[Onthebarricades] Repression news, November 2008

[global resistance roundup]

UNITED STATES:
* Police violence at debate - but veterans, not police, on trial
* DNC protest trials continue
* Judge refuses to defend free speech of Bush protesters
* Police try to excuse DNC repression in court, deny legal observers' rights
* Short jail term for Olympia port blocker
* Protester compensated for expulsion from Bush event
* Portland judge recognises right to protest naked
* RNC "terrorism" case
* Absurd expense of Denver protest trials denounced
* Inquiry demanded into provocateurs in Denver
* Denver: three convicted, three acquitted in "identical" trials
* $13 million payout for LA police violence at immigration protest
* Preachers arrested for peaceful protest

EUROPE and NORTH
* ITALY: Police convicted for G8 abuse - but will avoid jail over 
statute of limitations
* ITALY: Ex-Italian PM urges provocateurs, police brutality
* AUSTRALIA: Palm Island repression survivor jailed for six years
* SERBIA: Prosecutor accuses police over protester death
* UK: Court sides with land grabbers, supports ethnic cleansing of 
travellers
* UK: Judges condemn 5000 Congolese refugees to return
* NORTHERN IRELAND: Police harassment of dissident activists on the rise
* CANADA: Ontario - "Crack house" law targets basic liberties, excluded 
groups
* AUSTRALIA: Provocateur caught infiltrating protest, socialist groups
* SPAIN: Police jailed for brualising arrestee
* ITALY: Racist offensive launched
* CANADA: Is this Vancouver or Beijing? Attempts to smash Falun Gong 
camp on technicality
* CANADA: Students threatened with arrest for abortion display
* AUSTRALIA: State threatens to abuse safety laws against eco-activists

GLOBAL SOUTH
* WEST PAPUA: Murder by Indonesian military
* WEST PAPUA: Refugees driven out by police harassment over fights
* INDONESIA: Plans to ID check internet cafe users
* INDONESIA: Passport fascism complete with fingerprinting and corruption
* INDONESIA: Anti-crime pogrom leads to vicious social cleansing
* BURMA: Activists jailed for 65 years for protesting
* NIGERIA: Protester testifies to Chevron role in military atrocities
* SWAZILAND: Press freedom violated at pro-democracy protest
* CHINA: Trials begin over Weng'an unrest - six given vicious sentences
* INDONESIA: Atrocity of death penalty
* CHINA: 55 sentenced over Tibet unrest
* CHINA: Police told to avoid inflaming protests
* TAIWAN: Press freedom attacks
* TAIWAN: Human rights group concerned about attacks on China 
protesters; protesters sue police
* TURKEY: Youths at risk of massive sentences for protesting
* TURKEY: Students sued for protest slogans
* KOREA: Pro-North group banned
* KOREA: Court gives payout for murder of protesterby police
* IVORY COAST: Officers charged over soldier protests
* BRAZIL: Draconian crackdown on Internet freedom
* INDIA: Trial over murder of Tata protester
* PALESTINE: Arab states complicit in border closure, humanitarian crisis
* KYRGYZSTAN: Viciouis jail sentences over Eid unrest
* KOREA: Conscientious objector to police repression jailed
* CHINA: Photos reveal police brutality in Longnan unrest
* CHINA: 1000 released over Tibet protests
* SIERRA LEONE: Police threaten BBC journalist over unrest coverage







http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/262419

Final Presidential Debate Protester-Veterans Face 15 Separate Trial 
Dates For Action
By Stephen Dohnberg.
Published Nov 17, 2008 by ■ Stephen Dohnberg
Bill Perry

In a follow up to the arrest of the Iraq Vets protest at the final 
Presidential Debate,reporter Stephen Dohnberg talks with member Sgt 
Chiroux about the charges faced,support they are receiving,tactics of 
the Nassau County Police, and Sgt Morgan's injury.
On Oct 16 we reported on the demands and the arrest of 10 members of 
Iraq Vets Against the War (IVAW) members and 5 civillian protesters. 
IVAW and supporters were seeking to address the final Presidential 
Debate at Hofstra University, Nassau County, Long Island, New York.

The protest coordinators, Sgt. Matthis Chiroux (Army) and Sgt. Kristofer 
Goldsmith (Army), met with Nassau County PD prior to the planned action 
and outlined their intentions to engage in a non-violent protest, and 
informed the NCPD that there would be no resistance, and that full 
cooperation was the intention.

Goldsmith and Chiroux had one request that they had also delivered in a 
written letter to the campaigns of each candidate, as well as CBS's Bob 
Schiefer: They wanted permission ask one question of each Sen. Barack 
Obama and Sen. John McCain regarding veterans affairs and issues 
surrounding the Iraq war. IVAW members and supporters felt that both 
candidates remained "eerily silent" during the 3 televised, CPD 
sanctioned debates.

The IVAW announced their intention to breach police lines if no response 
from any camp was offered by 7 p.m.

That night, something very different happened. The peaceful and legally 
assembled supporters of the IVAW were pushed back by police using horses 
to engage in crowd control. Amid that action protesters and IVAW members 
were also physically pushed back and down. It was during this action 
that IVAW member Sgt Nick Morgan (Army) possibly had his head trampled 
by a police horse. After the melee 10 veterans and 5 protesters were 
arrested. Additionally, members of the IVAW reported verbal harassment 
and threats from the police while in custody, and indicate that Morgan 
was initially denied treatment despite having been rendered unconscious, 
injured, and suffering from a concussion.

Chiroux, Goldsmith, and other veterans were arrested while crossing 
police lines after delivering their questions via bullhorn. Not all 
veterans were arrested crossing police lines however. Some were plucked 
by police along with civilian protesters.

Morgan eventually required reconstructive surgery, with a titanium plate 
being placed under his eye socket.

The NCPD's "crowd control method" was caught on video by a number of 
people documenting the event.

On Nov 10 at 8 a.m., one day before Remembrance Day (Canada), and 
Veteran's Day (United States). the group, known as the 'Hempstead 15' 
appeared at the Nassau County, NY courthouse on 99 Main St, Hempstead, 
NY, to hear the charge of 'Disturbing the Peace' issued against them.

They were greeted that morning by 80 to 100 supporters at the 
courthouse."Hopefully some understanding of how outraged people are over 
this action...can be seen by the fact that so many people would be 
willing to come out on a Monday morning...and will be recognized by the 
DA (Kathleen Rice)." Sgt Matthis Chiroux continued, "no justice was 
served" on that morning.

Detective Anthony said of the NCPD's actions the night of the protest 
and of the injuries sustained by Morgan, that the "Protesters were 
trying to gain access into the debate and police were not going to let 
that happen. We used necessary force in order to carry out that goal."

Jonathan Moore, a former Vietnam-era conscientious objector, is the 
lawyer representing the Hempstead 15 on a pro bono basis. Moore has 
represented clients in many social justice issues from Agent Orange 
victims, environmental concerns, and protesters arrested during the 2004 
Republican National Convention in New York City.

IVAW member Sgt Adam Kokesh (Marines) was the first of the Hempstead 15 
to appear before the courts on Nov 13. His trial was scheduled for Dec 
11. The Court attempted to increase his bail amount. The protestors have 
had their dates spread out individually dating from Nov 13 to the end of 
January.

Sgt Chiroux indicated that further actions are planned to raise 
awareness and funds in support the of the charged protesters, noting in 
a press release that "Dec.10 and 11, and Jan. 5 thru 8 are the days set 
for the 15 of us to be tried. Each day, we will assemble at 8 a.m. to 
demand that charges are dropped against us and that the officers 
responsible for brutalizing us are held accountable"

Regarding the separate trial dates for each arrested protester, Chiroux 
noted "I have never heard of this being done before, though I have also 
never heard of veterans, peacefully assembling Constitutionally to 
redress grievances, being trampled by police on horseback before. 
There's a first time for everything and it appears the place is Nassau 
County."
He does feel that there is a tactical component to the decision to hold 
scattered trials on different dates. In an open press event on the 
courthouse steps on Nov 10, as Chiroux took questions from a reporter with
the Nation, he took of his sweatshirt to reveal a tee shirt with the 
IVAW logo "You Are Not Alone".
"Nassau County wants us to believe this statement is not true."

The press release also calls for supporters to contact "District 
Attorney Kathleen Rice at 516-571-2994" or to contact her through the 
Nassau County website at "to demand that all charges be dropped against 
the Hempstead 15."
Ultimately ,Chrioux hopes that the DA will see fit to drop these charges 
"and hold their officers accountable for their crimes against veterans".

Official comment from the Nassau County PD states "The police have yet 
to determine whether Morgan was stepped on by a horse"

In a coincidental twist, Sgt. Chiroux has received notification from the 
Army dated Oct 15 that he faces a "Misconduct" charge for refusing a 
deployment to Iraq slated for June, 2008. Chiroux was honourably 
discharged after 5 years of service in June of 2007. He had originally 
faced Desertion charges and fought his deployment after garnering the 
support of members of Congress, including Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), 
Barbara Lee (D-CA), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Lynne Woolsey (D-CA), Jan 
Schkowsky (D - IL), James McGovern (D-MA), and House Judiciary Chair 
John Conyers Jr. (D-MI) among others, who comprise the Out of Iraq Caucus.

He publicly announced his refusal on the steps of the Canon Building of 
the House of Representatives on May 16, 2008. It is a development, 
story, and issue all it's own.

Sgt Chiroux discusses additional details of the Hofstra events with New 
York Times bestselling author Naomi Wolf ('Disaster Capitalism') HERE.







http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/nov/18/3-dnc-protest-trials-under-way-monday/?partner=RSS

3 DNC protest trials under way Monday
Rocky Mountain News
Published November 18, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
Trials for three more protesters arrested during the Democratic National 
Convention got under way Monday, and a woman set for trial today pleaded 
guilty to put the case behind her.
Julie Combest, 26, pleaded guilty to obstructing a street in a deal that 
will remove the case from her criminal record if she stays out of 
trouble for six months. She also must perform 10 hours of community service.
Jurors were selected and began hearing testimony Monday afternoon in the 
trial of Lilia Lassiter, Shyam Khanna and Jeffrey Berryhill, all from 
Olympia, Wash. They are charged with obstructing 15th Street at Court 
Place on Aug. 25.
So far, one person has been convicted by a jury in the 10 cases that 
have gone to trial. About 100 protesters were arrested, with 60 cases 
slated for trial.







http://www.instablogs.com/entry/judge-rules-against-2-ejected-from-05-bush-event/

Judge rules against 2 ejected from '05 Bush event
AP , Denver: Nov 7 2008
Made Popular Nov 7 2008
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by two people who say they 
were kept from attending a Denver appearance by President Bush because 
of their political views.
Leslie Weise and Alex Young were ejected from a hall in 2005 just before 
Bush was to speak at a taxpayer-funded event. They arrived in a car with 
a bumper sticker reading “No blood for oil” but say they had no plans to 
disrupt the event.
They accused Greg Jenkins, former director of White House travel 
planning, and volunteers Michael Casper and Jay Bob Klinkerman of 
violating their free-speech rights by keeping them out of the event.
U.S. District Judge Wiley Daniel on Thursday granted motions by the 
defendants to dismiss the complaints.






http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/nov/06/observers-monitoring-dnc-protests-not-above-law-po/?partner=RSS

Police: DNC protesters were 'bent on destruction'
By Sue Lindsay, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published November 6, 2008 at 6:44 p.m.

Photo by Ken PapaleoKen Papaleo © The Rocky
Ken Papaleo © The Rocky
A unit of police officers walks down the 16th Street Mall on Aug. 27. 
Tens of thousands of visitors were in town for the DNC.
People designated as legal observers to monitor protests and marches 
during the Democratic National Convention were not exempt from arrest, 
Denver police testified Thursday.
Legal observers wore bright green hats to identify themselves, and 
Nathan Acks, one of three people on trial this week in Denver County 
Court for allegedly blocking a street, was wearing one when he was arrested.
"It's not a free pass, the green hat," said Cmdr. Deborah Dilley. "It's 
no guarantee they won't be arrested. They should not be interjecting 
themselves into what is going on."
Sgt. Anthony Martinez said police received very little training about 
legal observers.
"It really doesn't matter," Martinez said. "A legal observer does not 
have the right to violate the law. If they were out in the middle of the 
street, they were in violation of the law and could be arrested like any 
other person."
Acks, Edward Lloyd and student photographer Stephanie Catlin are charged 
with blocking the road Aug. 25 at 15th Street and Court Place.
Dilley said police blocked 15th Street between Court and Cleveland Place 
to keep a group of 200 to 300 from reaching the 16th Street Mall. "There 
were more people downtown than I have ever seen with the exception of 
New Year's Eve," Dilley said. "They were elbow to elbow."
Sgt. Tony Foster said earlier in the day police "received information 
that a large group of people would be coming from Civic Center Park and 
would be destroying downtown Denver and possibly the 16th Street Mall."
His unit of officers in riot gear was among those called as the group 
came down 15th Street.
"It was probably one of the most dangerous situations I've been in in 22 
years," he said. "There were 30 of us and 300 of them bent on destruction."
He described "a large mass of people coming down the street yelling and 
screaming with their arms in the air."
Dilley and Foster said no dispersal order was given by loudspeaker, but 
Foster said that officers, including him, were yelling at the screaming 
crowd to stop and get out of the street.
Martinez said those in the crowd had plenty of opportunities to leave 
and avoid arrest.
"All 130 people that got arrested could have left the area," he said. 
"We were trying to stop a violent, uncontrolled mob from getting to the 
16th Street Mall."





http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/525988.html

Jurors convict man in port protest case
JEREMY PAWLOSKI; The Olympian
Published: 11/01/08 11:30 pm
A student at The Evergreen State College gets a 10-day sentence and $680 
in fines after his conviction for his actions in protests at the Port of 
Olympia. It took a jury a little more than an hour of deliberation 
Friday to convict a Port of Olympia protester of misdemeanor obstruction 
of a police officer and resisting arrest for his actions last November 
when he stood in front a moving Stryker vehicle near Olympia City Hall.
Olympia Municipal Judge Scott Ahlf sentenced Shyam Khanna to 10 days in 
custody – but Khanna doesn’t have to serve that time in jail. Ahlf said 
Khanna can serve that time on electronic home monitoring, in a day jail 
program or by participating in a work crew. Ahlf also ordered Khanna to 
pay about $680 in fines.
Olympia prosecutor Kalo Wilcox had asked that Khanna serve 40 days in 
jail, based on what she called his disrespect for authority, his failure 
to contribute to the community and other pending criminal charges he’s 
incurred since his arrest – which include an allegation that he spat on 
an Olympia police officer.
Later, outside court, Khanna said of his conviction, “I think that in 
the end, history will absolve me.” Khanna also accused an Olympia police 
officer of following, harassing and threatening him since his arrest.
Khanna, a junior at The Evergreen State College, is the only person to 
stand trial out of more than 60 who were arrested during two weeks of 
protests last November that sought to prevent Stryker vehicles and other 
military cargo from leaving the Port of Olympia to return to Fort Lewis 
after deployment in the Iraq war. The protesters argued that the public 
port shouldn’t be allowed to support what they contend is an illegal, 
immoral war.
An additional 26 protesters face pending misdemeanor charges for their 
alleged actions. Their cases are set for arraignment on various dates 
this month.






http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/37720

Ejected at '04 Convention, a Protester Gets $55,000
Submitted by davidswanson on Sun, 2008-11-16 14:47.
• Nonviolent Resistance
By COLIN MOYNIHAN, NY Times
During President Bush's acceptance speech in Madison Square Garden at 
the 2004 Republican National Convention, a San Francisco woman briefly 
interrupted the proceedings by standing on a chair and unfurling a 
banner that accused the president of lying.
That protest set into motion a chain of events that has ended in one of 
the more unusual legal resolutions connected to the four days of the 
convention, during which more than 1,800 demonstrators and bystanders 
were arrested, most of them in street protests. Hundreds of them 
subsequently sued the city, saying they had been arrested unlawfully or 
detained in holding cells without access to lawyers.
As of September, the city had paid about $1.5 million to settle 142 
lawsuits arising out of the convention. The payout total rose by $55,000 
on Friday, when the San Francisco woman, June Brashares, 44, an events 
planner, peace advocate and a member of the protest group Code Pink, 
reached a settlement in a lawsuit in which she said she had been injured 
while being ejected from the Garden and had been falsely prosecuted.
But unlike the other cases, which were settled after allegations of 
misconduct by city police officers or other city employees, the 
defendants in the Brashares case were not under the city's control. They 
were two convention volunteers from California, a Republican group in 
California and the Republican National Committee.
Yet the city's Law Department represented them anyway because of an 
indemnification agreement under which the city assumes the cost of 
defending any lawsuit arising from the 2004 convention that names the 
Republican National Committee.
"This was a reasonable settlement based on the facts of the case," 
Connie Pankratz, a spokeswoman for the Law Department, said on Friday. 
Ms. Pankratz said she knew of no other convention-related case in which 
the Law Department is defending only people or groups outside New York 
City's control.
The Law Department could not say on Saturday which city agencies or 
officials signed the deal, but Ms. Pankratz confirmed that it was 
reached as part of negotiations to bring the convention to New York. 
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has said business generated by the convention 
brought the city hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.
No such agreement on legal costs was in place for this year's Republican 
National Convention in St. Paul — where police officers used tear gas 
and fired rubber bullets at demonstrators, arresting about 800 people.
Instead, St. Paul officials required that the Republican host committee 
buy an insurance policy covering up to $10 million in damages for civil 
rights violations by the police, to avoid saddling taxpayers with legal 
costs, the St. Paul city attorney said in September.
Ms. Brashares's role in the convention litigation began as she and her 
banner — reading "Bush Lies People Die" — were swiftly ushered from 
Madison Square Garden by the two volunteers, who were assigned to 
maintain order as "floor whips" for the California delegation. She was 
arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, assault and harassment 
after the two men, Shaun Flanigan and John Peschong, said she injured 
them while being dragged from the hall.
A Manhattan jury rejected those claims about a year later, after 
watching news videotapes that undercut part of the prosecution's case. 
Ms. Brashares then filed a civil lawsuit in State Supreme Court against 
Mr. Flanigan and Mr. Peschong, saying they had torn a ligament in her 
finger while removing her and had made false statements.
The Republican National Committee and the California State Republican 
Committee were also named because Mr. Flanigan and Mr. Peschong had been 
acting in the official capacity of those organizations, she said in her 
suit.
"In the course of removing plaintiff, defendants Peschong and Flanigan 
maliciously beat, pushed, grabbed and otherwise violently battered 
plaintiff with the intent of causing her injury," stated a complaint 
filed by Jonathan C. Moore, a lawyer for Ms. Brashares. In an interview, 
Mr. Moore said Ms. Brashares felt vindicated by the settlement.
"She's been compensated for having to undergo a trial when she knew she 
was not guilty," he said. "It's unfortunate that the city felt they had 
to indemnify these folks."






http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008393920_nudecyclist15.html?syndication=rss

Saturday, November 15, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Protest in the buff OK, Portland judge decides
A judge has ruled that you can, indeed, "let it all hang out" in 
Portland and dismissed indecent-exposure charges against a nude bicycle 
rider who did just that.
By The Associated Press
PORTLAND — A judge has ruled that you can, indeed, "let it all hang out" 
in Portland and dismissed indecent exposure charges against a nude 
bicycle rider who did just that.
In Portland, the judge said, cycling naked has been anointed as a 
"well-established tradition" and understood as a form of "symbolic protest."
Judge Jerome LaBarre said the city's annual World Naked Bike Ride — in 
which as many as 1,200 people took part last June 14 — has helped cement 
riding in the buff as a form of protest against cars and dependence on 
fossil fuels.
LaBarre then cleared Michael "Bobby" Hammond, 21, after two days of 
hearings.
Hammond ran afoul of the constabulary June 26, when he stripped down and 
hopped on his 10-speed in an effort, he says, to show that he alone was 
powering it.
Portland police, however, saw Hammond's two-minute ride through the 
Alberta Arts District as a stunt, not free speech, and arrested him, 
citing a city code that states it's illegal to expose genitalia in a 
public place in view of members of the opposite sex.
A bystander recorded the episode, which was posted on the Web.
As Hammond pulled to a stop, police began to question him.
Hammond said he didn't think he was doing anything wrong.
An officer told him to put on some pants or go to jail. "There are kids 
out there," the officer said.
"I just want to ride my bike," Hammond says. "I'm wearing a helmet."
The officer said that was nice, but that it was either pants or jail.

Three officers then brought Hammond to the ground, cuffed him and left 
him naked in the street.
The district attorney's office sought misdemeanor convictions for 
resisting arrest, fourth-degree assault and indecent exposure.
Hammond, who works at a cafe and as a caregiver for people with 
developmental disabilities, said he had moved to Portland from New 
Mexico and thought nudity was legal because he'd participated in his 
first World Naked Bike Ride without incident.
"It's one of the reasons I live in Portland. As far as you can see — as 
far in front of you and behind — it's naked people."
Twelve days after the group bike ride Hammond, housemates and friends 
sat on the lawn of his home selling art and bemoaning the traffic.
He and a friend, Walter Geis, decided to strip down and ride their bikes 
up and down the boulevard.
Hammond testified that he was expressing a message in support of bikes 
and against cars, foreign oil, the Iraq war and air pollution.
Deputy District Attorney Ryan Lufkin said Hammond made no attempt to 
communicate that.
"This was, by every definition of the word, streaking," Lufkin said and 
told the judge that if he dismissed the charges anyone who'd been 
arrested for indecent exposure could make the same case.
In 1985, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled in that appearing nude in 
public can be a protected form of expression if it's done in political 
protest and should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
LaBarre said Hammond's case qualified.
Would he ride naked again?
"Oh, yeah," he said.






http://www.citypages.com/2008-11-12/news/eight-rnc-protesters-accused-of-furthering-terrorism-thanks-to-statute/

Eight RNC protesters accused of 'furthering terrorism' thanks to statute
Officials say the RNC 8 plotted to sabotage Xcel, kidnap delegates
By Matt Snyders
Published on November 11, 2008 at 12:16pm
Eryn Trimmer sits in a Loring Park coffee shop and peers out the window 
to the street below. Dressed in a casual charcoal-colored sweater, with 
wispy blond hair, the gangly 23-year-old handyman resembles your typical 
coffeehouse regular. You'd hardly suspect he's an accused terrorist.
• Craig Lassig

The RNC 8: Left to right: Eryn Trimmer, Nathanael Secor, Luce 
Guillen-Givins, Monica Bicking, Garrett Fitzgerald, Rob Czernik, Erik 
Oseland, and Max Specktor
The Saturday before the Republican National Convention, Trimmer was 
sleeping upstairs in his two-story home in Minneapolis's Powderhorn 
neighborhood when he was awakened by a clatter. Within seconds, armed 
officers burst through his bedroom, guns drawn, and arrested Trimmer, 
his live-in girlfriend Monica Bicking, and their roommate Garrett 
Fitzgerald.
Five more RNC protesters would be rounded up during that weekend in 
advance of the RNC. Dubbed the "RNC 8," the defendants—seven of whom 
were members of anarchist group the RNC Welcoming Committee—stand 
accused of "conspiring to riot," a second-degree felony. According to a 
police affidavit, the eight acted as ringleaders in a plot to "kidnap 
delegates" and "sabotage the Xcel Center."
Authorities leveled the charges based on evidence provided by paid 
informants and undercover agents who infiltrated the RNC Welcoming 
Committee in the months leading up to the convention ("Moles Wanted," 
5/21/08). "We assumed the group was under surveillance and that that 
could include informants," Trimmer says. "It was an open group and we 
weren't organizing anything illegal, so we didn't want to kick anybody out."
But the RNC 8 face more than the standard felony charges. For the first 
time, authorities are wielding an obscure state anti-terrorism statute 
passed in the nervous aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Second-degree 
"conspiracy to commit riot" ordinarily carries a maximum 
two-and-a-half-year prison sentence, but because the alleged crime was 
intended to "further terrorism," the sentence can be doubled to a 
maximum of five years.
"The statute's definition of 'terrorism' appears to be modeled after a 
statute in the Patriot Act," says attorney Bruce Nestor, who is 
defending one of the accused conspirators. "But whereas the Patriot Act 
statute requires an act of violence against people, the language here 
extends the definition to include 'violence to property.'"
The original bill, proposed May 2, 2001, had nothing to do with 
terrorism: It required morticians and funeral directors to issue death 
notices for unidentifiable homeless people. Twelve months, five 
revisions, and one national tragedy later, the bill had mushroomed into 
a massive omnibus bill that included the hastily appended terrorism 
statute. Because the addendum was a relatively minor part of a larger 
piece of legislation, no one seems to be able to say for sure who 
inserted it.
"There was reaction to 9/11 and everybody wanted to get prepared," says 
Rep. Mary Liz Holberg (R-Lakeville), who voted for the bill. "I think 
the rationale behind it was that if individuals act in an organized 
manner and perpetuate crimes on the public, stiffer penalties are in order."
The most controversial aspect of the statute is its characterization of 
terrorism, which includes any felony that "significantly disrupts or 
interferes with the lawful exercise, operation, or conduct of 
government, lawful commerce, or the right of lawful assembly." Attorney 
Larry Leventhal, who is representing accused RNC 8 conspirator Max 
Specktor, says the language is overly broad.
"By that rationale, the definition of terrorism could be extended to 
anything," Leventhal argues. "If they don't like what you and I are 
saying to each other over a phone they're tapping, they can say that 
it's 'terroristic.'"
Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher says that the RNC 8 may not look like 
the terrorists who crashed airplanes into the World Trade Center, but 
their actions justify the stiffer penalties. Fletcher points to the fact 
that a 50-pound sandbag was hurled from a freeway overpass onto a 
busload of delegates as proof.
"I think it's fair to say the people who were in downtown St. Paul 
during the convention, including delegates, felt a level of terror from 
the actions of the individuals associated with the RNC Welcoming 
Committee," Fletcher says.
The RNC 8 deny having any operational involvement in the sandbag 
incident, but admit that some members may have planned acts of "civil 
disobedience," such as blockading the Xcel Center.
At a probable cause hearing Monday, attorneys for the RNC 8 successfully 
argued for an extension to gather further evidence. But even if the 
defendants are convicted, it's doubtful any of them will serve the five 
years in prison called for by the new law.
"The judge has a great deal of discretion as to what probationary 
conditions to put into place," says County Attorney Susan Gaertner. 
"Generally, that might include up to a year in jail, community service, 
or treatment."
That comes as little consolation to Luce Guillen-Givens, one of the 
eight accused. Having been involved with various immigrant-rights and 
antiwar groups since the age of 15, Guillen-Givens, now 24, worries what 
will happen to the next person accused of "furthering terrorism."
"Historically, these crackdowns serve the purpose of disrupting and 
undermining movements of resistance," she says. "First, you try 
conspiracy charges out on the fringes and, if it works there, you move 
incrementally in."






http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/nov/11/cost-of-prosecuting-protesters-questioned/?partner=RSS

Cost of prosecuting protesters questioned
Lawyers for DNC activists say cops on losing streak
By John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published November 11, 2008 at 10:28 p.m.
Updated November 12, 2008 at 1:03 a.m.
Lawyers for protesters arrested during the Democratic National 
Convention want to know how much Denver is spending to prosecute the 
cases, citing a 1-17 losing streak so far.
According to Brian Vicente, executive director of the People's Law 
Project, of the first 18 cases set for trial, only one has resulted in a 
conviction.
In that case, prosecutors were able to produce videotape that showed 
protester Eric Nunez standing in the street flashing a peace symbol 
while surrounded by police officers, Vicente said.
So far, the city attorney has dismissed eight defendants, juries 
acquitted six and judges acquitted two. One faces retrial after a jury 
deadlocked.
"If the Denver Nuggets opened their season with a 1-17 record, people 
would raise serious questions about what changes needed to be made," 
Vicente said.
He said the mounting number of acquittals suggested that many of the 106 
people charged were "haphazardly" arrested during a demonstration at 
15th and Court streets on Aug. 25.
But City Attorney David Fine noted that about 50 of the protesters who 
were arrested have entered guilty pleas. He also said that a much larger 
group that took part in the protest was allowed to disperse.
In two trials, Fine added, the juries that acquitted the defendants 
issued statements essentially praising the behavior of the police and 
the prosecution.
Fine said those juries also admonished the defendants and said their 
acquittals should not be interpreted as condoning their behavior.
On Sunday, Vicente filed an open records request, asking Denver 
officials to estimate how much money and how many hours the police 
department has spent preparing for and testifying at the trials. He also 
asked for the amount spent on the prosecution.
He said each trial has lasted an average of three days and involved two 
to three lawyers from the city attorney's office.
"Is that a good use of time?" he asked. "There's domestic violence cases 
and rape cases and all sorts of other issues plaguing the city of Denver."
The People's Law Project recruited 40 lawyers to represent people 
arrested during the convention and to defend their First Amendment rights.






http://www.denverpost.com/ci_10920817?source=rss

ACLU wants probe into police-staged DNC protest
By Felisa Cardona
The Denver Post
Posted: 11/07/2008 12:30:00 AM MST
Updated: 11/07/2008 10:25:14 AM MST
When a Jefferson County deputy unleashed pepper spray at unruly 
protesters on the first night of the Democratic National Convention, he 
did not know that his targets were undercover Denver police officers.
Now the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado is questioning 
whether that staged confrontation by police pretending to be violent 
inflamed other protesters or officers during the most intense night of 
the four-day event.
The protest occurred Aug. 25 at 15th Street and Court Place near Civic 
Center. Police ultimately arrested 106 people, the highest number of 
arrests in a single day during the convention.
According to a use-of-force police report obtained by the ACLU, 
undercover Denver detectives staged a struggle with a police commander 
to get pulled out of the crowd without blowing their cover. The 
commander knew they were working undercover, and the plan was to pull 
them out of the crowd and pretend they were under arrest so protesters 
would be none the wiser.
A Jefferson County deputy, unaware of the presence of undercover police, 
thought that the commander was being attacked and used pepper spray on 
the undercover officers.
The report says that the commander and an undercover detective were 
sprayed, but it does not indicate how many others were affected. The 
report also doesn't say whether the pepper spray used on the undercover 
police was the first deployment of chemicals that night or whether the 
riot was already underway.
Denver police have said they were trying to control the crowd moving 
from Civic Center. The officers testified in court that they had 
intelligence that anarchists planned to gather in the park, then move 
toward the 16th Street Mall to wreak havoc at delegate hotels and other 
businesses. The activists had posted that plan on a publicly available 
website.
Probe requested
On Thursday, the ACLU of Colorado sent a letter to Denver's Independent 
Monitor, Richard Rosenthal, asking for the Internal Affairs Bureau to 
conduct an investigation of the pepper-spraying incident.
"The actions of the undercover detectives on August 25, 2008, may have 
had the effect of exacerbating an already 'tense situation,' as their 
feigned struggle led nearby officers and the public to believe that a 
commanding officer was being attacked by protestors and that the 
situation necessitated the use of chemical agents," says the letter, 
written by ACLU staff attorney Taylor Pendergrass.
"Such actions may have escalated the overall situation by causing 
officers on the scene to fear that the protestors threatened their 
safety, when in fact the struggle was only between uniformed officers 
and undercover officers," he wrote.
Denver Police Chief Gerald Whitman did not return a call seeking comment 
about the pepper-spray incident and whether the officers followed 
protocol by staging a disturbance with the commander.
Rosenthal said he had received the ACLU's letter about the pepper-spray 
incident.
He also received a letter from the ACLU last week requesting a probe 
into possible conflicting or false statements by police about the riot 
and whether the department withheld evidence in some of the protesters' 
criminal trials.
The ACLU contends videos show that protesters, as well as otherwise 
uninvolved onlookers, were never ordered or given a chance to disperse 
before they were surrounded and detained by police.
"The letters have been received, and I am in the process of reviewing 
and evaluating them," Rosenthal said Thursday.
As many as 60 protest suspects declined to accept plea deals after their 
arrests. Some cases have been dismissed and some suspects acquitted 
after a judge cited a lack of evidence.
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219 or fcardona at denverpost.com






http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/nov/10/prosecuting-dnc-protesters-wastes-taxpayers-money-/?partner=RSS

Lawyer wants to know what DNC protest trials are costing city
By John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published November 10, 2008 at 7:19 p.m.

Lawyers for protesters arrested during the Democratic National 
Convention want to know how much Denver is spending to prosecute the 
cases, citing a 1-17 losing streak so far.
According to Brian Vincente, executive director of the People's Law 
Project, of the first 18 cases set for trial, only one has resulted in a 
conviction.
So far, the city attorney has dismissed eight defendants, juries 
acquitted six and judges acquitted two. One faces retrial after a jury 
deadlocked.
"If the Denver Nuggets opened their season with a 1-17 record, people 
would raise serious questions about what changes needed to be made," 
Vincente said.
He said the mounting number of acquittals suggested that many of the 106 
people charged were "haphazardly" arrested during a demonstration at 
15th and Court streets.
But City Attorney David Fine noted that about 50 of the protesters 
arrested have entered guilty pleas. He also said that a much larger 
group that took part in the protest was allowed to disperse.
Fine added that in two trials, the juries that acquitted the defendants 
insisted on making public statements to the effect of praising the 
behavior of the police and the prosecution.
Fine said those juries also admonished the defendants and said their 
acquittals should not be interpreted as condoning their behavior.
On Sunday, Vincente filed an open records request, asking Denver 
officials to estimate how much money and how many hours the police 
department has spent preparing for and testifying at the trials. He also 
asked for the amount spent on the prosecution.
He said each trial has lasted an average of three days and involved two 
to three lawyers from the city attorney's office.
"Is that a good use of time?" he asked. "There's domestic violence cases 
and rape cases and all sorts of other issues plaguing the city of Denver."






http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/nov/21/3-convicted-3-acquitted-at-protester-trials/?partner=RSS

3 convicted, 3 acquitted at protester trials
By Sue Lindsay, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published November 21, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
Three people were convicted and three were acquitted Thursday in trials 
of protesters arrested for obstructing a street during the Democratic 
National Convention this August.
It brings the number of convictions to four. The trials began in October 
and are set through January. About 100 people were arrested and many 
previously pleaded guilty.
Thursday, the head of a legal group representing the protesters could 
not say why one group of three was acquitted and the other group was 
convicted. Both groups had basically the same trial, said People's Law 
Project Executive Director Brian Vicente.
Police supervisors and officers as well as lay witnesses by now have 
testified so many times in so many trials that their once- startling 
descriptions and comments are beginning to sound flat.
Eighty-year-old Cecil Bethea, handcuffed during the Aug. 25 incident as 
he tried to make his way from the library to catch his bus, testified in 
four trials this week. "I got Wednesday off," he said after testifying 
at one trial Thursday morning.
Legal observer Scott Humphreys got a workout Thursday, testifying at 
three trials about the video he took of the Aug. 25 incident.
Ten defendants were scheduled for trial this week. In addition to the 
six tried on Thursday, on Monday, a juvenile was acquitted, a woman 
pleaded guilty to avoid trial, and the city attorney's office dismissed 
charges against another man.
A verdict in three more cases is expected today.






http://english.sina.com/world/2008/1120/199490.html

Los Angeles city to pay nearly $13 mln to protesters
2008-11-20 19:39:44 GMT2008-11-21 03:39:44 (Beijing Time) Xinhua English
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- The city of Los Angeles has tentatively 
agreed to pay nearly 13 million U.S. dollars to immigration protesters 
and bystanders injured by police officers during a melee last year, it 
was reported on Thursday.
The proposed agreement still must be approved by the City Council, the 
mayor and the judge overseeing the claims against the city.
Once approved, it would mark one of the largest payouts ever made to 
resolve the misconduct of Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), 
according to the Los Angeles Times.
Several sources confirmed the size of the proposed deal at 12.85 million 
dollars, the paper said. Further payouts are likely to journalists who 
also sued, charging they were roughed up by the LAPD while covering the 
event.
A settlement in the case would go a long way toward closing an 
embarrassing and damaging chapter in the LAPD's recent history, 
department observers said.
During last year's May Day melee in downtown Los Angeles, LAPD's elite 
Metro Division used batons and fired rubber bullets into the largely 
peaceful crowd. There were no deaths, but hundreds of demonstrators and 
journalists and 18 officers suffered injuries.
A scathing internal LAPD report blamed poor leadership and planning as 
well as the overly aggressive tactics by officers.






http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=70072&provider=rss

Pair of preachers arrested for street demonstration
Jake Jost Updated: 11/24/2008 6:55:09 PM Posted: 11/24/2008 6:47:45 PM

A pair of street preachers spent time in the Blount County Jail over the 
weekend.
Jay Bryant, 28, and Jeremy Burt, 21, were arrested Saturday.
Police say the men were waving signs and shouting at drivers on West 
Lamar Alexander Parkway.
Officers said they asked if the two had a permit, and Bryant and Burt 
said the Bible was their permit and refused to leave.
During the commotion, officers said the men's actions caused a minor 
crash. The two were cited for not having a permit and arrested for 
disturbing the peace.







http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/14/2420069.htm

13 Italian police jailed over G8 summit riots
Posted Fri Nov 14, 2008 2:28pm AEDT
A court in Genoa has sentenced 13 Italian police officers to prison, 
while acquitting another 16, for the violent crackdown on 
anti-globalisation protesters at a G8 summit in 2001.
Among those acquitted were the three main officials responsible for 
maintaining order at the summit held in the northern Italian city, 
according to the sentencing read live on television by the clerk of the 
court.
Cries of "shame, shame" were heard from the public when the acquittal of 
the police chief was announced.
Police officers were accused notably of planting two Molotov cocktail 
firebombs on protesters while they were being held at the city's Diaz 
school, as well as beating protesters and conducting arbitrary searches.
The case turned in June 2007 when a senior officer in Rome broke ranks 
and spoke out describing scenes resembling a "butcher's yard".
One 23-year-old man died in the clashes.
The 13 convicted officers were sentenced to a total of 35 years and 
seven months in prison. The longest single sentence was for four years.
In another separate trial in July this year, jail terms were handed down 
to 15 members of the security forces for crimes committed in a nearby 
barracks, while 24 anti-globalisation protesters received between five 
months and 11 years in prison.
The clashes during anti-globalisation demonstrations around the Group of 
Eight industrial powers summit in July 2001 left several hundred people 
injured and caused millions of euros in damages.
- AFP






http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=26071

Article posted Nov 01 2008, 3:36 PM Category: Tyranny/Police State
Source: Prison Planet

Ex-Italian President: Provocateur Riots Then “Beat The Shit Out Of 
Protesters”
Cossiga says Italian government should “do what I did” under Operation 
GLADIO - infiltrate protest groups with agent provocateurs
Paul Joseph Watson

Former Italian President Francesco Cossiga has offered a solution to the 
Italian government in dealing with widespread demonstrations by students 
and teachers over a cut in state funding of education - use agent 
provocateurs to start riots and then have the police "beat the shit out 
of the protesters".

Cossiga, former Italian President, Prime Minister, Minister of the 
Interior, and one of the founders of the Operation GLADIO covert 
intelligence unit, encouraged Silvio Berlusconi and current Minister of 
the Interior Robert Maroni to "do what I did when I was Minister of the 
Interior," namely infiltrate what so far have been relatively peaceful 
demonstrations, radicalize them, start riots, then engender public 
support for a heavy-handed police response.

Cossiga's full statement translated reads as follows.
"Maroni should do what I did when I was Minister of the Interior. 
University students? Let them do what they want. Withdraw the police 
from streets and universities, infiltrate the movement with provoking 
agents ready for anything ["agenti provocatori" is the Italian term] and 
let them devastate shops, put fire to the cars and put cities to the 
sword for ten days.

Then, strengthen by people's support, the sound of the sirens from 
ambulances will have to overwhelm that from the police and carabinieri 
[italian military police]. Law enforcement officers should pitilessly 
beat the shit out of protesters and send them all to the hospital. They 
should not arrest them since the courts would free them immediately, but 
they should beat them savagely, and they should beat savagely as well 
those teachers that incites them: not old professors, just the young 
school teachers."
Cossiga is essentially describing the problem-reaction-solution 
dialectic that he exploited when he was in government. Under the banner 
of Operation GLADIO, which was unveiled after parliamentary 
investigations in Italy, Switzerland and Belgium, NATO sponsored secret 
armies committed acts of violence and terrorism and blamed the attacks 
on left-wing political movements, allowing far-right governments to 
seize power in numerous European countries.

"You had to attack civilians, the people, women, children, innocent 
people, unknown people far removed from any political game," right-wing 
terrorist and GLADIO agent Vincezo Vinciguerra explained the so-called 
"strategy of tension" in sworn testimony.

"The reason was quite simple. They were supposed to force these people, 
the Italian public, to turn to the state to ask for greater security. 
This is the political logic that lies behind all the massacres and the 
bombings which remain unpunished, because the state cannot convict 
itself or declare itself responsible for what happened."

GLADIO-orchestrated false flag terror attacks, such as the Bologna train 
bombing in 1980 which killed 85 people, were revealed during the Italian 
parliamentary investigation as having been overseen by elements of the 
U.S. intelligence apparatus. At the very least, U.S. intelligence sat on 
prior knowledge of bombings and allowed them to go ahead.

Cossiga's call to infiltrate protest groups and provocateur violence, 
giving the police public backing to "beat the shit" out of them, is a 
false flag tactic that has been employed numerous times during major 
protest events around the world.

Indeed, the scenario Cossiga is describing is exactly what happened at 
the violent 2001 Genoa G8 summit, during which Italian police planted 
bombs in headquarters being used by protest groups as an excuse to 
conduct raids and "beat the shit" out of peaceful demonstrators.

A similar tactic was also attempted during last year's SPP summit 
protest in Quebec Canada. Canadian police were caught dressed up as 
rock-wielding anarchists intent on causing riots. Peaceful protesters 
identified the agent provocateurs and the police later had to admit the 
fact despite going to the lengths of publicly staging the arrests of 
their own officers.

Last year, Cossiga drew on his first-hand personal experience in 
conducting false flag terror operations to declare that 9/11 was an 
inside job and that this fact was "common knowledge" amongst global 
intelligence agencies.








http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/riot-ringleader-wotton-jailed-for-six-years/2008/11/07/1225561113987.html

Riot ringleader Wotton jailed for six years
November 7, 2008 - 1:32PM
TOWNSVILLE - Palm Island riot ringleader Lex Wotton has been jailed for 
six years.

The 40-year-old Palm Island man will be eligible for parole in July 2010.

Judge Michael Shanahan told the court police and authorities had 
mishandled communication with locals in the days after the death in 
police custody of Cameron Doomadgee, which sparked the riot.

Many Palm Islanders believed the death in custody would not be properly 
dealt with, despite a number of investigations being launched, including 
one by the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC), he said.

``Whatever the justification, society cannot accept that this (riot) was 
an appropriate response,'' Judge Shanahan said.

Outside court, supporters of Wotton cheered at news he would be released 
in 19 months.

Aboriginal activist Gracelyn Smallwood said the community had been 
bracing themselves for a sentence of between 10 years and life in jail.
She declared the result a victory for Aboriginal people.

``We are very grateful and are hoping that black and white can come 
together and move on with the healing process,'' she said.

Wotton was found guilty last month of instigating the November 2004 riot 
that resulted in the destruction of the island's police station, 
courthouse and an officer's residence.





http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24616098-601,00.html

Palm Island rioter Lex Wotton gets six years jail
Padraic Murphy | November 07, 2008
Article from: The Australian
PALM Island rioter Lex Wotton has been sentenced to six years' jail and 
will be eligible for parole in two.
There was jubilation among Wotton's supporters outside the Townsville 
court this afternoon as judge Michael Shanahan handed down the sentence, 
which was less than the 10 years sought by the prosecution.
Taking into account time already served, Wotton will be eligible for 
release in July 2010.
Aboriginal activist Gracelyn Smallwood said it was a "fantastic result", 
after fears Wotton would receive a heavier sentence.
"People can now move on," she said.
About 100 supporters had gathered outside the court for prayer and a 
traditional Aboriginal smoking ceremony. Many were denied entry because 
the courtroom was full.
Wotton, a 40-year-old plumber, was convicted last month of rioting with 
destruction for his role in riots on Palm Island a week after Mulrunji 
Doomadgee died in 2004.
The riot destroyed the police station and took authorities days to bring 
under control.

The riot started in the wake of the release of autopsy results into the 
death of Doomadgee, a local man who died in police custody from massive 
internal injuries.
``Whatever the justification, society cannot accept that this (riot) was 
an appropriate response,'' Judge Shanahan said.

Unusually, Wotton was not taken down immediately after sentencing but 
was allowed to spend 10 minutes with family and supporters in the 
courtroom.

In sentencing submissions this morning, crown prosecutor Michael Cowen 
told the judge that Wotton's was a very serious crime that had hurt the 
entire community, and he asked for a 10-year sentence.

Among the character refereces for Wotton was one from the Queensland 
parliament's Speaker, Mike Reynolds.

Mr Reynolds, whose electorate includes Palm Island, last week called his 
Government "culturally incompetent" for allowing the presentation of 
bravery awards to policemen in the Palm Island riots to go ahead in the 
same week that Wotton is to be sentenced.

Mr Reynolds would not return calls yesterday, but he is one of several 
high-profile people to provide support for Wotton.

No officer has been disciplined over Doomadgee's death. Senior Sergeant 
Chris Hurley, who was found not guilty last year of manslaughter, is 
appealing against coroner Christine Clements's 2006 finding that found 
him responsible for the death.

Ms Clements said the police handling of the death lacked transparency, 
objectivity and independence, and an internal police report into the 
conduct of investigating officers is yet to be made public, although its 
release is believed to be imminent.

Wotton's lawyer Stewart Levitt said yesterday his client would appeal 
against his conviction, regardless of today's sentence.

"We'll take this all the way to the International Court of Justice in 
The Hague if we have to," Mr Levitt said.

"We have serious concerns about this conviction. The verdict must leave 
Aborigines in remote Queensland communities cowering.

"The bully boys can have their way with the blacks with impunity; not 
just with impunity but with state protection. The police union are 
crowing over their victory even though on any fair reading of the 
transcript of the police witnesses testimony at Lex's trial, the police 
should be hanging their heads in shame.

"In the new age of Obama, it will be interesting to see how this trial 
will be viewed given the changing political landscape."






http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/11/07/europe/EU-Serbia-Karadzic.php

Serb prosecutor: Protester died of police beating

The Associated Press
Published: November 7, 2008
BELGRADE, Serbia: A prosecutor in Serbia says the death of a nationalist 
protester resulted from injuries sustained in clashes with police at a 
rally supporting genocide suspect Radovan Karadzic.
State prosecutor spokesman Tomo Zoric says those responsible will be 
held accountable.
Dozens of people were injured in the July protest in Belgrade against 
the arrest of Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader.
Ranko Panic, 41, suffered abdominal injuries. He died two weeks later. 
The extremist Serbian Radical Party demanded Friday that Interior 
Minister Ivica Dacic resign over Panic's death.
Karadzic was arrested on genocide charges by a U.N. court but Serb 
nationalists view him as a hero.








http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/court-defeat-spells-eviction-for-travellers-1513160.html

Court defeat spells eviction for travellers
By Terri Judd
Thursday, 22 January 2009

Oli Scarff/Getty Images
The Dale Farm travellers camp on 22 January 2009 near Basildon, Essex. 
The Court of Appeal has ruled that Basildon Council can evict the 
travellers living on the site, the largest community of travellers in the UK
Hundreds of travellers, many with small children, were left "desperate" 
and dismayed today after being told they face being moved forcibly from 
their homes after a ruling by the Court of Appeal.
The decision is the culmination of a long and bitter row between the 
Essex residents surrounding the country's largest traveller encampment, 
who accuse their unwelcome neighbours of bringing crime and anti-social 
behaviour to the area, and the travellers, who are adamant they are 
victims of prejudice and victimisation.
Dr Keith Lomax, who represented the travellers of Dale Farm, explained 
yesterday that many of those under threat were the most vulnerable of 
the traveller community - the elderly, the sick or those with young 
children.
"The extent of need on that site is great. The first people who give up 
travelling because of the stresses are those with the greatest medical 
and educational needs, people with mental health needs, physical 
disabilities or those who require the stability of education for kids 
with special needs," he said.
But today, after fighting through the courts for four years, more than 
60 families heard they could be moved on from the Green Belt land at 
Crays Hill.
The travellers' spokesman Grattan Puxon warned that the situation could 
explode into violence if the bailiffs were sent in.
"The women are very, very upset and the men are very, very defiant. They 
will defend the farm. There is nowhere for them to go and it is very 
traumatising for the children. I am not advocating violence but violence 
is brought to us by the bailiffs who have terrorised the children in the 
past," said Mr Puxon.
Three judges reversed a ruling by a High Court judge who quashed a 
decision by Basildon District Council to take direct action to force 
compliance with enforcement notices over the land in Billericay, Essex. 
Lord Justice Pill said the High Court judge, Mr Justice Collins, was "in 
error" to find that consideration had not been given to the individual 
families and the council's decision to clear the sites was lawfully taken.
Mr Puxon said that as many as 80 primary school children would lose 
their places at school while a plan for a new school for 50 secondary 
pupils - prevented from taking up education to date because of "racist 
taunts" - would be under threat if they were moved on.
Travellers first began settling there in the 1960s when permission was 
granted for 40 families. But over the past eight years it has grown with 
many others gravitating towards Dale Farm without permission, often 
having been evicted from elsewhere. Travellers bought land on an old 
scrap yard, which is designated Green Belt, and the community grew to 
more than 1,000 people.
Since 1990 the total number of gypsy and traveller caravans had 
increased nationally by 44 per cent but in the Basildon District, the 
numbers rose by over 475 per cent.
In May 2005, the council voted to bring in enforcement notices to remove 
more than 1,000 people in because there was no planning permission for 
their caravans. But the residents won an eleventh hour reprieve to stop 
the bailiffs and demolishing of the site, starting a long legal battle 
to hold on to their homes.
But today Lord Justice Pill overturned the High Court judgement that the 
council's decision to evict the residents of Dale Farm by direct action 
was unlawful.
Dr Lomax insisted that the court had ordered that the council still has 
to decide what action to take and he hoped they would respect its legal 
duty towards those made homeless. He is still hoping that the case may 
go to the House of Lords.
"It is hoped that the council now acts reasonably and thinks very 
carefully before sending in the bulldozers to clear the entire site," 
said he lawyer, adding that the more than a year ago the East of England 
Regional Assembly determined that Basildon Council needed to provide 81 
additional plots for travellers yet not a single one had been created.
"Now, Basildon council, it is up to you. People need places to live," he 
said, adding: "Site provision is the answer, not endless evictions onto 
the open road. Stop passing the buck."
Yesterday Bala Mahendran, Chief Executive, Basildon District Council, 
said: "The Council wishes to make it clear that although officers will 
start the detailed planning for the clearance operation straight away, 
any evictions will not take place immediately."
Interesting? Click here to explore further






http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-expels-5000-congo-refugees-1055695.html

UK expels 5,000 Congo refugees
By Emily Dugan
Sunday, 7 December 2008
Judges have ruled that up to 5,000 asylum-seekers will be sent back to 
the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo. All Congolese citizens with a 
failed asylum claim are preparing to return, following a decision in the 
Court of Appeal last week.
Innocent Empi, of the Congo Support Project, said: "This is bad, bad 
news for us. Everyone's frightened. There are people saying they would 
prefer to kill themselves than go back to Congo. They will be sending 
them to their death."
The ruling came just days after Human Rights Watch revealed the Kabila 
government has killed around 500 opponents and tortured more than 1,000. 
Lawyers had maintained that just by returning, asylum-seekers were at 
risk. But this evidence – and a further appeal – were rejected.







http://www.eirigi.org/latest/latest101108.html

State harassment of éirígí activists on the rise
10/11/08
A Lurgan éirígí activist was assaulted and arrested by the PSNI on 
Wednesday afternoon, leaving his six-year-old nephew, who was in his 
care at the time, alone on the street.
Damien Duffy was walking through the Kilwilkie estate with his nephew at 
4.30pm on Wednesday when he encountered a heavily-armed, 10-strong PSNI 
foot patrol who were in the process of harassing a small group of local 
teenagers.
When Damien challenged the PSNI personnel to leave the young people 
alone and remove themselves from the area, he was immediately set upon 
by five officers who pulled his hand away from the child and pinned him 
to the ground.
Damien was then thrown into the back of a Land Rover that had arrived at 
the scene, leaving his nephew crying hysterically in the street.
When Damien requested that he be allowed to phone the child’s mother, 
the response of a female PSNI officer was “Fuck the child”.
Mr Duffy was then taken to Lurgan Barracks, where he had his 
fingerprints and a DNA sample taken and was charged with disorderly 
behaviour, resisting arrest and two counts of assault.
Meanwhile, Mr Duffy’s nephew was left unaccompanied and traumatised at 
the scene of the arrest. When the child began to run up the main road in 
the direction of his home, a local resident had to chase after him and 
bring him to a relative who lived near-by.
While being detained in Lurgan Barracks, Damien Duffy was questioned 
about éirígí, the content on its website, the demonstration against the 
British military parade in Belfast on November 2 and his brother Colin,
Damien is the second éirígí activist to be arrested in Lurgan in the 
last week. On Sunday, another man was detained while on his way to 
Belfast for the peaceful demonstration against the RIR.
éirígí spokesperson Sean Mac Brádaigh said the arrests were part of a 
pattern of PSNI repression against the party:
“The treatment Damien Duffy and his nephew received at the hands of the 
PSNI was totally outrageous. To leave a six-year-old child unaccompanied 
in the street and to assault and level false charges against an innocent 
person is hardly the behaviour you would expect from a 'normal' police 
service.
“Members of our party in both Belfast and south Derry have faced 
harassment and questioning under what is called ‘anti-terrorism’ 
legislation in recent weeks – now, we are faced with a situation where 
our activists are facing arrest for daring to look out for the young 
people in their communities.
“éirígí is an open, democratic political party with an agenda that is 
publicly available. What we are witnessing is a politically-motivated 
campaign, operated by the PSNI, that is designed to intimidate éirígí’s 
membership and supporters and prevent it from growing further in 
working-class republican areas.
“It is a campaign that is doomed to failure. éirígí will not be 
intimidated and the repackaged RUC will have to learn that republican 
communities will not shirk from confronting them and their bully boy 
tactics.”







http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/10/31/ot-crackhouse-081031.html?ref=rss

Protesters fight Ont. anti-drug private member's bill
Last Updated: Friday, October 31, 2008 | 3:13 PM ET Comments12Recommend10
CBC News
A private member's bill that would make it easier to close crack houses 
in Ontario has drawn protesters who say it will trample the rights of 
drug addicts and sex workers.
If passed, the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act would allow a 
judge to close a property for up to 90 days or evict individual tenants 
if he or she decides that illegal activity is consistently taking place 
there and having a negative impact on the surrounding community, Liberal 
MPP Yasir Naqvi said.
Naqvi, who represents Ottawa Centre, spoke about his legislation Friday 
at a news conference as protesters carrying red placards booed and 
shouted "shame."
At the moment, drug houses can only be shut down via landlord and tenant 
boards and through charges and convictions of residents under the 
Criminal Code.
"Criminal Code as you know is cumbersome," Naqvi said. "At times, it 
takes … a very long time to act."
Similar legislation targeting crack houses has been introduced in 
Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and 
Alberta, Naqvi said.
Protester Chris Bruckert, a University of Ottawa professor and former 
sex worker, said sex workers should have been consulted.
"It's a human-rights issue and it's something that is going to target 
marginalized populations, including sex workers."
Michelle Ball, who co-ordinates AIDS prevention and education services 
for the AIDS Committee of Ottawa, said the proposed legislation further 
criminalizes drug addiction, even though addiction is recognized as a 
disability.
"It's of grave concern to me because how can anybody access health care 
services, how can anybody move forward and go in any direction in terms 
of drug use, if the only thing we want to do is put them on the street?"
But Stephanie Strudwick, a community activist who once lived two blocks 
from a crack house for a period of three years, said people who live 
near crack houses are fed up.
"You get a drug dealer in a house and it jeopardizes the harmony and 
safety of every single resident … in the vicinity. And going through the 
regular channels just doesn't work," said Strudwick, chair of a 
committee called Concerned Citizens for Safer Neighbourhoods.
"We were having a break-in every day and a half. In broad daylight, we 
had all kinds of people wandering around in our neighourhood, going in 
our backyards, kicking in our doors, opening our windows. We had crack 
cocaine being sold from the fire escape of the building."
Ottawa police Chief Vern White said the legislation would give police 
one more tool.
"It's certainly not going to allow us to shut down a crack house 
overnight," he said. But it will allow police to be more proactive, he 
added, "and hopefully, at the end of the day, keep it from becoming a 
crack house again in the future."







http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/nov2008/poli-n15.shtml

Police provocateur infiltrates political and protest groups in Australia
By Margaret Rees
15 November 2008
In a series of articles published last month, Melbourne's Age newspaper 
revealed that a covert police agent recently infiltrated several 
left-wing political and activist groups, including Socialist 
Alternative, Stop the War Coalition, Unity for Peace, and Animal 
Liberation Victoria. Beginning in 2006, the agent provocateur was 
involved in anti-Iraq war demonstrations—including last year's 
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) protests in Sydney—animal 
liberation actions, and participated in planning meetings for a protest 
to be held against a weapons fair in South Australia.
The two-year operation represents an extraordinary abrogation by the 
state of the right of citizens to participate in public activities and 
join political organisations without fear of police harassment. It 
underscores the extent to which basic democratic rights and established 
legal norms have been torn up under the banner of the so-called war on 
terror. Political dissent—any form of disagreement with the existing 
social and political order—is now being effectively criminalised.
The police agent who infiltrated the various political organisations was 
working with the Victorian Security Intelligence Group (SIG)—the police 
counter-terrorism unit. The SIG is also responsible for protection of 
dignitaries, strategic threat assessments, and monitoring so-called 
"issue-motivated groups". Formerly operating as the Operations 
Intelligence Unit, then re-badged as the SIG, the unit has been 
expanding its operations in line with increasingly draconian federal and 
state anti-terror legislation.
The activities of another SIG provocateur were critical in securing the 
recent convictions of seven men on terror charges in Victoria's Supreme 
Court. The prosecution's case revolved around the evidence of "Security 
Intelligence Operative 39" who befriended Muslim cleric Abdul Nacer 
Benbrika. The covert agent then offered Benbrika cheap ammonium nitrate, 
and took him to a remote hilltop to demonstrate how to detonate a small 
container containing the explosive.
As the World Socialist Web Site noted: "[T]he only explosion presented 
as evidence in the trial was one conducted by a police provocateur for 
the clear purpose of entrapping the cleric." (See "Contradictory 
verdicts in Australia's largest terrorism trial")
While details of the SIG agent's activities in Socialist Alternative and 
the other protest organisations remain scant, there is no reason to 
believe that the modus operandi was any different to that of Security 
Intelligence Operative 39—infiltrate and gain influence in pursuit of a 
prosecution and conviction based on provocation and entrapment.
According to the Age, Socialist Alternative was "the first group [the 
cop] targeted in 2006". In September 2007 he travelled with Socialist 
Alternative to Sydney for antiwar protests timed to coincide with US 
President George Bush's visit for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation 
(APEC) summit.
The agent also reportedly posed as a vegan and participated in Animal 
Liberation meetings from February 2007. In June 2008 he took part in an 
illegal raid on a battery hen farm outside Melbourne.
Earlier this year he was a member of the organising committee for an 
annual antiwar event known as the Palm Sunday rally, organised by church 
and pacifist groups. The police agent took the minutes during meetings 
held in the lead-up to the rally.
 From February this year he also participated in planning for 
demonstrations in Adelaide against a proposed arms fair, the Asia 
Pacific Defence and Security exhibition, that was to be held on November 
11. According to media reports, information gathered by the agent on the 
planned protests was passed on to the South Australian Labor government 
and led to the cancellation of the arms fair.
The Age reported that earlier this year: "In the face of increasing 
suspicions from several community groups about who he really worked for, 
it was time for the Victoria Police Security Intelligence Group 
undercover officer to disappear. So he invented one last lie; a sick 
relative in Cambodia whom he needed to visit. And then he was gone; his 
phone in his flat in Melbourne's south disconnected, his mobile numbers 
no longer working, his chair at numerous Victorian activist groups 
unfilled."
The state Labor government responded to the Age revelations by rejecting 
out of hand any investigation or reform to covert police activities. 
Police Minister Bob Cameron simply insisted that there was "appropriate 
oversight" over the Security Intelligence Group. Cameron also rejected 
criticisms of the government's 2006 amendments to the Freedom of 
Information Act, which protect intelligence documents at police request. 
Documents, including intelligence reports on people who may not have 
committed any crime, can now be stored for an indefinite period.
Liberal response
The media has quickly dropped its coverage of the issue. In an editorial 
on October 20, the Age made clear that its central concern was not the 
threat to civil liberties but rather that the SIG might not only 
discredit itself but the broader "war on terror" as well.
"There is no doubt that the SIG has conducted legitimate infiltration 
and surveillance operations," it declared. "The recent conviction of 
several members of an Islamic jihadist terrorist cell, which resulted 
from an SIG operation, is a notable instance... In this time of 
heightened anxieties, there has always been a danger that civil 
liberties would be undermined by those notionally trying to protect 
them. When a police security intelligence unit starts infiltrating the 
organising committees of peace marches rather than suspected terrorist 
cells, that danger has become very real indeed."
The Age's description of the SIG's setup of the Benbrika group as a 
"legitimate" operation dovetails with its claim that the police unit's 
work is aimed at "trying to protect" civil liberties. This mouthpiece of 
the Victorian liberal establishment is demonstrating its support for the 
sweeping assault underway on democratic rights and the authoritarian 
logic underlying the anti-terror legislation.
The so-called war on terror has been promoted by ruling elites in 
Australia and around the world as a means to legitimise their predatory, 
neo-colonial operations abroad and their attacks on democratic rights at 
home. It has nothing whatsoever to do with protecting ordinary people 
from the threat of harm from terrorist attack.
The question can be raised: if it is regarded as legitimate 
"anti-terror" police work for the agents provocateurs who infiltrated a 
group of disoriented men, influenced by religious fundamentalist ideas, 
to actively encourage their disorientation, incite discussions about 
violence, and provide them with the illegal material that triggered 
their arrest and prosecution, then on what grounds can one oppose the 
same methods being applied to other citizens, including members of 
political parties and protest organisations?
Once the framework of the "war on terror" is accepted then the issue is 
no longer the democratic rights of the people but the rights of police 
to wage this "war" and the efficacy of police tactics.
A clear demonstration of this was provided by Julian Burnside, president 
of the civil liberties group Liberty Victoria, who responded to the Age 
reports by suggesting that police infiltration activities might require 
"greater oversight" by an external body. "I wonder how many people would 
feel comfortable that they were referred to in a police document, 
however innocuous," he said. "I don't think the police have asked: to 
what extent are we invading people's privacy? And what are we gaining 
from doing so?"
But since when has it been up to the police to weigh up the costs and 
benefits of potential provocations? The real issue is not the judgement 
of the police agents involved, but whether or not citizens have 
recognised rights that the state may not legally violate.
The SIG's infiltration of political organisations is no accident or 
aberration. In 2003, after the government bolstered the SIG's powers 
through the Terrorism (Community Protection) Act, the World Socialist 
Web Site presciently warned: "The new laws strengthen the hand of the 
SIG and the entire police force to spy on political opponents of the 
government, operate as agents provocateurs and carry out entrapment 
exercises." (See "Australia: State Labor government hands police 
unprecedented powers")
Outstanding questions
There are many outstanding questions about the SIG agent's two-year 
activities within the different political groups. The Age provided only 
a broad outline and chose not to name him. And none of the affected 
organisations has issued a public statement providing a full account of 
their knowledge of the agent and his activity in their groups.
Leading Socialist Alternative member Mick Armstrong was quoted in the 
Age saying: "On the one hand you've got police saying ‘we will be open 
and co-operate with you' if you tell them what you are doing ahead of a 
rally or some sort of action, but then you learn they are still spying 
on you. It's completely unjustified."
The WSWS made several phone calls to Socialist Alternative requesting to 
speak with Armstrong or any other available senior member in order to 
get further details on the agent's activities. None of these phone calls 
was returned.
Instead, the organisation posted an article on its web site on November 
10 (also published in the latest version of their printed magazine), 
titled "Nothing new about cops spying on the left"—their first 
independent acknowledgement of the Age's revelations. Aside from an 
admission that the agent had "signed up as a member of Socialist 
Alternative" (something the Age had not made clear), there is no 
additional information regarding the cop and his actions.
The article, appearing under the by-line of Jerome Small, amounts to a 
criminally irresponsible underestimation of the seriousness of the 
police infiltration and the danger posed to left-wing organisations by 
state provocation. The essential argument is that police infiltration is 
as old as the socialist movement itself, that nothing can be done to 
prevent it or to minimise its impact ("So long as we're out to change 
the world, people paid to lie and spy will never be far away"), and that 
it is not that much of a problem anyway—"[D]espite the activities of the 
latest wannabe James Bond outed by the Age, Socialist Alternative has 
continued to grow."
This dismissive attitude and flippant tone reflect the organisation's 
entirely unserious and opportunist petty bourgeois protest politics.
The Socialist Alternative leadership nevertheless has a responsibility 
to the working class—not to mention to its own membership—to make public 
all it knows regarding the identity and activities of the agent 
provocateur formerly working within its ranks.
Among the questions that need to be addressed are the following:
* What is the agent's name? Are photographs of him available?
* When and how did he first approach Socialist Alternative? How did he 
become a member? Did he hold any elected or leading positions within the 
organisation?
* Did he engage in any provocative behaviour? How did he conduct himself 
at the APEC demonstrations?
* Are there any grounds for believing that the agent's activities 
assisted the series of raids by anti-terror police on students' homes in 
the lead up to APEC? Or that his activities during the demonstration 
contributed to the police targeting and arresting of protestors that day?
* When and why did the agent cease his membership with Socialist 
Alternative? Did anyone have any suspicions about him? If so, were these 
raised with any of the other organisations subsequently infiltrated?






http://www.thinkspain.com/news-spain/16401/prison-sentences-for-police-officers-in-illegal-detention-row

Prison sentences for police officers in illegal detention row
By: thinkSPAIN , Thursday, March 19, 2009
The High Court in Barcelona has sentenced three Mossos d'Esquadra 
(members of the autonomous police force in Catalunya) to between three 
and four years in prison for illegally detaining and mistreating a man 
after an off-duty brawl in a Barcelona nightclub in June 2006.
The judge handed down a custodial sentence of three years to Mónica 
Fraile for illegal arrest, and four years each for her colleagues, 
Alberto Fabregat and Juan Diaz, who were also found guilty of crimes 
against the victim's 'moral integrity' having humiliated, punched and 
insulted him while he was held in the police cell.
The two male agents were also banned from working as police officers for 
a total of 13 years, and Ms. Fraile for a total of eight years and they 
were ordered to pay the victim 8,200 euros in compensation.
The court agreed with the victim, José Antonio Medina's version of 
events and only fined him 60 euros for having assaulted one of the 
'mossos d'esquadra' during the argument in the Sala Bikin nightclub.
Medina's friend, Pedor S., was also acquitted of sexual harassment, 
which according to the three agents, who accused him of having felt the 
female agent's bottom, was the original cause of the argument in the 
nightclub.

Amongst others, this case of police abuse led the Interior Ministry to 
install cameras in the Mossos d'Esquadra cells in Barcelona, which have, 
in turn, brought to light other cases of maltreatment.
The judge ruled that the agents had acted in an 'arrogant and 
inappropriate fashion' and that their actions had been a 'blatant abuse 
of their power'. Medina's detention was described as 'arbitrary, 
disproportionate and wholly illegal' by the judge who said the agents 
has flouted all the rules governing the arrest and detention of suspects 
and the police obligations in such cases.
Apart from punching and insulting the victim while in the police cell, 
the agents were also alleged to have said; 'We know where you live and 
if you dare report us we'll kill you and screw your wife'.
The court was also damning in its opinion of the Police Station where 
Medina was held, saying that they prolonged his illegal detention 
'unnecessarily' and that he suffered an 'unjustified detention and 
degrading treatment' at their hands.






http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/774/39906

Italy: Massive protests as racist offensive launched

Tim Dobson
7 November 2008

Two-and-a-half million people marched through the streets of Rome on 
October 25 in opposition to the policies and corruption of the 
right-wing government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
The demonstration was organised by the centre-left Democratic Party 
(PD), led by former Rome mayor, Walter Veltroni. “It is proof that 
democracy is alive and well … We could never have imagined such a large 
turnout”, Veltroni stated at the rally.

Berlusconi’s right-wing bloc came to power in April after a motion of 
no-confidence in the then-PD government was passed by parliament.

The rally, which didn’t have any specific demands, was seen as a show of 
strength by the PD, which, has been very weak in opposing Berlusconi’s 
agenda. The PD have accused Berlusconi of moving Italy far to the right 
and of “flirting with fascism”.

Open fascists, including Benito Mussolini’s granddaughter, have a big 
influence within the People of Freedom (PdL) party, which is the 
majority party Berlusconi’s government.

The government is also in an alliance with the Northern League — a 
racist, far-right party, whose leader Umberto Bossi recently boasted 
that his party had “300,000 martyrs ready to come down from the 
mountains” in order to hunt down immigrants.

Cabinet ministers have also defended fascism, as has Berlusconi himself, 
recently stating, “We are the new Falange” (the party of Spanish fascist 
dictator Franco), according to an April 30 London Telegraph article.

Berlusconi made this statement after the election of the far-right 
Gianni Alemanno as the mayor of Rome, whose election was met by 
supporters with widespread chants of “Duce, Duce!”, as hundreds raised 
their hands in a fascist salute.

The Berlusconi government has engaged in widespread racist attacks. It 
has ordered the finger printing of the entire 150,000-strong population 
of Romani people in Italy, including children.

According to the government, this was needed to “prevent begging” and 
make it possible to remove Romani children from their parents.

According to a July 10 British Guardian article, “Italy’s highest appeal 
court ruled that it was acceptable to discriminate against Roma on the 
grounds that ‘all Gypsies were thieves’”.

Berlusconi’s government has also begun forcibly closing Roma camps and 
rounding up Romani people. This has been accompanied with violent 
attacks by iron-bar-wielding racist thugs, including the burning of 
Romani camps to the ground.

The interior minister Roberto Maroni has justified such actions by 
stating, “That is what happens when gypsies steal babies”.

Bossi said after the attacks, “The people do what the political class 
isn’t able to do”.

The Guardian article reported that, in response, “Roma groups have 
demonstrated, wearing the black triangles Gypsies were forced to wear in 
the Nazi concentration camps, and anti-racist campaigners in Rome this 
week began to bombard the interior ministry with their own fingerprints 
in protest”.

Berlusconi’s racist attacks have extended to all immigrants. In May, 400 
immigrants were arrested and detained, with more than 100 immediately 
expelled.

In July, a “state of emergency” was declared to stop immigration. In 
early August, thousands of Italian soldiers were deployed to find 
“illegal” immigrants.

A bill was passed by the parliament, which made illegal immigration a 
jailable offence, made it easier to expel immigrants and allow for the 
confiscation of property rented to illegal immigrants. Any immigrant 
rejected as an asylum seeker can be deported before an appeal can be heard.

An October 19 Guardian article quoted Italy’s only black MP, 
Jean-Leonard Touadi from the Values Party, stating that, “Immigrants are 
becoming the enemy”.

“With an economic crisis under way, Italy has found a scapegoat to blame 
its woes on.”

These laws have emboldened racists, with the Guardian reporting that in 
Milan “last month Abdul William Guibre, 19, originally from Burkina 
Faso, was beaten to death in an attack. After accusing Guibre of 
stealing a packet of biscuits, a bar owner and his son called him a 
‘dirty black’ and set on him with a metal pole.”

The article reported: “A Senegalese man selling handbags in a Milan 
street market was beaten with a baseball bat after stallholders 
reportedly accused him of ‘stealing work from Italians’.

“Outside Naples, six African migrants were shot dead recently by the 
local mafia, while in Rome a Chinese immigrant was beaten up by boys as 
young as 15.

“A Somalian-born woman claimed that at Rome’s Ciampino airport she was 
strip-searched and verbally abused when going through customs. … The 
Interior Minister … said he would personally sue the woman for lying. 
‘Between her version and that of the police I would have no doubt about 
believing the police,’ said Senate leader Maurizio Gasparri.”

Such policies have provoked outrage among large section of the 
population. The Catholic Church has also criticised anti-immigrant 
racism, with Pope Benedict XVI calling for a “culture of welcome”, 
rather than “closed borders”.

Berlusconi’s government has combined these racist assaults with a 
neoliberal assault on the education system, which has provoked 
widespread anger amongst students and teachers.

The Berlusconi government has proposed a 1.5 billion euros cut in 
spending on the university system, decreased the number of courses 
offered, reduced the number of hours teachers are employed and carried 
out mass sackings of teachers.

In response, students and teachers have engaged in strikes, protests and 
occupations.

The largest protest against the education laws was on October 30, the 
day the laws were passed through the parliament. More than 1 million 
people marched in Rome. A strike was called by the union movement and 
virtually all schools were shut down.

Tens of thousands of students have been protesting daily against the 
reforms across Italy. Peaceful demonstrations have been met with 
right-wing thugs wielding clubs and chains. Berlusconi has vowed to use 
police to break-up student sit-ins.

Further strikes have been called for November 7 and 14.

Associated Press reported on October 31: “Opposition leader Veltroni … 
launched a petition for a referendum to repeal the measures and needs 
500,000 signatures for the vote to be held.”







http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/falun-gong-vancouver-china-protest-6869.html

Lawyers Question Nature of City’s Attempt to End Falun Gong Protest
By Helena Zhu
Epoch Times Staff Nov 8, 2008
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A Falun Gong practitioner stands outside the shelter that the City of 
Vancouver says violates a bylaw. The Falun Gong have maintained a 7-year 
vigil outside the Chinese consulate on Granville St. to raise awareness 
of the persecution of their counterparts in China. (Helena Zhu)
VANCOUVER—As the hearing over the Falun Gong protest outside the Chinese 
consulate wrapped up on Friday, Falun Gong's lawyers told the B.C. 
Supreme Court that there is an “improper purpose” behind the City of 
Vancouver's attempt to oust the long-running appeal.
Legal counsel Joe Arvay suggested that Mayor Sam Sullivan's efforts to 
get rid of the protest have more to do with Sullivan's relationship with 
the Chinese consulate and the regime in China than with a bylaw.
The city wants Falun Gong practitioners to dismantle their 7-year 24/7 
protest consisting of signs and a small shelter outside the consulate, 
saying it violates a city bylaw.
Falun Gong's lawyers argued that the bylaw is unconstitutional and 
infringes on free speech, and the city should not shut down freedom of 
expression of Canadian citizens due to pressure orchestrated by the 
Chinese regime.
The city's lawyer, Tom Zworski, told the court that the enforcing of the 
bylaw concerning permanent structures on city property has nothing to do 
with Chinese consulate pressure and is merely part of the city's 
“regulatory scheme.”
Even if there were an improper purpose, said Zworski, the hearing should 
not be a judicial review of the city’s decision.
The structure is an obstruction of free use of the street, he said, and 
has simply existed for long enough. Since the city never gave permission 
in writing for the shelter and signs to be erected, they are therefore 
illegal.
The Falun Gong disputed this, saying they were initially given verbal 
permission by the city. The group started the protest in Aug. 2001 to 
appeal for their persecuted family and friends in China where the 
practice of Falun Gong is banned.
Outlining 25 “incontrovertible facts,” Arvay told Justice Sunni 
Stromberg-Stein of the close relationship that existed between Sullivan 
and ex-Chinese Consular General Yang Qiang, including the fact that 
Sullivan and his parents were guests at a private dinner at Yang’s 
residence where the protest site was discussed.
Sullivan, who speaks fluent Cantonese and some Mandarin, has also been 
invited to China several times, said Arvay, including on a trade 
delegation with Premier Gordon Campbell in 2004 and as an honoured guest 
at the Paralympic Games.
Noting dozens of coincidences, Arvay said that before Sullivan came to 
office, the city tolerated the protest and Falun Gong Day was proclaimed 
by the city up until 2004. That ceased after Sullivan was elected, and 
beginning with ex-Prime Minister Paul Martin’s trade mission to China in 
January 2005, formal meetings were arranged and pressure was put on the 
Falun Gong to dismantle or downsize the site.
Arvay also pointed out that after Sullivan became mayor he began to 
pressure Falun Gong practitioners to remove the protest not because of 
the structure but because of the messaging on the signs and banners 
affixed to the consulate fence.
“When coincidence is piled on top of coincidence, on top of coincidence, 
on top of coincidence, etc., etc., etc., eventually someone needs to ask 
the question: is there something supernatural going on? Or are you 
simply not telling the truth?” said Arvay.
Zworski said that the city is not after the individuals or the message 
but the structure itself. The city's enforcement has gone through a 
“progress enforcement approach,” where the city gradually enforces the 
bylaw, starting with dialogue, notification about the bylaw, formal 
letters and, lastly, enforcement.
He told the court that even without the permanent structure and 
violation of the bylaw, Falun Gong practitioners can still continue to 
express themselves by holding hand-held signs or posters. It is only a 
matter of more people and commitment.
Since most of the current protestors are elderly women, Falun Gong's 
lawyers argued that it is beyond the capacity, strength, and number of 
protestors involved to keep it up.
“The shelter, of course, is what enables them to be there 365 days a 
year through all the bad weather, the freezing weather and the rain and 
everything else,” said lawyer Clive Ansley.
Zworski indicated the shelter or structure is merely an aid that creates 
comfort and convenience for the protestors. By attaching a sign to the 
structure does not make the structure itself expressive. Therefore 
removing the structure does not affect freedom of speech.
He said numerous permanent signs and advertisements have been erected 
without permission in the city, causing an “aesthetic disaster.” 
Therefore it is important for the city to control and adjust the balance 
of competitive interests and uses.
While Arvay agreed that the city should hold the right to regulate 
signs, he said the city only made regulating policies for commercial and 
artistic expressions, but not political. Numerous commercial and 
artistic structures are granted exemptions to remain on city properties.
He argued that the city does nothing to promote political expressions 
that may directly link to social justice and human rights, which is the 
measure of a free and democratic society and is protected under the 
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Even if the city does not 
create a policy for political expressions, at least an exemption should 
be made for this particular site, he said
The site, which is the longest-running 24/7 protest in the world, is 
“unique” from any ordinary protest, said Arvay, and the message 
displayed on the signs is significant. The protest has never meant to be 
permanent, as soon as the persecution in China ends the structure will 
no longer be necessary.
In addition, Arvay emphasised that the structure does not interfere with 
pedestrians or other users of street. Any “interference” was coming from 
the Chinese consulate and regime, he said, as the message imparted by 
the signs is not to their liking.
Fearful that the rapidly-growing Falun Gong was a threat to their power, 
the Chinese regime launched a crackdown against the spiritual practice 
in 1999, which led to the imprisonment, torture and deaths of thousands 
of adherents.
“I think it’s a clear move to curtail the freedom of speech of Canadian 
citizens, in order to satisfy a foreign dictatorship,” said Ansley.
Additional reporting by Sarah Hack.






http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2008/11/24/abortion-protest-calgary.html?ref=rss

U of C students risk arrest for anti-abortion displays
Last Updated: Monday, November 24, 2008 | 11:36 AM MT Comments96Recommend35
CBC News
Some University of Calgary students say they will risk arrest and 
possibly even expulsion by holding an anti-abortion protest later this week.
The anti-abortion group University of Calgary Campus Pro-Life plans to 
put up giant posters outside MacEwan Student Centre on Wednesday and 
Thursday showing aborted fetuses. The posters compare abortion to the 
Holocaust, the Ku Klux Klan and the genocide in Rwanda.
Earlier this year, university administrators asked the group, which has 
about 30 members, to make the posters less visible, citing safety 
concerns. But when they refused to comply, the school issued a letter 
last month threatening legal action.
The letter says the university will consider the students to be 
trespassing and they will be subject to arrest, fines, suspension or 
expulsion. Attempts to come up with a "reasonable compromise" have been 
unsuccessful, according to the letter.
"The appropriate forum to resolve this issue is in the courts."
University lawyer Paul Beke said the Charter of Rights and Freedoms does 
not apply to universities, and freedom of expression protection does not 
extend to trespassers.
"Protesters are on the university's private property and they have 
refused to follow the university's instructions. Because they won't 
co-operate, they had to give notice to the protesters that they will 
become illegal protesters. So they will be dealt with legally if they do 
trespass."
University of Calgary Campus Pro-Life has held the Genocide Awareness 
Project displays five times since 2005, sometimes attracting 
counter-protests.
"The reason we won't back down is simply because of our conviction in 
the pro-life message, and freedom of speech," said Leah Hallman, 
president of the University of Calgary Campus Pro-Life. "But the reason 
why I personally am going ahead with it is because if I do not do this, 
what will happen to the unborn?"
Student Julia Kittelsen, who filed a complaint, says she considers the 
displays hate propaganda.
"I think it unfairly targets women who have had abortions. I think you 
have to consider that if a student group started targeting Jewish 
students, then it would be completely unacceptable, so why is their 
message acceptable?"






http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/28/2432757.htm

Safety watch on forest protests
Posted Fri Nov 28, 2008 3:00pm AEDT
Tasmanian Workplace Standards is investigating whether state safety laws 
have been breached by forest activists.
The general manager Roy Ormerod says some protesters are putting their 
lives and those of workers in danger by their actions in the forests.
In a recent example a protester chained himself to cable logging 
machinery near Geeveston in the south this week.
Mr Ormerod says the investigation could result in prosecutions.
"This is more of a case of us gathering evidence and if we believe 
there's evidence there we'll be proceeding down the path of issuing 
summonses and taking people to court," Mr Ormerod said.







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

Bloodshed in West Papua

New Matilda - November 19, 2008

Setyo Budi -- West Papuan man Opinus Tabuni was
shot and killed by the Indonesian military during a
celebration of the UN World Indigenous People Day
in the highland city of Wamena in August. The
murder aimed to strengthen the presence of the
Indonesian security apparatus in the province,
according to a recent finding of the Indonesian
Human Rights Commission.

"Tabuni did not participate in the demonstration,
and the bullet found in the left side of his heart
is of a type usually used by Indonesian military
officers. We don't know the motive yet; but we are
afraid that it was engineered to create a
horizontal conflict, so they have a legitimacy to
be in West Papua." said Commissioner of the
Indonesian National Commission of Human Rights
Yosep Adi Prasetyo when I spoke to him in Melbourne
in October.

The UN World Indigenous Day was marked by a
peaceful demonstration that was attended by over
10,000 West Papuans who travelled to Wamena from
the Baliem Valley and neighboring highland areas.
The West Papuan nationalist Morning Star flag was
unfurled, along with the Indonesian flag, a white
SOS flag to call for help for West Papua and the
United Nations flag.

The Indonesian Government has placed an outright
ban on the use of the Morning Star flag, as it
symbolises West Papuan self-determination. The
regulations state: "The design of a local symbol
and flag must not have main similarities to the
design, logo and flag of any illegal organisation
or separatist
organisation/group/institution/movement in the
Unitary Republic of Indonesia".

According to Prasetyo: "There is strict enforcement
of the government regulation; anyone wearing the
Morning Star t-shirt or even a woman who knits the
Morning Star sign is accused of rebelling against
the state, although they are just showing their
pride in the symbol."

The flag-raising ceremony turned to chaos when
security guards fired shots into the air to
intimidate demonstrators. Tabuni was caught in the
crossfire and the fatal bullet was found to be one
typically used by the Indonesian military rather
than local police.

The finding of the Indonesian National Commission
of Human Rights indicates that a taskforce was
deployed from Jakarta to Wamena, West Papua to
monitor the demonstration. "Two police officers and
a few local military officers were the eyewitnesses
to the incident as they guarded the area. We don't
know, however, where the taskforce officers
originated, either from the military or from the
intelligence agency, as they never reported to the
local authority" Prasetyo said.

Indonesian intelligence, military and police
officers have long been implicated in human rights
violations in West Papua. Atrocities such as the
death of Tabuni led 43 West Papuans to risk their
lives and seek political asylum in Australia in
2006. The group say they fled West Papua to avoid
prosecution by the Indonesian Government for their
independence activism, an allegation later denied
by Indonesia.

They left Merauke on 13 January 2006, travelling by
sea in a rudimentary seven-metre long canoe. Their
arduous journey, expected to take only one day,
lasted nearly five days. Aboard the canoe was
Julius Kogoya (not his real name) a 23-year-old
political activist. Among those accompanying him
were seven women and seven children under 15.

Kogoya was politically active when he was a student
at Cendrawasih University in Jayapura, West Papua.
He was afraid of being prosecuted and traumatised
after the murder of 10 relatives in 2001. "My
relatives were killed in Bogolakme, an area between
Wamena and the peak of Mt Jayawijaya. They were
shot when they were sleeping by Indonesian
soldiers, because they were suspected as members of
Free Papua Organisation (OPM)" said Kogoya when I
spoke with him recently.

After experiencing harsh conditions for days, the
asylum seekers landed in Cape York. They were flown
to Christmas Island and detained until the
Australian government recognised their status as
asylum seekers and granted them Temporary
Protection Visas.

Gaining a permanent residency in Australia and
witnessing West Papuan independence are Kogoya's
future hopes. Now living in a public housing estate
in Melbourne, he is studying journalism and aims to
expose any future human rights violations in his
homeland.

The acceptance of the West Papuan asylum seekers by
the Australian government essentially recognised
that human rights violations were committed by the
Indonesian authority in the territory, giving
weight to West Papuans' quest for independence. The
decision generated much debate within Australia and
caused a rift between the Indonesian and Australian
governments.

What the discussions turned on was whether
Australian foreign policy should focus on human
rights issues or on the maintenance of a good
bilateral relationship with Indonesia.

Dr Rodd McGibbon, a Visiting Fellow at the
Strategic and Defence Studies Centre in the
Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the
Australian National University was one of those who
was against the decision to grant asylum to the
group, and does not believe it is a good idea to
support West Papuan self determination.

"Instead of creating solution for the conflict,
support for the West Papuan independence struggle
creates more problems" he claims in his paper,
Pitfalls of Papua, Understanding the conflict and
its place in Australia -- Indonesia relations,
published by the Lowy Institute in 2006.

He argues that "Australia needs to directly
confront perception in Indonesia that it is
supporting Papuan separatism". This perception, he
said, is "widespread" and "has been reinforced by
the separation of East Timor."

Dr Clinton Fernandes, who is a senior lecturer in
politics at ADFA, disagrees. "West Papuan
independence will not hurt, harm or help Australia
as an independent West Papua will not be
antagonistic against Australia," he said. He
believes that what hurts Australia most is the
failure to dispense justice to Indonesian military
officers who committed crimes in East Timor and who
are now in West Papua.

Since the reformasi movement started in 1997 there
has been some reform of the Indonesian army,
including that which eventually led to the downfall
of Suharto. Although the progress of the reformasi
movement is slower than expected, it does activate
people to monitor the Government's conduct. But
while reforms are taking place in the army, the
Indonesian State Intelligence Agency remains
untouched.

"The military is now being careful, because of the
accusations of human rights violations in the past.
Its business involvement is also being eliminated.
The intelligence agency has not been reformed; its
officers often create conflicts and then become
peace makers" said Prasetyo.

To stop further human rights violations in West
Papua and to prevent further escalation of the
conflict, the Indonesian Government needs to commit
to further reform within its institutions and be
genuine in recognising the needs of West Papuans.

And on the Australian side, orienting foreign
policy towards the protection of human rights will
prompt further reform in Indonesia; it will also
promote solutions to the conflict in West Papua.

The bloodshed in Timor and the slowness of the
international community -- including successive
Australian governments -- to act in the past should
be a reminder to those who put bilateral relations
before human rights in foreign policy.

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

Papuans left Australia to 'avoid crime charge'

Jakarta Post - November 21, 2008

Angela Flassy, Jayapura -- The return home from
Australia of two Papuan asylum seekers was due to
legal problems arising from the couples ongoing
incidence of domestic violence -- and nothing else,
Alfons Adadikam, chairman of the Melbourne based
Victoria West Papua Association (VIWPA) said. He
criticized the Indonesian government for using the
repatriation for political gain and said the
repatriation was for no other reason.

Hana Gobay and Yubel Kareni were had repeated
domestic violence problems. The last reported case
was in July, when Yubel hit Hana over the head with
a bottle, Adadikam said.

"Yubel was then detained. They were ordered to live
separately and keep a minimum distance of 200
meters. Due to pressure from the Papuan community,
Yubel was released on bail," he said.

Adadikam disclosed that the couple often quarreled
with each other, including one incident last year
when Hana stabbed Yubel in his stomach.

"Yubel should have been taken the police office at
that time, but I asked the police to release him,
as he need to go to the hospital. They kept the
court imposed distance, but after living separately
for few months, they began living together again,"
he said.

The association helped the couple, along with other
41 asylum seekers, since they came to Melbourne
last year, he added.

He said the asylum seekers received social support
beginning two weeks after their arrival. This
included a biweekly allowance of A$450 each,
concessions for tram tickets, medication and
accommodation.

Adadikam said he resented the couple's negative
comments about the Papuan community in Australia,
given after they returned home.

"If they want to return home, it's no problem. But
at least they could say farewell and admit that it
was their decision to leave. We regret the
manipulation of the news, its against the facts,"
Adadikam, who still holds Indonesia citizenships,
said.

He criticized the Indonesian Consulate General in
Melbourne, who, instead of helping Hana and Yubel
with their problem, used it for political gain.

Wiwiek Setyawati Firman, Human Rights and Humanity
Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
however, denied Adadikam's claims. "They came home
by their own will, that's what I know. Australia
has its laws, we have ours. If they were involved
in a crime, I think they should be punished. Many
Australians have been punished here in Indonesia,"
Setyawati said Wednesday.

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

Internet cafe users to verify identity

Jakarta Post - November 22, 2008

Jakarta -- Head of Indonesian Internet Cafe
Association's Supervisory Body Judith Monique said
Saturday the government should require all internet
services users to verify their identity.

"There needs to be a log for users, such as a guest
book, at every warnet (internet cafe) so as to
provide investigators with leads whenever
cybercrime surfaces," Monique said, as quoted by
Antara news agency.

The National Police Cybercrime Unit head Edy
Hartono concurred, adding that the police had
already planned on ordering internet cafe owners to
set up user logs with detailed identity
information.

"To date, most internet cafe operators only
register net billing information and user IDs.
Since these can be easily manipulated, it creates a
conducive environment for criminals," Hartono said.

He added that the police had stepped up measures in
publicizing the 2008 Law on Information and
Electronic Transactions (ITE), particularly among
the internet provider community.

According to legal expert Edmon Makarim, the ITE
law allows easier access for the police in
investigating cybercrimes.

"Under the ITE, digital evidences are deemed valid
in any investigation of alleged internet misuse,"
Makarim said.

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

Scalpers offer express lane to passport processing

Jakarta Post - November 3, 2008

Jakarta -- People swarmed the East Jakarta
Immigration office, jostling in and out of
different rooms just to get a small yet important
gateway book, the passport.

Anyone can get a passport simply by standing in
line for hours and purchasing a Rp 5,000 (50 US
cents) application form, filling it in and then
submitting it with all the required documents,
including family data, identity card, birth
certificate and diplomas.

Three days later one comes back, pays the standard
Rp 270,000 passport fee before being photographed,
fingerprinted and interviewed. This takes a few
more hours.

"After completing these procedures, your passport
will be done in five days to one week," an official
in a light brown uniform at information said
recently.

Or you can contact Kiki or one of the other many
neatly dressed men and women who merge with the
crowd at the immigration office offering their
services to passport applicants. They are the
scalpers, the middle-men or women who haunt the
immigration office almost every day, trying to
convince applicants to use their services.

"I can arrange your passport, but there is a price
to pay. It is just like buying a train ticket.
There are VIP, business and economy classes," said
Kiki, a forty-year-old woman with a serious stare.

She then stated her rates. For Rp 1.5 million, the
passport is printed and done in one day, for Rp
700,000, it takes two days, and for Rp 500,000, it
is done in five days.

"It's all in the game. We give some money to
certain officials at certain desks to facilitate
the passport arrangements, so by giving more, it
will be done more quickly," said Imam, another
scalper.

He added that if someone arranged for their
passport and did not submit all the required
documents, the application might be rejected by the
immigration office. On the other hand, if someone
who lacked documents arranged for the passport
through a scalper, he could get it with the help of
insiders, no problem.

"You don't even need to queue for hours and go
through the hassle. All you need to do is to agree
with the price, hand me some documents, and I'll
call you to do the interview, photographs and
fingerprinting sessions," he said.

Although arranging passports through scalpers is
more expensive, some people still use this kind of
service. In a small restaurant right beside the
office, a young woman haggles with a scalper.

"Can you trim down the price you've offered? It is
too expensive for me," said the young woman. "I
don't think so MBak, Rp 450,000 is the final
offer," said the male scalper the man.

Another applicant, April, a middle-aged business
woman wanting to renew her expired passport, said,
"I prefer paying them because I don't want to queue
all day long, be fussed over and slowed down by
bureaucracy at the immigration office. "I'm a very
busy person, I don't have time for that. I need my
passport done quickly."

Santo, who needed his passport immediately because
he had to go abroad in three days, had a similar
opinion.

"The immigration office said my passport would be
done in five to six days. I thought I could bypass
the process by using a scalper. See, I have had my
passport done today," he said while showing off his
new passport. (pmf)

***************************************************
---------------------------------------------------

'Raids on thugs create confusion'

Jakarta Post - November 10, 2008

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta -- An expert said that up
to now the police war on thugs has set unclear
objectives and therefore resulted in even greater
confusion in the field.

"A clear example is that up to now the police
themselves are holding no clear description of
thug. The police often confuse the term 'thug' with
'criminal' and this has made them arrest whoever
wandering the streets without proper documents,"
criminologist Adrianus Meliala of the University of
Indonesia told The Jakarta Post Sunday.

More than 1,500 people have been arrested by the
police since November 2. They were detained on the
streets of cities like Jakarta, Medan, Surabaya,
Yogyakarta and Semarang. However, only 185 of them
were questioned further, while the others were
freed as the police could not collect enough
evidence to jail them.

Meliala said besides the police lack of
understanding over the term thug, it was also clear
that this operation was not properly supported by
other agencies. "Other agencies should help to
anticipate any additional problems that may follow
the operation," he said.

This was clear at the Senen Bus Terminal in Central
Jakarta where most self-appointed driver's
assistants, who heard about the anti-thug
operation, had fled the scene prior to the raid.
The absence of the assistants, despite the popular
belief that they are criminals who extort public
transportation drivers, left additional problems
for the drivers who operate at the terminal.

"The people actually help us manage the passengers.
With them, I only need to wait in line for 30
minutes before having my turn to get passengers.
Now I have to wait for at least two hours," Yazin,
a driver, said.

Such assistants usually help the drivers by telling
passengers which vehicle is first in line. They
herd passengers to the right vehicle.

He said he was not annoyed by the Rp 2,000 (US$20
cent) 'fee' charged by the assistants for their
services each time they managed to fill the bus. He
added that for now the drivers will have to rely on
someone else to manage the passengers.

"But we have no experience managing passengers. We
don't have the skills like the guys do," he said.

According to Sinurat, a vendor at the terminal, the
assistants were mostly teenagers aged between 15
and 18 who had dropped out of school due to
poverty.

"Those lads only do what they can do because they
can't go to school and try to earn money for their
families. With the raids, how can they earn money
now?" he asked.

Commenting on this, Meliala said managing
passengers was a task the officials from the
transportation agency should do.

"Ideally, the transportation agency should
immediately come to help the bus drivers after the
raids," he said. "If there is no such action taken,
greater confusion in the field will happen," he
added.

Concerning the assistants, he added, the
administration should provide them with
comprehensive courses aimed at improving their
economic circumstances.

"That is why I have told the officials that this
kind of operation is never an easy one. They should
consider that a more comprehensive operation would
include not only arresting people on the street,
but also poverty alleviation," he said. (hdt)

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







http://www.buzzle.com/articles/235302.html

Burmese Activists Jailed for 65 Years Over Protests
Another 20 activists are being tried on numerous charges and could face 
sentences of up to 150 years each
A closed military court in Burma sentenced 14 pro-democracy activists to 
65 years each in prison yesterday for their part in last year's 
anti-government uprising.

The leaders of the 88 Generation students group had staged small-scale 
protests against the sudden fuel price rises which fomented unrest that 
led to demonstrations led by monks. At least 31 people were killed in a 
subsequent army crackdown in Rangoon.

The severity of the sentences handed to the 14 leaders, including five 
women, at the hearing in Rangoon's notorious Insein jail stunned even 
those inured to the harsh military regime.

Another 20 activists, among the hundreds of political dissidents seized 
in swoops this year, are being tried on numerous charges and could face 
sentences of up to 150 years each.

Some of those sentenced yesterday faced four charges of using electronic 
media and were given 15 years on each count, with a further five years 
for forming an illegal organization.

The best known among the group are Thin Thin Aye, also called Mie Mie, 
and Kyaw Min Yu, also known as Ko Jimmy, who were arrested in August 
last year. They also included Ko Jimmy's wife, Nilar Thein, who fled 
into hiding, leaving their four-month old daughter with her parents, but 
was arrested two months ago.

Nyunt Nyunt Oo, the mother of Pannate Tun, said her son was sentenced to 
65 years under charges that ban possession of illegal videos, making 
speeches or statements, and taking part in demonstrations.

"No family members or defence lawyers were present at the trial," she said.

Defense lawyers Aung Thein and Khin Maung Shein were earlier sentenced 
to four months imprisonment for contempt of court, while other legal 
representatives were so tightly restricted that the activists stopped 
using them.

The activists were part of the leadership of the 88 Generation that rose 
up against the regime 20 years ago. They were tortured and given long 
jail terms when the rebellion was crushed with the deaths of as many as 
3,000 people. On release within the last five years they renewed their 
activism in less confrontational ways.

The sentences came a day after a Burmese blogger arrested after the 
protests last year was jailed for 20 years and a poet was sentenced to 
two years. Amnesty International estimates there are now 2,100 political 
prisoners in Burma.







http://articles.latimes.com/2008/oct/31/local/me-chevron31

Protester testifies about Nigerian troops shooting him at Chevron facility
Larry Bowoto, whose suit accuses the oil giant of human rights 
violations, says he was shot four times despite being unarmed. He is the 
lead plaintiff in the suit on behalf of himself and 18 other Nigerians.
By Richard C. Paddock
October 31, 2008
A Nigerian villager who is suing Chevron Corp. for human rights 
violations testified in federal court Thursday that he was shot four 
times by Nigerian troops at a Chevron oil platform even though he was 
unarmed.
"I saw military men jump off a helicopter and as they jumped off they 
were shooting," Larry Bowoto, 44, testified through an interpreter. "I 
was raising my hands [and shouting] 'We are community protesters. We are 
for peace. Don't shoot us.' "
Bowoto is the lead plaintiff in a landmark suit against San Ramon-based 
Chevron. Under the Alien Tort Claims Act, foreigners can sue American 
companies for alleged human rights violations overseas.
Bowoto brought the suit with 18 other Nigerians who were injured or lost 
a family member in 1998, when more than 100 villagers came to the Parabe 
oil platform and an adjoining barge to protest Chevron's actions.
Their attorney, Dan Stormer, said Chevron used three company helicopters 
and pilots to fly the troops to the platform nine miles off the coast. 
The government troops -- described as "notoriously brutal and vicious" 
-- killed two protesters and wounded two others, including Bowoto.
An autopsy concluded that one of the dead was shot four times in the 
back. Other protesters were arrested and tortured, Stormer said.
Chevron attorney Bob Mittelsteadt said the company acted properly in 
calling in the authorities to protect its employees and was not 
responsible for the troops' actions. He said the villagers who came to 
the platform were "illegal invaders" who held workers hostage for more 
than three days.
Mittelsteadt acknowledged that it was common for Chevron and other 
foreign companies to supplement the salaries of Nigerian police and 
soldiers, but said the payments did not make them company employees.
The clash at the oil platform had been building for years as villagers 
in the Niger Delta grew increasingly upset over the lack of jobs for 
villagers and ecological damage caused by Chevron's oil operations.
The company's dredging had destroyed the local fishery, fouled village 
wells and ruined the soil, depriving the villagers of their livelihood, 
they say. Leaders of the Ilaje ethnic group repeatedly appealed to 
Chevron for assistance, but received little response.
After the rival Itsekiri ethnic group won jobs by staging a protest at 
the oil platform in March 1998, the Ilaje decided to try a similar 
tactic. More than 100 Ilaje villagers went to the platform in late May.






http://allafrica.com/stories/200810290024.html

Media Institute of Southern Africa (Windhoek)
Swaziland: Journalist Harassed, His Photos Deleted By Police While 
Covering Border Protest
28 October 2008
On 27 October 2008 Sisho Magagula, a journalist with the state-owned 
"Swazi Observer" newspaper was harassed and had his digital camera 
confiscated and prints deleted by South African police while covering a 
border blockade protest by Swazi and South Africa trade unions. This 
harassment took place at the Swaziland and South Africa border post of 
Oshoek.
According to Magagula, the police demanded to know why he was taking 
pictures in South Africa when he was a Swazi journalist. His explanation 
that the Swazi press had an interest in the issue as the border blockade 
was targeted at Swaziland fell on deaf ears.
The officers forcibly grabbed Magagula's camera and went on to delete 
all pictures before handing it back to him. The journalist said his 
appeals to the police superiors present were ignored. Magagula says he 
was shaken by the ordeal.
BACKGROUND:
Swazi and South African trade unions had planned to block all goods 
destined for Swaziland to step up pressure on the Swazi government to 
embrace multi-party democracy. However, the event failed to take place 
as the unions said they did not intend to blockade the border, but 
merely to enforce a stoppage in the processing of goods from South 
Africa to Swaziland.






http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-11/06/content_7181683.htm

Court begins to try people for violent protest
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-11-06 20:03
Comments(0) Print Mail
WENG'AN, Guizhou -- A Chinese local court on Thursday began to hear 
cases related to a violent protest at which government offices and 
vehicles were burned and police injured.
It happened in Weng'an County of the southwestern Guizhou Province in June.
The People's Court of Weng'an County heard testimony from a suspect 
named Xiao Chunping who was accused of disturbing social order, a source 
of the court told Xinhua.
Xiao allegedly stopped a police motorcade on its way to maintain order 
in the area on June 28. It was after the protest erupted. He climbed 
over vehicles and instigated the crowd, causing three police cars to be 
burned.
The prosecution noted that Xiao served seven years in jail for theft. He 
was released in 2004.
So far, the court has not reached a verdict in Xiao's case.
It held five other similar trials on Thursday. The court did not say how 
many other many people would be prosecuted for protest violence.
Up to 30,000 people were involved in the protest. It was prompted by a 
controversial police report involving the death of 17-year-old Li 
Shufen. Her family and relatives contend she was raped and killed, while 
an autopsy said she drowned.
The protest turned violent and rioters mobbed government office 
buildings. About 160 offices and more than 40 vehicles were torched.
More than 150 police and protesters were injured. No deaths were reported.
Police believed 134 people committed the destruction. Days after the 
protest, they took 59 people into custody.
Provincial Party chief Shi Zongyuan admitted there were social 
grievances in the county before the protest broke out. People were upset 
by mining disputes, demolition of homes for public projects, relocation 
of residents for reservoir construction and other issues.
Shi also blamed local authorities for long-standing disregard of rampant 
crime in the county and incompetence in maintaining public security.
The county's Party secretary and head of government were sacked after 
the violence.







http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/11/15/worldupdates/2008-11-14T214126Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-365088-1&sec=Worldupdates

November 14, 2008
China jails rioters, criticises officials
BEIJING (Reuters) - China handed sentences of up to 16 years in jail to 
six people for rioting after the suspicious death of a teenage girl, but 
also criticised the local government for incompetence, state media said 
on Friday.
Thousands of locals mobbed government offices in Weng'an county, Guizhou 
in late June. The local police headquarters was torched and police 
vehicles wrecked after claims spread that authorities had covered up a 
teenage girl's death.
Two members of a local gang caught vandalising buildings, burning police 
vehicles and throwing rocks at officers were given the longest 
sentences, the official Xinhua agency said.
Another four were sentenced for attacking authorities or "disturbing 
social order".
Police had said the teenage girl had killed herself by jumping in a 
river, but residents said the girl had been raped and murdered by a 
relative of a senior government official.
More trials are due to take place as the government has detained 59 people.
Stability-obsessed leaders in Beijing are keen to tamp down protests and 
incidents of "mass unrest" which have been growing in China in recent 
years as a booming economy has also brought rising corruption, 
inequality and environmental problems.
The Communist Party Chief of the province, Shi Zongyuan has admitted the 
area had been hit by protests in the past, over land confiscation and 
mining rights, Xinhua said.
"He criticised the local authorities for long-standing disregard of 
rampant crime in the county and incompetence in maintaining public 
security," Xinhua added.
The head of the party and the local government in the area have both 
been sacked.
Shortly after the rioting, which highlighted volatile social clashes, 
China launched a nationwide campaign to defuse protest ahead of the 
Beijing Olympic Games.
But the government is now battling a new stability problem as the global 
economic crisis threatens China's growth and triggers the closure of 
factories across the industrial heartlands, sparking protests by 
laid-off and threatened workers.







http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/09/bali-bombings-islamic-terrorists-executed

Reprisals fear as Bali bombers executed
Jihadists are tied to poles and shot dead by firing squad, despite pleas 
from victims' families that their sentence could result in further 
atrocities
• Peter Beaumont
• The Observer, Sunday 9 November 2008
• Article history
Three Islamic terrorists convicted for their part in the 2002 Bali 
nightclub bombings that claimed the lives of 202 people - most of them 
foreign tourists - were shot dead last night by firing squad.
The executions, which had been widely expected, came despite last-minute 
pleas to the Indonesian authorities from relatives of some of the 
British dead for the sentences to be stayed, warning that they would be 
used as a propaganda coup by the militants' supporters and families.
Jasman Panjaitan, a spokesman for the Attorney General's office, told a 
news conference last night that Imam Samudra, Amrozi Nurhasyim and Ali 
Ghufron had been executed on the prison island of Nusakambangan off 
southern Java.
The executions are understood to be have been carried out in a clearing 
in the heavily forested island by police who had been preparing for days.
According to sources the men were taken from their cells to the site 
about 4 kilometres from the prison, where they were strapped to wooden 
poles, and shot through the heart. Following negotiations with the men's 
families, their bodies will be flown to their home villages for burial.
Amrozi had become notorious as the 'smiling bomber' for his behaviour at 
his trial when he was convicted of providing the van and explosives for 
the attack on the Sari Club in the popular resort of Kuta.
The carrying out of the death sentences, passed five years ago, brings 
an end to a protracted period of delays. The dead men said that they 
carried out the twin bombings in retaliation for US-led aggression in 
Afghanistan.
As news of the killings spread around the globe, western countries 
renewed warnings to their citizens to be vigilant against reprisal 
attacks. Although the men had said repeatedly that they were happy to 
die as 'martyrs', their families and legal representatives had appealed 
against the death sentences right up to the country's constitutional court.
Speculation that the executions were imminent had intensified when the 
younger brother of two of the militants on death row visited the island 
yesterday. Ali Fauzi, a brother of bombers Amrozi and Mukhlas, left 
their home village in East Java earlier in the day to see them.
The three men were found guilty of planning and helping to carry out the 
attacks on 12 October 2002 that thrust Indonesia on to the front line in 
the war on terrorism. They never expressed any remorse, even taunting 
some of the relatives of their victims at their trials five years ago.
In recent months, the men publicly expressed hope their executions would 
trigger revenge attacks in the world's most populous Muslim nation. 
Police responded by stepping up security at foreign embassies, oil 
depots and at tourist resorts.
The fate of the men has become a source of controversy, with some 
relatives of the victims insisting that the death penalty was 
'anomalous' with what they believed.
Last night relatives of the victims of the bombings said they did not 
believe justice had been achieved. Among them was Susanna Miller, of the 
Bali Bombing Victims Group, who on the eve of the reported executions 
told BBC Radio 4 that their deaths could provide a propaganda boost to 
jihadists in the south-east Asian state.
Miller, whose brother Dan died in the atrocity, said: 'Capital 
punishment for jihadist terrorism seems particularly anomalous to me. It 
effectively provides a state-sponsored route to martyrdom. There are two 
strands to justice - one is to punish the deed and the other is to deter 
subsequent deeds.'
Tobias Ellwood MP, who lost his brother Jonathan Ellwood, 37, in the 
attacks said he was unable to draw a line under the Bali bombings.
He said: 'Firstly, the ringleader behind the Bali bombings, Hambali, 
dubbed by the CIA as the 'Osama Bin Laden' and the operations chief for 
the militant group Jemaah Islamiah, was arrested by Thai authorities in 
2003 and handed over to the US.
'He has never been put on trial for masterminding the Bali bombings and 
no one will explain why.'
In Australia, where 88 of the victims were from, there had been 
last-minute appeals for clemency from some families. Former Adelaide 
magistrate Brian Deegan, whose son Josh was a victim, told local media: 
'I would sooner they repent for the rest of their natural lives rather 
than meet an unnatural death.'
However, others had opposed the calls for clemency, including Australian 
survivor Peter Hughes, who attended the bombers' trial and has insisted 
that the three men's deaths would bring some sort of 'closure'.
Fear that supporters of the group would use it to encourage further 
attacks had been prompted both by the arrival of Islamic extremists in 
Tenggulun, the home village of Amrozi and Mukhlas, and a statement 
issued by the head of Jemaah Islamiah group, Abu Bakar Bashir, who urged 
his followers to fight for Islam. Bashir praised the bombers as heroes 
adding: 'Their fighting spirit in defending Islam should be followed. We 
will win the fight in this world or die as martyrs. Even if they are 
murdered, they will die as Islamic martyrs.'
Prosecutors in Indonesia had insisted that the bombers would be executed 
in 'early November', but had not given a date to prevent their 
supporters organising rallies to concide with the event.







http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24606071-12335,00.html

China sentences Tibet protesters
A CHINESE official has revealed fresh sentences for Tibetans accused of 
rioting in Lhasa in March, while talks continue between Beijing and 
envoys of the Dalai Lama.
The vice chairman of the Tibet regional government, Baema Cewang, said 
55 people had so far been sentenced for the deadly rioting that shook 
the regional capital, Lhasa, on March 14, sparking riots and protests 
against Chinese rule across many ethnic Tibetan areas, Xinhua news 
agency reported.

"Following the violence, police detained 1317 people, of whom 1115 were 
subsequently released. The rest stood trial," the report cited Mr Cewang 
as telling a visiting Australian parliamentarian.

The report did not detail the crimes or sentences of those convicted. 
Nor did it say what had happened to the some 147 people apparently tried 
but not sentenced.

In late April, China announced it had jailed 30 people for terms ranging 
from three years to life for their roles in the Lhasa riots that left 18 
residents and a police officer dead. The unrest triggered a crackdown 
and then worldwide protests against Chinese policy in Tibet ahead of the 
Beijing Olympics.

Beijing blamed the violence on supporters of the Dalai Lama, a claim he 
has repeatedly rejected.

Since April, groups abroad advocating Tibetan self-determination have 
reported additional sentences, but these have not been confirmed by China.

The London-based Free Tibet Campaign said eight Buddhist monks from 
Gyanbe Township in Tibet were sentenced in September, accused of bombing 
a government building there during the unrest.

Xinhua reported last month that three county courts in Tibet also 
sentenced 14 Tibetans to jail terms on charges of looting, robbery and 
rioting in March.

The official report of fresh convictions in Lhasa comes as Beijing holds 
talks with envoys of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled Buddhist leader.

Beijing calls the Nobel Peace Prize laureate a trouble-making 
separatist. But he says he wants to negotiate true autonomy for the 
mountain region he fled in 1959, not outright independence.

The Dalai's envoys arrived in Beijing on Thursday for secretive talks 
days after he expressed pessimism over prospects for the negotaitions.






http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/03/china-police

Chinese police told to go easy on protesters
• Tania Branigan in Beijing
• guardian.co.uk, Monday 3 November 2008 15.07 GMT
China's police must avoid inflaming riots and protests, the country's 
most senior police official has warned, as concern grows about social 
unrest.
Meng Jianzhu, minister of public security, acknowledged that there were 
a growing number of "mass incidents" caused by economic crimes as well 
as other issues in an article this weekend.
Premier Wen Jiabao warned in the same journal that tensions caused by 
slowing economic growth and price rises could undermine social 
stability, adding that this year would be "the worst in recent times for 
our economic development".
According to official figures, there are tens of thousands of protests 
and disturbances annually. This morning hundreds of angry taxi drivers 
went on strike and smashed vehicles in Chongqing, China's fourth-largest 
city.
Protesters smashed 20 vehicles, including three police cars, and pulled 
cab drivers who refused to strike and their passengers out of their cars.
The state news agency Xinhua said officials had already taken measures 
to deal with complaints including fuel shortages, competition from 
unlicensed cabs and high fines for traffic violations.
Other incidents this year have included a riot in Weng'an, Guizhou, 
where 30,000 residents took to the streets and trashed police 
headquarters and government offices over allegations of corruption and 
official abuses; and a two-day riot by thousands of investors in Hunan, 
who demanded government action after an illegal investment scheme failed.
"In handling mass incidents, we must be clear that the chief tasks of 
the public security authorities are to maintain order on the scene, ease 
conflicts, avoid excessive steps and prevent the situation getting out of
control," wrote Meng, in the Communist party journal Seeking Truth.
He urged the authorities to "absolutely avoid inappropriate use of 
police, poor definition of their role and mishandling that exacerbates 
conflict, and absolutely avoid incidents of bloodshed, injury and death."
He added that economic forces and the internet had made citizens more 
sensitive to a wider range of ideas.
"We must protect not only national political and military security, but 
also economic, financial and information security," Meng added, pointing 
out economic crimes and fraud as a particular source of unrest.
"Illegal investment and chain-marketing, underground banks and other 
economic crimes are sparking growing numbers of mass incidents."







http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=100309

TAIWAN: Press freedom limits protested
National Security Bureau agents dragged away a CNA cameraman covering an 
event connected to the ARATS chairman's visit
The China Post
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
TAIPEI, Taiwan --- The Association of Taiwan Journalists (ATJ) filed a 
protest with the National Security Bureau (NSB) against encroachment on 
freedom of the press yesterday.
In a statement, the ATJ charged the NSB with trying to limit freedom of 
press workers covering a visit to Taipei by Chen Yunlin, chairman of the 
Association for Relations across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS).
On Sunday, the day before Chen's arrival, a Central News Agency 
cameraman was manhandled by NSB agents, while he was covering a function 
of Chen's advance party at the Grand Hotel in Taipei.
Cheng Chieh-wen, the cameraman, was dragged for more than 10 meters.
Because of the confused arrangements for taking pictures, reporters had 
rows with NSB agents at the Grand Hotel yesterday, the ATJ statement said.
"We wish to condemn the agents for manhandling the cameraman and demand 
that they apologize to him," said Chuang Feng-chia, ATJ chairman.
There should be no encroachment on freedom of the press, Chuang went on. 
"Whereas all press workers were given press passes, any attempt to limit 
their coverage by the NSB agents under the pretext of security is an act 
of seriously encroaching on freedom of the press," he pointed out.
Chuang said the ATJ demands that the Government Information Office 
assure the media of "smooth interaction" to "respect the right of press 
coverage for the next few days."
Date Posted: 11/4/2008






http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/11/24/2003429413

Federation concerned about police response to protests
By Rich Chang
STAFF REPORTER
Monday, Nov 24, 2008, Page 3
The International Federation for Human Rights has become the latest 
international group to express concern regarding the response of police 
to protests against Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait 
Chairman Chen Yun-lin (陳雲林) earlier this month.
The Paris-based group sent letters to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) 
and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) on Wednesday, expressing concern 
over what it called “grave violations of human rights” committed by 
police during the protests.

The police’s actions were aimed at suppressing freedom of speech, the 
group said.

In the letter, the federation said the authorities “had taken many 
dramatic measures, including: confiscating and damaging private 
property, harassing and assaulting people who came too close to 
undefined or vaguely defined areas, clearing communal highway lanes with 
force, conducting random searches and arrests, and restricting the 
freedom of movement of citizens.”

The organization said it feared the “aggressions” were intended to 
suppress “freedom of expression of citizens.”

“These measures seem to be aimed at silencing political opinions rather 
than protecting security, and they blatantly violate the Constitution of 
Taiwan [sic], notably Article[s] 11 and 14 which protect freedom of 
expression and international human rights standards.”

“The police and national security authority should be held responsible 
for violating their legal obligations,” the group said.

It called on the Judicial Yuan and Control Yuan to investigate the 
allegations of human rights violations.

It also called on the government to amend the Assembly and Parade Law 
(集會遊行法) to abolish the requirement that protest organizers apply 
for permits from the police.






http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2008/11/21/2003429158

Protesters sue police in anti-PRC demonstration
By Loa Iok-sin And Mo Yan-chih
STAFF REPORTERS
Friday, Nov 21, 2008, Page 1
Seven protesters who were injured during a crackdown on demonstrations 
against a Chinese envoy's visit to Taiwan earlier this month filed 
lawsuits alleging police brutality yesterday.

The seven who were involved in four cases of alleged police brutality 
showed medical documents, photographs and video recordings of their 
injuries and how they were injured during a news conference in front of 
National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall in Taipei before submitting 
their cases to Taipei District Court.

“I was talking with some friends on the sidewalk across a small street 
from a side entrance of the Grand Formosa Regent Taipei [on the night of 
Nov. 5],” said Huang Yi-ling (黃怡翎), one of the plaintiffs.

At the time, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman 
Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), was at a dinner banquet hosted by Chinese 
Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) at the hotel.

As demonstrators surrounded the hotel, the guests were unable to leave 
until a little past 2am when some 2,000 police officers dispersed the 
crowd by force.

“When we got there at around 9:30pm, the area was still quiet. But about 
an hour later, a large number of police officers showed up,” Huang said. 
“One officer was saying something through a speaker from across the 
street, and we couldn't hear it very well, so we asked ‘are you talking 
to us?’”

The police did not answer, and the next thing Huang and her friends 
knew, they were being pushed back by officers using their shields, she 
said.

“It was quite strange, because the officers didn't push us away, instead 
they pushed us against the wall and started beating us with their 
batons,” Huang said, adding that she and her friends kept pleading for 
the officers to stop and yelling that there was no way out behind them, 
“but they continued for quite some time.”

Another plaintiff, Ted Chiang (江一德), said he turned his back to the 
riot police who were trying to disperse the crowd in front of the hotel, 
hoping to stop further physical clashes.

However, a video clip showed that he was pulled behind the police line.

“After I got pulled in, I fell on the ground, and the police officers 
hit me with batons and shields,” Chiang said.

“I just wanted to run away from the madness, but an officer hit my head 
with his baton, then I started bleeding all over,” he said, holding up a 
T-shirt with bloodstains and holes that he wore that night.

“To this day, I still feel dizzy and am still taking medicine,” he said.

Lin Feng-jeng (林峰正), executive director of the Judicial Reform 
Foundation, who helped organize a panel of attorneys to provide 
assistance to the victims of alleged police brutality, said: “It's very 
disappointing that the police have only looked into cases in which 
officers were attacked and tried to find out who attacked them while 
turning a blind eye to cases in which innocent citizens were wounded.”

“While [President] Ma Ying-jeou [馬英九] has constantly said that the 
‘the problem [with demonstrations] is the violence,’ I would like to 
remind him that there is also the problem of police violence,” he said.

At a separate setting yesterday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) 
Taipei City Councilor Chou Wei-you (周威佑) accused the Taipei City 
Police Department of framing him — and possibly other protesters — by 
putting him on a list of violent protesters during Chen's visit.

The department issued a booklet of photos of 66 “violent protesters” on 
Wednesday and called on the public to help the police in identifying 
suspects who allegedly took part in the demonstrations.

The photo of Chou, who was allegedly punched in the left eye by an 
officer while he was protesting against Chen in front of the hotel, was 
in the booklet put together by the police on Wednesday morning, but the 
department removed his photo yesterday after the councilor challenged 
its inclusion.

“If the police department believes I am a suspect, then it is covering 
me by removing my photo. If not, did the department include my photo by 
mistake?” Chou said.

Chou later showed a video clip of the incident in front of the hotel 
that night to prove that he did not attack the police and that he was 
punched by an officer in the eye while trying to separate the police and 
protesters.

He and other DPP Taipei City councilors condemned the department's 
Songshan Precinct for lying about what happened that night by arguing 
that Chou was hit by a bottle of water, rather than by an officer, in 
its news release.

In response, Lee Wen-chang (李文章), deputy chief of the department's 
Criminal Investigation Division, said that the police hurt Chou by 
accident, adding that Chou's photo was included in the booklet by 
mistake because “the staff member who handled the booklet did not know 
it was Councilor Chou.”

Calling in question the department's handling of the aftermath of the 
protests, Chou urged Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) to look into the 
department's conduct.

“How many suspects in the booklet are innocent and treated unjustly like 
me? Such poor handling of the incident is a serious breach of human 
rights,” Chou said.

Putting handcuffs on his own hands, Chou said he refused to enjoy any 
privilege as a councilor and vowed to file a lawsuit against the police 
department.

DPP Taipei City Councilor Liu Yao-ren (劉耀仁) urged the public to 
provide evidence, such as photographs or videotapes showing police 
taking part in violence against the protesters and to file lawsuits 
against the police.







http://www.taiwanheadlines.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=141378&CtNode=39

Taiwanese police officer receives demerit for chaos at protest
11/19/2008 (Taiwan News)
The police announced on Tuesday that it was disciplining a local 
precinct chief for mishandling protests against visiting Chinese top 
negotiator Chen Yunlin outside a Taipei hotel earlier this month.
Taipei Sungshan Precinct chief Huang Chia-lu receives one demerit for 
failing to prevent a protesters' siege of the Grand Formosa Regent Hotel 
on November 5. Chen was the guest of honor at a dinner hosted by 
Kuomintang Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung and attended by dozens of prominent 
politicians and businesspeople. He was unable to leave the hotel until 2 
a.m. the next morning because of crowds of anti-Chinese protesters 
blocking surrounding streets.
Huang was punished for failing to deploy adequate numbers of officers 
and allowing the siege to continue for so long, police said.
National police chief Wang Cho-chiun said he had also disciplined Beitou 
Precinct chief Lee Han-ching for comments made about police action 
against a music store playing loud Taiwanese songs during another protest.
Police were also continuing an investigation to find which officer was 
responsible for beating a Formosa Television reporter, Wang said. The 
father of another young man allegedly beaten by police was taking legal 
action, he said.
The hotel siege was one of the most violent incidents in a week full of 
anti-China protests.








http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/young-protesters-facing-prison-turkey/story.aspx?guid=%7BDF069181-3CEB-49FA-9CBD-5AF5C22BFE42%7D

Young protesters facing prison in Turkey

Last update: 5:42 p.m. EST Nov. 14, 2008
HAKKARI, Turkey, Nov 14, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Six 13- and 
14-year-olds should face 23-year prison sentences for allegedly taking 
part in violent demonstrations in Turkey, a prosecutor says.
A Diyarbak?r chief public prosecutor's office indictment recommends that 
the teenagers be punished severely for allegedly being involved in the 
illegal protests organized by the Kurdistan Workers' Party, Today's 
Zaman said Friday.
Some protesters taking part in the demonstration in the Turkish city of 
Hakkari on Nov. 1 hurled Molotov cocktails and stones at police, 
authorities said.
The protests were coordinated around the arrival of Prime Minister Recap 
Erdogan in the southeastern city. The protesters were dispersed by tear 
gas and warning shots from police.






http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/11/03/Turkish_students_sued_for_protest_slogans/UPI-92641225733925/

Turkish students sued for protest slogans
Published: Nov. 3, 2008 at 12:38 PM
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IZMIT, Turkey, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Eight students at Turkey's Kocaeli 
University violated a penal code article by shouting derogatory slogans 
during a recent protest, a lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit filed by the Gendarmerie, a Turkish group that polices the 
civilian population, alleges the students used hurtful slogans against 
Yusuf Turkish Council of Higher Education President Yusuf Ziya Ozcan, 
Bianet reported Friday.
The use of those derogatory slogans during Ozcan's April 3 visit to 
Kocaeli University violated penal code Article 301 that makes any 
comments against Turkey or its government illegal.
The slogan at the center of the legal controversy was "Get out 
Gendarmerie, universities are ours," Bianet reported.
The students allegedly used the questionable slogan during a protest by 
nearly 100 university students at the university's Umuttepe Campus.
Bianet said the Ministry of Justice must approve the Article 301 case 
before the Gendarmerie can move forward with its request for two years 
in prison for the university students.






http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2008/200810/news29/20081029-02ee.html

October 29. 2008 Juche 97

Puppet Prosecution's Suppression Protested in S. Korea

Pyongyang, October 28 (KCNA) -- The south Korean Solidarity for 
Implementing the South-North Joint Declaration strongly protested 
against the puppet prosecution's suppression on Oct. 24, according to 
the south Korean CBS.
The solidarity said that that day the prosecution authorities labeled 
the above-said organization an "enemy-benefiting organization" and 
detained and indicted its four core members on charges of the violation 
of the ill-famed "National Security Law," adding that this is blatant 
suppression of the reunification movement and retaliation against 
candlelight actions.
In the meantime, the joint defence panel for the solidarity, etc. held 
an emergency press conference on the same day in protest against the 
puppet prosecution's tyrannical action.
Speakers at the press conference held that the solidarity has conducted 
a legitimate mass movement for reunification for the past 8 years since 
its formation.
They stressed that it is an unpardonable provocation that the 
prosecution brought charges of the violation of the NSL to the detained 
and indicted core members of the organization for the mere reason that 
they conducted common non-governmental exchange after labeling the 
solidarity "an organization following the Juche idea."







http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=13773

posted 18-11-2008 [281 page views] print

Family wins payout for SKorean protester killed by police

A South Korean court ruled Tuesday that the government should compensate 
the family of a farmer who was fatally injured by police during a 
protest against free trade.
________________________________________
18 November 2008
Family wins payout for SKorean protester killed by police

Source: Two Koreas
SEOUL (AFP) - A South Korean court ruled Tuesday that the government 
should compensate the family of a farmer who was fatally injured by 
police during a protest against free trade.
The Seoul Central District Court ordered the payment of 130 million won 
(91,485 dollars) in compensation to the family of Jeon Yong-Cheol.
Jeon, 46, died of a brain haemorrhage after he was seriously beaten by 
riot police during a November 2005 protest by farmers against the 
opening of South Korea’s rice market.
The National Human Rights Commission concluded after an investigation 
that police used excessive force.
Jeon was one of two protesters fatally injured by police that month 
while two others committed suicide to protest at the rice market opening.
The protest deaths prompted the police chief to step down and the 
then-President Roh Moo-Hyun to deliver a public apology.
South Korean farmers have staged frequent protests in recent years 
against free trade pacts which they fear will hurt their protected 
occupation. Several have ended in bloody clashes.

source: AFP






http://news.morningstar.com/newsnet/ViewNews.aspx?article=/DJ/200811171835DOWJONESDJONLINE000630_univ.xml

Ivory Coast Charges 3 Military Officers Over Sep Protests11-17-08 6:35 
PM EST | E-mail Article | Print Article
ABIDJAN (AFP)--Three senior Ivory Coast military officers were charged 
on Monday with inciting revolt following protests in September by 
soldiers demanding combat bonuses, military prosecutors said.
officers, who have been held in custody for more for than a month, were 
charged by a military tribunal judge. They also face charges of 
complicity in weapons theft over the disappearance of guns.
On Tuesday, 104 soldiers are to go on trial before a military court over 
the September protests in Daoukro and Yamoussoukro, central Ivory Coast, 
to demand payment of combat bonuses.
Security forces claim they were promised war bonuses during a 2002 
crisis when rebels launched a failed attempt to topple President Laurent 
Gbagbo.
The three officers charged on Monday weren't identified, but Ivorian 
media previously named those arrested as Lt. Col. Lancine Fofana, Col. 
Moustapha Cherif and Cmdr. Doulaye Sekongo.







http://icommons.org/articles/access-versus-surveillance-brazilian-cybercrime-law-project

Access versus surveillance: Brazilian cybercrime law project
Paula Martini • Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) • Nov 05th, 2008 6:37 pm • 10 
votes • no comments made

by Mikey G Ottawa on flickr.com

A proposed new law that restricts access and freedom on Brazilian 
Internet has passed in the Senate without public scrutiny and is now 
close to being enforced by the House of Representatives. The law 
project, created by Senator Eduardo Azeredo, restricts devices like open 
wi-fi networks, obliges Internet service providers to record and keep 
user information for three years and allows providers to check for 
copyright infringements over packages on peer-to-peer connections, along 
with other threats to users' right to privacy.

The cybercrime law project by Senator Azeredo (PSDB) proposes that the 
first Internet regulatory frame must be a criminal one. The natural path 
for regulating the web, followed by most of developed countries, is to 
firstly establish a civil regulatory framework that clearly defines the 
rules and responsibilities in relation to users, companies and other 
institutions accessing the network – and only then define a criminal 
regulation framework.

The reason for that is the issue of innovation. In order to innovate, a 
country needs to have clear civil rules, which allow security and 
predictability to initiatives that take place on the web (such as 
investments, companies, archives, databases, services, etc.). The penal 
rules shall be created from the experience acquired with the civil rules.

According to Senator Azeredo, the Brazilian Cybercrime Bill is inspired 
by the Convention on Cybercrime of the Council of Europe. But that 
convention was not signed by any Latin American country, neither by the 
absolute majority of developing countries – actually, very few poor 
countries ratified the Convention. During the Convention elaboration, 
which had an active participation of the United States, the text was 
severely criticized by organizations arguing that it could cause offence 
to individual’s rights to privacy. But the rich countries that signed 
the document already did their homework (to regulate Internet from a 
civil angle) and, only after that, they set criminal parameters for the 
web. Brazil is in a reverse way: the country is firstly creating 
criminal punishments, without priorly regulating the Internet in a 
technical and civil way.

“Tangible property” and data

There is an uncertainty generated by the project, which uses vague and 
wide concepts (“data”, “communications systems” and others) in order to 
regulate a subject that requires a prior technical discussion – which 
still have not taken place in Brazil. For example, in its article 183-A, 
the project equates, for penal effects, the “tangible property” with the 
data, information or information unit in electronic means. That 
equalizing generates unforeseeable effects in Brazilian legal system.

“Tangible property”, as the term means, is used in Law to designate 
objects that have a material existance. The term “immaterial good” is 
used as a wider category, also including what is intangible. By 
equalizing “data” or “information” to “tangible property”, one could 
take advantage of the criminal consequences that can arise from that 
equalization. The distinction between material and imaterial – that 
refers directly to the different uses of the terms “tangible property” 
and “immaterial good” -- have Penal Law ramifications. Some crimes, like 
theft, for example, only exist in relation to tangible properties. If 
the Penal Code says that it is a crime “to subtract to oneself someone 
else's chattels [...]”, it is not the subtraction of an immaterial good 
that is criminalized, but indeed of a material good. With the 
equalization of “data” and “tangible property”, there is the insertion 
of another category of goods into a label that was more restrictive before.

The Internet aggregates characteristics of many media, many of which 
represent ephemeral or transitory communications. In that sense, a 
“phone call” taking place via Internet through a Skype-like software 
could then be equated with the “tangible property” for penal purposes. 
The same is valid for conversations through text, video, webcam flow, 
e-mail, as well as any other communication mode. That equalizing to the 
“tangible property” yield the ISPs (Internet Service Providers) to 
judicial measures that take towards the possibility of restoring those 
transitory informations, which can then be “distrained” and used in 
court. That disrespects basic rights and expectations related to the 
nature of electronic data.

Besides, equalizing “data” to “tangible property” disrespects the 
economic nature of electronic systems. While “tangible properties” are 
scarce goods, electronic data are “non-scarce” goods. A “tangible 
property”, when transferred to another person, does not belong to the 
first one anymore, but does belong to the other one. On the other side, 
the data have a fluid nature, which means that its dispatching and 
utilization by one person does not impede its utilization by another. 
Making use of the jargon, data are “non-competitive” and “non-rival” 
goods. To juridically regulate them as if they were “tangible 
properties” goes against those goods' nature itself and generate 
unforeseeable consequences within Brazilian Law.

Digital crimes

The project's article 339-A criminalizes the activities of “to access 
computer network, communication device or computing system, without 
autorization by the rightful holder, when required” and “to obtain data 
or information available in computer network, communication device or 
computing system without autorization by the rightful holder”, with 
penalties of imprisonment and arrestment for 2 to 4 years.

That provision creates a criminal conduct that can affect the life of 
thousands of people, as a true instrument of “mass criminalization”: in 
case the Senator Azeredo's project is approved, countless people will 
become criminals in potential. That article comprehend the access to 
devices like computers, iPods, mobile phones, DVD players and even 
digital TV signal converters. So that the content industry can 
criminalize their consumers, like it happened in the United States in 
1998 due to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) approval. Ten 
years after the approval of that legislation in the US, there is a 
consensus that, besides having its absolut inefficiency proved, the DMCA 
produced serious damages for society and public interest, to the point 
that its provisions are being made more flexible, year after year.

Senator Azeredo's law project not only runs against that empiric 
evidence of a failed legislation in the US, but also amplifies the scope 
of the North American model. While in the US it became a crime “to break 
or circumvent digital protection measures” used by the entertainment 
industry to protect copyrighted materials, Senator Azeredo's project 
criminalizes the access itself.

That proposed model creates significant costs, both for any Internet 
user and for any public or private enterprise in the web – including 
business initiatives. The reason for those costs is the need for 
constant verification: when, how, and in what terms do the “autorization 
by the rightful holder” take place so that the access can be made.

The authorization empire and copyright

In synthesis, an “authorization empire” is created, aggravating a 
well-known problem, which is the practical difficulty of obtaining 
“authorization” and verifying what exactly are each of the respective 
terms and modalities with the rightful holders. That will increase the 
problem of transaction costs for the access to information in Brazil.

Finally, it is well-known that criminalization and restriction to 
“access”, in the way the law project in question does, opposes public 
and collective interests. Consumers' defense associations of the whole 
world, together with librarians, universities, companies and academic 
institutions, among others, have been manifesting in a consistent way 
regarding the increasing of barriers and the bureaucratization of 
access. An example of that is the well-succeeded pressure performed by 
consumers on Apple company, which is progressively quitting from using 
measures that difficult the access to its contents (the so-called 
“digital rights management”, or DRM). The very same occurs with several 
other content distribution websites.

The situation overburdens when one bear in mind that that the law 
project includes the signals transmitted by digital television in 
Brazil: the project's article 339 explicitly defines that the 
“communication dispositives” also encloses “the digital radio or 
television signals' receptors and converters”. It must be considered 
that the digital TV transmissions in Brazil will be made through public 
concessions, and using an equally public good, which is the 
eletromagnectic spectrum. In that sense, it is unconstitutional to 
criminalize the “access to communication device” like the TV converter 
“without authorization of the rightful holder”. The actual possibility 
of demanding that authorization, defined by article 339, violates the 
public nature of digital television transmissions.

Actually the possibility of an Internet user to face a lawsuit due to 
improper access to copyrighted content is not completely remote, because 
of the vagueness of the expression “express restriction to access”. That 
restriction can be the copyright law (access to protected content), 
contractual (violation of the terms of use of a website) or 
technological (like a mobile phone lock or mailbox password). In the 
second scenario, the law project affords opportunity for the judge in 
charge of the case to understand that there was a violation of the 
authoral restriction of the files.

Access versus surveillance

In the project's article 21, several obligations are created for the 
Internet service providers. Among them, the obligation “to keep in a 
secure and controlled environment the data of connections made through 
one's equipments”, “during a three years term”. That obligation forces 
the providers to create instruments for permanent monitoring over its 
costumers. As mentioned above, such monitoring can lead to a vigilance 
over all the user's activities, which is foreseen on article VI of 
article 21. That provision foresee that the provider shall “preserve 
immediately, after explicit solicitation from judicial authority, during 
investigation, the data regarding connections, the user's identification 
data and the communication carried out regarding that investigation”. 
With that, the providers are obliged to build technical capacity for 
monitoring their customers. That monitoring can reconstitute ephemeral 
communications, like phone calls over the web, e-mails, instant messages 
and any other data exchanged by the user.

Still, subsection V of article 21 obliges the providers “to inform, in a 
secret manner, to the proper police authority, denunciation that it got 
to know, and that contain clues of illegal conduct on the computer 
network under its responsibility”. Such a provision creates a system of 
“surveillants” over the web. The provider becomes a vigilance agent, 
that every time that gets provoked by a “denunciation” shall inform the 
police authority in a secret manner. That provision violates the 
guarantee of broad defense and the proper legal process, configurating 
itself as unconstitutional. The user that is under vigilance have broad 
right to be informed about that vigilance, which derivates directly from 
his constitutional rights. That system of incentive to “private 
surveillance”, together with a secret and secrecy regime is uncompatible 
with the Democratic State of Right.

The incentive to the “vigilance privatization” is strengthened by the 
law project's 22nd article, which determines that “the communication to 
competent authorities of illicit practices, including the supply of 
information about access, hosting and user identifying data, when any 
criminal conduct is detected, does not constitute a violation of secrecy 
rights”.

This article, in practical terms, simply eliminates the privacy and 
inviolability that protects communications in Brazil. Such a disposition 
would allow, for example, that the electronic communications among 
teenagers all over the country could be monitored if an exchange of 
music files is detected (an activity that can be framed as a crime 
according to the 184 code in the Penal Code, which criminalizes 
copyright violation). That and other practices are being object of 
fierce legislative debates all over the world, many of them seeking for 
reforms in the law. While the reform doesn't take place, it is not 
possible to ignore the fact that hundreds of thousands of people will 
effectively have their electronic communications monitored as an effect 
of Senator Azeredo's law project.

In that sense, the law project in question affects the majority of 
Brazilians' lifes, being those the owners of mobile phones, or being 
those who access the Internet through computers, or those that will be 
future digital television spectators. For that reason, it is 
inconceivable that a project like this is not being debated in a broader 
way, together with civil society and representatives of the interests 
directly affected. This list is long and includes: access providers, 
technology companies as a whole, consumers, universities, 
non-governamental organizations, telecommunication companies, just to 
name a few.

All public debate efforts related to such a law project, that aims at 
regulating the Internet from a criminal viewpoint, should turn itself to 
the Internet civil regulation, clearly defining its regulatory mark and 
privileging innovation – as happened on developed countries. To 
privilege a criminal regulation of the Internet prior to its civil 
regulation will have as a consequence the increase of public and provate 
costs, the disincentive to innovation and, above all, the inneficacy. In 
that sense, it is needed to firstly learn with the civil regulation, and 
only then propose criminal measures that can reach their effectiveness, 
without burdening the society as a whole, like the actual Senator 
Eduardo Azeredo's law project does.







http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/11/11/asia/AS-India-Car-Factory-Protest.php

Indian court convicts 2 Marxists over Tato murder

The Associated Press
Published: November 11, 2008

CALCUTTA, India: An Indian court on Tuesday found two communist party 
members guilty of the murder of a woman who opposed a Tata Motors car 
factory in eastern India.
Suhrid Dutta and Debu Malik, both members of West Bengal state's ruling 
Communist Party of India (Marxist), were found guilty of the murder of 
Tapasi Malik, who had been active in protests against the acquisition of 
land to build the car plant.
Judge Amar Kanti Acharya also found the two men guilty of tampering with 
evidence. They will be sentenced on Wednesday.
The two men will appeal the verdict in a higher court after the 
sentences are announced, Arindam Bhattacharya, one of their defense 
lawyers said.
Tata Motors had planned to build the Nano, billed as the world's 
cheapest car, in Singur, a village just northwest of the state capital 
Calcutta, but were forced to relocate to Gujarat in western India after 
angry local farmers claimed they hadn't been adequately compensated for 
part of the land used to build the car plant.
The company had leased the land for the Singur factory from the state 
government and had the support of the communists who have ruled the 
state for more than three decades.
The two sides had clashed several times, often violently, during more 
than two years of protests.
The charred body of 18-year-old Malik was found in a ditch in Singur in 
December, 2006.
Her death fueled anger against the land acquisition, forcing the local 
authorities to hand over investigation into her murder to the federal 
Central Bureau of Investigation.
Two-thirds of Indians still live off the land and conflicts over land 
for development have become increasingly common.






http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/128589

Arab States Leave Rafiah Closed, Hamas Protests

by Maayana Miskin

(IsraelNN.com) Foreign Ministers of several Arab states met on Thursday 
and decided to leave the Rafiah crossing between southern Gaza and Egypt 
closed. However, the FMs decided to send an aid shipment to Gaza via the 
crossing.
The three main Palestinian Authority factions—Hamas, Fatah and Islamic 
Jihad—had pressured Arab states to open the crossing. All other Gaza 
crossings are controlled by Israel. Israel has left the crossings closed 
for the past two weeks due to daily rocket attacks from Gaza. 
Humanitarian aid has been allowed through.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum issued an official statement expressing 
disappointment with the decision not to open Rafiah. Opening Rafiah 
would end the “siege” on Gaza, Barhoum said.
Egypt has kept the crossing closed since the Hamas takeover of Gaza in 
2007. Hamas blew it open in January, allowing hundreds of thousands of 
Gaza Arabs to enter the northern Sinai Peninsula. Egyptian troops 
resealed Rafiah several days later with Hamas' cooperation.
While the crossing remains closed, residents of Gaza have managed to 
bring merchandise to and from the area via a network of tunnels built 
under the city. The tunnels have been used to smuggle everything from 
livestock to weapons to brides for Hamas terrorists. Many tunnels are 
poorly built, and dozens of smugglers have been killed in cave-ins since 
the beginning of the year.
Thousands to Leave for Mecca
While the Rafiah crossing will remain closed, Egypt has agreed to allow 
approximately 6,500 Muslim pilgrims from Gaza to pass through the 
crossing on their way to Mecca. The pilgrims will be allowed to leave 
via Rafiah over the weekend.
Egypt has allowed small groups of Gaza Muslims to leave for Mecca on 
several occasions. Israeli defense officials have warned that terrorists 
often pretend to be Mecca pilgrims in order to leave Gaza for terrorist 
training in Syria and Iran.
Crossings Closed Thursday
Defense Minister Ehud Barak kept Israeli-controlled crossings closed on 
Thursday following two early-morning rocket attacks on the city of 
Sderot. The rockets landed in open areas and did not cause injury.
Barak had planned to allow 45 trucks to enter Gaza carrying food, animal 
feed and chlorine for water purification. Defense officials have 
repeatedly promised to allow trucks into Gaza as soon as 24 hours pass 
without a rocket attack.







http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_2434539,00.html

32 jailed over Eid riots
2008-11-29 14:15
Bishkek - A court in Kyrgyzstan sentenced 32 Islamists to jail terms of 
between nine and 20 years for their role in riots in the southern region 
of Osh in October, state television reported on Saturday.
The riots took place in the town of Nookat on October 1, the day when 
Kyrgyzstan was marking the Muslim festival of Eid ul-Fitr at the end of 
the Ramadan holy fasting month.
The television said the verdicts were handed down by the provincial 
court of the Osh region and were greeted by shouts of "Allahu Akbar!" 
(God is Greatest) from the accused.
Officials have said that the unrest was sparked by the refusal of the 
local administration to hold a public celebration marking Eid ul-Fitr, 
which is known in Kyrgyzstan as Orozo Ait.
The demonstrators threw stones against the building of the local 
government and behaved violently towards the local police. The head of 
the regional administration was sacked as a result of the disturbances.
Officials have also said that the demonstrations were linked to the 
banned Hizb ut-Tahrir (Party of Islamic Liberation) movement, a Sunni 
Muslim group which advocates the establishment of Islamic states in 
Central Asia.
State television said the accused were found guilty on eight counts, 
including damaging public buildings, creating mass disturbances, 
behaving violently towards the police and membership of a banned party.
Muslims make up about 80% of the ex-Soviet state's population, with 
Orthodox Christians next with up to 17%.
The parliament earlier this month passed a new law limiting the 
registration of religious groups to those with 200 or more members and 
introducing state control over financing and religious education.
- AFP






http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/11/113_33732.html

11-02-2008 17:39

3-Yr Jail Term Sought for Riot Policeman

Lee Gil-jun
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter

The prosecution has demanded a three-year prison term for a riot police 
officer who refused to return to his unit in protest of a police 
crackdown on a candlelit rally against the import of American beef.

Prosecutors Friday asked the Seoul Northern District Court to hand down 
the jail term to officer Lee Gil-jun, who was indicted in August on 
charges of deserting his squad, not responding to senior officers' 
orders, and defaming his seniors.

On July 27, Lee, a 25-year-old riot policeman of six months, held a 
media briefing after a three-day leave to announce his resolution not to 
rejoin his Jungnang Police Station unit in northeastern Seoul. He said 
he was forced to suppress protesters, which he said was against his 
conscience, and called for the abolishment of the riot police system. A 
few days later, he presented himself to police for questioning.

Lee said in court, ``Everything has happened in a flash since I decided 
not to return to the unit. I listened to my conscience and acted on it.''

In South Korea, a man can be dispatched to an ordinary military camp or 
the riot police on a random basis after being drafted.

``If officer Lee had the faith to keep democracy and a law-abiding 
society, he should not have refused the order to crack down on 
demonstrators. Lee also disparaged riot police, who exercise public 
power fairly, by calling them a means of violence,'' a prosecutor said.

A member of civic coalition Korea Solidarity for Conscientious Objection 
said, ``Lee can be considered a conscientious objector, and such people 
usually get an 18-month jail term. His seems too harsh.''

Lee was not the only riot police officer to protest the rally crackdown. 
In June, another riot policeman (Lee Gye-deok) requested a transfer to 
military camp, claiming police work was against his political beliefs 
and conscience. He was confined in the guardhouse for a month.







http://ecoworldly.com/2009/05/03/korean-policeman-jailed-for-refusing-to-use-excessive-force/

Police Officer Ordered to Use Excessive Force Jailed as Conscientious 
Objector
Written by Gavin Hudson
Published on May 3rd, 2009
Korean police officer Lee Gil-jun is in prison on a 2 year sentence for 
not returning to work after commanding officers ordered him to fire a 
water cannon into a crowd of peaceful protesters last May.
Last may, South Koreans took to the streets by the tens of thousands to 
protest US beef imports, mainly over concerns about mad cow disease in 
US beef. For several months on any given Saturday night, you could see 
protesters with white candles in the downtown centers of many cities, 
especially Seoul. As the candlelight vigils grew, they became more 
political. President Lee’s entire cabinet offered to resign and the 
newly elected leader was caught between Koreans, who wanted to scrap the 
beef import deal, and the US government, which wanted more access to 
Korean markets. It was then that police officers called in to monitor 
the demonstrations began using water cannons and physical force to push 
protesters back from the Korean capital building.
Lee Gil-jun had been drafted into the military like every young Korean 
man and was serving as a police officer when the candlelight vigils 
started. From May 31 to June 1, Lee’s commanding officers ordered his 
unit to use a water cannon to push demonstrators back. Lee recalls 
sitting down on the ground afterwards and feeling sick with guilt.
Lee says he became determined that he would no longer be used as a tool 
of suppression.
Afterwards, Lee took a leave of absence to see his parents and decided 
not to go back. He wanted to tell the media about the situation, but his 
parents were against the idea. So the 25 year-old filed as a 
conscientious objector and went alone to a police station to turn 
himself in.
At his court case, the judge asked “How do you think the treatment of 
illegal gatherings should change?”
“Peace protesters, marchers and the weak who represent social rights 
must be respected as much as possible. The government should keep within 
its principles and show maximum self-control,” answered Lee.
The judge continued, “If every person who has a complaint about their 
government can assemble in front of the Blue House [the South Korean 
equivalent of the White House], this society could become chaos.”
“Shouldn’t the government do more than to treat people like gang members 
or children? If they respect people’s decisions, democracy and peaceful 
gatherings will grow,” Lee replied.
Lee is currently in the 10th month of his sentence. He will be kept at 
Anyang Prison until his release date in 2010.
Readers can advocate for Lee’s freedom:
• via this Facebook group
• by filing a petition with the Korean government
• by emailing the Korean police agency
• by filing a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission of 
Korea or
• by writing words of support to Lee via a Korean web chat page set up 
to relay the messages







http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/china/longnan-riots-police-brutality-7606.html

Photos Reveal Police Brutality in Longnan Riots
By Gu Qinger
Epoch Times Staff Nov 23, 2008

A man is being beaten by riot police. (Provided by mainland China 
Internet users)
On November 18, 2008, an enormous display of civil unrest unfolded in 
Longnan City in northwestern Gansu Province. Tens of thousands of 
residents attempted to attack the communist party headquarters in the 
city and rioted in the streets, setting official vehicles on fire.

The riots were violently quashed by armed police who severely beat and 
even shot at many of the protesters. Several hundred farmers were 
wounded, dozens were in critical conditions and several were killed.

Currently, the city is under martial law and public gatherings are 
banned until November 23.

Apparently the incident was mainly fueled by resident’s anger over 
information that had emerged of authorities’ plan to move the entire 
city to another province.

People lying on the ground after suffering a beating by the police. 
(Provided by mainland China Internet users)
Longnan City is one of the disaster areas from the May 12 earthquake in 
Sichuan Province, and post-disaster reconstruction hasn’t yet begun. 
This has led to the municipal government’s desire to move the city. In a 
city of 550,000, such a move would likely have a disastrous effect on 
the financial situation of the local population.

Picture shows protesters being arrested. (Provided by mainland China 
Internet users)
Following the riots, mainland media has claimed the disturbances were 
the work of merely a few “lawbreakers” and none of their reports have 
mentioned the beatings and deaths suffered by the residents at the hands 
of the police.

Armed police face off against a crowed of protesters. (Provided by 
mainland China Internet users)
However, more and more pictures have been posted on the Internet by 
bloggers, showing armed police beating unarmed residents with clubs.
Related Articles
• Thousands Riot in Northwest China

Protesters being arrested. (Provided by mainland China Internet users)
A resident of Wudu city, Mr. Dong said, “Yesterday (November 20) the 
mayor made a public speech and said that this matter (moving the city) 
hasn’t been approved by the State Department yet, so they might not have 
to move. The public has calmed down since the mayor’s speech but the 
authorities have to give an explanation for this incident. Many people 
are still missing. People might protest again after the martial law is 
released without having an explanation from the officials.”

Police with long clubs getting ready to move in on protesters. (Provided 
by mainland China Internet users)
Original article in Chinese.
Last Updated
Nov 27, 2008







http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-11/26/content_7243894.htm

More than 1,000 rioters set free after Lhasa violence
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-11-26 22:05
Comments(1) Print Mail
BEIJING - China has set free more than 1,000 rioters involved in the 
March 14 riot that engulfed Tibet's capital Lhasa, according to a senior 
Chinese official.
"Most of the released rioters had turned themselves in right after the 
riot," Zhu Weiqun, deputy head of the United Front Work Department 
(UFWD) of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee said in a 
recent interview with BBC. The content of the interview can be seen on 
the website of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Zhu said there exist no "suppression" in Tibet. The suspects had enjoyed 
all legitimate rights based on Chinese law.
Local court sent interpreters to help all rioters in trial and ethnic 
background and religious beliefs were not considered when handing down 
sentences, he said.
With the placard of "non-violence" in his hand, the Dalai Lama on the 
other hand turned a blind eye to violent activities, the official said.
"Many people died in the March 14 Lhasa riot, and he called it a 
peaceful protest...is it the so-called non-violence?" Zhu questioned.
He held that most Tibetans living abroad were against violence and hoped 
for a better living environment and closer ties with Tibet.
"The government sponsors nearly 3,000 Tibetans abroad to visit their 
hometown each year... and they would feel worried about their safety if 
there's violence in Tibet." he said.
On March 14, groups of rioters launched widespread attacks against 
people and property in Lhasa, in which 18 innocent civilians and one 
police officer died and hundreds civilians and police were injured.
Rioters also torched houses, vehicles and looted shops. Direct economic 
loss stood at 320 million yuan (about US$47 million).






http://www.news.sl/drwebsite/publish/article_200510429.shtml

Sequel to St. Edwards/Police Riot…:Police Threatens BBC Correspondent in 
Sierra Leone
By Aruna Turay
Nov 17, 2008, 17:30 Email this article
Following the British Broadcasting Service (BBC) report of Friday 14th 
November 2008 on the riot between the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) and 
pupils of the Saint Edwards Secondary School in Kingtom, information 
reaching the Awareness Times news desk indicates that a group of 
hooligans and senior police officers at the Police Barracks in Kingtom 
have threatened to either kill or at the very least, "seriously 
manhandle" the BBC Correspondent, Lansana Fofana.
This was even confirmed in the presence of this reporter by one of the 
senior officers (name withheld), who alleges that the BBC Correspondent 
"filed in a false, unfounded and one sided report against the police", 
and therefore "must be dealt with".
When he was contacted, the BBC’s Lansana Fofana indeed confirmed the 
report of the threats on his life.
The senior journalist disclosed that he got wind of the ugly development 
in the wake of filing the said report that was aired on the BBC Network 
Africa.
"According to my intelligence report, the threats were coming from these 
senior officers and other relatives of the police at the Barracks," 
Lansana Fofana told this reporter, adding that he wasted no time in 
contacting the police hierarchy about the occurrence.
However, the swift intervention of the police hierarchy was able to calm 
the tension that was gradually developing into a breach of public peace.
Meanwhile, a meeting intending to bridge the misunderstanding was 
summoned yesterday Sunday 16th November 2008 and the outcome of that 
meeting is believed to have been an amiable ending to the 
misunderstanding. However, given the seriousness of the threats made on 
the BBC’s correspondent’s life, this newspaper is continuing to closely 
monitor the situation.