[Onthebarricades] Repression news, Europe and global North, Apr-Aug 2008

[Andy]

ON THE BARRICADES:  Global Resistance Roundup, April-August 2008
https://lists.resist.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/onthebarricades
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/globalresistance/

*  JAPAN:  G8 crackdown denounced
*  GREECE:  Court sentences protesters, previously reported as acquitted, 
for Thessaloniki protests
*  TURKEY:  Mayor fined for speaking truth to power
*  CANADA:  Finally a little sense - court reverses contempt sentences, 
recognises indigenous people's different view of justice
                        Protesters had been criminalised for standing up to 
a land grab
*  CANADA:  Police pay man detained at G20 protest
*  JAPAN:  Attack on right to leaflet attracts legal protest
*  BELGIUM:  Mayor bans Rwandan demo for no reason whatsoever; protesters 
arrested
*  AUSTRALIA:  G20 sentencing attacks right to protest, but police whine 
that freed protesters still have rights
*  IRELAND:  Court case against Rossport protesters, three-month jail threat
*  SCOTLAND:  Ban on word "cult" overturned
*  CANADA:  State tries to terrorise indigenous protesters out of attending 
day of action
*  CANADA:  Company drops charges against indigenous protesters
*  AUSTRALIA:  State tries to bankrupt protest group
*  SPAIN:  Nigerian migrant killed during deportation
*  ITALY:  Genoa police found guilty of mistreating protesters - but likely 
to avoid jail
*  ITALY:  Raft of repressive laws hit everyday life
*  SWITZERLAND:  Journalists complain at UEFA censorship

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/105868/Youth-group-slams-crackdown-on-protesters-at-G8

Youth group slams crackdown on protesters at G8
07/09/2008 | 04:41 AM
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MANILA, Philippines - Militant Filipino youths scored Tuesday what they 
called the repression against protesters at the G-8 summit in Hokkaido, 
Japan, and demanded the release of the arrested protesters.

In a letter to Japanese ambassador Makoto Katsura dated July 8, the youths 
also reiterated their opposition to the Japan Philippines Economic 
Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).

"We denounce such atrocious and barbarous acts by the Japanese authorities 
as they violate both the constitutional rights of Japanese citizens and the 
human rights of foreigners entering Japan," they said in the letter.

Excerpts of the letter were posted Wednesday on the Manila Indymedia 
website.

The youths also demanded the immediate release of all arrested G8 activists 
and all prisoners, including refugees and undocumented migrants from all 
detention centers nationwide.

"We also demand to stop the unilateral 'Free Trade' agreement between Japan 
and Philippines under JPEPA, which includes the unfair Toxic Waste trading," 
they said.

Citing reports from the No!G8 Legal Team, a group of volunteer lawyers and 
paralegals, Japanese police continued to crack down on protesters.

In one incident, they said, police "mindlessly" shattered the window of a 
sound truck and forcibly dragged the driver out from his seat, injuring him.

Some foreigners face deportation charges by simply profiling them according 
to their nationality, race and status. Some of them are Korean farmers now 
detained illegally inside the Japanese Immigration premises, they said.

"This portrayal of terrorism by Japanese authorities only further adds to 
the already elitist and authoritarian image of the G8, worst than the 
Taliban and Al-Qaeda," they said.

The letter was signed by Pinagkaisahan Collective, United for Peace 
Collective, Local Anarchist Network, Manila Indymedia, Collective of 
Anarchists in Bulacan, Anarchist Initiative for Direct Democracy, and 
NonCollective. - GMANews.TV

http://www.commondreams.org/news2008/0709-04.htm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 9, 2008
10:53 AM
CONTACT: National Lawyers Guild
Marjorie Cohn, NLG President, marjorie at tjsl.edu; 619-374-6923
Heidi Boghosian, NLG Executive Director, director at nlg.org; 212-679-5100, 
ext. 11

National Lawyers Guild Teams with Japanese Legal Network To Monitor Police 
Misconduct in Counter G8 Protests In Japan
Extraordinary Force Used to Silence Protesters Critical of G8 and United 
States Policies
  JAPAN - July 9 -The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is monitoring an 
escalation of repression by Japanese police against protestors of the Group 
of 8 Summit (G8 Summit) in the Japanese island of Hokkaido, as well as in 
Sapporo, Tokyo and other parts of Japan.
The Lawyers Guild, a network of lawyers, legal workers and law students 
advocating for social change in the US, has teamed up with WATCH, a Japanese 
legal network created to document police and government misconduct during 
the anti G8 protests. Both organizations are deeply disturbed at the level 
of police harassment against G8 protestors.
“What we have witnessed in the streets of Sapporo, Tokyo and in Hokkaido 
Toyako is part of an ongoing and escalating campaign to suppress the 
movement for social change and real democracy in Japan,” said Marina Sitrin, 
professor and member of the National Lawyers Guild.
As G8 leaders meet at their Summit in Hokkaido Toyako, the Japanese police 
and government manifest their anti-democratic policies with regard to 
demonstrators and people who oppose the group’s policies "The G8, which 
claims to oppose poverty and global warming, actually promotes aid to poor 
countries that forces them into debt and policies that create climate 
change. The National Lawyers Guild supports the global justice movement 
against these policies, in Japan and worldwide," said NLG President Marjorie 
Cohn.
The G8 leaders have publicly cited Iran's nuclear energy program as a 
military threat, fueling fears of the possibility that the US will attack 
Iran. After the G8's 2003 declaration on non-proliferation, which 
specifically targeted Iran, last year's G8 communiqué listed Iran as one of 
three countries (with Libya and North Korea) posing 'proliferation 
challenges' to world security, despite the UN's International Atomic Energy 
Agency's conclusion that there is no evidence Iran has a nuclear weapons 
program.
“We were surprised by the excessive force used by police in the counter G8 
demonstrations," said Ko Watari, of WATCH. “This was a non-violent 
demonstration where no acts against property or people took place, or even 
appeared likely to take place.” Three people have been arrested, one Reuter’s 
cameraman was standing on a public sidewalk when arrested by police; and his 
video camera was confiscated. The arrest of a sound truck driver followed 
immediately thereafter. Footage of the driver’s arrest shows him screaming 
in pain as the police attempted to pull him out of the truck, after smashing 
the truck window. A later inspection of the confiscated truck by the legal 
team revealed quantities of dried blood on the steering wheel and dashboard.
“Labor and peace movement leaders are concerned that the police will arrest 
them for organizing these protests, search their homes and interrogate their 
family members,” said Dan Spalding, Legal Worker Vice President of the 
National Lawyers Guild. Japanese law permits police to hold and interrogate 
suspects for 23 days without formal charges. They are often interrogated for 
12 hours in a row, and often forced to sit on their knees all day while in 
detention, not being allowed to move without permission, even to use the 
bathroom. It is these sorts of conditions and punitive arrests that the 
National Lawyers Guild opposes. We call on the Japanese government to 
respect human rights in Japan.
Founded in 1937 as an alternative to the American Bar Association, which did 
not admit people of color, the National Lawyers Guild is the oldest and 
largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. 
Its headquarters are in New York and it has chapters in every state.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/28/europe/EU-GEN-Greece-Riots.php

Greek court sentences 4 over riots at 2003 EU summit

The Associated Press
Published: May 28, 2008

THESSALONIKI, Greece: A Greek court on Wednesday found four people guilty of 
taking part in extensive riots during a 2003 European Union summit in 
Thessaloniki.
Thessaloniki court officials said the defendants were sentenced to between 
five-and-a-half and eight-and-a-half years in prison for possessing 
explosive materials, causing explosions, and rioting. But defense lawyers 
appealed the convictions, and all four will walk free until the appeal 
hearing.
The defendants were identified as British national Simon Chapman, 35 — who 
was not present in court — Spaniard Fernando Perez, 28, Syrian Suleyman 
Dakdouk, 39, and Greek Michalis Traikapis, 28.
Another three suspects were acquitted.
All seven were arrested at the June 20-21 riots during an EU summit to mark 
the end of Greece's term in the EU's rotating presidency. Rioters broke away 
from peaceful marches to clash with police, severely damaging more than 30 
stores with petrol bombs and stones.
No date has been set for the appeal hearing.

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=102141

Court fines Diyarbakır mayor over riot remarks
Friday, April 18, 2008

DİYARBAKIR – AFP
  The mayor of the largest city in the southeast of the country was 
yesterday sentenced to 50 days in jail for "praising" rioters, but the court 
later converted the term to a fine.
   Osman Baydemir, the mayor of Diyarbakır and one of Turkey's most popular 
Kurdish politicians, was sentenced for "praising crime and criminals" in 
remarks he made during a deadly unrest in the city in March of last year.
  The court then converted the sentence to a YTL 1,500 fine.
  Baydemir had hailed "the courage" of young rioters as he tried to reason 
with them in a bid to end the unrest that erupted over the killing of 
several members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in clashes 
with the army in March 2007.
  Authorities had accused the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) of 
orchestrating the riots, which began in Diyarbakır and spread to other towns 
and Istanbul, claiming a total of 16 lives.
  It was the second sentence this week against Baydemir, who was among 53 
mayors sentenced to more than two months imprisonment over a letter they 
sent to the Danish prime minister last year that urged him to ignore 
Ankara's calls to ban a Denmark-based TV station, which Turkey says is a PKK 
mouthpiece.
  Their terms were also converted to fines.
  Kurdish politicians in Turkey are routinely accused of supporting the PKK, 
which has waged a bloody 23-year campaign for self-rule in the Southeast and 
is listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international 
community.

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/07/ontario-appeals-court-rules-aboriginal.php

Monday, July 07, 2008

Ontario appeals court rules aboriginal mining protesters' sentences too 
severe
Andrew Gilmore at 6:13 PM ET

[JURIST] The Court of Appeal for Ontario [court website] ruled Monday that 
sentences imposed on seven aboriginal protesters in March for opposing 
mining company operations on community land were too severe. In February, 
Robert Lovelace, a member of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation (AAFN) 
[official website], was sentenced to six months in jail for contempt after 
he refused to comply with a court order allowing Frontenac Ventures 
Corporation [corporate website] to prospect for uranium on traditional AAFN 
lands in Ontario. In March, six members of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug 
First Nation (KIFN) [official website] were sentenced [order, PDF] to six 
months' imprisonment each for contempt of court after they impeded the 
access of Platinex Inc. [corporate website], an oil drilling company, to 
exploration property on traditional First Nations land. Lovelace and the 
so-called "K6" were released in May after their sentences were reduced to 
time served. In Frontenac Ventures Corporation v. Ardoch Algonquin First 
Nation, released Monday, the court explained [judgment, PDF] that:
[I]mprisonment, far from being a meaningful sanction for the community, had 
the effect of pitting the community against the justice system. That the 
court found it necessary to imprison the leaders of the AAFN simply serves 
to emphasize the gulf between the dominant culture’s sense of justice and 
this First Nation’s sense of justice. ... In summary, the appellants’ 
character and circumstances, their actual conduct, and the difficult legal 
context within which it occurred, should have counted as significant 
mitigation when sentences were imposed on them.
The court applied the same reasoning in its decision to release the six 
protestors in Platinex, Inc. v. Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation 
[judgment, PDF]. Canadian Press has more.

The Frontenac and Platinex cases both involve mineral exploration activities 
on traditional aboriginal lands falling outside the First Nations' 
federally-recognized territory. In June 2007, Prime Minister Stephen Harper 
unveiled a series of reforms [JURIST report] designed to address a backlog 
of claims from aboriginal groups seeking redress for land seized by the 
Canadian government. In 2004, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled [JURIST 
report] that Canadian governments must consult with the Assembly of First 
Nations [official website] before developing land claimed by aboriginal 
groups.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080528/OTT_Native_Protesters_080528/20080528?hub=Canada

Updated Wed. May. 28 2008 7:54 PM ET
The Canadian Press
TORONTO -- Moments after the Ontario Court of Appeal decided he'd served 
enough time behind bars, the last of seven aboriginal protesters jailed over 
disputes with mining exploration companies walked out of court saying he 
planned to stroll barefoot in the grass.
The overcrowded courtroom, filled mostly with aboriginal supporters, burst 
into applause and even a court police officer shook the hand of Ardoch 
Algonquin First Nation's leader Bob Lovelace who spent 3 1/2 months in jail.
"It feels really good. It feels like justice is on our side," Lovelace said 
on the front steps of the courthouse, his wife by his side.
"I think I'm going to go out and put my feet in the grass. It's been a long 
time."
The eastern Ontario aboriginal leader was jailed in February for breaching 
an injunction that allowed Frontenac Ventures to conduct uranium exploration 
activities on his community's traditional territory unhindered.
While the ruling does nothing to resolve the dispute, Lovelace said he hoped 
this "exercise" would prompt the Ontario government to engage in 
"meaningful" discussion and consultation on the matter which ultimately 
comes down to an archaic Mining Act that allows companies to stake land 
anywhere they like.
But Lovelace cautioned he must "continue to protect our land," meaning he 
may be forced to occupy the disputed territory again if the company decides 
to proceed with exploration activities -- a situation that could land him 
back in jail.
The court also decided six leaders from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) 
First Nation had served enough time and ought to maintain their freedom.
They had breached a similar injunction involving the company Platinex Inc., 
which sought to drill on their land some 600 kilometres north of Thunder 
Bay, Ont.
Chief Donny Morris, deputy KI chief Jack McKay and members Sam McKay, Darryl 
Sainnawap, Cecilia Begg and Bruce Sakakeep were granted a temporary release 
last Friday pending the outcome of Wednesday's sentence appeal.
Chris Reid, a lawyer representing the two aboriginal groups, argued 
aboriginal law dictates the leadership must uphold the wishes of their 
community, which in this case, is to stop companies from engaging in mining 
exploration on their land.
"This is not an isolated case," Reid said. "It's something that's going to 
occur again and again."
He suggested the aboriginal groups are prepared to discuss the matter, but 
want the right to say no if they don't like what they hear.
The Appeal Court judges ruled that all seven would have their sentences 
reduced to time served but reserved their reasons for the ruling.
While lawyers representing the two companies supported the release of the KI 
6, they contested Lovelace's release, suggesting he had only to agree to 
abide by the rules of the injunction.
Lawyer Neal Smitheman argued Lovelace's non-status band had a weak claim to 
the contested land in the first place which makes it a much different case 
than that of the KI 6.
Another group of Algonquins have been negotiating a land claim that includes 
the Ardoch territory for more than a decade but negotiations have "failed 
miserably," he added.
He suggested it's really a matter for the province to resolve, not the 
mining companies.
"This is not Frontenac's fight. We are not the villains. We are the victim," 
he said.
"We're just obeying the law."
As for the KI appeal, Smitheman told the court he was "instructed" by 
Platinex not to oppose it.
"It does not serve any purpose to keep the leaders of KI incarcerated," he 
argued.
The groups have repeatedly slammed the province for doing nothing on the 
matter. Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant even walked out of a 
meeting Tuesday with the KI 6 when the conversation turned to Lovelace's 
fate, Reid said.
Still, the province's lawyer Malliha Wilson, surprised everyone when she 
spoke out in support of freeing all seven protesters.
She also sparked a waved of laughter and much confusion among the 
three-judge panel when she suggested a more appropriate punishment than jail 
would have been to fine them and direct the money to a trust fund to support 
their communities.
One judge noted the province's original position was to "impose a fine that 
hurts," and questioned the sudden change in language which was now promoting 
reconciliation.
"The words `hurt' and `reconciliation' are total opposites," Justice James 
MacPherson said.
Co-chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation Bob Lovelace was charged with 
contempt of court for staging protests that prevented a uranium mining 
company from mining on a site near Sharbot Lake.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/06/17/ot-g20-080617.html?ref=rss

Man settles lawsuit over arrest at G20 protest
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 | 5:35 PM ET
A man who sued three police forces after being arrested and detained for 12 
hours during a protest against the G20 summit in Ottawa seven years ago has 
agreed to an out-of-court settlement.
David MacLaren, 53, reached a deal last week to drop his $1.5 million suit 
against the Ottawa police, the Ontario Provincial Police and the RCMP in 
exchange for cash.
He is bound by an agreement not to disclose the amount, but Lawrence 
Greenspon, his lawyer, has said it was substantial.
MacLaren told CBC News Tuesday that he hopes the settlement will make police 
think twice about applying unnecessary force.
MacLaren was arrested as he was standing with his bicycle at the corner of 
Elgin and Queen streets on the afternoon of Nov. 17, 2001, during 
anti-globalization protests tied to the G20 summit.
He said Tuesday that he did not participate in the protest, but was asked by 
OPP officers in riot gear to move along.
He refused and alleges police pushed him to his knees, placed him in a choke 
hold and tied his hands behind his back with a wire tie.
He was turned over to Ottawa police, placed in a padded wagon with 10 other 
people, and told he was in "big trouble" and would be charged with 
obstruction of justice, he alleged.
He was held in a cell but released without charges 12 hours after his 
arrest, at 4:30 a.m., he said.
MacLaren said the legal fight has cost him a lot, although he would not say 
how much. However, he said, it was worth it.
Finance ministers from around the world gathered in Ottawa in November 2001 
for annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and 
the Group of 20 nations.
The IMF and World Bank meetings were originally scheduled to be held in 
Washington in late September, but they were postponed after the Sept. 11, 
2001, terrorist attacks. The G20 gathering was initially planned for India, 
but was moved because of concerns about security.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D906T9G00&show_article=1

Legal experts protest top court's decision against antiwar activists+

Apr 22 08:03 AM US/EasternWrite a Comment

TOKYO, April 22 (AP) - (Kyodo)—About 140 legal experts on Tuesday issued a 
statement protesting the Supreme Court's recent decision finding three 
activists guilty for trespassing in a Self Defense Forces residential 
complex in Tokyo to distribute anti-Iraq war fliers.
"The Supreme Court has failed to make a convincing case that the nonviolent 
act of distributing political fliers deserved a criminal penalty," the 
statement said.
The statement was issued at the initiative of academics including Yasuhiro 
Okudaira, emeritus professor at the University of Tokyo, and Toshiki 
Odanaka, emeritus professor at Tohoku University.
"The court did not show how the activists disturbed the private lives of 
(SDF personnel and their families living there) by the distribution and it 
seems unreasonable to brand their act as a crime," it said.
"The edifice of a democratic society strengthens through acts of numerous 
people to express their opinions, such as by the circulation of fliers, and 
investigative authorities should not meddle in free communication among 
citizens," it noted

http://allafrica.com/stories/200804240438.html

Rwanda: Brussels Mayor Bans Another Protest Rally
 Hirondelle News Agency (Lausanne)
23 April 2008
Posted to the web 24 April 2008
Brussels
A controversial demonstration organized Tuesday by Rwandan associations in 
Brussels, Belgium, was banned by the Mayor of the city for "safety reasons 
".
However, police allowed a gathering of about 30 people in front of the 
courthouse, which they did not consider as a protest demonstration.

The members of the Rwandan Civil Society in Exile (SOCIRWA) had planned the 
demonstration to commemorate massacres of thousands of ethnic Hutus in 
Kibeho, Southern Rwanda, allegedly by the army of the Rwandan Patriotic 
Front (RPF) between 17 and 25 April 1995.
They also wanted to show solidarity with the victims (Twas, Tutsis and 
Hutus) massacred by Rwandan criminals since October 1990 to date.
October 1990 is the date of the first military offensive by the pro-Tutsi 
Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), then a rebellion in exile, on the Rwandan 
territory.
The RPF is the party of President Paul Kagame, currently in power in Rwanda 
since the end of the 1994 genocide, which resulted in more than 800, 000 
deaths according to the UN, mainly ethnic Tutsis.
The Rwandan Community of Belgium (CRB) "vehemently" condemned the protest, 
describing it as a false commemoration. "This is all the more shocking 
because the organisers of the protest are known for their proximity and 
their sympathy with the Hutu power, which planned and carried out the 
genocide of Tutsis", adds CRB statement.
According to the CRB, these organizations use the theory of the "double 
genocide" to convey a "radical negationism".
On 6 April, another planned protest that was described as "negationist" by 
association genocide survivors (IBUKA) and the CRB, organized to mark the 
14th commemorations of the genocide, was also banned by the Mayor.
About 60 demonstrators nevertheless gathered that day, but were arrested by 
the Brussels police.
The spokesperson for the Mayor said that the organizers SOCIRWA were the 
same as those who tried to hold unauthorized protest of 6 April. Among them 
was the distinguished activist Joseph Matata of the Center to Fight against 
Impunity and Injustice in Rwanda (CLIIR).

http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/747/38646

G20 sentencing: upping the ante on the right to protest

Margarita Windisch, Melbourne
19 April 2008

In an obvious attempt to silence political dissent, on April 14, 10 G20 
protesters who had pleaded guilty to charges of common law riot, criminal 
damage and recklessly causing injury received severe sentences in Melbourne’s 
Magistrates court.
The court cases relate to altercations with police that occurred during the 
Melbourne G20 summit demonstrations in November 2006. The G20 meeting 
involved finance ministers, central bank governors, World Bank and 
International Monetary Fund representatives from the world’s 19 largest 
economies.

Five protesters received wholly suspended jail sentences, ranging from five 
to nine months, and four of the five also copped fines of up to $4000. Five 
more people were also convicted and sentenced to 12-month community-based 
orders with unpaid work of up to 250 hours. Before this sentencing, one G20 
protester — who has a mental illness — had already been charged with 
aggravated burglary among other things, and on March 7 was sentenced by a 
County Court judge to 28 months jail with a non parole period of 14 months.

Four minors still face charges of riot and affray in the Children’s Court 
and another group of 13 protesters, who have pleaded not guilty to charges, 
will stand trial at the County Court later in the year.

The G20 cases are exceptional because of their unusual indictment procedure, 
and are an indication that the state is cracking down hard on political 
dissent. It has been common practice in the past that protesters charged 
during demonstrations in Melbourne are dealt with quickly by magistrates.

David Marr argues in the March 22 Sydney Morning Herald that the three 
charges of unlawful assembly, criminal damage and aggravated burglary (which 
carries a maximum 25-year prison sentence) laid against some activists — 
after brief occupations of defence recruiting and contractors’ offices 
during the protests — were used by the prosecution as a lever to take the 
cases to the County Court. The same article also suggests that the action by 
protesters at the G20 summit demonstration were not at all the worst seen in 
Melbourne, but that the state’s determination to prosecute was 
“unprecedented”, in the words of civil rights lawyer Rob Stary.

A report released by the Federation of Community Legal Centres of Victoria 
in 2007 accused the police of using disproportionate and unjustifiable force 
against protesters and bystanders during the G20 summit. The report also 
said that the strategy of the mainstream media and police in their portrayal 
of protesters was designed to erode the public’s confidence in the value of 
protest and defence of democratic rights and civil liberties.

The police presence (on horses, in riot gear and with brawler vans) during 
the G20 summit was completely menacing. It was designed to overwhelm and 
intimidate a citizenry long unhappy with unpopular government policies.

The Australian Federal Police and the Victorian police started their vicious 
crackdown on activists involved in the protest before the G20 summit had 
even officially ended, seriously violating civil liberties in the process.

One man who didn’t even participate in the protests was violently snatched 
by police in the Melbourne CBD on Sunday November 19 and thrown into a divvy 
van. The man, who was arrested and later released, told the November 20, 
2006 Melbourne Age that he had his hands tied and a policeman sitting on his 
head whilst being driven around town to a police station.

Simultaneous early morning raids occurred in 2007, involving officers from 
the NSW, Victorian and federal police and counter-terrorism agents. 
According to a statement by Tim Davis-Frank, who was arrested in Sydney in 
March 2007 and had his house raided, some of the arrests “led to serious 
personal injuries, significant property damage, loss of jobs and, in one 
case, being locked up for a month without bail”.

Liz Thompson from the Ongoing G20 Arrestee Solidarity Network told Green 
Left Weekly that the crackdown on the G20 protesters is closely linked to 
the “war on terror”, its associated attacks on civil liberties and the 
expansion of police powers. “They were always going to find some type of 
‘emergency’ to justify bringing these things in — whether it be people 
throwing bottles at a police brawler van or street brawls in the city. This 
is how the war on terror works”, she commented.

“To be able to continue to justify the spending on CIRT [Critical Incident 
Response Teams] and other heavily armed police units, they have to keep 
coming up with a threat. This is why the NSW police arguing to the 
anti-terror unit that they had an important role to play in the G20 arrests 
is significant. It is a politically savvy move on the cops’ part to ensure 
that the money keeps flowing. If the squads don’t get used, how will they 
keep justifying their existence to government bean counters?”

Thompson also highlighted the exclusion list that was developed specifically 
for the September 2007 APEC demonstration (prohibiting people from attending 
protests) — which included all of the G20 arrestees in Sydney — and the 
subsequent proposal to make the extraordinary APEC police powers permanently 
available to police. She pointed out that these are worrying developments.

The Ongoing G20 Arrestee Solidarity Network is calling for all charges to be 
dropped from the outstanding 17 court cases. For more information visit 
http://www.afterg20.org.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23639714-2862,00.html

Riot girl still on payroll
Liam Houlihan
May 04, 2008 12:00am
A LEGAL Aid-employed G20 hooligan is allowed to continue her taxpayer-funded 
job because she has promised to behave.
Julia Dehm was convicted of rioting, recklessly causing injury and 
intentionally damaging property for her actions during the violent anti-G20 
protests that left several police hurt.
In a move that has angered police, Ms Dehm has been cleared to continue her 
$35,500 publicly funded traineeship to become a lawyer.
Victoria Legal Aid head Tony Parsons said there were several reasons Ms Dehm 
was allowed to continue.
"Firstly, while she has been found guilty and been punished for a serious 
offence, her criminal behaviour was not the kind of conduct that would 
automatically exclude her from the legal profession (such as) an offence 
involving dishonesty," Mr Parsons said.
"Secondly, she has given me a solemn undertaking that while employed at VLA 
she will scrupulously avoid any situation which might bring her into 
conflict with the law.
"Thirdly, she has been punished for her offence by the courts. It is not 
VLA's role to impose an additional punishment on her."
Police are angry at what they see as blatant hypocrisy where criminal 
activists are seemingly treated with leniency while wounded officers are 
hung out to dry.
Police Association secretary Paul Mullett said it apeared to be double 
standards for a convicted criminal to be on the public payroll while injured 
police struggled for compensation.
"If it's good enough for a convicted G20 protester to remain on the public 
payroll then it is certainly good enough for our member, Sen-Constable Kim 
Dixon, who was badly injured at the hands of these protesters, to receive 
fair and reasonable compensation for the serious harm they caused her," 
Sen-Sgt Mullett said.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0520/corrib.html?rss

Appeal in Shell protest sentence postponed
Tuesday, 20 May 2008 12:14
An appeal by three Mayo men, who were convicted of assault at a protest near 
the Shell terminal, has been adjourned.
The men were convicted for assaulting Garda Sergeant Donal Glennon during 
the protest on 12 October 2006 at Bellanaboy.
The appeal was due to take place at the circuit court in Castlebar this 
morning.
Judge Rory McCabe told the court that he has a personal conflict in dealing 
with the case and would not be able to hear it.
The appeal is to be mentioned at the 10 June sitting of the Circuit Criminal 
Court in Castlebar, and has been put back for hearing until the September 
court sessions.
The convicted men - Patrick O'Donnell, 49, from Porturlin in Ballina, his 
21-year-old son Jonathan O'Donnell, and 21-year-old Enda Carey, also from 
Porturlin - were each given a three-month jail sentence and fined €500 at 
the district court in Belmullet.
Judge Mary Devins, who visited the scene of the protest at Bellanaboy during 
the district court hearing, ruled that the men had formed a scrum and 
charged the garda sergeant, causing him to fall into a ditch.
The men denied the charges.

http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Protesters-celebrate-city39s-39cult39-stance.4121704.jp

Protesters celebrate city's 'cult' stance

PROTESTERS who branded Scientology a "cult" were celebrating today after 
Edinburgh council bosses said they had "no objection" to the use of the 
word.
Earlier this month, a teenager taking part in a London protest held up a 
sign which read "Scientology is not a religion, it is a dangerous cult," and 
was handed a court summons by police for refusing to put it down.

The Crown Prosecution Service has since ruled the word was neither "abusive 
or insulting" to the church, which counts actor Tom Cruise as a follower, 
and no further action will be taken.

But to avoid similar problems in Scotland, protesters who regularly rally 
outside the Scientology centre on South Bridge contacted the city council.

A council official replied: "I understand that some of the signs you use may 
display the word 'cult' and there is no objection to this."

A Lothian and Borders Police spokesman also said the force had "no issue" 
with the use of word as part of a peaceful protest.

Jen Corlew, media director with human rights group Liberty, said today: "The 
leadership shown by the City of Edinburgh Council's decision to protect free 
speech is a positive step."

The youngster in London was told his sign breached the Public Order Act, 
which makes it an offence to display a "threatening, insulting or abusive" 
sign.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/05/26/ot-aboriginal-080526.html?ref=rss

Court conditions to keep some protesters from aboriginal day of action
Last Updated: Monday, May 26, 2008 | 10:57 AM ET Comments23Recommend15
CBC News
An annual aboriginal protest that led to blockades on the CN Rail line and 
the closure of Highway 401 near Belleville, Ont., last year is expected to 
be quieter this year, as many Mohawk activists in the region are either in 
jail or barred from participating in protests.
The National Day of Action this Thursday aims to raise awareness about 
aboriginal issues such as land claims and the high rate of poverty among 
First Nations peoples.
But many who would otherwise take part can't participate this year, said Dan 
Doreen, an activist from the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.
"They've got our people incarcerated, they got us on conditions," he said.
Doreen, 34, is one of 16 people from the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory charged 
with offences such as mischief in connection with a blockade in April near 
Deseronto, Ont., about 26 kilometres east of Belleville.
The Mohawks have mounted repeated protests over the past year-and-a-half 
regarding the Culbertson Tract, about 400 hectares of land on Lake Ontario's 
Bay of Quinte, near Deseronto, that the Mohawks say they never properly 
surrendered.
Following Doreen's arrest, a judge imposed conditions that would land him in 
jail if he participates in a protest.
"You know that's putting my family on the line," he said. "I have four kids 
at home, I run a business here on Tyendinaga Territory…. And, I guess OPP 
realize that and that's why I'm on these conditions."
Mayor hopes for the best
Meanwhile, Deseronto Mayor Norm Clarke hopes his town won't be targeted in 
any protests Thursday.
"There may be people giving out pamphlets. That's fine with us. Everybody 
has a right to protest," he said, adding that such events become a concern 
when they shut down roads and affect commuters.
Ontario Provincial Police said they haven't heard of any major disturbances 
planned for Thursday, but won't know for sure until that day.
During last year's day of action, demonstrators erected barricades on the CN 
Rail line 20 kilometres east of Belleville and on Highway 2 near Deseronto, 
about 50 kilometres west of Kingston.
Although the protests were largely peaceful, CN Rail suspended rail service 
heading from Toronto to Montreal and Ottawa.
In addition, police shut down a 29-kilometre stretch of Highway 401 between 
Napanee and Belleville for 11 hours in response to the threat of a blockade.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/06/03/ot-sharbot-charges-080603.html?ref=rss

Charges dropped against eastern Ont. uranium protesters
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 3, 2008 | 11:04 AM ET Comments24Recommend14
CBC News
A mining exploration company has withdrawn charges against a group of 
protesters who disobeyed a court order to stay away from a prospective 
uranium mining site.
Frontenac Ventures announced in a Kingston courtroom Monday that it was no 
longer pressing contempt-of-court charges against the Ardoch Algonquin First 
Nation, co-chief Bob Lovelace, honorary chief Harold Perry and six 
non-aboriginal protesters.
Neil Smitheman, legal counsel for Frontenac Ventures, said it didn't make 
sense to go ahead.
"We're not here to prosecute people," he said. "We're in the business of 
drilling holes to see if there's a feasibility to do further mining."
At least 100 people packed the courtroom Monday, when the accused were 
scheduled to face the charges laid last fall in relation to an occupation 
last summer of a site near Sharbot Lake, Ont., about 60 kilometres north of 
Kingston, where Frontenac Ventures wanted to do test drilling.
The Algonquins say the site is on their land and they fear that uranium 
drilling could lead to environmental contamination.
They began the occupation last June 29 and continued it until October, 
despite court injunctions granted in response to the company's requests that 
barred the protesters from going near the site.
On Monday, Justice Douglas Cunningham, associate chief justice of the 
Ontario Superior Court of Justice, made it clear that despite this batch of 
charges being dropped, the court injunctions remain in place. That means 
other protesters could still face charges if they go near the site.
'A public relations disaster'
The withdrawing of the charges came less than a week after Lovelace was 
released from jail after serving just over half of his six-month term.
His lawyer, Christopher Reid, said he believes both events are related to 
public perception about the situation at Sharbot Lake.
"This has been a public relations disaster for those people responsible for 
putting Mr. Lovelace in jail," he said. "They've realized that it was a 
failure. Did they stop the protest? No."
Lovelace and his supporters said they hope the publicity surrounding the 
case will inspire the Ontario government to consider a moratorium on uranium 
mining.
Last summer's occupation ended in October after reaching an agreement with 
the Ontario government to begin mediation talks. The protesters briefly 
resumed their blockade of the site in February after mediation talks broke 
off.

http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/753/38935

Government to bankrupt desalination protesters

Ben Courtice
31 May 2008

Your Water Your Say (YWYS), the group campaigning against Victoria’s 
proposed Wonthaggi desalination plant, is facing bankruptcy due to the state 
and federal governments’ decision to pursue costs against the group after it 
lost a preliminary court case over the project.
YWYS argued in the Federal Court that federal environment minister Peter 
Garrett failed to give appropriate consideration to greenhouse gas emissions 
and the effect of further global warming on wetlands of international 
importance, and listed threatened species and communities. It argued that 
Garrett’s acceptance of the Victorian government’s decision to 
administratively separate the pilot plant from the major works enabled works 
to begin before any inquiry into the environmental effects.

YWYS president Andrea Bolch said in a May 25 statement: “The pursuit of 
costs from community groups that challenge government decisions strikes at 
the heart of democratic principles and our right to be heard. The government 
has decided that they don’t want pesky community groups questioning or 
challenging their decisions so they will spend enormous amounts of taxpayer 
funds to fight them in court and then ensure they are put out of business.”

Bolch added, “If the governments are successful in securing costs, YWYS will 
effectively face bankruptcy and the voice of the community will be 
silenced … The government has never justified nor explained why it had 
chosen the most expensive and environmentally damaging solution to solve 
Melbourne’s water problems. By taking this action they will try to ensure 
they never have to explain it.”

YWYS campaigners have not given up. They will challenge in court the 
governments’ application for costs and are continuing their campaign with a 
community protest at the plant site near Wonthaggi. The group is planning to 
send a large contingent to the July 5 Climate Emergency rally in Melbourne. 
Stay informed about the campaign at http://www.yourwateryoursay.org.

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=nw20070713104855274C368394

Nigeria protests death of deportee

     July 13 2007 at 10:59AM

Abuja - Nigeria has lodged an official protest in Spain about the death of a 
Nigerian being deported by Spanish authorities and will send a delegation to 
Spain next week to help unravel the mystery, the government said on 
Thursday.

Osamuyi Akpitanhi was reportedly tranquilised, bound and gagged by customs 
agents before being placed on a Spanish airliner back to Lagos on June 9. He 
died about 90 minutes into the flight, and his story generated large 
protests in Nigeria at the end of last month and prompted the parliament to 
launch an inquiry into his death.

Testifying before the investigative panel, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, permanent 
secretary of Nigeria's foreign ministry, said the government was in contact 
with Spain on the matter and had summoned its ambassador to Nigeria on 
Friday to offer an explanation.

Baba-Ahmed is billed to lead the delegation to Spain next week and said the 
visit was designed to further pressure the Spanish government to expedite 
its own investigation into the incident.

Osamuyi Akpitanhi was reportedly tranquilised, bound and gagged by customs 
agents
Nigeria's ambassador in Spain had also lodged a protest with Spanish King 
Juan Carlos I, which Baba-Ahmed called "the highest level of diplomatic 
protest".

Baba-Ahmed said Spanish authorities had assured Nigeria that nobody would be 
spared if found guilty, adding that Akpitanhi's body was being held in Spain 
to enable the authorities to complete their investigation.

Baba-Ahmed acknowledged that many Nigerians lived illegally in Spain and 
other parts of Europe, adding that Spanish authorities were still holding 
two other deportees who were with Akpitanhi.

Also testifying to the parliament panel on Thursday, a Nigerian aboard the 
Iberia Airline aircraft when Akpitanhi was allegedly killed said Spanish 
security officials tranquilised, tied him up and gagged him before dragging 
him into the aircraft.

Lanre Obafemi said Akpitanhi died one-and-a-half hours into the flight back 
to Nigeria as all efforts to revive him failed due to a lack of any medical 
personnel on board the aircraft.

Obafemi charged the Spanish authorities with inhumane treatment and his 
testimony was backed up by a Nigerian journalist, Ahaoma Kalu, who helped 
mobilise a nationwide protest on June 29.

The chairman of the parliamentary committee, Henry Dickson, assured that his 
panel would do its best to get to the root of the case. - Sapa-DPA

http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/international_politics/police+doctors+guilty+of+mistreating+genoa+g8+protestors+in+2001/2339577?intcmp=rss_news_itnnews

Police, doctors guilty of mistreating Genoa G8 protestors in 2001
Watch the report
Print this page
Last Modified: 15 Jul 2008
By: Girish Juneja
Last night senior police, prison officers and two doctors were convicted of 
mistreating protestors at Genoa's G8 Summit seven years ago, More4 News 
reports.
It is a case that has shocked Italy. Extreme violence on the streets of 
Genoa marked that year's G8 meeting.

The violence came in part from a fringe of the anti-globalisation protestors 
but largely it came from the Italian police.

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Italian_officials_found_guilty_of_abusing_G8_protestors

Italian officials found guilty of abusing G8 protestors
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Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Official G8 group portrait.
Fifteen Italians including police officers, doctors and prison guards were 
found guilty of abusing and beating protesters at the G8's 27th summit in 
Genoa in 2001. A judge handed down jail terms between five months' and five 
years' imprisonment. The charges include abuse, fraud, criminal coercion and 
inhuman and degrading treatment. Another thirty defendants were cleared of 
charges, including assault.
In June last year former deputy police chief of Genoa, Michelangelo 
Fournier, belatedly admitted in court that police had "butchered" 
protesters. In a graphic description of the violence he said he had kept 
quiet until then "out of shame and a spirit of comradeship".
The heaviest sentence was five years for Biagio Gugliotta in the 
penitentiary police department, the commander on duty at the camp at 
Bolzaneto. Twelve other police officers, eight men and four women, received 
jail terms of five to 28 months. Doctors Giacomo Toccafondi and Aldo Amenta 
were given 14 months and 10 months respectively. Dr. Toccafondi was accused 
of insulting detainees and failing to inform authorities after they were 
sprayed with asphyxiating gas in cells. The judges issued their verdicts 
after 11 hours of closed-doors deliberations.
All those convicted are expected to appeal and none will go to prison until 
the appeals process is complete, which normally takes years. The sentences 
totalled less than a third of 76 years what had been demanded by the 
prosecution. The BBC's David Willey in Rome says it is unlikely that any of 
those sentenced will actually serve time in prison because their offences 
will have expired under Italy's statute of limitations before the appeal 
process is completed. It is expected the Italian government will be forced 
to pay out millions of pounds to those who were victims of police brutality 
during their detention.

Protestors burn a police vehicle which was abandoned by police durning a 
clash with protestors.
Image: Ares Ferrari.
Police were accused of organised and premeditated brutality at the Diaz High 
School which protesters were using as a dormitory during the summit. In 
another ongoing trial, 28 defendants, including some of Italy's most senior 
police officers, face charges related to the raid on the school. The raid 
left seventy-three protesters injured with three in comas. A judge ruled 
that there was no evidence to show any of those demonstrators had been 
involved in the violence in Genoa.
More than 250 of those arrested were taken to a holding camp that had been 
created at Bolzaneto, six miles from Genoa. The detainees at Bolzaneto 
included about 40 who were arrested in a raid on the Diaz school. During the 
trial the court heard how the holding centre had been the scene for 
"episodes of torture that violated human dignity." One of the prosecutors in 
the case, Patrizia Petruziello, said that 40 protesters who were arrested 
suffered "four out of five" of the European Court's criteria for "inhuman 
and degrading treatment".
Of the 252 demonstrators who claimed abuse, strong evidence emerged in at 
least 209 cases considered during the trial. Demonstrators said they were 
strip-searched, spat at, insulted, verbally and physically humiliated, 
beaten and sprayed with asphyxiating gas. Some were threatened with rape and 
sodomy. They were denied food, phone calls or access to consulates while 
detained. While being held they were forced to sing songs in praise of 
Italy's late fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini and other antisemitic songs 
about Chile's Augusto Pinochet, which which included the line "Death to the 
Jews." The prosecution claimed that this was torture.
The 2001 summit in the northern Italian city was one of the most violent in 
the history of the G8. Between 100,000 and 200,000 demonstrators took part 
in anti-globalisation protests. A 23-year-old Italian demonstrator Carlo 
Giuliani was shot dead by a conscript Carabiniere and hundreds more injured 
as two days of riots erupted at the summit in the city of Genoa that was 
hosted by Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi. In December 2007, 24 
demonstrators were found guilty of damage to property and looting. They were 
given sentences ranging from five months to 11 years.
The trial has lasted nearly three years.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/208591.html

Genoa Riots: 15 Guilty of G8 Brutality Will Not Go to Jail
Police officers and doctors convicted of gross mistreatment of detainees at 
holding camp freed
The 15 Italian police officers and doctors sentenced to jail for brutally 
mistreating detainees at a holding camp after the 2001 G8 riots were 
yesterday celebrating their freedom after it became clear that none of them 
would actually serve prison terms.

Defendants in Italy do not go to jail for most offenses until they have 
exhausted all the appeals to which they are entitled, normally at least two. 
And in this case, it emerged, the convictions and sentences alike will be 
wiped out by a statute of limitations next year.

Late on Monday, judges in Genoa where the summit was held convicted 15 
accused and acquitted a further 30. Those found guilty, including the camp 
commander, Biagio Gugliotta, were given jail sentences ranging from five 
months to five years. The only real effect of the verdict will be to allow 
the victims to receive compensation.

The court heard that detainees from Britain, Italy, France, Germany and 
elsewhere were insulted, kicked, beaten and sprayed with asphyxiating gas in 
their cells. Some were threatened with rape. Others were forced to shout out 
chants in praise of Italy's late fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini.

The abuses took place at the camp in Bolzaneto, six miles from Genoa, where 
more than 250 of those arrested were taken.

Roberto Castelli, Silvio Berlusconi's justice minister at the time of the 
offenses, said the three-year trial had "dismantled the theory" that the 
violence was organized by the then-new government as a way of putting a stop 
to rioting by anti-globalisation protesters at the Group of Eight's 
meetings.

The leader of the right's parliamentary group, Fabrizio Cicchito, said: 
"There was no systematic repression or torture, but there were mistakes by 
certain members of the forces of law and order."

But Paolo Ferrero, a Communist minister in the last centre-left government, 
called the outcome scandalous. He said it was part of an Italian tradition 
"of not wanting to shed light on events that really happened".

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/0807/breaking62.htm

Thursday, August 7, 2008, 16:14
Rome bins scavenging ban after protests
Rome's right-wing mayor has put on hold a new law banning poor people from 
scavenging in rubbish bins, after charities said it would have to be 
accompanied by more help for the destitute.
With Rome's Gianni Alemanno and other mayors being given new powers to 
police Italy's towns and cities by Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right 
government, new laws against crime, begging and even picnicking in public 
are coming thick and fast.
"Mayors are competing to see who is the toughest 'sheriff', with recent 
by-laws on from everything from prostitution, drug pushing, begging, 
vagabonds, rubbish and hawking," said Monsignor Vinicio Albanesi of church 
charity Capodarco.
Yesterday, Mr Alemanno proposed a by-law against people ransacking rubbish 
bins for food, clothes and things to sell saying it "made a mess because of 
the rubbish tipped all over the streets".
The mainly Roman Catholic charities who feed the poor in the capital 
protested immediately. "I understand the very real concern about protecting 
health and hygiene, but those who are ransacking the bins need to have a 
chance to live," said Don Ciotti of the charity Abele.
The mayor, a former fascist youth leader who now belongs to the conservative 
National Alliance allied to Mr Berlusconi, also announced this week that 
Rome traffic police would carry guns, for the first time in 35 years, to 
help combat street crime.
Mr Berlusconi is deploying 3,000 army personnel to patrol ten Italian cities 
to boost the law-and-order campaign that helped bring him back to power for 
a third term in April's election.

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/sport/Broadcaster_to_protest_over_footage_omissions.html?siteSect=184&sid=9219057&cKey=1213525472000&ty=nd

June 15, 2008 - 11:20 AM
Broadcaster to protest over footage omissions
The head of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation is to complain to European 
football's governing body about censorship of television images during Euro 
2008.
Director-general Armin Walpen told the Swiss newspaper SonntagZeitung he 
would write to Uefa because it had not allowed images to be shown of crowd 
trouble during a match between Austria and Croatia.
Uefa, which controls live television feeds of tournament matches, did not 
show footage of fans burning flares or of a spectator running onto the pitch 
during the game on June 8.
Walpen said the omissions were "more than problematic" from a journalistic 
point of view.
But Uefa said it did not want to give publicity to troublemakers.
"We concentrate on what's relevant to the game," spokesman Wolfgang Eichler 
added.