Post Titled: Update from Adam
NOTE: this letter refers to THIS situation in Bolivia)

"Hi Everybody,

To follow up on my promise to keep you all informed of what is
happening, today I had the preliminary hearing at which I abstained
from making a declaration. This means that an investigation will open
up in which investigators will try to prove that I am guilty of the
accusations. If they are unable to do so, the magistrate will declare
the case unfit to go to trial. Being that I am innocent of the
charges of sedition and that the whole situation appears to be a
political charade to justify the violent attacks on May 24th and 25th,
my lawyer fully expects this to happen. His advice is to just
continue with my research as though nothing happened and he will
contact me if anything changes or if anything urgent comes up.

For a little while I really was not sure how things would turn out due
to the severity of the charges and the fact that Bolivian newspapers
and news channels were reporting the prefect´s official story that I
was linked to an assassination conspiracy. This, combined with
threats that I and others received, made for a very tense week.
Ironically, with all the attention about my arrest, I actually feel a
little bit guilty about not having something more interesting to share
will you all (but at the same time, I hope it stays that way).

Nonetheless, I am glad that the violent attacks on free speech at the
hands of people directly linked to the prefecture got some
international exposure. And it is very likely that the 200 plus
letters that the prefect receieved from all over the world following
that the attacks will make him think twice about doing so callously
doing it again.

At the same time, the tensions between the poor majority seeking
changes and the elite minority wanting to prevent them continue and
right-wing attacks like the ones on May 24th and 25th are likely to
reoccur. The organizations who are the focus of my investigation will
most definitely be organizing to expose the attacks that have occured,
to defend ourselves from future attacks, and defend the right of the
majority to make fundamental changes. Bolivian members of the CWI
(Comittee for a Workers´ International) periodically write articles
related to the political situation in Bolivia and I can say for sure
that an in depth article on the events of the last few weeks as well
as an article about what the social movements are doing to defend
themselves will be posted in the next few days. To read these
articles, go to www.socialistworld.net .

Please email this to anybody who has voiced concern about my situation
in the last week as well as any listserves that carried information
about my arrest.


Thanks for all your help,

Adam Ziemkowski"

Adam, a US national is in Bolivia on an international scholarship studying marginalised and oppressed groups is charged with ‘sedition and incitement to violence’. Bolivian members of the CWI have also been threatened by right-wing thugs and in one case threatened with rape. A solidarity campaign is being built in Cochabamba along with a campaign against violence and repression by the right-wing.

The CWI appeals to all workers’ and youth internationally to rush protest letters to the Prefectura in Conchabamba demanding that the charges against Adam Ziemkowski be dropped.

Protest letters should be e/mail or faxed to Manfred Reyes Villa at the following e/mail:

prefectura@prefecturacochabamba.gov.bo or
faxed to +591 4459100

To Manfred Reyes Villa
Gobierno Departemental de Cochabamba
Plaza 14 de Septembrre Acreca Norte 243
Cochabamba
Bolivia