About the police raid at the collective farm “Novy Put’”(“New Way”)

by Krog, Association of Anarchist Movements, Autonomous Action
The collective farm “Novy Put’”(“New Way”) is locatedin village Bochevo, 270 km far from Saint Petersburg in Boksitogorsk District of Leningrad region near the border of Novgorod region, 30 km away from the district center that is Boksitogorsk. The nearest store is situated 10 km far from the farm. The nearby road is not asphalted. The collective farm is an anarchist commune and an ecological settlement.

On April 17th, 2006 at 17 PM approximately the collective farm was visited by three local policemen led by detective-in-chief Petrov. The policemen were looking for two anarchists who had come to the collective farm to take part in the agricultural works. However, there was only one anarchist in the collective farm at the time, because the other one had left two days before. The policemen informed the anarchist in a straight manner that their visit is connected with the future G8 summit in Saint Petersburg. They demanded from anarchist to take a black flag off the roof of the building, proclaiming that “Some locals may understand it wrong way and burn down the house”. It’s necessary to note, that communarians have good relationship with local citizens. Thus the anarchist understood that as a threat from the cops and agreed to take off the flag in order not to let down the farm’s owners (note: the conversation between the anarchist and the cops passed without any witnesses). Then the cops demanded if anarchists had any of their literature or periodicals on the farm. After the anarchist refused to answer this question, cops, without any warrant or sanction from public prosecutor, broke into the house and confiscated the collection of anarchist periodicals dating from 1992 to 2006. After that, the periodicals were taken to the side of the road on the eyes of the communarians. Then the periodicals were burned along with the flag. The communarians tried to prevent this act of despotism, but the policemen demonstrated their guns and threatened to gun down the farm dogs. The cops also told that if anarchists would erect the black flag again, they will get imprisoned for 15 days. After an objection about illegality of their actions, one of policemen declared, that “no law is written for them”. It is also important to note, that along with burned documents there was some part of private correspondence of one of the communarians with Dutch comrade Bas Morel. Part of the obliterated documentation had nothing to do with anarchism and politics in a whole.
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