dissent! Network Of Resistance

[Gipfelsoli Infogruppe]

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

In Hamburg the Convergence Center in the squatted autonomous social centre called “Rote Flora” starts at Friday the 25.05. There will be food and information, workshops, etc. available there. Accomodation is organized decentrally in different communities but coordinated in the Convergence Center. There will be an info point in the Rote Flora as well.

On Thursday the bycycle caravan from Belgium is arriving.
On Friday there is a critical mass in Hamburg.
On Saturday there is a mass demonstration against the g8 education politics and against the neoliberal bologna-process.
On Monday there is the international demonstration “gate to global resistance” against the EU- and G8 summit.
On Tuesday there is the arrival of the no lager caravan and actions against the EU-summit in Hamburg.
On Wednesday there are no lager action at the deportation camp near Hamburg.

More information here

On Thurs 17th May we had a G8 preparation meeting in London. Here be the notes therefrom.

REPRESSION UPDATE: RE RAIDS ON GERMAN CONVERGENCE CENTRES:

No one ‘really’ arrested (just ‘detained’ in the after-raid protests). Police do have the right to ask for ID and stop and search at any time. During the German raids a little over a week ago, they simply copied the contents of hard drives instead of physically confiscating items.

June 7th ‘Star’ march: Has been banned, but there are still 3 weeks until then, and legal proceedings have started to challenge this ruling.

BORDER UPDATE:

There has been some talk of closing borders, but this is simply not possible, and has been suggested that people try not using trains and highways, but smaller border crossings. If turned away, try somewhere else. And be sensible and leave the leaflets, black hoodies and masks at home.

Border checks - face checks - seem to generally be more concerned with drug trafficking.

There does not seem to be any indication of cross UK/German sharing of intelligence, but then again, it’s ultimately difficult to ascertain just how anyone can know.

TRANSPORT:

Manchester Bus update: There was some interest in generated in the first meeting about hooking up with some Manchester folks for an ‘illuminating’ coach ride to G8.
Seems that they are pretty much full up, but that someone should maybe email them.

Car Share: Check out English page on Dissent site, or check out www.mitfahrgelegenheit.de/ for ride share info in Germany. It’s a pretty good system of getting rides, but will be expected to pay for petrol.
[See this post :admin]

Eurolines: about £79, cheaper if you book online. still spaces left. 17 hour ride, with a stopover in Hamburg or Amsterdam.

There are ongoing negotiations to have transportation between Hamburg and Rostock running 24 hours.

CAMPS:

3 confirmed camps:

• Rostock, the ‘north’ camp, which can hold about 4 - 5000 people (where it was proposed that maybe english folks initially meet up);
• Weichmanndorf, (or the ‘Wendland camp’) - which will eventually have water and electricity;
• Reddelich - has a contract to use space, can hold about 4000 people. There will be anti-sexist/trauma support there as well.

There are also convergence centers in Rostock, Berlin (decentralised convergence concept, with loads of little convergence centres, but that will close just prior to G8), Hamburg (which can be used by people coming a week or so in advance).

There is also the ‘official’ south camp (the commercial one), which student groups don’t really like as it’s too official, commercial, etc.

There will also be info points in cities like Hamburg to ask for updates, legal info, accomodation info, etc.

LEGAL:

Lawyers will try to be present ASAP at jails once they have been contacted, and there are approx 70 - 100 pro bono (that is, working for free, not pro ‘bono’). There is a well established legal organisation called Red Help that will be present, helping people pay court fees etc, but will be working primarily in post arrest situations.

Look for signs saying EA (Ermittlungs Ausschuss) This means Legal Team.

RUN DOWN OF EVENTS:

Again, refer to Dissent Network website for all details and updates.

Sat 2nd: East demo - anti capitalist groups
West demo - NGOs, anti racist and no borders groups will be at front of march.

Sun 3rd: Anti GM day

Mon 4th: No Borders Day - actions at detention centres, centralised demo in Rostock in afternoon, as well as conferences in evening.

Tues 5th: Anti Military day- actions at the airport in south.

Wed 6th: Blocades (where? everywhere?)

Thurs 7th: ‘Star’ march, from several surrounding cities, converging at fence.

There will be one additional meeting this coming Thursday, 7 to 9pm, and maybe a post G8 meeting on June 14th. As part of this meeting there will also be a get together of people staying in London to discuss and prepare the idea of a ‘London G8 Solidarity and Info Point’ during the G8 mobilisations in Germany. Come if you are staying in London but want to be part of the resistance to the G8!

See www.indymedia.org.uk

After the first meeting during the Global Meeting in Venice (that took place at the end of March 2007), people from various Social Centers (Italy) and people from the Antiauthoritarian Movement (Greece) called the International Meeting during the 3rd G8-Action-Conference in Rostock, Germany.

STATEMENT

We met today on the 14th of Ápril, we are people of different territories and countries of Europe. We participate in the third Action Conference against the G8 Summit in Rostock. Several of us took part in the Global Meeting organized on the 31th of Ìarch in Venice, where we began to coordinate on an European level. Facing our committements to participate in the protest and actions against the G8 summit, we want to share some agreements about borders control and freedom of movement.

We state that:

1) All human beings must have a freedom of movement in a Europe and in a world without borders.

2) We refuse any control, repression and ban used by European polices to stop peoples moving toward the protest against the G8, and we reject any classification and discrimination between protesters.

3) We will express solidarity to people facing problems at the borders and we will coordinate efforts to guarantee the right of movement through the first week of June.

4) A political Europe already exists and it’s based on border control and capitalistic economy, instead we are building another Europe of equality, justice and equal rights for all.

5) We call for actions of solidarity on embassies, consulates, Goethe-Institutes, German enterprises all over Europe and the world. In this context we will respect every form of action and protest.

This text has been discussed and supported by participants from Greece, Italy, Poland, Russia, Latvia, Estonia, France, U.K., Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, Czech Republic, Netherlands, U.S.A. and Canada.

We will be everywhere!

Rostock, April 14th 2007

International Meeting against G8-Summit

Links:
www.globalproject.info/art-11817.html
www.resistance2003.gr
www.2007-g8.tk
www.heiligendamm2007.de/index_en.html