[Kiberpipa] ascii evicted (english version)

[Andraz Tori]

-------- Forwarded Message --------

Wednesday 24th of november, at 07:00 in the morning, almost in secret, 
officers of the police-station s'Graveshandeplein broke open the door of ASCII 
on the Wibautstraat 7 to evict them. 
At about 11:00 members of the internet-collective were called by an employee 
of the district council, to be informed that their space had been evicted 
and that they can come to retrieve their belongings.

As stated previously, in public, ASCII refused to move out voluntarily just 
like that. The space on the Wibautstraat has been empty for a considerable time, 
and the council of Oost-Watergraafsmeer obviously incapable of finding a new renter.
Even now it is unclear how long the space shall remain empty.

Indeed, ASCII understood that there have been negotiations with at least one
prospective party. ASCII has stated from the very beginning that they would
not resist a new dedication of this space to another purpose than leaving it empty,
and that they would be prepared to simply deliver the keys to any successor. 
ASCII communictaed this clearly at two council-commission meetings and in open
letters to the neighbourhood.

The fact, that it came down to an eviction by the police, therefore sheds 
an even more ugly light on the affair when considering the previous course 
of events: After the occupation, there was an immediate public declaration given 
to the commission for general affairs of the district council, in which ASCII have 
made their intentions clear. The initial reaction of the executive council was 
a postive one. There were even negotiations with comissioner Jelle Prins to reach 
an agreement until a new use for the space would be found.

These negotiations were suddenly terminated when they were still in the middle
of their developent. Politicians and district-officials suddenly resorted to 
all kinds of weak excuses as to why they would rather go the route of eviction 
after all. At the same time they hypocritically expressed their admiration for 
the good work of ASCII, and shamelessly tried to pass the buck to the public 
prosecutor, even though it had been the district-council themselves who had 
called police and district attourney onto the scene.

ASCII has had a good relationship with neighbours from day one.
So it was possible that they could learn from the potential new renter,
that negotiations between him and the council were running much smoother 
since ASCII occupied the space. 
Apparently the officials of the Department of Residence and Labour were 
stirred from their complacency. Just like any other speculator, the district 
council now chooses the easy way out by resorting to an eviction of ASCII 
instead of managing community property in a sensible way - like any decent 
houseowner would.

ASCII are curious, for how long the council thinks they can leave this 
space empty again, now that it was evicted in this underhanded way 
during the early morning hours.


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P.S. as a personal note, i would like to thank all of you who sent support 
mails on behalf of us. your effortrs did make an impact and they continue 
to do so, it was not useless but rather gave our statements more emphasis
and got us attention. thank's and keep supporting us, we will reopen soon.