G8 Star March
G8/ Star March
Press Release June 6th 2007
*Star March Judgement: Defeat for the Police and Constitutional Court.
*General Ban and Prohibition Order of Star March was Unconstitutional
*Total Ban However confirmed.
The German federal constitutional court has banned tomorrow’s star march, including the three substitute events outside both banned areas. The reason for the current ban are the events since the demonstration on June 2nd and the defamatory depiction of the police. The court however declared the general ban and the decision of the Higher Administrative Court of Griefswald to be unconstitutional.
The Kavala special police agency argued in their reasons for the ban that delegates could “feel unsettled” by the “emotional proximity” of protests. Good relations to other states would be endangered as a result.
A further argument brought in by the police was a ‘police state of emergency’. With 16,000 officers the police do not have enough power to properly accompany the march. It was alleged that the star march coalition had general intent to blockade.
Together with the organisers it was agreed that the political content of the globalisation critical movement would be made visible at the demonstration.
The court took a different view - neither “the mere threat to public order”, nor the “sensitivities of foreign politicans” could not justify an assembly ban.
The court described the police’s security concept as being explicitly “directed against the act of assembly” as from the start freedom to assemble had “no prospect of reasonable enactment”.
As a precaution in case of a complete ban the star march coalition had registered substitute protests outside the banned zones.
Due to security concerns even these protests were banned. This means that a virtual third banned area has been set up outside the fence and the so-called ’security zone’.
“That is an unparalleled and scandalous act against the articulation of political opinion”, the organisers who registered the protests criticised (In Germany all public assemblies must be registered in advance with the police).
“The broad international protest against the G8 clearly shows that a substantial part of the population reject the politics of the G8″ stated Suzanne Spemberg of the Star March Coalition… “it is political motives that want to keep the protest invisible - or indeed to criminalise them. The police implement the decisions, and not unusually in the most brutal fashion”, continued Spemberg.
The Star March coalition have decided not to register any further assemblies or demonstrations.
“We don’t see ourselves anymore as having any reponsibility for the outcome of actions and demonstrations. The democratic route has been closed to us”, Pemberg concluded.
Tomorrow alongside the ‘Block G8′ coalition blockades, many far-reaching decentralised actions against the G8 have been announced.
Assessment of Lawyers Ulrike Donat and Carsten Gericke:
“Even though we deeply regret the outcome as the chance to have a peaceful protest has been taken from the organisers, the decision is in form and content - due to the reasons given - a complete success for freedom of assembly and a slap in the face for the authoritarian agenda of the Kavala police agency and the Greifswald Higher Administrative Court.
In any case reality has already outdated law - freedom of assembly will,as it always has in history, occur on the streets and will not be quelled by courts.The rigid security concept of the police agency ‘Kavala’ which culpably neglected cooperation with the organisers has completely failed”.
Contact:
Lawyer: Carsten Gericke: 040/ 4313 5110
Star March Coalition: 0151/ 5312 5032