Interview with DDr. Martin Balluch about state repression

Interview with DDr. Martin Balluch about State Repression

8.11.2008

Martin, tell me something about yourself: age, education, how many years you have led the VGT, what is your philosophy in life and in work for animals…

I am 44 years old, have 2 doctoral degrees in mathematics and philosophy. I have been vegan since 1989 and have been president of VGT since 2002. In 1997, I decided to stop working at the University and invest all my life in trying to change the way we in society treat animals.

What is the reason that you and your friends in VGT were sent to prison? If you do not know the formal reason, what is your personal opinion?

In Austria, we had a number of remarkable successes. From a ban on fur farming in 1998 to a ban on wild animals in circuses in 2002 up to a ban on caging laying hens in 2005, a ban on experiments on apes in 2006 and a ban on caging rabbits in 2007. It seems that those and many more successes hurt the profits of influential people. At the beginning of 2007, a special police unit was formed to start surveillance on all 6 most active animal rights groups in Austria. We were watched, had our offices and homes bugged, had tracking devices put on our cars and cameras filming the entrances of our homes. And the police listened in on our telephone and email conversations. Since they did not find anything to use against us, they attacked us on 21st May 2008. Altogether 40 people had their homes raided, all 7 offices of the most active animal rights groups were emptied by police and 10 people were put in prison. The formal reason given was, we supposedly are a big criminal organisation, trying to influence politics and economy.

What was life in prison like? Tell me something about your hunger strike.

Life in prison was very difficult. After the traumatising arrest, I was never given a proper reason why I had been arrested and suspected of being head of a criminal organisation. So I went on hunger strike, eventually for 39 days. That was a very hard time and at the end I was force fed. For most of the time in prison I was in the hospital wing. But still, I spent a lot of time in tiny cells with drug edicts, skin head neo nazis or violent people, who were inside for robbery, murder or assault. Since I was not sure what was going on at all, I could not find peace to read or work on something. Those were a terrible 104 days.

After a couple of months you were released. What was the formal reason that you were set free?

We were released after 3 ½ months, i.e. 104 days. The reason was political. Thanks to many supporters in Austria and abroad, thanks to many demos and protests, the minister for justice decided to order our release. Formally, state prosecution argued our release was because our time spent in prison was getting out of proportion with the penalty we were expecting. Fact is, in my mind, that had there not been such a tremendous support from outside, we would still be languishing inside prison, rotting slowly, in mind and body.

How did this experience influence you? Did you become even stronger in your vision for animals or not? Did you become better or bitter? Will you change the methods of work for animals?

I am scared. I have seen what kind of violence our opponents and the government are capable of, and how much you are exposed to that without defence. But I am not bitter and I don’t hate anybody. Even those police officers, who attacked me that night, I cannot hate. I consider them instruments being used by powerful people. It was not their choice. But we are still threatened with a trial against us. We are still threatened with a prison sentence. If we are convicted of being a criminal organisation, we face up to 5 years in prison. We will have to fight this case with all legal and political means possible. If we loose, it will mean the end of animal rights campaigning as we know it. But, it would also be the end of democracy and human rights in Austria. Up till then, we will continue our method of campaigning for animals, as we think and have proven works.

Is it possible that the same story with prison can happen to animal activists in other countries?

Yes, I fear that this is only the beginning, which is why we have to stand together and win this case. All over the world, state agents are trying to curb animal rights protests. But nowhere in the world has it been as violent and as blatantly without a reason other than our successes as here in Austria. In fact, in Austria there are no crimes committed by animal rights people, but we have the most active and successful movement worldwide. And now we had the largest and most violent police action against animal rights in the world. Obviously, they didn't come to prevent crime. They came to prevent peaceful successes for animals.

How many times have you been in prison before? What were the reasons?

I have never been in prison before. Although I have been arrested a number of times for animal rights actions, but I have never been convicted of any criminal wrongdoings.

Is prison the price you have to pay for positive change in society and the conflicts are part of that change? Do you think that there is no other way to change the world?

To change the world, there are many important ingredients. One is to change people’s hearts. But that is not all. You also need to change the political system, since it is the system, not really the people, that is hurting and harming so many animals relentlessly. And to change a political system, there has to be conflict. But a political conflict does not involve violence. I am strongly opposed to violence. I think Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King have shown us the way. Both agreed that action and conflict are vital, but both always stayed non-violent under all costs. Both, indeed, also had to go to prison for a time. And both were shot and killed violently at the end. But change they brought, even though they did not themselves had the chance to live in the promised land they had seen.

Do you think that we change the world by the golden rule: What you do not want others to do to you, do not do the same to them.

That is indeed the golden rule of all ethics. And if all people followed that rule, it should be much more peaceful in the world. You don't want to be eaten, so don't eat other beings, who do not want to be eaten either. And no animal wants to be eaten.

If applied to campaigning, I think that for non-violent direct action, as we used it in Austria, the rule is valid too. In a passive and peaceful occupation for example, it is us becoming the victim, and by being such a victim, we can open the eyes of the public and let them understand our ways.

Why do you fight for animals? Did some events in your life influence your decision to fight for animals? How long have you been vegan?

I was always concerned about animals since day one. I can remember being 3 years old and praying for a baby field mouse, who I had touched, because my mother told me that her mother might not take her home anymore, as she would smell of my hands. I have been politically active for animals and the environment since 29 years. I have been vegetarian since 1982 and vegan since 1989.

What is your message to animal activists in the world, also in Slovenia?

Try to incorporate activism for animals in your life in such a way that you can sustain your activity for the rest of your life. Soft water forms the hard rock, because it persists. We must persist. It is less important in what way.

After release from prison, you stood as a candidate for the Green party for a seat in The Austrian Parliament. Why did you decide to do that and what was the result in the election?

The Green Party had created much of the political pressure to get me out, for human rights reasons. I was and am very grateful to them. I was offered to stand as a candidate for them while I was still in prison and I took on the offer there. The election did not change much for the Greens, they lost 1 seat, but they are still the largest Green Party in the world.

Are you optimistic for the future regarding animal rights?

I am torn. And I am very nervous, not confident. That might have to do with the hard time I am having digesting what has happened to me, the violence and the prison system. But I am optimistic when I see all the sympathy and the support from the national and international animal rights movement, as well as from the public at large. Never has there been so much activity for animal rights ever before in the history of the world as much as in the history of Austria. And so many people, who I had never seen before, approached me, gave me presents, money, a computer, a phone, a bike, even a number of wrist watches and anything I needed. So many people were there for me, I am greatly humbled. While the powerful turn ever more undemocratic and dangerous, ever more people catch on to animal rights. It sounds like it all must end in a big crash. I hope we can avoid that and win the other side over with our example of non-violence as much as with our good rational arguments.