Hi there,

Here's a little note from Amsterdam - thanx for the No Compromise you sent us. First, let me tell you the story why I decided to talk to the police. The first 2 days I told nothing. But then they came with taped phone calls from me to the press. Normally it's illegal for the police to tap phone-booths. My luck was that they were after a Colombian drug-gang -- they live in the same street as I. So the police had permission to tap those phone booths, the ones I did the calls at. So it was luck for the police, it was their first proof. They made a voice-recognition, which they can use in court. Then they came with some reports from an observation team. They followed us (twice) during an action. So that was their second proof.

Holland is so small, I think it's as big as L.A., and at the time we were the only ones who did actions with arson. We always used the same method, incense, fireworks, etc. So with the proof and some stuff they found searching through my house they know all the actions we did. So with all that they had, what's the use in shutting up? They were going to convict me anyway.

I thought, well I'm going to jail anyway, so I can tell them everything. In Holland, you get a lower sentence if you show some cooperation, so from this point on, I tried to get the lowest sentence possible. Sure, when they don't have hard evidence it's better to shut up. Did it work? Well, I think so. They wanted to give me 5 years. The judge gave me three years with 8 months probation. In Holland, it's standard that 1/3 of your sentence gets off. This leaves me with 18 months and 20 days of which I've done seven months, so I have to do about a year now. So this is not bad especially when you look at the millions and millions of guilders we caused.

We did lots of actions of which 14 were arson activities. And now, because I talked, the press came for interviews. I did a TV interview - it was a good program and this time from our point of view. I got a lot of positive reactions. So I can't say I regret talking to the police, when, if I would have shut my mouth, they (for sure) would have given me the whole 5 years!

Sure we make mistakes, but other people and myself can learn from them, so these mistakes are not made by other people who take actions. At this moment more and more actions take place in Holland. There have now been a few more fires causing millions and millions of guilders damage. So I don't regret anything.

Greetings from Holland,

Frank Kocera 1648820
Bijlmer, Demersluis,
Postbus 41901, 1009 CE
Amsterdam, Holland