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Interview with Confessed Mink Liberators!
from No
Compromise Issue 9
Click thumbnails to enlarge.
3500 minks released in Tunby, Sweden, 2003
Fur trader in Sweden
Kristofer Aberg, 18, and Henrik Seger, 16, are 2 of 3
Swedish activists who were arrested for and have confessed to
raiding 2 mink farms on the same night. The 3 men had their
trial on May 29 and were sentenced on June 5. Kristofer and
David Zachridsson were given 4 months in jail and Henrik,
because of his especially young age, will be turned over to
the social authorities for "treatment". They are not in
custody at this time and will likely be free while appealing
to a higher court. Here is our exclusive interview with these
courageous and inspirational young warriors.
NC: Tell us about the night you were arrested.
Kristofer: I guess one could say that the night started
with us going by car from Karlstad. Before leaving Karlstad,
we had discussed which fur farms to attack, we had gotten all
maps, tools, clothes, etc. that we needed and we left the
apartment at around 10 pm. In our rented car, we headed
towards a mink farm in Ardala. After parking our car we went
by foot to the farm and there we used our bolt cutters to get
access to this huge farm. Later we found out that this farm is
responsible for the death of 70,000 mink a year. We cut about
four holes in the surrounding fence and then we started to
open the cages in four or five sheds. Altogether I think it
was around 600-700 cages that were opened. We then ran back to
our car and decided to go to another farm, located in
Skyberga, around 100 miles from the first farm.
The procedure was about the same at this farm. We parked
our car and went by foot to the farm where we opened the main
gate and cut a hole in the surrounding fence. Then we opened
about 250 cages but then we had to turn around and run because
we saw someone standing at the end of the shed. Later we found
out that this was the farmer (who had checked on his farm at
least twice a night since he was attacked in early 1997) and
now we went for a three-hour-escape. Since we saw that our car
was being supervised, we had to go by foot. We ran about five
miles, trying to get to the nearest city but, unfortunately,
we were caught by two cops with dogs and we were taken to the
police station.
NC: What inspired you to go out and risk your own freedom
to let mink out of their cages?
Henrik: I started to work for animal rights in a "normal"
way, but then I realized that we must take action, "direct
action" to give them freedom. I was so sad to see those
animals, placed in small cages and all I had to do to give
them freedom and a normal life in nature was to "open the
cages"! Then I began to go out to fur farms and take a look at
them, just to see with my own eyes. After I had been on some
fur farms, I decided to take action against this industry and
rescue those animals. So I began to liberate them and letting
them out of their prison by opening the cages...
Kristofer: Being aware of what is going on on the mink
farms, I can't understand how anyone can stay passive and let
it continue, so I just did what my instincts told me to do -
to give the mink what they've been waiting for their whole
life - their freedom.
NC: How did it feel to see hundreds of mink running free
for the first time?
Henrik: After liberating about 1000 mink you just want to
get out of there! When the mink get out of the cage, they
begin to make noise, like screaming! The noise is very
disturbing and you will feel a bit nervous. When you then run
away from the farm and take a look around you, you will see
mink all around your feet. When releasing mink, I concentrate
on opening as many cages as possible, because if I take a
break and look at the mink, I will lose time and some mink
will lose their freedom! When we liberate mink from fur farms,
we "always" release as many as possible!
Kristofer: The sight that all three of us saw when we ran
from the first farm was incredible. When we left the first
farm by jumping over the fence, we saw that many of the mink
we had released already were enjoying freedom and I have never
felt such a feeling before. No matter how many articles, etc.
that you read about liberations, they can't even be compared
to what it feels like to see those mink facing freedom for the
first time in their lives.
NC: What did you do to pass the time in jail?
Kristofer: We spent the first four days after our arrest in
the police station, and the time here was very boring and
lonely, and the environment wasn't very stimulating either. I
spent a lot of time sleeping, sometimes I did some exercise,
and I also read some health magazines, which were the only
thing that we were allowed to read. The three of us sat in the
same corridor - David in cell 1, I in cell 3 and Henrik in
cell 5 - so sometimes I could catch a glimpse of either Henrik
or David when they visited the toilet. One thing that I
remember especially is on the second day. Now I didn't feel
very well, but then I sat on my bed and I saw when Henrik
passed my cell. The thing was that he held his fist clenched
and that made me feel a lot better for some days. After this
we also held the spirit up by knocking the melody "Fur is
torture, fur is dead - free the animals ALF" on our beds and
sometimes we even started to sing.
NC: Is there anything you would have done differently to
prevent getting caught?
Kristofer: The main reason why we were caught on the farm
in Skyberga, was because the farmer there had checked on his
farm twice a night for almost a year, so I don't think we
could have done anything about that. Although we made some
mistakes and of course I want to share what one could learn
from them:
Always use socks over your shoes. Later we found out that
my footprints couldn't be found on any of the farms, but both
Henrik's and David's were found on the two farms.
If you use socks over your shoes, always take them off
before getting into the car again. Farmers sometimes spread
lime on the farm to prevent sickness among the mink and this
lime can get on your socks, clothes, etc. and get analyzed by
the police experts. There may not be much to do about the
clothes, but if you don't remove the socks, the lime can get
stuck on the car carpet and then it can get analyzed by the
police.
Always bring sandpaper to use on all tools after using them
or when you are in your car/in safety etc. This way the police
won't be able to match them to the cuts made in the fence.
Always park the car at least two miles from where the farm
is. In this way you will still have a chance to get to the car
if you are interrupted by the farmer, etc.
If you have maps in the car, always destroy them before
leaving the car.
NC: What kind of support did you get in jail?
Henrik: people from all over Sweden came and had
demonstrations outside the court and police station. I also
got letters from Sweden, Finland, England and USA! Thank
you...After the time in prison, I understand how important it
is to support the brave men and women who are willing to risk
their freedom for the animals, who have ended up in
prison...
Kristofer: I can definitely say that the letters were what
kept me alive in there. I also realized that the support for
all prisoners is very important, so therefore I decided to
start writing letters myself.
NC: You just had your trial - what happened?
Henrik: I came to the courthouse an hour before the trial
began. The whole street was crowded with police cars, police
dogs, police officers and a helicopter. People from Sweden,
Finland and England were on the scene and demonstrated against
the trial and the fur industry. One of the Englishmen said,
"Why all these police...it's not an I.R.A. activist who is
going on trial." When the trial began, the judge said "No
propaganda; you are here because of the crime you committed,
not to explain why you did it!"
Kristofer: The two farmers were also present, and they
talked about how much money our actions had cost them and we
also had a debate about the mink's capacity to survive in the
wild. During the day we also did some interviews with media
and they were pretty good.
NC: Will the sentence deter you from further activism?
Kristofer: I can say like this - that before I got caught,
I always said that I supported all ALF actions, but that I
wouldn't do them myself; and now, after I was arrested, I say
exactly the same thing...
Henrik: No, absolutely NOT! The fight for animal liberation
will continue! I will not compromise in the name of the
animals. I will continue to speak for them and act for them.
The war against the fur industry will continue until EVERY
cage is empty...
NC: The anti-fur movement has been pretty strong in Sweden
- would you say your arrest has helped to build the
momentum?
Henrik: Yes I think so, when we where arrested people got
upset, but they began to work harder for us and the animals.
When people heard about this, they felt they must do something
about this! After my arrest, there have been 2 fur farm raids
in Sweden! One in the north and one in the south!
Kristofer: Yes, I think so. The issue has attracted
attention, and since we have everything to win in a debate,
the result is that we get more strength to our movement. I can
give you an example from my hometown Boras; in the largest
newspaper called Boras Tidning, there have been two big
debates about animal rights and they have both been after ALF
actions. The first one was after three meat trucks was burned
down in April 1997, and the other one was after a fur farm
raid in October last year. Those debates would never had come
up if it wasn't for these actions.
NC: Have mink raids been a successful weapon against the
fur trade in Sweden and why?
Henrik: Yes they have! The fur industry in Sweden gasps for
air! All fur is exported to Asia, Denmark and China. The
fur-industry has NO support in Sweden, the only way to make
them stop "here" is through "direct action" and protests. The
only way to make them stop is to hurt them in the pocket, so
they lose money! Some fur farms have been closed down by
attacks from anti-fur groups like "The Wild Minks" and the
"ALF."
Kristofer: Yes, they have been very successful. Of course I
don't see anything wrong with spreading information outside
fur shops, etc., but since more than 90% of the furs that come
from Swedish fur farms go for export, we must also attack this
part of the industry. On some occasions there have been raids
where every single animal on the farm has been liberated, and
it's pretty obvious that if there aren't any animals left on
the farm, the farmer can't go on with his/her work. The amount
of fur farms in Sweden has decreased remarkably in the last
years, and I think that if the raids continue as they have
done, they will be the end for the Swedish fur industry.
NC: What do you say to those who oppose mink raids?
Kristofer: These people obviously haven't studied what
consequences the raids have and therefore, I would either tell
them about it myself, or I would tell them to study it, and I
have also written an article about it. The biggest problem
that these people make is that they never ask themselves what
the alternative would be. If you do like them and remain
passive, then 100% of the imprisoned mink (and other animals)
will die - but now at least some of them will have the chance
to live a life in freedom.
It's proven that liberated mink can survive in the wild
here in Sweden and we also have more than one million mink
that live free, and all of these are descended from the farms.
Some people also oppose mink raids because they say that the
mink cause "ecological imbalance" but, although there have
been investigations, there has never been any proof of this
so, of course, it's a lie that the farmers say to make us look
bad. So at the end of it, I only see fur farm raids as a good
thing and I hope they will continue.
Henrik: If we let the mink stay at the farm, they all will
die. The only way to give them freedom is to liberate them.
Don't listen to the myths the fur-industry tells you!
NC: Finally, whatever verdict/sentence you get, will it
have been worth it for you?
Kristofer: I would never have been out there in the first
place if I wasn't aware of what could happen to me, so I know
that I will keep fighting till the fur industry is dead and
all animals are free.
Henrik: Not for me, but for the mink and fox who are living
on the fur farms. If we don't do anything, they will die.
Their lives are in our hands. The only way to give them
freedom and a natural life is to release them to the wild. The
fur industry gasps for air and we will do everything we can to
finish them off. The fight will continue until the last cage
is empty...Open the cages!
If you wish to contact Kristofer or Henrik, you can write
to them care of:
Eliminera Palsindustrin (EPi)
(Eliminate the fur
industry)
Box 605
S - 114 79 Stockholm
Sweden
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