[Gipfelsoli Newsletter] May 16th 2007 Heiligendamm -- Gleneagles

[International Newsletter]

May 16th 2007 Heiligendamm

- German police declare a general ban on demonstrations in designated areas
- Legal Update Heiligendamm May 13th
- Get your seat belts on!
- German Authorities Impose Demonstration Ban Around G-8 Summit
- German Police Declare No-go Zone for G8 Protestors
- PMR-Info-Radio
- Call for worldwide public screenings
- G8 case collapses two years on

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German police declare a general ban on demonstrations in designated areas around
the G8 summit

Press release International Press Group
Contact: g8-press-int at nadir.org
16th of May

*Restrictions on the right to demonstrate are heavily criticized
*G8 summit protesters announce law suit

The special police department "Kavala", responsible for the security of the G8
summit, has issued yesterday evening a so-called General Ban. This was formally
communicated to the negotiators of one of the protest marches. In the past,
"Kavala" always has denied plans of such a restriction of the right to protest.
Even the website of "Kavala" has stated for months that no restrictions would be
placed on demonstrations in the area of the fence. Now it is clear that no
demonstrations against the G8 will be allowed in an area of several kilometers
outside of the fence.

"There are plans for an area outside of the fence as well as the road network
around Heiligendamm for the time frame in question that will be subjected to a
ban of association", so the letter of "Kavala".

The order will most likely be signed by Christiane Röttgers. Röttgers works
closely with the governmental presidency in Luneburg and has been a central
administrator of General Bans during the regular mass protests against the
nuclear Castor transports. Now she is working as head of the "Association
Department" at "Kavala". She is expected to implement the restrictions of the
right to protest in Heiligendamm.

"Kavala" has suspended the release of this order for a long time. Such a
practice is well-known from the protests against the Castor transports. "The
police are playing with time. This will restrict the possibilities for a law
suit against the ban", so the criticism of the protesters.

"All those who officially registered their demonstrations have been misled for
months", says the Infogroup Gipfesoli. For months the Association Department of
"Kavala" has not responded to several registrations.

Of concern are above all the plans for the "Star March" which intends to have
different thematical strands. This, along with several small demonstrations
along the fence in Heiligendamm, were registered for the 7th of June. But also
the announced blockades of the military airport Rostock Laage will be forbidden
under the ban.

Summit protestors have announced their intention to lodge a formal complaint and
begin legal proceedings as soon as possible. This drawn out bureaucratic process
was certainly intended by the authorities. However, the right to protest in the
vicinity of the adressed institution was confirmed by the Federal
Constitutional Court several times in the run up to the events. The most famous
case on this issue in Germany is the so- called "Brokdorf judgement" from the
period of intense protests against nuclear energy in 1985.

In response to the repressive police measures, the alliance "Block G8" has
announced to blockade the G8 summit by means of civil disobedience,
notwithstanding the general ban.

***
Maps of the fence and the restricted area:
http://gipfelsoli.org/Repression/Allgemeinverfuegung/1654.html


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[Gipfelsoli Infogruppe] Legal Update Heiligendamm May 13th

17.04.2007: police actions against the "walk by the fence" on the 15th of April.
Participants: at least 220 (300 according to the media) "Security Forces": two
water police boats, one helicopter, two-hundred riot cops, one special arrest
squad, and many, many more...

18.04.2007: repression and resistance to G8. The attack on the "Hanse-Gate"
office building in Hamburg was related to the G8-summit in Heiligendamm. A
Hamburg newspaper received a letter from the "Autonomous Anticapitalist Groups"
criticising companies located in the building, and describing the action as
"Warm-up" for the summit. On Saturday the 14th of April, persons unknown
smashed windows in the building and threw paint bombs, causing damage of
several tens of thousands of Euros.

19.04.2007: "Zero-Tolerance against summit hooligans". Hamburg's police chief
Janosch has said that he wants to "fish out" the leaders of riots already
before they reach Heiligendamm. The end of May will be exciting Hamburg:
besides the summit protests, there will be the ASEM conference, and the opening
of the contested Wasserturm-Hotel.

19.04.2007: cops raid house project in Potsdam in search of anti-G8 banner. Some
50 cops stormed a house project in Potsdam, basing their action on a court order
to impound a banner that had hung off the house. The banner, it was claimed,
constituted an incitement to criminal activity.

24.04.2007: careless talk costs lives! Total surveillance in Hamburg: media are
being asked not to report militant actions around the G8 summit; an
info-hotline for denunciations has been set up; mobile phones are being
located, phones tapped, cars traced. Interior minister Nagel: we will soon see
results.

28.04.2007: G8 demo in Berlin - police accused of violence. Police are accused
of beating demonstrators and intentionally damaging the sound car's equipment.
According to the police, the demonstrators wilfully changed their route, so the
police had to respond.

29.04.2007: Militant G8 critics to be dealt with harshly. Regional officials in
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern are threatening militant summit critics with speedy
trials if they commit crimes. Foreign violent protesters would be faced with
fines from 150 to 2000 Euro, according to a list of punishments developed for
the football world cup in 2006. At the same time, lawyers are preparing to
support G8 critics for free, fearing infringements of their basic rights. There
will be a legal emergency service in place.

30.04.2007: 30 people barred from visiting the fence. The police have already
barred 30 people from getting to the fence around the summit location, but now,
says Abramovski, they have stopped counting. Around the fence, the mood is
decidedly "Big Brother", with video vans patrolling constantly. A resident: I
was there when they built the wall. I remember.

30.04.2007: A few weeks ago, interior security tried to recruit a teenager in
Lueneburg as an informer. They tried to gain information about the left scene
and activities in the town.

01.05.2007: undercover cops get their own special unit. Although it's no news
that hundreds of undercover cops prowl the streets of Berlin on the first of
May, now they finally get their own special unit: "Intelligence +
Intervention". The special unit is likely to be deployed in Heiligendamm, so
people are working on identifying them in advance.

04.05.2007: Kavala advertising on TV on radio against protests. The police have
been warning of "troublemakers" since their first public event around
Heiligendamm. Now they're going to the next level, using radio and TV
advertisements. Also on tour: the police's "Infomobil"

05.05.2007: G8: shopkeepers ought to secure their stores. Expecting riots during
the main demonstration in Rostock, the police has warned shopkeepers to prepare
for the riots by securing their stores.

05.05.2007: Army deployment during G8 summit. While soldiers will not be taking
offensive actions during the summit, they retain the right to defend themselves
against crimes against the army, as well as the right to self-defence.

06.05.2007: Utrecht/Netherlands: 4 people still in jail after detention of 100
bicycle demonstrators. Press release of the bike caravan info-bureau in Rostock
(excerpts) Yesterday, 100 participants in a bike demo in Utrecht were arrested
and kept into the night in terrible conditions for not cycling on the bike
lane. 4 of them remain in jail today.

06.05.2007: Bad Doberan to be shut off? Signs are intensifying that the town of
Bad Doberan will experience severe inconveniences during the summit:
inhabitants will have to carry ID on them at all times. People not resident in
Bad Doberan will need to carry letters from their employers proving their need
to be there. Security experts point out that a strong security concept for the
summit would be impossible without shutting off Bad Doberan.

07.05.2007: RAF-debate - internal security service warns of new left-wing
terror. Baden-Wuerttemberg's internal security has warned that left-wing
terrorism could experience a renaissance in Germany. Militant groups are said
to increasingly iconise old members of the Red Army Faction, and increasingly
refer to their ideas in a positive way, for example to a letter written by
ex-RAF member Christian Klar.

07.05.2007: G8 police chief in a good mood. Abramovski, leader of the police's
special "Kavala" unit set up to police the 2007 G8 summit assesses their work
over the last two years positively. During the summit he will have 580 officers
working directly under him, and command some 16000 officers, at the cost of 100
million Euros. Together with colleagues from abroad, Abramovski will have to
police tens of thousands of protesters, a few hundred who will come with less
than peaceful intentions, and possibly individuals or small groups treated by
the police under the heading "international terrorism".

08.05.2007: Police wants hotel guests' particulars. The police is demanding that
particulars of hotel guests staying in and around Heiligendamm should be handed
over to them in advance. The police are pressuring proprietors, threatening
them with hassle if they do not cooperate.

09.05.2007: Fasten your seatbelts! On the 9th of May, Germany's federal police
(BKA) raided 40 locations across the country. 900 officers were deployed to
intimidate individuals and left projects. Investigations are being conducted
under §129a, concerning the "creation of a terrorist organisation aiming to
prevent to the G8 summit". The background to the raids are actions by militant
groups against state and commercial property. Only 2% of investigations
conducted under this anti-terror law lead to convictions. The prosecution
itself admits that the raids were not intended to prevent any concrete attacks,
but simply to gather information.

10.05.2007: reintroduction of border controls for the G8 summit. Germany's
interior minister has decided that border controls will be re-imposed at
Germany's borders with Schengen countries for the duration of and prior to the
summit, in order to prevent potentially criminal and violent protesters from
entering the country.

10.05.2007: Leipzig: police brutality. A spontaneous demonstration in Leipzig
against the arbitrary measures against left structures on 9.5.2007 was
massively attacked by police.

11.05.2007: up to ten days preventive detention; regional government sets up
mass prisons. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's interior minister pointed out that it
was possible in his state to detain potential troublemakers for up to ten days.
Later, a spokeswoman for the minister added that the state would certainly make
full use of this option during the protests. It was noted, however, that
immediately after such an arrest, a judge had to approve the detention, and
decide on its duration.

11.05.2007: interior minister threatens preventive detention. Zero tolerance
against militant G8-critics: Germany's interior minister Schaeuble is
threatening violent extremists planning to disturb the G8 summit in
Heiligendamm with preventive detention. Militants could be detained for up to
14 days given proof of a planned crime. He also spoke of a generally increased
threat level during the summit: "We should be warned: the terrible attacks in
London took place during the G8-summit in Gleneagles."

12.05.2007: Hamburg: mass detention for demonstrators? Hamburg's interior
senator Udo Nagel is planning to, if necessary, detain violent demonstrators
against the G8. He called on peaceful protesters to distance themselves from
violent ones.

12.05.2007: embarrassing glitches in investigations against G8 critics. The
SPIEGEL reports that investigators against anti-G8 activists made some
embarrassing mistakes: some of the accused were warned of the actions through
phone bills, mistakenly delivered letters. Some of the accused are already of
pension age, the oldest one is 68. The police thus assume that they are
unlikely to have carried out the actions themselves.

13.05.2007: Hamburg: car impounded. Yesterday, the federal police impounded a
car parked in a public location, with the justification that anti-G8 info
materials were found in it.

13.05.2007: Berlin police scrutinise youth seminar about G8 protests. On Sunday,
Berlin police noted the particulars of participants at a workshop about the G8
protests organised by the leftist youth organisation Solid, impounding two
mobile phones. Representatives of the Left Party were highly critical of the
action.

13.05.2007: After the raids in Berlin: tracking device discovered. Campinski
Media Group, press release (excerpts): Three days after the raids throughout
Germany, a police-tracking device was found attached to the car of one of the
accused members of the authors' collective "AG Grauwacke", supposedly a
founding member of the shadowy "Militant Campaign against the Economic Summit".
Given that the device had almost certainly been attached to the car for a while,
he counsels people involved in the raids to "check their cars thoroughly".


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Get your seat belts on!

On May 9, 2007, the federal criminal police (BKA) stepped up their operations
and have already searched 40 residences. 900 police forces were deployed to
intimidate individuals and leftist projects. The have opened up an
investigation under the German counter-terrorism laws, paragraph 129a
"formation of a terrorist organisation for the purposes of impeding gthe G8
summit." The background of these allegations consisted of actions carried out
by militant groups resulting in property damage against federal and private
property. The paragraph 129a is being used as an excuse to obtain information.
Only 2 percent of all 129a investigations lead to actual sentencing. Even the
ferderal prosecutors bring the point home:

"The current investigations are intended to provide information about structures
and make-up of these groups rather than preventing actual attacks. There is no
existing evidence indicating (terrorist) attacks.

A typical "search-and-destroy" mission on the part of the BKA.

[Gipfelsoli Infogruppe]


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German Authorities Impose Demonstration Ban Around G-8 Summit

May 16 (Bloomberg) -- German authorities issued a ban on demonstrations around
the seaside town that will host next month's summit of the Group of Eight
industrialized nations, saying protestors' aims to disrupt the meeting pose a
threat.
A broad area outside the already secure cordon around Heiligendamm and the local
airport at Rostock, in northeast Germany, will be closed off to protestors
between May 30 and June 8, local police in the state of Mecklenburg-Western
Pomerania, said today. The summit takes place June 6-8.
``Such disruption of the summit'' would cause ``lasting damage to Germany's
international interests,'' the police said in a statement. Protestors have
stated aims to blockade the meeting and disrupt its infrastructure, police
said.
Authorities have erected a 12-kilometer-long (7.5 mile) barbed-wire fence to
protect world leaders including U.S. President George W. Bush, Russian
President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during the summit.
The ban on demonstrations was criticized by protest organizers as curtailing
their right to assemble and criminalizing their legal activities. Tensions with
police are already high after German federal and state police on May 9 raided 40
sites as part of investigations into members of a militant group that allegedly
planned to attack the summit.
``Just because Vladimir Putin will also be a guest doesn't mean the Interior
Ministry has the right to introduce Russian measures,'' Jan Philipp Albrecht, a
spokesman for the organization Green Youth, said in a statement. Protestors
aiming to organize a march to Heiligendamm on June 7 will now be blocked.
Summit protestors plan to draw as many as 100,000 people to a demonstration in
Rostock on June 2 to kick off a series of events during the summit. Police said
that 10 events already approved to take place inside the cordon will go ahead.
The G-8 is an international forum for the governments of Canada, France,
Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the U.K. and the U.S. Security at international
gatherings was stepped up after a series of confrontations starting at a World
Trade Organization meeting in Seattle in 1999, peaking in July 2001 at a Group
of Seven summit in Genoa, Italy, when police shot and killed a demonstrator.

[http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aac2LAuvkNd4&refer=germany]


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German Police Declare No-go Zone for G8 Protestors

In a move criticised by left-wing groups, German authorities have said
protestors will not be allowed near a Baltic Sea resort where G8 leaders will
hold their June summit. August Hanning, deputy interior minister, defended the
decision by police to ban protests near the Baltic Sea resort of Heiligendamm
during the Group of Eight summit of industrialized nations in June.

"As host of the G8 summit, we have a duty to do everything to protect our
guests," Hanning told German public broadcaster ARD. Authorities are building a
12-kilometer-long security fence around the G8 venue. Germany is expecting up to
100,000 anti-globalization demonstrators to target the gathering of world
leaders in the plush seaside resort of Heiligendamm in northeastern Germany.

On Wednesday, police in Rostock, a northern German city located just 23
kilometers from Heiligendamm, said all public gatherings and demonstrations
within 200 meters (656 feet) of the security fence surrounding the G8 meeting
area will be banned between May 30 and June 8 -- the day the summit ends.
>From June 2 to June 8, protests and demonstrations will also be forbidden at the
Rostock-Laage airport which serves Heiligendamm.

"A real security threat"
Police said the measures were justified because "anti-globalization activists
have repeatedly called for a veritable blockade of the G8 summit. "This shows
that there is a real security threat for those participating in the summit."
The Internet portal of the weekly magazine Stern reported that during the
actual summit, demonstrations within a two-kilometer radius would be
prohibited. AFP news agency, however, said protestors would not be allowed
within a five-kilometer radius of the Baltic sea resort town.
Last week, when Rostock police initially announced its intention to prohibit
nearby protests, they said it was to "ensure the area surrounding Heiligendamm
would be open for police and emergency vehicles."
Hanning said that police were now aware of "potentially dangerous" actions
planned by people who intended to destroy the security fences and disrupt the
summit. He said the decision to prohibit public gatherings near the fence was a
"legitimate, preventative police procedure."
He also said that the disruptions could not only pose a threat to G8 leaders,
but to nearby G8 opponents as well.

Rallies possible elsewhere
Bildunterschrift: Protest at the G8 summit near Gleneagles, Scotland in 2005
Hanning said, however, that German authorities still wanted to ensure that
"rallies can take place which aim to criticize the G8 summit and certain
aspects of globalization."
Demonstrations which had been previously registered would now be reviewed based
on the new ordinance, Hanning said. 60 demonstrations had been registered in
all, 10 of which were authorized by police.
But G8 summit opponents are angered. One told AP new agency: "People who have
officially registered demonstrations these past few months have been deceived."
Summit opponents said it was a constitutional right to be able to protest.

Possible appeals
Opponents have said they will take legal action to appeal the ban, but the
organization Gipfelsoli Infogruppe said that the late announcement by police
was a delaying tactic intended to make it difficult for opponents to appeal.
The prohibition will affect the "Star March," which had been planned with
protestors moving in from different locations to gather at Heiligendamm, where
a rally was also scheduled. Smaller protests near the security fences will also
be affected.
The decision follows on the heels of a major raid last week on the homes and
offices of of left-wing G8 and anti-globalization activists.
900 police officers raided 40 sites in northern Germany linked to left-wing
activists believed to be preparing arson attacks and other violent protests
during the summit.
The massive security operation was slammed by critics as overblown and an
unnecessary show of force by the German state. The operation angered left-wing
groups who warned that it only served to mobilize their followers. Some 5,000
people took to the streets of Berlin, Hamburg and smaller German cities in
protest at the police raids.

[http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2517595,00.html]


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PMR-Info-Radio

To spread the latest news there will be a PMR-Info-Radio. It´s part of the
Infosystem and like Infopoints and Infotelephones it will inform you about the
latest news about demonstrations, blockades and actions. You can reach it
around Heiligendamm and Rostock-Laage during the Actiondays on Wednesday and
Thursday. PMR means "Public Mobile Radio". This are a small type of
walkie-talkies that you can legally buy and use. Usually the broadcasting range
is about 0.5 km to 5 km, depending strongly on surroundings. But to receive the
Inforadio you don´t need to send - the PMR receives the news like a usual
radio. Due to norming you can buy the PMR all over Europe for about 20 €,
better quality for about 40 €, usually you get two for that price. Make sure
that they have a connection for headphones. Inbetween broadcasting times the
walkie-talkies can of course be used for communication in between groups in the
closer action radius.

PMR-Radio:
Broadcasting days:
* Wednesday, 6th of June
* Thursday, 7th of June
Broadcasting times:
* Each hour at xx:45 in periods of action

We will not manage to be punctual to the second - practice patience
What you need: PMR-Walkie-Talkies


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Call for worldwide public screenings of current video reports about the protests
against the G8 summit 2007

We are a network of video activists from Germany. Together with video groups
from other countries we will offer daily several video reports and a live-show
to download from the new internet-platform http://g8-tv.org in the context of
the protests against the G8 summit 2007 in Heiligendamm starting in the
beginning of June.
Our main goal is not to show sensational riot- clips but to offer a platform to
publicize criticizm against the politics of the G8- states. Our aim is to grant
uncensored reports in solidarity with the protest movements. You can look at our
concept at http://www.videoactivism.de/g8_en.html
Between May 31 and June 10 we plan at least three daily video-reports of
approximately 5 minutes length each and between June 2 and 8 daily after 9 pm
30 minutes life-show in the format OggTheora (www.theora.org). This moderated
live talk- and news show will be presented in German and English and include
current video clips and interviews with activists.
We are looking for groups and initiatives worldwide who will organize public
screenings in public places, cinemas and open tv-channels to show our
productions. A high-quality version ready to screen of the live-show will be
online daily after 10 pm (Central European Time). In addition we want to offer
many of our daily video reports to download in high quality with subtitles in
many different languages.

In order to download reports within a reasonable time a broadband
internet-connection like DSL will be needed. The ogg-format can be played with
the free software VLC (www.videolan.org) or with a quicktime-plugin
(http://xiph.org/quicktime/).

We will appreciate your interest in a non-commercial cooperation. Please let us
know when and where you plan public screenings so that we can promote them.

With greetings,

Network Videoactivism
www.videoactivism.de
videoactivism at nadir.org


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G8 case collapses two years on

CHARGES against five protesters arrested during Edinburgh's G8 demonstrations
have been thrown out of court after two years.
The prosecution case collapsed amid claims police failed to provide video
footage said to have been taken at the protest in July 2005.
The five defendants today hit out at the cost to the public purse, which is
likely to be tens of thousands of pounds.
The case against the four men and one woman was brought up in court on 12
separate occasions, but eventually dropped on Monday. Solidarity campaigners
John Wight and Kevin Connor were arrested on July 6, 2005, with three others,
following an impromptu march along Princes Street.
The demonstration started after buses due to take protestors to the official G8
demonstration in Auchterarder were blocked from leaving Waterloo Place.
The march reached Edinburgh's West End, but was turned back by police.
The protesters headed back towards The Mound, where four now-released coaches
were leaving the city. However, because the buses were full, the marchers were
not allowed to board.
Police decided to invite a delegation from the demonstration to inspect the
coaches to prove they were full.
Mr Wight, who had organised the transport, and Scottish Socialist Party's Nick
Eardley were the first to be selected.
Mr Connor and his girlfriend Vanesa Fuertes were also picked to accompany police
officers.
The four said they were separated from the crowd and once hidden from view, were
"pounced on and arrested".
They were charged with public order offences.
Raphie De Santos, an SSP member, was also arrested and faced the same charges of
taking part in a public demonstration without having given notice and failing to
desist when ordered to do so. Mr Wight, 39, said: "The police stopped us from
taking part in a legal demonstration in Gleneagles, so we had no alternative
but to protest here in Edinburgh. "I had been organising the buses from the
start, so the police saw me as a leader. They wanted to take me out, so they
used the excuse of the buses to get me away from the crowd."
Mr Connor, 37, a taxi driver from Meadowbank, said: "It was the first time I had
been arrested, and we were really scared. "We were shocked at having been
arrested simply for doing something that the police had asked us to do." He
added: "What happened since has been a complete farce and absolutely shocking.
"Two years and 12 court appearances later, after spending many tens or even
hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money, the case concocted against
the five of us was dropped. "The two-year delay resulted from the reluctance of
the police to supply relevant video footage."
Cameron Tait, Mr Connor's defence lawyer, said today: "There was an ongoing
difficulty obtaining video footage allegedly taken by police on the day. "The
Crown discontinued the case by not calling it in court on Monday, May 14."
Police declined to comment on the video footage.
A police spokeswoman said: "As a result of demonstrations that took place on
July 6, 2005 in Princes Street a number of individuals were arrested and
reported to the Procurator Fiscal in respect of public order offences.
"The cases were thereafter progressed by the Procurator Fiscal service, which
has responsibility for decisions around the prosecution of criminal cases."

[http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=759312007]