On the 11th of March it looked like the police would take over Rigaer94. Around 2.000 Cops from all over Germany were ready to invade the Northern District of Friedrichshain and other potential areas of unrest.
This was in order to be able to break the doors of 94 and to give access to a so called house management which was only officially recognized shortly before this day by the ruling of a court. Lacking fire security and immediate danger to the people living in and around Rigaer94, was the lie made up to gather the army of cops that lay waiting to take action. But the plan of entering every corner of the common spaces and private rooms, to find reasons of public safety to evict the whole building, could be stopped.
Only two days before the launch of the attack, the counter strategy of the Rigaer94 to use an official expert for fire-security, was able to publicly dismantle the states line of argumentation and intervene in the legal procedure. The cancellation of the announced martial operation led to turbulence in the mass media and in the lines of the ruling parties. Not least because of the loss of 500.000 Euros spent for cops and other material that was booked to travel to and stay in Berlin.The court ruling in the fire-security case, recognizing the owner, marks a turning point for the states war against the rebellious structures of Rigaer94.
Until then, the senate had been waiting, according to it‘s official doctrine of „legal security“, for a mistake by the rebellious structures, a cheap opportunity to raid or to use violence or other means of repression against visitors and inhabitants. Now, after the latest verdict, the landlord is legally able to deal with his house and the senate feels that the time has come to finally get rid of what they used to call an autonomous stronghold.
Shortly after the failing fire-security expedition of the state troops, a new court appointment was announced. This time the reason was another one: once again the landlord’s lawyer tried to get an eviction warrant against the squatted rooms in the ground floor of Rigaer94. These are the collective and social space Kadterschmiede and the Keimzelle, which is an autonomous youth location. Since 2016, this lawyer lost several times due to crucial missing documents from the landlord, which is in fact a Mailbox Company in UK.
So, on 26th of April, the new decision to evict a part of Rigaer94 was supposed to take place. Even before this, the court had announced that it would follow the other court decision to accept the Lawyer as a representative of the Mailbox Company. This was understood as a clear sign that the eviction title would be given to the landlord. Only a few days before the trial, an appeal by the lawyers of Rigaer94 on the grounds of bias, led to a postponement of the court appointment and thus to another postponement of the large scale escalation in Berlin.
This time until the announcement of the new date or another try to use the fire-security as a pretext to attack (which according to the latest news might take place on 17-18 of June) is used by the Rigaer94 and other projects to continue mobilizing for actions. On the 15th of May, a demonstration organized by Köpi and Rigaer94 will take place in their own defence and in solidarity with the many threatened or yet evicted places. Potse, another youth space, has received an eviction title for the 19th of May after two years of squatting. They are supposed to be kicked out to give space for another one of those smart and posh facilities that destroy cities, neighbourhood by neighbourhood.
The general situation in Berlin is commonly understood as a final general attack on the remaining establishments of the antagonist struggle that used to be present in the whole city of Berlin. For more than two years now, a union of some of the involved projects is coordinating actions and demonstrations in order to strike back. In the case of any eviction, it can be expected that centralized and decentralized actions will take place.
It’s the most important weapon in the hands of those who are under attack and at least there is hope that the state of emergency will unite more people than before on the streets, with the perspective of a broader insurrection.
Everybody is welcome to join the struggle. In fact, everbody is needed!