NATO 5 UPDATE: Migs Has Been in Solitary for a Month for Being an Anarchist

Prison Books Collective August 16, 2013

From Denver Anarchist Black Cross

Migs has gotten new charges, basically because he’s an anarchist.

Mark “Migs” Neiweem of the NATO 5 has been in solitary for over a month.
Please send him letters and photos (printed on plain computer paper) to give him something to look at in his cramped cell.

Prison officials have responded to the call-in campaign we hosted to demand that Mark be released from solitary confinement by bringing two
charges against him.

These charges are inherently political, claiming that Mark’s reading, writing, and speaking with others about Anarchism, as well as being in possession of Anarchist symbols, is dangerous to the facility. Although Mark is due to be released in November, if these charges are upheld he faces up to two more years at Pontiac – all of it in solitary confinement.

For an example of Mark’s political writing, please see the Open Communiqué published on his behalf.

Now that charges have been brought against Mark, his legal team is working to defend him against them. In the meantime, Mark is in the
worst part of the prison with virtually no human contact. He describes his cell as “a tiny box”:

“I reach my arms out and touch both walls with room to spare. I don’t know the dimensions but it’s by far the smallest cell I’ve ever been in.
The front is steel plates with some holes drilled in them and the tiny view is of a brick wall 8 feet away. No light but the one they leave on nearly 24 hours a day.

“I’ve got my head rested up against a pillow on one wall and my legs straight out, elevated and kicked up on the other wall. My ‘man cave’ has shrunk to a ‘man hole.’

“Please send pictures of people, places, and things. These walls are ugly.”

While Mark and his lawyers fight these charges, please join us in sending letters and photos to brighten up his ugly little cell.

Photos should be printed on regular computer paper, not photo paper.

Mark Neiweem
M36200
Pontiac Correctional Center
PO Box 99
Pontiac, IL 61764

Thanks for your support.  We’ll update this blog as soon as we hear more from his support team.