FNP to launch campaign

The campaign launch of the Staleek elections of March 20, 2019 will be on Saturday 5 January in Bolsward. The Frisian National Party has announced a programm including the annual newsletter package, the department of South-West Friesland and a campaign session.

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Cardigan Town Council cheque rejected by Lloyds Bank 'for being written in Welsh'

The town council paid a contractor by cheque but when he presented it to a branch of Lloyds Bank in England, it was refused.The contractor got in touch with the town council and said: “I apologise for having to contact you about this as I find the whole situation embarrassing.“Earlier today we received a cheque from Cardigan Town Council and similar to last time, the area where you write the amount is written in Welsh.

“I previously attempted to pay your cheque into our local Lloyds branch and it was refused. Today, I attempted to take alternative action and contacted the business section of the bank before it was paid in and again I was informed that the cheque would be returned back to me.
“I even tried to contact Lloyds Bank, Cardigan to speak with them and although I was guaranteed that a call would be returned in three hours, they have still not been in touch.”
Eventually, the cheque was honoured but not before a stinging response from Cardigan town clerk Wynford Jones.

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Basque marches to the prisons of Basauri and Martutene

Kalera Kalera yesterday marched to the prisons of Basauri and Martutene. The civical movement demanded to the Spanish government "political courage". Hundreds of  marchers stressed that, after the repeal of instruction 3/2017, they have "less excuses" for not releasing seriously ill prisoners.

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Thousands march for independence in Majorca

Around 5,000 people, according to the organizers, participated this Sunday, December 30th, at the traditional demonstration claim framed in the acts of the Day of Majorca. The rally remembers the Catalan conquest of the city in 1229.

The manifestation, very colorful, with the participation of the leaders of the main sovereign formations, both civic and political marched through the streets of Palmain defense of a dignified, sustainable and free Majorca. The yellow color, which symbolizes freedom and solidarity with Catalan political prisoners and black as a sign of mourning for the victims of the torrent of Sant Llorenç, were the predominant emblems.

The march had two blocks one of the 31D Unity Commission, with the main motto of 'Defend Mallorca, Built a Republic' and that of the Popular Unity Block (BUP) with the slogan 'Construct Sovereignty and Mallorcan Republic'. Finally, the participation of the rapper Josep Miquel Arenas, better known as Valtonyc, was also attended, as he is currently in political exile in Belgium.

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Sicilian independentists commemorate the last battle of the EVIS (Voluntary Army for the Independence of Sicily) in 1943

On December 30th it was commemorated in Monte San Mauro (Caltagirone) the last battle of the EVIS (Voluntary Army for the Independence of Sicily), commanded by Concetto Gallo and referred to the 73th anniversary. The event, organized by the Sicilian National Front - Free Sicialia (FNS-SL), also attended 'Siciliani Liberi' and 'Gran Sicilia', and all for the occasion only waved the Sicilian flag. The unity of Sicilian movements was praised as what Sicilian independence needs, that necessarily passes through dialogue and confrontation.

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Saami Council confound by Norway’s disrespect of CERD’s request to suspend construction of power plant on traditional Sami territory

On 21 December 2018, Norway officially announced that it ignores a request by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) to suspend the construction of a power plant within the traditional territory of the indigenous Åerjel Fovsen Sijte Sami reindeer herding community. The request was enacted by the Committee on 10 December 2018 pursuant to Rule 94(3) of CERD’s Rules of procedure.
President of the Saami Council, Ms. Åsa Larsson Blind, is confound by Norway's disrespect of the decision made by the UN Treaty Body.
“It is extremely disappointing, but also revealing that Norway disregards CERD’s decision, allowing the construction of the power plant to proceed, as Norway likes to pride itself with being a state that believes in the rule of law and respects human rights,” said President of the Saami Council, Ms. Åsa Larsson Blind.
In a letter sent today to the UN delegations of all Member States that have ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), the European Union and the Council of Europe, the Saami Council informs about Norway’s defiance of the decision made by the Treaty Body.
“By ignoring CERD’s decision, Norway not only makes it clear that in fact, it only respects human rights when those do not conflict with Norway’s own interests. In addition, Norway encourages disrespect of the entire UN treaty body system,” Ms. Blind wrote.
The construction of the power plant would have detrimental effects on the Sami reindeer herding community’s and its members’ possibilities to continuously pursue its ancient livelihood, traditional Sami reindeer herding, the backbone of their cultural identity. For this reason, the Saami Council, an NGO with consultative status with the ECOSOC, assisted the community in filing a complaint with CERD

 

Karen Anette Anti, from the Sametinget, representative body for people of Sámi heritage in Norway

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Flemish Minister N-VA predicts a Flemish Republic

Ben Weyts, N-VA Flemish Minister predicts a Flemish Republic in 30 years. The Flemish Minister presented his wishes on Thursday in a video in which the N-VA Minister for Mobility and Animal Welfare imagines Belgium in 2048. The politician having taken some wrinkles installed in his chair, the newspaper "De Beste Standaard" in hand. While his grandchildren question him about the Belgium of formerly, the Flemish minister launches : "Thirty years ago, there were still traffic jams, socialists and people who shot animals without stunning. Slaughter without stunning was banned on 1 January 2019 ... in the Flemish Republic, he said, but it was not yet a republic at the time."

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The General Assemblies of Biscay approve the detachment of Basque society of the constitution and that the monarchy is an "historical and democratic anachronism"

The Spanish monarchy is an "historical and democratic anachronism". The General Assemblies of Biscay (Bizkaia Batzar Nagusiak in Basque) approved on December 26th a EAJ-PNV (Basque Nationalist Party) proposal which shows the detachment of Basque society by the constitutional pact and the need for the figure of the head of state to be elected periodically. EAJ-PNV, PSOE, EH Bildu and Podemos had each presented their own proposal on the Constitution, the Monarchy and the republic, each voting his own in the commission, while the PP voted against them all, so that the proposal of the PNV has gone ahead with its 7 votes thanks to the abstention of Podemos.

The nationalist spokesman Jon Andoni Atutxa has highlighted the "lack of majority attachment of the Basque population" to the constitutional pact as he showed that "only 30% of the Basque electoral census gave the yes to the endorsed text". He added that it is "logical" that in the XXI century citizens and citizens periodically choose the person who will occupy the head of state, an instance that, according to his group, should "enjoy the same protection as any other citizen or citizen, "and that it must" render accounts "and" be audited. "

According to a recent survey the Basque national parties will win again the majority un the General Assemblies of Biscay. EAJ-PNV is growing from 37,63 % to 43,5 % with two MPs more. Now the party has 23 over 51. EH Bildu would grow too from 18,86 to 19,6 % maintaining 11 of the 51 MPs. It means that Basque parties would have the 70 % of the seats.

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29 Venetian people processed for tax disobedience dennounce Italian "fiscal depredation"

On December 19, a judicial process began in Vicenza against 29 members of the Comitato Liberazione Nazionale Veneto (CLNV) founded in 2014. They are accused of promoting the instigation of tax evasion. They are being asked 5 years in prison. The pro-independence activists, led by Patrizia Badii and Ruggero Peretti, defended their right to fight for the national liberation of the Veneto. Veneto suffers a "fiscal depredation" of € 20,000 million annually.

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Norwegian law threatens Sami lands where reindeer are a way of life

Reindeer herding is not a job for many Sami, an indigenous people of fewer than 140,000 who inhabit mostly the northern reaches of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia. It is a way of life.

Jovsset Ante Sara, a boyish-­looking 26-year-old, knows his section of the tundra as if it were a city grid, every hill and valley familiar, the land acquired over generations through the meticulous work of his ancestors.

He can tell his reindeer from any others by their unique earmark. And he and his family need them to live and preserve their claim to the land as well as their traditions.

That is why, Sara says, he has refused to abide by Norwegian laws, passed more than a decade ago, that limit the size of reindeer herds. The measure was taken, the government says, to prevent overgrazing.

Sara’s herd was capped at 75. So every year, if the herd grows, he must pare it down. At least, those are the rules. He has refused to cull his 350 to 400 reindeer, and took the government to court.

“I sued because I could not accept to see my culture die,” he said.

He lost his case before the Supreme Court and has accumulated fines of $60,000, with the threat of losing his land hanging over him.

The government has given him to the end of this year to comply or he will begin to accumulate additional fines, and eventually could lose his reindeer.

The case is just one of the many battles the Sami of Norway have fought over a long history with the government to preserve their culture and way of life.

The Sami were colonized by Christian missionaries, forced to abandon their shamanistic ways and assimilate. Grim tales of Sami children being sent to boarding schools and studied by anthropologists in dehumanizing ways remain a stain on the history of the Nordic nations.

Today the Sami of Norway number about 55,000, with 10 percent directly involved in reindeer herding. The reindeer population in Norway is estimated at 220,000. Herders earn a living by selling reindeer for meat as well as for their hides.

“When we kill the reindeer, we use every part of the animal,” Sara said.

The skins are transformed into mittens and slipperlike shoes that curl up at the tip. The meat is sold on a wide scale across Norway and also exported. Antlers are pulverized into an aphrodisiac sold on the Chinese market.

The Norwegian government has tried to erase the errors of the past, and so today, the Sami have their own university, schools that teach the Sami language and even their own Parliament, if largely symbolic.

Kautokeino is in Finnmark county in Norway, considered the heart of Sapmi, or “the land of Sami.” At an Easter festival this year, young people beat on drums while listening to traditional Sami ­yoiking, a guttural call that was forbidden during colonization. They wore traditional clothing known as Gakti and sipped on Red Bull and beer.

Elle Márjá Eira, 34, is a reindeer herder, singer, filmmaker and mother of two. She can recall tales of forced assimilation.

Although many older Sami have maintained a Christian faith, Eira is part of a younger generation who have actively opposed discrimination and industrial projects, which the Sami see as a constant threat to their way of life.

Her father, Per Henrik Eira, 56, together with his fellow herders, recently sued a government energy project led by Statnett, the government-­owned electric company, which they say is threatening to overtake a large portion of their summer grazing lands.

He and his neighbors lost the case. Statnett says its project does not threaten Sami culture.

Elle Márjá Eira disagrees.

“When we lose this pasture,” she said, “we will need to find another place to calve, a place which is not occupied with other herds. By pushing us into smaller areas, they are forcing us into conflicts with each other.”

She and other Sami voice similar arguments against the laws limiting the size of herds.

“The problem is that the government doesn’t say exactly who has to kill their reindeer,” Elle Márjá Eira said. “It just leaves it up to the family.”

She continued: “Even my 15-year-old daughter has her own reindeer. We all do. My father has decided that he will pare down the herd starting only from his reindeer, to avoid conflicts.”

Many Sami reindeer herders see the quotas as an effort by the government to limit their livelihood so it can use the land for industrial projects.

Ninety-five percent of the land in Finnmark county is owned by the state, although Sami reindeer herders, who hold legal grazing rights, use much of it.

For decades, the Norwegian government has designated reindeer herding as an exclusively Sami activity, providing herding licenses tied to ancestral lands.

The regulations limiting herd sizes were passed in 2007, forcing Sami to eliminate 30 percent of their reindeer at the time.

Sara said the limits have been devastating. If he obeyed the limit, he said, he would make only $4,700 to $6,000 a year.

“Clearly it’s not possible to make a living as the job has become quite expensive, requiring snowmobiles and all the equipment that goes along with that,” he said.

The law states that any herders who are no longer profitable can lose their license. But that is not all Sara said he would lose.

“I would lose everything my ancestors worked their entire lives to create for us today,” he said. “I will lose the land.”

To call attention to her brother’s case, his sister, ­Maret Anne, an artist, piled 200 heads of freshly slaughtered reindeer onto the snow-­covered lawn of the courthouse in Tana in 2014. She topped off the grisly pyramid with a Norwegian flag. Sara won, twice, in local and regional courts.

Last fall, when he stood before the Norwegian Supreme Court, his sister strung a curtain of 400 reindeer skulls in front of the country’s Parliament.

Sara and his lawyer, Trond Pedersen Biti, have taken their case to the Human Rights Council of the United Nations in Geneva.

“It’s my only option,” he said.

Others are more fatalistic, like Per Henrik Eira, who sued to try to block the Statnett project, and lost. His 18-year-old son, Per John, is following in his father’s footsteps, training to be a reindeer herder.

“If I lose this case, I won’t have the courage to face my son,” he told the court, “because I will be forced to tell him that there is no future for us,"

Source

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