[Onthebarricades] Germany G8 Blockades 13 - repression reports

[Andy]

G8 REPRESSION

http://www.eux.tv/article.aspx?articleId=9627

EXTRA: German police defend detention of 1,057 at G8

Rostock, Germany (dpa) - German police kept 1,057 violent demonstrators in 
special detention centres during the G8 summit and were still holding 125 of 
them Friday, the summit security chief said in Rostock.

Police commander Knut Abramowski said the police strategy had "basically" 
worked but admitted that he had been caught off-guard by demonstrators 
swarming through fields to the fence at the Heiligendamm compound.

"In country areas, police are inherently disadvantaged against highly mobile 
demonstrators," he said.

Police planners had known that protest tactics might include dodging police 
roadblocks, but only knew "at the last minute that this was actually 
happening."

His remarks suggested it was too late at that stage to redeploy police, so 
the authorities had let the blockade of the G8 site proceed, as long as 
protesters kept peaceful.

He thanked peaceful protesters who "in many cases intervened to de-escalate 
conflict" and "came to the protection of police officers against the 
criminals."

He defended the preventive detention of violent protesters saying he had to 
protect his officers.

Leftist groups have denounced the conditions in the holding centres and 
asserted that many inmates were only held for donning the attire of the 
Black Block, a loose formation of anarchists and communists in the crowds.

The radicals have been recognizable by black clothing and hoods, face-masks 
and sunglasses to hide their faces.

Leftists charged that protesters were lodged in 25-square-metre "cages" with 
lights left on at night.

Wolfgang Grenz of the human rights organization Amnesty International said 
he had inspected the holding centres but did not consider them cruel for 
short periods of detention.

"They do look like cages, but there is no comparison whatever to the US 
prison camp at Guantanamo Bay," he said. Grenz said the allegations about 
the lights and that access to lawyers was limited were serious and would be 
checked.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/irish-pair-held-after-protests-695117.html

Irish pair held after protests
Saturday June 09 2007
AN Irish man and woman were among 125 protesters being held in custody by 
German police in Rostock last night.
The 25-year-old man, who is from Dublin, and the 23-year-old Cork woman were 
arrested by authorities on Thursday on public order charges. They had 
travelled to Germany to take part in demonstrations at the G8 summit of 
world leaders.
The Irish embassy said the pair have requested consular assistance. Police 
made more than 1,000 arrests during protests at the summit in Heiligendamn, 
near Rostock.
Protestors spent the past three days blocking roads around the summit and, 
at one stage, even managed to lead authorities on a high-speed boat chase 
through the Baltic.
Police rammed two Greenpeace inflatable speed boats during the week, which 
had breached a maritime security zone.
Dramatic television footage of the chase shot from helicopters showed a 
small armada of Greenpeace inflatable boats driven by outboard motors 
speeding into a 10km wide security zone off the seaside resort of 
Heiligendamm hosting the summit, taking police patrol boats completely by 
surprise.
After some delay, five high-powered police vessels went in hot pursuit of 
the Greenpeace intruders in a chase worthy of a James Bond film.
Yesterday police said their strategy of "de-escalation" had been a success.
This saw authorities allow protests to go ahead, even within an exclusion 
zone around a fence protecting the summit, and only step in when things went 
out of control.
BREDA HEFFERNAN

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_headline=protester-blinded-by-water-cannon&method=full&objectid=19277521&siteid=50061-name_page.html

Protester blinded by water cannon



Jun 11 2007

by Caroline Innes, Liverpool Daily Post



A LIVERPOOL man was blinded in one eye by a police water cannon as he staged 
a protest at the G8 summit in Germany.
The 33-year-old from Aigburth spoke exclusively to the Daily Post of the 
horror and pain of being directly hit in the face with the powerful jets by 
officers he claimed were using the crowd control devices as weapons.
The protester, a member of Liverpool's Social Forum, is suffering from shock 
and witnesses to the incident, which occurred at the protest in the Baltic 
Sea resort of Heiligendamm on Thursday, said they saw his eye come out of 
its socket.
Speaking last night from the Eye Unit at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, the 
victim, who wishes only to be called Matt, said a CAT scan had revealed he 
had sustained internal bleeding, extensive damage to his Iris and possible 
damage to his retina.

Doctors have now told the keen reader, cyclist and amateur photographer, 
that he will face future operations, cataracts, and glaucoma.
They told him that because of the internal bleeding it would be between six 
to eight weeks before they could assess the damage to his retina but warned 
that permanent harm had been caused and that he will never fully regain the 
vision in that eye.
Matt said: "I went to Germany to take part in a peaceful protest and to be 
honest at the start of the day there was a very jolly, almost carnival, 
atmosphere.
"There were three lines of police and all of a sudden things got more 
aggressive.
"There were a few baton charges so all the protesters just linked arms and 
stood firm. It was all still very peaceful.
"I have never seen water cannons before and all of a sudden there were eight 
or nine of them. The police made an announcement in German but none of us 
understood it and then we were fired at.
"I was knocked to the floor at first and then when I got up I was hit right 
in the face.
"The pain was incredible. My eye had come out and I just ran off holding it 
to find an ambulance."
Matt was one of seven protesters and a German journalist who were taken to 
Rostock University Hospital with eye injuries.
He said one protester had also been knocked unconscious by the water cannons 
and another suffered a perforated ear drum.
Matt added: "They were using water cannons as weapons, which they are not 
supposed to do.
"Their actions were deliberate and vindictive and completely unnecessary.
"I went there to express my feelings peacefully as I am entitled to do. What 
they did to me was absolutely dis- graceful. Doctors can't believe what they 
have done to me.
"The German activists we spoke to said they have never before seen the 
police use this type of water cannon or fire at people heads."
Matt added that he was going to take advice about suing the German police 
and will campaign for a stop to water cannons being fired at protesters' 
heads.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jun2007/germ-j08.shtml

German high court upholds police ban on G8 summit protest
By Justus Leicht
8 June 2007
Use this version to print | Send this link by email | Email the author
On Wednesday, the federal constitutional court, Germany's highest court, 
confirmed the police ban of a demonstration against the G8 summit scheduled 
to take place June 7. Protesters had planned to carry out a so-called Star 
March to the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm where leaders of the world's 
largest economies are currently meeting.
The decision by the constitutional court represents a fundamental attack on 
the democratic right of free assembly. The court came to its decision while 
acknowledging that the original demonstration ban imposed by police, and 
then confirmed by a state court in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, was 
unconstitutional. Instead the judges argued the outbreak of violence in 
Rostock June 2 was sufficient to justify the ban.
An increasing body of evidence suggests that the acts of violence last 
Saturday in Rostock were initiated or encouraged by police provocateurs. On 
the evening prior to the court's ruling a group of five police officers, 
dressed in the manner of the "black bloc" anarchists, was apprehended and 
unmasked by demonstrators at the security fence surrounding Heiligendamm. 
The undercover policemen had been seeking to incite protesters to commit 
criminal offences.
Plans for the star-shaped march were originally announced last October 30, 
but in discussions held this May 10 between police and protest organizers, 
police representatives declared that the planned march could not be held. 
The authorities declared that an area comprising approximately 40 square 
kilometers around Heiligendamm had to be kept free, enabling roads in the 
vicinity to be used. In response, the organizers declared that they had no 
intention of blockading the summit and proposed alternative routes. One week 
later the police banned both the protest march and the proposed alternative 
routes.
The demonstration organizers then filed an appeal against this prohibition 
with the administrative court in Schwerin, which decided in their favour. 
The court ruled that the prohibition was entirely inappropriate. However, 
the higher administrative court of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania reversed 
this decision and ruled that demonstrations could only take place in 
neighboring towns.
The federal constitutional court ruling Wednesday stresses the fundamental 
importance of the basic right of assembly and stipulates that neither the 
original police ban nor the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania court decision 
could be regarded as duly constitutional.
It goes on to point out that the fundamental right of assembly protects the 
interest of the organizers to conduct protest "in the closest possible 
proximity to the symbolic area-in this case, the G8 summit." Otherwise the 
purpose of the assembly would be rendered invalid. The text continues by 
noting that the sensibilities of foreign politicians "are not sufficient to 
justify limitations to the right to freedom of speech and assembly." The 
"constitutional protection of the right to criticize power" is "not limited 
to criticism of domestic ruling powers." This clause appears to be aimed 
against the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania court, which justified its 
decision by arguing that one of the reasons for the prohibition was 
protecting the "international reputation of Germany."
Drawing on previous rulings, the constitutional court declared that the 
freedom of assembly must be guaranteed for peaceful participants even if a 
minority commits violent acts. As the court notes: "Otherwise minorities 
would be able to transform the protest against the will of the other 
participants into illegal demonstrations"; in practice, many large 
demonstrations could be banned, namely all those in which it becomes known 
that a section of the participants harbor violent intentions.
In fact, however, all these pompous statements simply dress up the 
reactionary decision eventually made by the court. The latter goes on to 
justify the ban of the protest by citing precisely the intentions and 
actions of "a violent minority." Here the court mentions the figure of 
2,000, which has been suggested by the police.
The judges in Karlsruhe then take five paragraphs to justify their ban on 
the demonstration based on "findings" by the police about alleged planned 
rioting. According to the police "there is the danger that the planned star 
march could become a particular point of attraction for militant 
 disruptors."
Wagging their finger, they then go on to lecture about the consequences of, 
"according to the police, several hundred police officers" injured, and 
"considerable damage to property" on June 2 in Rostock. The figures given by 
the police of injured and damage caused are not challenged by the court, 
which also fails to examine what role the police could have played in the 
escalation of the violence. The court also has nothing to say about the 
hundreds of peaceful demonstrators who are victims of police clubs, water 
cannon and teargas.
According to the Karlsruhe judges, the demonstrators must simply accept the 
fact that they will not be able to exercise their democratic rights and be 
forced to march kilometers away from the objects of their protest.
The arguments employed by the constitutional court can be used to justify 
bans on demonstrations on the basis of possible violent activity of a 
minority. This discussion has particularly sinister implications under 
conditions where there is now growing evidence that the German security 
forces were actively involved in the riots in Rostock. The decision 
represents a fundamental attack on the right to assembly and gives the state 
the means to suppress any demonstration that it declares to be threatened by 
the activities of a minority.
In another development, a German court began handing down harsh sentences to 
protesters involve in the clashes with police in Rostock. A German man and a 
Spanish citizen were found guilty of attempted grievous bodily harm and 
disturbing the peace and sentenced to nine months in prison without parole, 
a court spokeswoman told the media. A Polish man was given a six-month 
suspended citizen and another Spaniard was sentenced to 10 months in prison.


http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,486825,00.html

June 05, 2007

THE WORLD FROM BERLIN
'There Is No Such Thing as Perfect Police Tactics'
The debate in Germany over how to deal with violent anti-G-8 protesters 
heats up, with politicians calling for the use of rubber bullets and the 
deployment of the elite anti-terrorism unit the GSG-9.

DDP
A police officer wears a so-called multi-purpose pistol, which can be used 
to fire both tear gas grenades and rubber bullets, during an anti-G-8 
demonstration in Rostock Monday.
As security forces in Heiligendamm prepare for the arrival of US President 
George W. Bush and the start of the G-8 summit (more...), bracing themselves 
for further violence like Saturday's riot in Rostock (more...) where around 
1,000 people were injured, the debate over how best to deal with violent 
protesters continues to heat up in Germany.
After earlier calls for a crackdown on the anarchists of the so-called Black 
Bloc (more...), politicians Tuesday were calling for more specific -- and 
tougher -- measures, namely the use of rubber bullets by police forces and 
the deployment of Germany's elite GSG-9 anti-terrorism unit.
In an interview with the tabloid Bild published Tuesday, Sebastian Edathy, a 
Social Democratic member of parliament and chairman of the Bundestag's 
domestic affairs committee, suggested rubber bullets could be used. "We 
should examine if we should allow the use of rubber bullets for the 
self-defense of police officers in especially dangerous situations," he told 
the newspaper. Representatives of the police union DPolG had earlier asked 
on Monday for police to be equipped with rubber bullets.
Most G-8 protest groups can be included in the anti-globalization camp. 
Unfair G-8 trade policies and market liberalization contribute to social and 
economic inequality, which perpetuates a host of other problems, they say. 
Attac and Move Against G-8 are two of the larger groups protesting 
globalization.
Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Oxfam, Attac, WWF, and Germanwatch are a 
few of the groups who will be demonstrating for the G-8 to commit to a 
policy to fight climate change and develop renewable energy. Because they 
emit the majority of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, 
protesters say G-8 countries are responsible for solving the problem.
The Jubilee Debt Campaign and Oxfam are among G-8 critics who say the world 
trade policies of rich industrialized nations are perpetuating poverty in 
developing nations. Groups are focusing mainly on debt-relief for 
impoverished countries, health and education aid, and fair trade policies to 
ease the desperation in countries they feel the G-8 continues to take 
advantage of.
FREIeHEIDe, Oxfam, religious groups and others are critical of G-8 country 
involvement in world conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan, in addition to 
their contribution to arms sales. Exporting weapons directly contributes to 
conflicts which lead to poverty, environmental destruction, human rights 
violations, refugee crises, and general instability, protest groups say.
The label "autonomen" refers to radical libertarian and anarchist groups in 
Germany, though it doesn't refer to a specific, organized group. Like many 
on Germany's well-established, left-wing fringe, the autonomen grew out of 
the leftist movement in the 1960s and 1970s. They often take part in 
demonstrations against atomic energy and also frequently join peace marches. 
They are not always welcome participants in such demonstrations due to their 
willingness to participate in violence. Indeed, they have also been called 
the "Black Bloc" because of their tendency to wear all black and to cover 
their faces with black masks during demonstrations to avoid being identified 
by the authorities. While autonomen generally recognize that complete 
independence of social networks is not possible, they reject outside 
influence as much as possible. The autonomen are considered potentially the 
most violent of the anti-G-8 activists and were likely behind the rioting on 
Saturday afternoon in Rostock.
Smaller groups and NGO's who plan to protest and lobby at the summit include 
anti-racists, anti-capitalists, feminists, trade unions, agrigulture groups, 
ant-fascists, human rights groups, immigrant and refugee advocates, and 
religious groups, among others.

Many groups have banded together to create blanket organizations in order to 
facilitate mass protests of the summit. The largest among these are Move 
Against G8, Dissent! G8, Block G8, and the Avanti Projekt. While the agendas 
of the individual groups may differ, every blanket group aims to reject the 
legitimacy of the G-8 and its policies, often citing the G-8 as the cause of 
their group issues.
However the proposal was criticized by other voices in the police. Another 
police union, the GdP, rejected the suggestion Tuesday, saying that 
experiences in other countries show that rubber bullets entail a high risk 
of injury for innocent bystanders and that their use would only have 
aggravated the situation in Rostock.
The special G-8 security police unit Kavala also rejected the idea. "This 
kind of discussion is absolute stupidity," said Kavala spokesman Axel 
Falkenberg dismissively.
Wolfgang Bosbach, a senior politician in Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats 
(CDU), also rejected the suggestion of rubber bullets. "In that respect I 
would be very reluctant," he said Tuesday.

Conservative politicians also called for Germany's secretive elite 
anti-terrorist unit, the GSG-9, to be deployed to stop the violence. CDU 
politician Ole Schröder told Bild that the police were overwhelmed and were 
not able to control the violent protesters of the Black Bloc. "The federal 
interior minister should therefore offer assistance by offering to deploy 
the GSG-9," he told the newspaper.
This suggestion, too, met with widespread criticism. "The GSG-9 has 
completely different tasks," explained Interior Ministry spokesman Christian 
Sachs in a statement given to the German news agency DDP Tuesday. Sachs 
stressed that the GSG-9 was being deployed "around the summit," but declined 
to give details.
Bosbach also rejected the suggestion that the GSG-9 be deployed around 
Heiligendamm, saying it was an "anti-terror unit," not an "anti-demo unit." 
According to sources in security circles, the GSG-9 is exclusively for 
fighting terrorism and serious crime -- it has never been used against 
demonstrators.

Meanwhile German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her support for the 
police Tuesday. "It was confirmed in Rostock, in a sad way, that strict 
security measures are necessary," she said in an interview with the German 
news agency DPA. "The police have in this respect my complete confidence. 
... Last Saturday made it clear once again -- also for the peaceful 
demonstrators -- that tolerance for those who perpetrate violence is 
completely misplaced."
Commentators writing in Germany's newspapers Tuesday were consistent in 
their condemnation of the violence but divided about how best to proceed.
The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:
"The opponents of the G-8 summit prove their strength if they reject 
violence. They prove their credibility if they not only denounce suffering 
in the big wide world, but also reject the anger of anarchists on the 
Mecklenburg coast. They show their humanity if they have compassion not only 
with the distant victims of hunger and war, but also with the severely 
wounded policemen, whose worried families sat in front of their televisions 
watching the riots in Rostock."

http://www.brooksbulletin.com/news/world_news.asp?itemid=63209

Fence, heavy security at G8 summit in Germany evokes memories of Iron 
Curtain

Workers clean the security fence in the sea near Heiligendamm. The fence is 
12 kilometers long and 2.5 meters high, surrounding the whole village and 
sealing off the beach of the Baltic Sea. (AP Photo/Thomas Haentzschel)

DAVID RISING
Monday, June 04, 2007

HEILIGENDAMM, Germany (AP) - Bystanders gazed in curiosity and disgust 
Monday at the razor-wire-topped fence that will separate Group of Eight 
leaders from the rest of Germany during this week's summit - part of 
security measures that, for some, evoke memories of life behind the Iron 
Curtain.

"It's not good given the history of Germany - we had it in East Germany, and 
now it's up again," said Ralf Klonschinski, on vacation from a home in 
eastern Germany, as he looked at a security camera and floodlight perched 
atop the 2.5-metre fence.

"I'm not so sure it's necessary."

Cutting across 11 kilometres of verdant farmland near some of Germany's main 
seaside playgrounds, the fence is reviving memories of the Berlin Wall as 
authorities confront the modern realities of global terrorism and radical 
protest movements.

German officials say a 16,000-strong police presence at the G8 meeting was 
the only way to safeguard the free expression of nonviolent demonstrators, 
after more than 400 police officers and 500 protesters were injured in 
nearby Rostock over the weekend.

But some precautions don't feel so benign to Germans with long memories.

Prosecutors already face criticism for taking scent samples in a pre-summit 
investigation of a handful of G8 opponents, a technique used by the dreaded 
East German Stasi secret police to track dissidents with dogs, and for 
intercepting and opening the mail of another suspect.

Like other vacationers, Klonschinski and his wife hiked to the edge the 
fence supported by massive concrete blocks at every post and reinforced with 
iron bars driven into the ground to prevent people from going underneath.

Protesters will not legally get anywhere near the barrier, after a court 
last week upheld a ban on demonstrations within about six kilometres of the 
fence. An alliance of activist groups that plans a June 7 march has appealed 
to Germany's highest court.


On Monday, officers on foot patrolled the inside perimeter. Police vehicles 
periodically drove along the dirt road built along the outside of the fence, 
bisecting lush green fields and a forest.

The public could see the fence only where it meets the sea, with the other 
area restricted to journalists and officials. Inside the fence, all was 
quiet. A small red fox even emerged from a farmer's field to examine the 
barrier between him and the forest before retreating.

On Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will host the leaders of 
Britain, France, Japan, Italy, Russia, Canada and the United States for 
discussions on issues including global warming, aid to Africa and the world 
economy.

Days before the summit starts, armoured personnel carriers, trucks with 
water-cannons atop and other support vehicles were put into place, while 
police helicopters flew overhead.

"I wanted to go a little further, but there's a tank," vacationing Hamburg 
resident Ingeborg Seipel said as she turned her bicycle around. "It's all a 
little much."

She cycled to the fence from the Baltic resort city of Kuehlungsborn, 
crowded with media covering the summit. Seipel said she knew that the G8 
would land in the middle of her three-week holiday, but didn't expect such 
tight controls.

"These measures I couldn't imagine," she said.

Kuehlungsborn hoteliers say a drop in tourists because of the G8 has been 
made up for by journalists coming in.

Klaus Selck, who runs a seaside bratwurst stand along the path between 
Kuehlungsborn and the summit site in Heiligendamm, said normally 2,000 to 
3,000 tourists would be in and out of his patch every day at this time of 
year, compared with a small trickle on Monday.

But nodding to dozens of police vans and armoured vehicles in the parking 
lot in front of his stand, he said the officers were making up for the 
drop-off in tourist business, and he certainly prefers them to the 
black-clad anarchists who torched cars and broke windows in Rostock.

"I'm happy they're here," he said. "We don't want those others here."

As a lifelong resident of the Kuehlungsborn area, once located in communist 
East Germany, he rejected any similarities to border controls to the era 
before the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.

"In East Germany you'd never get close to the border fence - they stopped 
you 10 kilometres away," he said. "There's no comparison."


© The Canadian Press, 2007

http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=26&story_id=40549

Riots test protester and police strategy
5 June 2007
Hamburg (dpa) - Riots in the German city of Rostock have sorely tested the 
strategy of both police and protesters for this week's G8 summit in Germany.

While German politicians said that a soft policing approach known as 
"de-escalation" must be kept in place, police unions called for a switch to 
"zero tolerance" when people in crowds break the law.

Organizers of Saturday's demonstration, which police said comprised 30,000 
people, have denounced the behaviour of about 2,000 radicals in the crowd 
who set fire to cars, threw cobblestones and brawled with police in Rostock.

"This type of person is not welcome," said Peter Wahl, a protest organizer 
with Attac, a European protest group which regards globalization as 
dangerous.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was swift to praise the peaceful wing of the 
protest movement: "It was important that the organizers of the main 
demonstration completely dissociated themselves from the violence."

Before Saturday, the protest movement had emphasized its unity, with church, 
trade union and pacifist groups anxious to avoid criticizing tough leftist 
allies who show up for rallies wearing masks and black clothing.

Police said these "Black Block" militants included reinforcements from other 
parts of Europe when the mayhem broke out Saturday in Rostock, a port 25 
kilometres northeast of the G8 summit site at Heiligendamm.

The block has its roots in "autonomous" communities in Hamburg, Berlin and 
the Danish capital Copenhagen. On websites, they denounce the European 
political system as "totalitarian and capitalist."

Riot police face a battle whenever they try to enter "autonomous" city 
compounds.

Pacifists, whose militancy stops at blocking roads with mass sit-ins, now 
admit they have only limited influence on their more radical, stone-throwing 
brethren.

Werner Raetz of Attac told the newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt: "We have to 
keep them committed to mutual action. Otherwise we'll be excluding them, and 
then they will do whatever they please."

The next key test this week is likely to be on Wednesday, when demonstrators 
hope to gather at Rostock Airport to shout disapproval when jets bring 
delegations from the eight nations attending the G8 summit.

On Thursday, protesters had hoped to converge on a steel gate, two 
kilometres from the summit hotel, but they have been ordered to stay on a 
main highway which comes no closer than six kilometres to the beachside 
resort.

In an indication that mainstream groups are now warier of providing cover 
for the militants, protesters were Monday seeking court permission for just 
600 representative demonstrators to walk to the gate.

Wolfgang Wieland, a politician with the Greens party, which sent its youth 
section to the Rostock protest, said the violence made it less likely any 
close-up protests would be allowed.

"But I still think it is feasible for us to demonstrate within sight and 
hearing of the summit leaders," he said.

Police unions, meanwhile, voiced impatience at the de-escalation strategy, 
which they blamed for the casualty toll of 433 injured police and 520 
injured demonstrators on Saturday.

Wolfgang Speck of the German Police Union said robust policing was needed.

Konrad Freiberg of the GDP union said protesters should be searched before 
joining the demonstration: "If they have stones, knives and clubs, they 
belong under arrest."

But German interior officials said they would stick to de-escalation, which 
includes close consultation with protest leaders and keeping riot police out 
of sight in side streets until they are urgently needed.

Reinhard Hoeing, a police spokesman, said the policy would stay, though 
police would act "resolutely" against "violence-prone" protesters. He 
stressed police were also tasked with "protecting the peaceful 
demonstrators."

Harald Ringstorff, premier of Mecklenburg West Pomerania state where Rostock 
is located, suggested Monday one solution might be to put known violent 
protesters in preventive detention till after the summit.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,486736,00.html

June 05, 2007
LEARNING FROM THE PAST
G-8 Rioting Has Germans Second Guessing Policing Strategy
By Charles Hawley in Berlin
Is it possible to avoid violence at the G-8? For years, police in Europe 
have been trying to perfect their riot-control strategies. But Saturday's 
rioting in Rostock has the Germans questioning what they've learned.
It seems as though someone hit the rewind button. The scenes from the 
Rostock Rumble (more...) that flashed onto television screens across the 
globe on Saturday could just as well have been file footage from the 1999 
Battle in Seattle, one of the first of the violent, anti-globalization 
riots. Or it could have been taken from Genoa circa 2001, when prolonged 
street battles resulted in the death of a demonstrator.

DDP
German police entered the G-8 saying they wanted to follow a strategy of 
de-escalation. Now, they aren't so sure.
Now though, the images of burning cars, of black-clad rioters throwing 
stones, and of police wading through the crowds, Billy clubs at the ready, 
will forever be associated with the 2007 G-8 summit in Heiligendamm. And 
even before the meeting has started, frustration has spread across Germany. 
What, both police and protestors are asking themselves, went wrong?
It's a variation of a question that both police officers and riot control 
experts have been asking for years. Ever since the Seattle debacle, an 
increasing number of specialists have been taking a closer look at the 
dynamics of mass protest in the age of international demonstrations 
targeting international governmental and financial institutions. At the same 
time, police have increased cooperation with colleagues in cities already 
experienced in hosting G-8 summits or other international events.
Research into the G-8
Indeed, the German police have been preparing for this year's G-8 for years. 
Observers from Germany were on hand to take a close look at how British 
police patrolled the G-8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland in 2005. They went 
to Genoa to talk to their Italian colleagues. And John Vine, the man who 
directed the police response in Gleneagles, is on hand in Germany this year.
"We do talk to one another and I think it is very important that there is 
learning particularly for events such as the G-8," Vine told SPIEGEL ONLINE. 
"Before the Gleneagles meeting, we did a lot of research into the G-8 event 
itself to see what kind of tactics have been used before by anarchist 
groups. We also visited a number of places in Europe."

Still, he went on, "in hindsight you can say that worked well and that 
didn't work well. There's no manual on how to police a G-8 summit and 
there's no right way."
Perhaps not. But there are an increasing number of experts looking for the 
silver bullet of protest control. Indeed, even a brief look at the 
Heiligendamm security plan makes it clear that the police have been 
listening. In "The Policing of Transnational Protest," published in 2006, 
co-editor Donatella Della Porta, a widely published riot expert from Italy, 
makes clear that so-called "red zones" -- blocked off areas inaccessible to 
protesters -- have become de rigueur at international events. Other newer 
strategies, the book says, include " individual police officers are more 
commonly equipped with 'less lethal' arms; databanks of 'traveling 
troublemakers' have been constructed; special anti-insurgent units have been 
created; and in some cases the military has also been deployed for public 
order tasks."
Avoid Confrontation
All of those strategies, except for military deployment, can be seen in 
Germany this year. The 12-kilometer-long, razor-wire-topped fence 
surrounding Heiligendamm has gotten the most press. But weeks prior to the 
event, German police began raiding the homes and offices of radical leftists 
and stepped up border checks, having turned away 85 people from entering 
Germany and arresting an additional 35. Conflict control teams accompany 
every march. Deploying the military domestically remains illegal in Germany, 
but on Monday, a number of representatives from the conservative Christian 
Democrats called for the deployment of the anti-terrorist unit attached to 
Germany's federal border police.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,486573,00.html

June 04, 2007

REACTION TO ROSTOCK RIOTS
Politicians Call For Crackdown on Violent G-8 Protesters
Germany was shocked by violent clashes between anarchists and police in 
Rostock Saturday after an anti-G-8 protest turned nasty. Politicians and 
police representatives have criticized the police strategy of de-escalation, 
while several anti-G-8 groups have distanced themselves from the violent 
anarchists.

AFP
Riot police and anarchists clashed in Rostock Saturday. Politicians have 
criticized the police approach, while peaceful anti-G-8 groups have 
distanced themselves from the violence.
Germany was shocked this weekend by images of violence in the Baltic port 
city of Rostock, where violent anti-G-8 protesters clashed with police 
(more...) just days before the start of the G-8 summit in Germany. Around 
1,000 police and demonstrators were injured in violent clashes which 
followed an otherwise peaceful demonstration, with anarchists throwing 
stones at police and setting cars on fire.
In the aftermath of the violence, politicians and police are debating how 
best to prevent a repeat of such violence as the G-8 leaders prepare to meet 
in the Baltic Sea resort of Heiligendamm. Meanwhile non-violent protesters 
have distanced themselves from the rioters.
Conservative politicians have called for a crackdown on the violent 
anarchists known as the Black Bloc or Autonomen, who are seen as being 
behind Saturday's violence. Saarland premier Peter Müller, who belongs to 
the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), called for rioters to be 
"withdrawn from circulation early" and put into "preventive custody." Fellow 
CDU politician Volker Kauder urged peaceful demonstrators to "clearly 
separate themselves from left-wing anarchists who want to riot."
The conservative interior minister of Bavaria, Günther Beckstein, criticized 
the organizers of Saturday's demonstration, saying they had a "large moral 
responsibility" for the violence. "They did not succeed in making sure that 
their own demonstration went off peacefully," he said in a radio interview 
Monday. "There can be no accusations against the police, rather things went 
wrong on the side of the organizers."

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2007/06/g8-summit-versus-article-8-of-the-german-constitution/

G8 Summit versus Article 8 of the German Constitution
by Daniel Vallin / June 4th, 2007
During the past ten years, the G8 Summit meeting has become more than 
another meeting of world leaders. Particularly since Genoa, Italy in 2001, 
where a protester was killed by police, the meeting has become a symbol of 
all that is wrong with the trend toward an unrestricted, globalized 
capitalist economy, and evidence of how far we have moved away from 
democratic systems in favor of ones which are dominated by corporate 
interests. This year's summit, from June 6-8, in Heiligendamm, near Rostock, 
Germany is proving to be a showcase of encroaching neo-liberal imperialism 
while politicians insist on maintaining an ever-thinner facade of democracy.
Much like during Bush's visit to Mainz in 2006, where the entire city was 
essentially locked down like a US prison, much to the horror of its 
inhabitants, even German police complain about the American "security" 
demands, which they said were both unrealistic and did not allow them to 
fulfill their duties and respect the German constitution .
Funnily enough, it is article 8 of the German constitution which guarantees 
freedom of assembly to the German people, and exactly this freedom was 
trampled upon when the self-proclaimed defender of world liberty came to 
visit and demanded that no demonstrations be allowed within 5km of the 
meeting place. Actually this is not true: demonstrations are forbidden 
within 5 km of a 3-meter-tall barbed-wire fence which surrounds the 
village - built at a cost of 12 million Euro to German tax payers. It 
certainly makes a splendid monument to American-style liberty and democracy.
In keeping with this new, American style of democracy, only certain 
journalists are allowed access to the meetings. Those who have "reported 
critically" in the past have been black listed and barred from attending, 
according to German TV ARD and news magazine Der Spiegel. In keeping with a 
modern, American-style nomenclature, then, I recommend giving this new style 
of democracy a Rumsfeld-esque descriptive name: confidential, non-consensual 
democracy. It is, after all, taking place behind closed and locked doors, 
without freedom of the press and surrounded by the largest contingent of 
armoured police that the German Republic has ever seen.
As if the event were not already enough of a mockery, George Bush, leader of 
the American regime, has brought with him his own plan to confront global 
warming, an issue which, at home, he has either ignored or dismissed as 
non-existent. While his European counterparts argue for strict and concrete 
goals for CO2 emissions, Bush prefers each country to set its own, voluntary 
goals for CO2 reduction. Most Europeans, meanwhile, seem to be of the 
opinion that this voluntary plan will work about as well as the American 
system of gun control.
Those who do not agree with the decisions being made in this new fortress of 
bogus democracy, or those who merely would like to ask that certain issues 
are addressed adequately - action against global warming, relief for third 
world debt, more aid for Africa, an end to the unrestricted flow of capital 
which moves jobs out of a country without warning, or cheaper AIDS 
medication - would have little if any chance to express their opinion, which 
is clearly neither wanted nor of any consequence.
Despite all of this, nearly 100,000 people gathered in Rostock on Saturday 
to voice their opinions. This meeting unfortunately took place not where the 
participants of the summit might see it, but some 20 km away in Rostock. The 
true distance between the people and the government seems so much greater, 
though.
I had wanted to take part in the protests from the time I learned that the 
summit would be taking place in Germany. Despite this long-term goal, I 
found myself quite unprepared and poorly informed shortly before the actual 
demo was to take place in Rostock. While already a convoy of bike riders had 
left from my hometown, as well as other cities in Germany, Sweden, Italy and 
elsewhere, to draw attention to global warming and the need for 
environmentally friendly transport, I was only able to arrange a journey by 
train.
I had no idea what to expect: a peaceful protest march? Attacks from the 
police? Full-blown 1968 streets of fire? I quickly packed a jacket in case 
of rain, a warm hat, some sandwiches, my camera, a bandanna and glacier 
glasses in case of gas attacks.
I woke up at 4 am reminded of mountain climbing - getting up in darkness and 
wondering if I really wanted to do this, but knowing that an early start is 
essential. Riding through the dawn mist to the train station, I quickly 
found my prospective travel partners - a group of four 19-year-olds. I made 
the fifth person and we bought our special weekend family ticket for a price 
which has gone up sharply since the last time I used one. Furthermore, 
recent news had stated that the railway personnel had now been recruited by 
the police, in an echo back to the East German "Stasi" secret police, and 
would be informing the police ahead of time if there were any suspicious 
passengers in the trains. The train journey lasted over 6 hours, and by the 
time we got there I was just about ready to go back home.
Despite dreary weather, we were greeted by a train station that was 
overflowing with people. Outside even more were awaiting us, although the 
bicycle riders had not yet arrived. There must have been some flat tires in 
the Alps, I reckon. All in all there are nearly 100,000 demonstrators from 
many countries, from nearly every age group, and from all walks of life. 
These are, apparently, the "extremists" or "terrorists" that the G8 leaders 
are afraid of, though a better word for them would be "citizens" or maybe 
"people from the countries you claim to represent." I was surprised that the 
first speakers were from Italy and Spain, and a short translation followed 
each speech. Among the speakers were a local politician, the father of the 
protester murdered by the police in Genoa, and an environmentalist from 
China. Certain themes emerged: global warming needed action ten years ago, 
not ten years from now, George Bush and Tony Blair are war criminals, large 
companies moving their factories to the country with the lowest wages and 
environmental standards is not good for the workers or the environment, and 
George Bush is not a very popular person (you know what I want to mention 
here), though, in fact, no one wanted to place all of the blame on him 
alone. The American folk singer David Rovics sent us off with an excellent 
but perhaps too hopeful song, claiming "We will shut them down."
The march met at the harbor and we were asked to form blocks- the Italian 
group, some various trade unions, people for environmental action, people 
against various free trade pacts, something which seems to lump all females 
together - independent women, women against war, lesbians and transsexuals. 
I walked on the outskirts and took photos. Along the route, there were giant 
puppets fighting over pieces of the world, impersonators of the 8 leaders 
scrambling for resources from the developing world, flags of hundreds of 
organizations flying, hundreds of banners and signs, and clowns who 
entertained the the walkers, watchers, and police. There was one block of 
marchers with a slightly different take on the event; the black-clad 
Autonomen, mainly from Berlin, setting off firecrackers as they walked past 
the police, who until this time had shown restraint and posed no threat to 
the protesters.
This all changed when we arrived at the harbor. For reasons I still do not 
know, a phalanx of black-clad armored police, carrying sticks and shields, 
suddenly stormed in behind the last protesters, in a move that can only be 
seen as threatening, and were met by another group dressed in black. After a 
short spat of stone-throwing and general boisterousness, the protest 
organizers radioed to the police and convinced them to back off, and their 
sudden retreat is met with cheers from the crowd now assembled.
The band starts playing a song titled "Relax," and for a while, it looked as 
if we would indeed have our peaceful demonstration. Tall sailing ships are 
anchored and adorned with banners from Greenpeace urging action on climate 
change, as well as from Doctors without Borders, asking for more medical aid 
for Africa. I board a ship which offers vegan food and drinks, while police 
helicopters circled above, reminding us of the splendid new democracy this 
G8 meeting has given us.
Some hours later, a huge truck rebuilt into a sort of two-storey techno van 
begins leading the protesters out pied piper style, as they dance along 
behind it. It is a scene that one would more likely expect from a very lame 
music video or an American TV commercial for Mountain Dew. But as we were 
dancing into the sunset, we heard fire engines and turned to see smoke 
behind us. Cars set ablaze, rocks flying, pepper spray and flailing batons, 
it was everything most of us had hoped to avoid. It seems that our friends 
dressed in black- the police and their lesser-armed but equally angry 
rivals - had started to fight after all. I would later be surprised to read 
that the German press was careful to point out that only a small group of 
those assembled had taken part in any violence, and that the police were 
also partly blameworthy.
Thinking of these clashes, disturbing though they may be, I can only wonder; 
a few burning cars and thrown stones? Is this the awesome danger that 
required the complete recall of democracy, the total secrecy in place of 
transparency, the gagging of the press in place of open information, the 12 
million Euro fence that did more to provoke than to protect? Is this what 
European democracy has come to? But the answer is already known; just as the 
G8 has trumped article 8 of the German Constitution (freedom of assembly), 
our European democracy has been trumped by a new, American style 
 "democracy," also called authoritarianism and government by the corporate 
"elite."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g8/story/0,,2098485,00.html

German police deny heavy-handed G8 tactics


Patrick Barkham in Heiligendamm
Friday June 8, 2007
Guardian Unlimited


TV images of a Greenpeace boat being chased and run over by a German 
anti-terror police speedboat at the G8 summit. Photograph: G8 TV/AP

German police today defended their use of force, after a police launch 
rammed a Greenpeace dinghy in the first notable breach of security around 
the G8 summit.
Police said they had warned the 11 high-speed inflatables to stay outside 
the restricted zone of the Baltic Sea spa resort of Heiligendamm. They added 
they had no alternative but to use force to stop one boat when it got within 
several hundred metres of the shore.
Greenpeace condemned the tactics as "very heavy-handed" and said it had 
radioed ahead to assure the authorities it would be a peaceful protest to 
deliver a petition calling for action on climate change. One activist was in 
hospital under observation last night. Five were released with minor 
injuries.
On land, the anti-G8 movement claimed another small victory, when protesters 
temporarily blocked the two main roads into the resort. Up to 3,000 people 
have been camping deep within the restricted area - but still 400 metres 
from the security fence surrounding the resort - for 24 hours. Several have 
reached the fence before giving themselves up.
Demonstrators put on aerobics displays in front of riot police as operations 
were stepped up to retake the main roads. Protesters were driven back with 
water cannons laced with pepper spray.
Reinforcements from the 16,000 officers in the G8 security operation arrived 
on nine helicopters, as protesters chanted: "We're peaceful, what are you?" 
Clowns blew bubbles in the faces of armed riot squads.
Police said 257 people were arrested yesterday and 300 were detained the 
previous night.
Greenpeace joined many of the protesters in condemning the police's use of 
force. A spokesman said: "Ramming and then running over inflatables is very 
heavy-handed when the inflatables were engaged in a peaceful, non-violent 
protest to deliver a petition calling for action on climate change on behalf 
of the people of the world who are being kept out of the resort courtesy of 
an 8ft high barbed wire fence."
Police said their operation could be considered a success so far because 
there had been no breaches of the fence.
"The police have managed to keep militant protesters out of the restricted 
zone and the G8 summit meetings are going on without any restrictions so in 
that sense everything is going fine," said Christian Zimmer, a spokesman for 
Kavala, the police coordinating group for the G8 operation.
"There might be cases where we cannot tolerate a roadblock and we have to 
clear it by appropriate means after warning people to leave the site. But 
there has been no excessive use of force by the police."

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/june2007/100607g8falseflag.htm

G8 False Flag Terror Attack Averted?
US "security men" attempted to smuggle C4 plastic explosive past checkpoint


Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
Sunday, June 10, 2007

It looks highly likely that a false flag terror attack to be blamed on 
protesters of the G8 summit in Germany was averted after German surveillance 
stopped a team of "US security men" attempting to smuggle C4 plastic 
explosives past a checkpoint at Heiligendamm.
The alarming revelation was buried at the end of a Deutsche Press-Agentur 
news article about the ongoing battles between police and protesters at the 
global forum.
Sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that US security men tested German 
security by trying to smuggle C4 plastic explosive past a checkpoint at 
Heiligendamm.
German surveillance machinery detected the tiny stash in a suitcase in a car 
and the Americans in plainclothes then identified themselves. German police 
declined comment.
Was this simply a "test" as is claimed or more likely, an aborted false flag 
terror attack that was set to be blamed on protesters to legitimize the 
powerhouse G8 nations and the global elite while demonizing 
anti-globalization activists and justifying the use of lethal force against 
demonstrators?
If so, it wouldn't be without precedent.
During the Genoa G8 summit in 2001, police planted petrol bombs in schools 
and other residences of protest groups in order to justify brutal raids on 
the properties during which activists were severely beaten and jailed Police 
claimed the raids were justified because the protesters were planning 
violence.
After the trial against the police got underway, the bomb evidence 
conveniently "disappeared".

http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article.php/20070608130407969

Friday, June 08 2007 @ 04:04 PM MDT
G8 Summit a battlefield of protest versus fascism
Contributed by: Sgt_ShockNAwe
Trust the Germans to teach the world a lesson on proper use of fascist 
police tactics.

German Police Chase Greenpeace Boats Near G8 Zone
As the deal was reached, Greenpeace caused a stir when it led German police 
boats on a high-speed chase through the Baltic sea. Three Greenpeace 
inflatable speed boats penetrated the security zone in the waters off the 
Heiligendamm meeting site. The activists unfurled a banner reading 'G8 --  
Act Now." The chase came to an end when a massive police ship rammed two 
Greenpeace boats, sending crew members into the water. Three activists were 
injured and taken to the hospital. Greenpeace didn't stop there -- earlier 
today the group tried to send a hot-air balloon over the summit with the 
word 'FAILED' written across its "G8 - Act Now" slogan. Police helicopters 
forced the balloon to land before it could reach the G8 meeting site. 
Meanwhile thousands of people continue their protests on the summit's last 
day.

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/06/372790.html

G8 Police 'Almost Raid' Rostock Camp
rostock reporting | 06.06.2007 22:50 | G8 Germany 2007 | Globalisation | 
Repression | World
The police intrusion at the Rostock G8 camp this evening was a clear attempt 
at provocation.

Arriving in force they entered the adjoining field which had effectively 
been squatted to accomodate the spill over campers from when the site had 
become crowded.

Report follows below:

At first the police wanted to enter the whole camp saying they had a warrent 
to enter, but when challenged they said that they had only applied for a 
warrent to raid the camp, and were waiting on the approval.

Even so, convoy after convoy of vehicles kept arriving outside the camp - 
well over one hundred in total - with police units in riot gear and with 
shields forming up into squads opposite the entrance to the camp and forming 
lines along the parts of the camp fence that bordered the road.

For a while the atmosphere was incredibly tense, especially as more units 
arrived and seemed to be preparing to enter the camp.

It should be said that the people inside the camp near the front gate seemed 
calm given the high level of intimidation that the police actions 
represented.

Police officers were reportedly heard discussing their operation saying that 
they would need more units to seperate the good from the bad, and that they 
had to find evidence of the bad protestors participation in disturbances.

Inside the spillover camping area where around 30 police officers in riot 
gear had entered, the campers made light of the situation, playing guiters, 
dancing, and sitting down in front of the police.

As time passed more people were returning to the camp, with some being 
subjected to random searches of their clothes and bags.

As more press arrived at the camp entrance and began filming and 
interviewing the senior officer it became clear that the police were 
standing down as they began to pull their units back and leave the spillover 
camping area.

What had begun suddenly was over equally quickly with the vehicles pulling 
out and speeding off in their convoys.

As people emerged from behind the camp gate many were discussing the police 
actions. "Sure, they just want to intimidate us" said one. "They wanted to 
provoke us" said another camper, "but they couldn't". Another person said 
they thought it was a ploy to attract people back from the ongoing blockades 
to show solidarity with the camp.

Whatever the truth about the intentions of the 'almost raid', the real story 
of the day is the success of the multiple blockades encircling the roads 
that lead to the G8 at Heillingdam.

While it seems the authorities have declared all anti-G8 protests tomorrow 
to be illegal, hundreds of those still blockading the roads have just voted 
to remain in place throughout the night, maintaining their protest, 
expressing their dissent.

And I for one, salute them.
rostock reporting

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/06/373539.html

German G8 Police: Lies, Propaganda and Provocation (report)
investigations continue | 13.06.2007 12:44 | G8 Germany 2007 | Globalisation 
| Indymedia | Repression | World
Below are a few examples of the lies and propaganda spun by the police 
during the G8 protests in Germany, as well as direct evidence that the 
police were at times using infiltrators to try and create conditions to 
justify further repression.

There are for sure many more examples of this during the last two weeks or 
so and civil liberties monitoring groups are investigating other incidents. 
It should also be said that while the media were able to report what 
appeared to be a tolerant attitude to the blockades at the East Gate, in 
other places sit down protestors were water cannoned, pepper sprayed and 
beaten. Also the police tried to provoke violence at various different 
protests and actions, arrested people for nothing more than having the wrong 
clothing on them, and failed to give medical assistance to injured people in 
a number of incidents. Police have also been criticised for using water 
canon at close quarters against peaceful blockaders resulting in several 
serious eye injuries, including a man from Liverpool who has lost the use of 
his eye after it was dislodged. Further criticism has come regarding the use 
of the military against protestors including the army on the A19 autobahn 
and the use of Panavia Tornado jets in low fly reconnaissance / intimidation 
runs over protest camp sites.

Other tactics used by the police included mass unrpovoked arrests, closure 
of transport systems to prevent people reaching legal assembly points and 
systematic feeding of misinformation to the media - details of which below:


*Police Lie About Number of Injured Officers

In the immediate aftermath of the clashes that occured at the end of the 
march on Saturday 2nd June at the Rostock harbour rally, the police press 
released figures that claimed that over 400 police officers had been injured 
during the fighting, with 30 of them severely injured.

These shocking figures were reprinted across the world's media along with 
the pictures of a burning car and protestors clashing with police. And yet 
it has now emerged that just 2 police officers required hospital treatment 
and that these two were not so badly injured that they had to be kept in 
overnight.


*Police Lie about Clowns Using Chemical Weapons Against Police

Following the confiscation of a water pistol from one of the clown army 
activists, the police told the press that several (eight I think) police 
officers had been treated for the effects of chemical weapons. They said the 
clowns had been spraying officers. The truth of the matter is that if 
officers had indeed been treated for the "effects of chemical weapons" it 
would have been from their own use of gas and pepper spray - it was observed 
by several people that some officers were also caught by gas and spray used 
by their colleages.

The accusations against the clowns were again picked up by the world's press 
and printed in newspapers and websites around the world. The police later 
admitted that no such chemical attack by the clowns had taken place.


*Police Admit to Using Undercover Officers
*Agent Provocateurs Unmasked at East Gate Blockade
*Police Lie to the Press About East Gate Protestors

The authorities have admitted they did indeed have undercover agents 
participating in the actions and blockades. This admission comes after their 
initial denial that such police tactics were being used.

At the peaceful sit down blockade at the East gate of the G8 security zone 
which lasted for two days, an undercover police officer was found dressed as 
'black bloc' encouraging others at the blockade to prepare petrol bombs for 
use against the police. He was recognised by one person as a local officer 
and when challenged about his identity he failed to say anything. In the end 
he was thrown out of the demonstration area by blockade organisers along 
with others from the legal team. Some reports said this person was with 
three others who were dressed exactly the same.

It's significant that at the same time as he was operting at the peaceful 
blockade, the police were briefing the press that the blockaders at the east 
gate were now arming themselves against the police and that they feared 
officers would come under attack. This was all happening at the time when it 
appeared the police were readying to move in against the blockade. The 
police have since admitted that the earlier information they provided about 
the protestors arming themselves was incorrect.

It should also be noted that several people dressed as 'black bloc' 
demonstrators were observed at several places talking to police officers or 
water cannon operators and then being allowed through cordons or getting 
into police vehicles. It's also suspected, but not 100% confirmed, that at 
least one police officer was posing as an Indymedia activist at the 
blockades.


*Police Lie about Seizure of Media Bus

When police in Bad Doberan decided to confiscate the Dutch Media Bus which 
was working with independent journalists, media activists and indymedia they 
set about spinning a justification for this attack on alternative media. 
Arresting two of the people working with the bus the police first said the 
bus was going to be used as an illegal radio transmitter. As both the Dutch 
and German journalist unions were protesting at the confiscation and 
arrests, the police changed their story saying that the media bus was a 
co-ordination office of the 'black bloc'! Both stories were of course 
untrue.


*Police Attack Photographers and Video Teams
*Leftist Journalists Refused Accreditation

Several photographers have been singled out for a beating by police 
officers, some having their cameras smashed by officers. This particularly 
happened at the night time Reclaim The Streets party in Rostock which police 
dispersed and where they seemed determined to ensure there were no pictures 
of their actions. When questioned about attacks on other journalists with G8 
media accreditation a senior officer said it would never happen, then failed 
to comment when shown video footage of a videographer being pepper sprayed 
directly in the face. Also during the run up the the start of the G8, a 
total of around 40 journalists had their applications for G8 media 
accreditation refused, many of them because of the political outlook of 
their work.

------------ 

These are just some of the examples and many more will no doubt come to 
light over the next weeks and months. One of the main things to take from 
this is the importance of alternative and independent reporting of such 
events. Sources of information that do not swallow the spoon fed lies from 
the authorities without question, and that encourage mass participation in 
the telling of truths.

Big thanks to Indymedia germany and the other alt media crews and all the 
international media activists who set up a fantastic reporting 
infrastructure and helped tell the true story of the 2007 G8 resistance.
investigations continue