Marcus was moved to a maximum security prison on Monday 8th October.
Write to Marcus at his new jail address:

Marcus Brumer(CRN)156311
c/o Port Phillip Prison
PO Box 376, Laverton 3028 
Victoria
Australia
or
email: [email protected]

(Letters are read by the prison authorities.)
 

Marcus was fined $750 and also needs to pay his rent. He has been unable to receive any income whilst in jail. To show the state that we won't let Marcus wear the costs of their ridiculous penalties alone, two fundraisers have been organised.

"I Sing of Change"
An evening of political poetry. Feel free to bring your own poetry.
 

Saturday 20th October 
5pm - 8pm
The Tin Shed, Main St, Belgrave
cost $5

CREAM AND PUNISHMENT: a Night of Music and Comedy
Performers including Duff and a host of  other comedy and music talents.

Thursday 25th October
"44"
44 Lonsdale st, City (Parliament Station end)
7pm onwards
cost $10/$5

Donations can be deposited at the Bendigo Bank:

S11 Solidarity Fund
Ultimate Cheque Account
Bendigo Bank
BSB No.633-000
Account No. 111 262 234

You may like to write to Steve Bracks' office to tell him what you think of the sentence and that it should be reviewed:

Steve Bracks
Premier of Victoria
1 Treasury Place
Melbourne 3000

CREAM AND PUNISHMENT : PART TWO 
Perspectives from Port Phillip Prison!

I am sitting in my cell. From my window I can see a gloriously sunny day. Blue skies clouds, well kept lawns separated by barb-wire topped fences. I can see a (locked) swimming pool, other prison units which look like big mansions. I am opposite the gymnasium building and further out I can see the big grey, perimeter wall.

When I heard I had to leave the Melbourne Assessment Prison on Spencer St I was bit upset. I had got quite attached to the place! I couldn't ring anybody to tell them of my impending move just in case I was organising an elaborately-planned rendezvous with the prison bus and some well armed accomplices.

When I got to Port Phillip Prison in Laverton my fears were allayed. This prison is a private one run for profit by an American company, (Group 4, I think) It is an improvement on the MAP. There is a much more space and hence a much more relaxed atmosphere. The MAP was like a battery, barn-laid institution while I am feeling much more free-range here. We get time (3 hours daily) to forage on the lawn and peck for worms. Our egg quality should be much improved. 

Less overcrowdedness seems to mean less fights as well. You could feel the tension at the MAP. I pretty much occupy myself in the same fashion as before, reading, meditation, TV etc. I also now jog around our fenced off bit of grass. I've only got a week to go but I aim to be fitter than when I came in. 

The only ribbing I have received is light-hearted jibes about pies. The second night when I picked up my meal there was a hearty chorus of people yelling "Bracksie" "Pie" "don't throw it!" and much laughter. I think the novelty has worn off now. 

The guards are more personable here. Some of them are younger women which surprised me in a male prison. There is a prison class-system here set up by the authorities. If you have a prison job or take up some responsibility you are promoted to a different unit with higher status and privileges. Of 3 classes, the highest is called "Enhance" This entitles you to more visits, gym-time etc. I will not have time to climb to these heady heights. 

There is more freedom at this jail. People can even cook there own meals. Some of the Asian prisoners cook up great stir-fries in a wok and sit down on the floor of their cell for a communal meal, laying down newspaper under the dishes. 

The longer I am in jail, the more crazy "Prohibition" seems. Drugs get into the jail despite all the strip-searches. A user tells me he doesn't use in here b/c of the risk of catching HIV and the like, (I assume through shared needles). Prohibition is just a big game that sees the Government treat adults like children. There are no winners except perhaps the Pharmaceutical companies with their legal drugs like Methadone which is dispensed to many prisoners in here.

Also cigarette and alcohol companies are laughing. When you first come into prison, you are even given free cigarettes. Last I heard cigarettes were killing tens of thousands of Australians, every year. Phillip Morris sits pretty on Southbank whilst the prison system undergoes a crisis with overcrowded police cells and prisons full of drug users nailed for drug use or drug-related crime. This is bullshit!

As for me, I just sent a letter to Steve Bracks explaining my motivation for the pie and my feelings about the incident. I have apologised for any substantial hurt I caused him. I also sent a letter to Alex Kerr who fell over when I pied Bracks. I was forbidden to contact either of them before because my bail conditions. It felt good to personally address Bracks and Alex. I hope the letters go down well with them. 

Prison hasn't been too bad. I have been relatively content. It has not been a waste of my time or life.

I am eager to pursue new challenges when I get out. Help to achieve a Nuclear Free Australia, do some writing, make some video, be happy, love....  The main reason prison has been pretty bearable is all the love, support and solidarity lavished upon me by friends, family, fellow-activists and caring strangers. 

I thank all these people for the visits, e-mails, letters, and solidarity fund-raising work.

I hope that other people put in my position will be as fortunate in this respect. I can't stress how important these actions have been to me (which reminds me I must send some letters to anti-nuclear and peace protesters currently languishing in U.S. prisons.) 

I hope everybody keeps working for global justice, and the Earth and we have peace soon. S11 was not an aberration.

Love Marcus Brumer

Marcus first letter. Written from inside the Melbourne Assessment Prison:
 

CREAM AND PUNISHMENT : A Report From Jail
by Marcus Brumer

Greetings from jail!

I have been incarcerated for nearly two weeks now. Only two more to go! I thought that it would be good to get something posted to Indymedia to tell people what prison is like. It also shows that even in prison, you can still get heard.

I am in the Melbourne Assessment Prison which is on Spencer Stn(City) just next to Colonial Stadium. It's the red/orange brick building which used to be the Remand Centre. This is where prisoners are taken to be assessed! They are then taken to whatever prison is considered suitable for them. 

I am serving my month here for pieing Premier "Jeff" Bracks after my appeal was knocked back at the County Court. It is not so bad here. I am sharing a cell with one other person. We are locked down in our cells at 4.30 PM and let out at about 8.30AM. There is a TV in the cell which shows normal T.V and videos. There is a gymnasium, canteen and small library. The cell has a bunk bed and shower.

I am keeping myself busy, reading, writing, watching TV, meditating, doing Yoga, weight training etc. Its time to reflect and prepare myself for any challenges I will face in the future.

There is not too much trouble going on here. There has been a couple of fights. Sometimes, if a fight occurs a "Code Blue" is called and everybody is locked down in their cells for a while.

A few fellow prisoners have cracked a few jokes about pies and the like. I found most people to be friendly and courteous. The prison system can be about dehumanisation and allowing the "public" to view prisoners as less than human. I assume most people are here as a result of the absurd drug prohibition that continues in our society. Other people have maybe just made mistakes in their life.

I have heard terrible things about the "Custody Centre" which is under the City Courts. My cellmate was kept there for a month. There is no natural light and people are not allowed outside. Some people - as a result - lose the plot. I have heard of constant fights, attempted suicides and self-mutilation. It appears the prison system is overcrowded. What about ending prohibition? More U.S owned private prisons is not the answer.

I have heard that Port Phillip Prison is better equipped and that there is more space (grass and trees). Here, there is just a central courtyard called the "fishbowl", where prisoners pace around. The best prisons are meant to be the prison "farms", which are low security. Prisoners do agricultural work there, apparently. At my prison you are entitled to one contact visit per week and 6 "box" visits. Box visits are conducted with a plastic wall separating you and your visitor. The provided phones don't work and one must yell in order to be heard. Contact visits (where you can touch) are held at tables in a room or outside around picnic tables. Prisoners must be strip-searched before and after a contact visit. The guards look under your scrotum and up your anus (great job!). They don't touch you during the strip-search. You have to wear a funky green jumpsuit at contact visits.

I have been very fortunate to get many visitors and letters/ emails. Thank-you to all the people who have shown such beautiful solidarity. Visits and letters are the highlight of my day. I am aware that people are doing ongoing solidarity work. I found this a bit embarrassing at first, all this fuss over me but now I realise that it is good that people show solidarity to activists jailed in political cases. I am very grateful for my family, friends, fellow activists and even complete strangers who have given me support.

As to the pie, I am still not 100% sure about it. Whether it was the best thing to do, I’m still reflecting on. It had drawn attention to the issue of police brutality at S11 but whether pieing is the best tactic is something I’m still meditating on. Either way, it is just cream on somebody’s face. I am not eaten up with guilt or anything. I feel pretty good. I know my what my intentions were and I know that I was not driven by a raging anger or hatred. I just wanted to highlight a shit situation. When will the people physically and emotionally violated at S11 receive justice and recognition?

I have said it many times before but I will say it again. Sorry to Alex Kerr and Wurundjeri People for the unexpected and accidental consequences of my actions.

This whole pie saga was put into perspective when I was told a fellow prisoner was also doing a month in jail. I asked him if he cream pied someone. He said “No, I broke someone’s skull.”

A few prison guards have been sympathetic. Some guards are a bit gruff but they’re not too bad (at least to me). One guard said that he was “spitting chips” when he saw my sentencing on T.V. He said he voted for Brack’s but would do a “donkey vote” next time.

Jail ain’t so bad (at least for a shorter time). People should keep this in mind the next time a mass civil disobedience campaign may result in arrests and even jail. The spectre of arrest, court and prison are designed to keep people in line. However, sometimes we need to defy and break laws in order to demonstrate our non-co-operation with injustice. If you are strong in your heart with what you are doing, than these legal consequences will not destroy or even degrade your spirit.

See you soon.
Peace, Love, Solidarity.
Marcus Brumer

• Tuesday 12th September, morning: without warning 450 police stampeded over 80 seated protesters. This lasted four and a half minutes, injured dozens of people and put several more into hospital.
• Tuesday 12th September, evening: police used overhead baton strikes to lay into a crowd. Several more people hospitalized.
• Wednesday 13th September: an unmarked police car drove over a woman and sped off. Protesters gave details and the number plate to other police officers. No officer has been charged.

To draw attention to the police brutality at S11, Marcus Brumer put a cream pie in Premier Bracks' face as he was opening the Melbourne Museum.
 

Marcus is now spending one month in prison for putting cream on someone's face. The police who planned the assaults that put protesters in hospital have been cleared by the Police Ombudsman.

Some Previous Actions:

Pie fight outside the Magistrates' Court

Blinky the Three Eyed Fish's May Day Adventure

Stop Nuclear Powered Howard
 

Info:

Extracts from the Police Ombudsman's report one | two

Beating up: a report on police batons and the news media at the World Economic Forum
by Dr Bernard Barrett, historian

Who is the World Economic Forum?

Info on the WEF
 

Other websites:

Other activists in jail

Operation Dessert Storm

Biotic Baking Brigade

Justice Action