Is this initiative connected with other anti-repression organisations?
We have no direct collective relationship with others in the anti-repression field, although individually we might have some connections. In any case, we maintain fraternal relations with collectives such as the Anarchist Black Cross (ABC) or the International Anti-Fascist Defence Fund.
Why are you not part of the International Anti-Fascist Defence Fund, why do you think it is important to create a new one only for anarchists?
We think it’s important to organise something like this for anarchists because it’s a very simple and successful way of informing people about repression and involving them in direct financial support. Also, there are not enough ABC groups in the world where people can ask for support + local groups have a lot of pressure, if the context is highly repressive and the movement is really small and poor. With the A-Fund, they have easy access to international finance. Antifa Fund doesn’t really help anarchists (only by coincidence), they focus on antifascism, antiracism, anti white supremacism and so on. If an anarchist faces consequences from a direct action, they will not help.
What cases are supported by the A-Fund?
We help anarchists who have suffered consequences as a result of their activism, or people facing repression because they were involved in anarchist activities, without being anarchists themselves. This can include state repression or payment of medical bills in the case of health injury. Every case is seen into by the decision-makers individually, who can choose to help in exceptional situations that don’t fall under this rule, or to not support the case like in the example above.
How do I apply for support from the Anarchist Defence Fund?
Fill in this form to provide a detailed description of the case you are seeking support for, the projected amount of money that is needed to be spent on the case and a short introduction of yourself or your group. It is neeed you provide links proving what you are saying is real. All requests will be checked by the admin for legitimacy.
You can also send the message to our email a-fund@riseup.net with PGP encryption. You can find out PGP key in the Contact section of the site.
You can send us requests in English, French, Spanish, Russian at the moment. But if you are able to communicate in English, please do so, because it makes the whole process faster.
How much does the A-Fund give to a single case?
Regardless of what you ask for, as a rule, we only can afford sending 10% of the current total amount of money in the A-Fund. If this sum is bigger than what you ask for, we send you a smaller amount. Sometimes, the decision-making crew can decide to send you more than 10%. We don’t announce the amount we can give until the decision is made on your request.
Who decides where the money goes?
The decision-making crew. It consists of people who donated at least 20 euros/dollars, or the equivalent to this in other currencies, per year. The admin receives your request and passes it on to the decision-makers. Once the decision is made, you will hear from the admin. The decision is made by consensus whenever possible. If within a week from the date of receiving the request the consensus is not reached, the admin initiates a simple majority vote, the result of which becomes the final decision.
How can I become part of the decision-making crew?
You can donate 20 euros or more and become part of the decision-makers for one year. At the end of this term you will be asked to renew your donation. We encourage to give more money, if possible, because this is how the fund can always be full.
Can I apply twice for one case?
Yes, you can, but the decision can be influenced by the amount of times one case receives support. It depends totally on what the decision-makers think about it.
What other support do you offer?
As a matter of priority and at least for now, we are a collective that only provides or facilitates aid in financial terms. Of course, we can advertise other fundraisers for the case, but as a collective, we will not get involved into supporting people on a regular basis. Our collective doesn’t replace local collectives, but tries to be a support for them.
What is the language of communication for the decision-making crew?
For the moment, we will start with English as we don’t have the capacity of translating every request and all the communication of the decision-makers into other languages. Over time, if we find volunteers inside the decision-making crew, we might try to have the communications translated into other languages. But you can always use non-human translation tools to be updated. www.deepl.com/translator or http://www.online-translator.com/