.

Today’s arbitrary decision of the Japanese authorities foreshadows what is to come when hundreds and thousands of left activists will apply for landing in Japan to voice their protest against this year’s G8 summit near Sapporo.

“No matter whether Russian or Japanese Big Capital dictatorship: when G8 approaches they seem all united to kick us into the Pacific Ocean! Won’t stay under water for long, though,” promised Dr. Kraemer tonight: “Japan, we are coming!”

The Russian member of the Duma Oleg Shein supports Dr. Kraemer after the incidents of FSB torture, please contact his assistant Andrej Demidov in Moscow under +7-495-6928906 (or mobile +7-926-2379977).

04/03/2008 (by avtonom.org)

Help German anti-G8 activist Martin Kramer, repressed in Russian Far East

3rd of March Martin Kramer was arrested by police of the city of Vanino in Habarovsk region in Russian Far East, and was beaten up by the FSB agents. Martin is a German citizen, who is coordinating travel of activists to counter-summit against G8 in Japan in summer of 2008. He was about to travel to Sakhalin island by a boat. Martin was accused of carrying “extremist” and “secret” documents.

Around 10 AM Martin and his acquaintance from Nahodka bought tickets to a boat to Sakhalin. While they were waiting for boat, they were approached by police.

He said he is police officer Aleksandr Petrovich Kravchuk, and he demanded that Martin and his acquaintance should follow him to a police station. Their documents were checked and they were released.

But soon Martin was released another time, and again taken to a police station. This time he was interrogated by FSB agents. Leader of the agents presented a document with name Yevgeni Malakhov. FSB agents illegally took Martin’s documents, notebook, personal stuff, he was searched and then beaten up. According to Martin, he was beaten with fists and feet, then he was taken to 4th floor of the police station and threaten that he will be thrown out from the window, and afterwards agents would fabricate that it was an accident. FSB agents refused to invite a consul, and they gave him “advocate”, a woman who did not showed any documents but who acted like just another agent.

Among property of Martin, police found archival document from 1920’s or 1930’s with stamp “secret”, and he was accused of possession of secret documents. Martin attempted to explain that these documents have been made public a long time ago, and he was working with them due to his research work. Agents ignored his explanations, and also claimed that Ukrainian paper “Liva-Sprava” and paper of Autonomous Action of Vladivostok "Udar’ is extremist press.

After few hours Martin was released from the police station, taken to a car and thrown out to one of the streets of the city. Martin was late from the ship, and he demanded a new ticket, but he was refused. Then he was able to get to a phone booth, from where he could call to his friends in Moscow, but suddenly connection was disrupted. We do not know what his happening with Martin right now.

Police in Vanino is currently refusing from comments, as it is already night in Vanino (+7 hours from Moscow time, +10 hours CET).

Source: Gipfelsoli