Swiss consulate in Barcelona occupied!!!!! Call for solidarity actions!!
barcelona support group | 13.06.2003 08:36
This Friday morning we have occupied the Swiss consulate in Barcelona to protest against the repression that took place at the G8 and in particular against what happened to the English electrician Martin Shaw. We intend to stay untill our demands are met by the Swiss government. We call for an international effort to put pressure on the Swiss government and we ask groups to take action, to picket and/or send the text below to the Swiss embassies.
Swiss consulate in Barcelona occupied!!!!!
Call for solidarity actions
This Friday morning we have occupied the Swiss consulate in Barcelona to protest against the repression that took place at the G8 and in particular against what happened to the English electrician Martin Shaw. Martin Shaw, currently hospitalised in Lausanne, is recuperating from grave injuries suffered as a consequence of the cutting of his climbing rope used for a blockading action against the G8 at the bridge of Aubonne. We intend to stay untill our demands are met by the Swiss government. We call for an international effort to put pressure on the Swiss government and we ask groups to take action, to picket and/or send the text below to the Swiss embassies.
We demand:
#The immediate withdrawal of all charges against the persons that participated in the Aubonne bridge action, as for all persons detained during the protests in opposition to the summit of the G8.
#A transparent, independent and public investigation into the training and orders received by the police who cut the rope, as well as into the general organisational and hierarchical infrastructure and the political responsibles of the security measures surrounding the G8 summit, .
#That the Swiss government offers full and complete compensation of all expenses incurred, including the medical and judicial costs, by all participants of the Aubonne bridge action, as a result of the brutal behavior of the Swiss police, especially given the recognition by the Swiss authorities of being the perpetrator of the aggression.
#The right for Martin Shaw to decide, in compliance with EU and Swiss law, wether to stay in hospital in Lausanne as long as deemed necessary for full recuperation or to be moved to Barcelona, his city of residence.
We denounce:
#The claim that the cutting of the rope was an “accident” or the result of “negligence” on the part of the police. Rather, it should be seen as a logical result of the creation of a climate of fear and the strategy of criminalisation of dissident voices gathered to oppose the G8 summit.
#The growing scale of repression not only at the G8 summit but globally and persistently.
#The ongoing criminalisation of antagonistic social movements worldwide.
To whom it may concern,
On Sunday 1st June, a UK national, Martin Shaw was severly injured and
hospitalised as a result of actions by the Swiss traffic police. The
protestor, part of a 15 person international collective blockading a bridge
in Switzerland to prevent G8 delegates passing from Geneva to Lausanne, was
participating in a banner drop-road blockade with the slogan “G8 Illegal”.
Martin and another protestor were hanging from both ends of the same rope
from a 30m high bridge over a small stony riverbed alongside the banner.
The two traffic police arriving at the scene panicked about the build up of
traffic and cut the rope that the two protestors were hanging from despite
repeated warnings about the danger of this from everyone present. Martin who
is a very experienced and careful climber, then fell 20m into a stony river
bed and was left there with spinal injuries, pelvic damage and a severely
broken ankle for a considerable amount of time before the emergency services
arrived with a ambulance helicopter to take him to the hospital.
Eye-witnesses report that the police were much more concerned with
immediately restoring the flow of traffic than they were with getting
medical attention to Martin, although two police officers (amongst the many
police and possible military present) did eventually help lift Martin out of
the river bed.
The other people present managed to rescue the second climber by holding on
to the other end of the rope for 15 minutes so that she also didn´t fall,
although she was later delivered to the hopsital suffering from shock.
Whilst Martin lay collapsed in the shallow river bed receiving medical
attention from an activist and demonstrators rescued the second climber,
police momentarily continued to direct traffic over the bridge as if nothing
had happened, although the traffic on this main autoroute from Geneva to
Lausanne was eventually stopped for the rest of the day. It is extremely
lucky that these two people are not dead as a result of the actions of the
Swiss police.
Martin currently remains in hospital in Geneva where he has undergone a
series of emergency operations on his vertebral injuries, pelvis and ankle.
The doctors have stated that his back will slowly recover, but at this stage
the doctors are unsure about the state of his left ankle.
I am writing to express my anger and wish to register my protest of this
terrible incident and of Martin Shaw´s near fatal treatment as a result of
the actions of the Swiss police.
I demand:
#The immediate withdrawal of all charges against the persons that participated in the Aubonne bridge action, as for all persons detained during the protests in opposition to the summit of the G8.
#A transparent, independent and public investigation into the training and orders received by the police who cut the rope, as well as into the general organisational and hierarchical infrastructure and the political responsibles of the security measures surrounding the G8 summit, .
#That the Swiss government offers full and complete compensation of all expenses incurred, including the medical and judicial costs, by all participants of the Aubonne bridge action, as a result of the brutal behavior of the Swiss police, especially given the recognition by the Swiss authorities of being the perpetrator of the aggression.
#The right for Martin Shaw to decide, in compliance with EU and Swiss law, wether to stay in hospital in Lausanne as long as deemed necessary for full recuperation or to be moved to Barcelona, his city of residence.
I denounce:
#The claim that the cutting of the rope was an “accident” or the result of “negligence” on the part of the police. Rather, it should be seen as a logical result of the creation of a climate of fear and the strategy of criminalisation of dissident voices gathered to oppose the G8 summit.
#The growing scale of repression not only at the G8 summit but globally and persistently.
#The ongoing criminalisation of antagonistic social movements worldwide.
Signed
---------------------
LIST OF EMBASSIES
------------------------------
UK
-------
Embassy of Switzerland
16 -18 Montagu Place,
London
W1H 2BQ
Tel: 00 44 (0)20 7616 6000
Fax: 00 44 (0)20 7724 7001
E-mail:
swissembassy@lon.rep.admin.ch
France
----------
Embassy of Switzerland
142, rue de Grenelle
Paris – 75007
Tel: 00 33 1 49 55 67 00
Fax: 00 33 1 45 51 34 77
E-mail: vertretung@par.rep.admin.ch
Spain
---------
Embassy of Switzerland
Calle Nuñez de Balboa
35-7 Edificio Goya
Madrid
Tel: 00 34 91 436 39 60
Fax: 00 34 91 436 39 88
E-mail: vertretung@mad.rep.admin.ch
Germany
------------
Embassy of Switzerland
Otto-von-Bismarck-Allee 4ª
Berlin 10557
Tel: 00 49 (0)30 390 40 00
Fax: 00 49 (0)30 391 1030
E-mail: vertretubg@botschaft-schweiz.de
USA
-------
Embassy of Switzerland
2900 Cathedral Ave, NW
Washington DC 20008
Tel: 001 202 745 7980
Fax: 00 1 292 387 2564
E-mail: vertretung@was.rep.admin.ch
Italy
------
Embassy of Switzerland
Via Barnaba Oriani 61
Rome 00197
Tel: 00 39 06 8083641
E-mail: Amsuisse@rom.rep.admin.ch
The Netherlands
-----------------------
Embassy of Switzerland
Lange Voorhout 42
Den Haag 2514 EE
Tel: (+31) (0) 70 - 3642831
Fax: (+31) (0) 70 - 356 12 38
E-mail: Vertretung@hay.rep.admin.ch
Call for solidarity actions
This Friday morning we have occupied the Swiss consulate in Barcelona to protest against the repression that took place at the G8 and in particular against what happened to the English electrician Martin Shaw. Martin Shaw, currently hospitalised in Lausanne, is recuperating from grave injuries suffered as a consequence of the cutting of his climbing rope used for a blockading action against the G8 at the bridge of Aubonne. We intend to stay untill our demands are met by the Swiss government. We call for an international effort to put pressure on the Swiss government and we ask groups to take action, to picket and/or send the text below to the Swiss embassies.
We demand:
#The immediate withdrawal of all charges against the persons that participated in the Aubonne bridge action, as for all persons detained during the protests in opposition to the summit of the G8.
#A transparent, independent and public investigation into the training and orders received by the police who cut the rope, as well as into the general organisational and hierarchical infrastructure and the political responsibles of the security measures surrounding the G8 summit, .
#That the Swiss government offers full and complete compensation of all expenses incurred, including the medical and judicial costs, by all participants of the Aubonne bridge action, as a result of the brutal behavior of the Swiss police, especially given the recognition by the Swiss authorities of being the perpetrator of the aggression.
#The right for Martin Shaw to decide, in compliance with EU and Swiss law, wether to stay in hospital in Lausanne as long as deemed necessary for full recuperation or to be moved to Barcelona, his city of residence.
We denounce:
#The claim that the cutting of the rope was an “accident” or the result of “negligence” on the part of the police. Rather, it should be seen as a logical result of the creation of a climate of fear and the strategy of criminalisation of dissident voices gathered to oppose the G8 summit.
#The growing scale of repression not only at the G8 summit but globally and persistently.
#The ongoing criminalisation of antagonistic social movements worldwide.
To whom it may concern,
On Sunday 1st June, a UK national, Martin Shaw was severly injured and
hospitalised as a result of actions by the Swiss traffic police. The
protestor, part of a 15 person international collective blockading a bridge
in Switzerland to prevent G8 delegates passing from Geneva to Lausanne, was
participating in a banner drop-road blockade with the slogan “G8 Illegal”.
Martin and another protestor were hanging from both ends of the same rope
from a 30m high bridge over a small stony riverbed alongside the banner.
The two traffic police arriving at the scene panicked about the build up of
traffic and cut the rope that the two protestors were hanging from despite
repeated warnings about the danger of this from everyone present. Martin who
is a very experienced and careful climber, then fell 20m into a stony river
bed and was left there with spinal injuries, pelvic damage and a severely
broken ankle for a considerable amount of time before the emergency services
arrived with a ambulance helicopter to take him to the hospital.
Eye-witnesses report that the police were much more concerned with
immediately restoring the flow of traffic than they were with getting
medical attention to Martin, although two police officers (amongst the many
police and possible military present) did eventually help lift Martin out of
the river bed.
The other people present managed to rescue the second climber by holding on
to the other end of the rope for 15 minutes so that she also didn´t fall,
although she was later delivered to the hopsital suffering from shock.
Whilst Martin lay collapsed in the shallow river bed receiving medical
attention from an activist and demonstrators rescued the second climber,
police momentarily continued to direct traffic over the bridge as if nothing
had happened, although the traffic on this main autoroute from Geneva to
Lausanne was eventually stopped for the rest of the day. It is extremely
lucky that these two people are not dead as a result of the actions of the
Swiss police.
Martin currently remains in hospital in Geneva where he has undergone a
series of emergency operations on his vertebral injuries, pelvis and ankle.
The doctors have stated that his back will slowly recover, but at this stage
the doctors are unsure about the state of his left ankle.
I am writing to express my anger and wish to register my protest of this
terrible incident and of Martin Shaw´s near fatal treatment as a result of
the actions of the Swiss police.
I demand:
#The immediate withdrawal of all charges against the persons that participated in the Aubonne bridge action, as for all persons detained during the protests in opposition to the summit of the G8.
#A transparent, independent and public investigation into the training and orders received by the police who cut the rope, as well as into the general organisational and hierarchical infrastructure and the political responsibles of the security measures surrounding the G8 summit, .
#That the Swiss government offers full and complete compensation of all expenses incurred, including the medical and judicial costs, by all participants of the Aubonne bridge action, as a result of the brutal behavior of the Swiss police, especially given the recognition by the Swiss authorities of being the perpetrator of the aggression.
#The right for Martin Shaw to decide, in compliance with EU and Swiss law, wether to stay in hospital in Lausanne as long as deemed necessary for full recuperation or to be moved to Barcelona, his city of residence.
I denounce:
#The claim that the cutting of the rope was an “accident” or the result of “negligence” on the part of the police. Rather, it should be seen as a logical result of the creation of a climate of fear and the strategy of criminalisation of dissident voices gathered to oppose the G8 summit.
#The growing scale of repression not only at the G8 summit but globally and persistently.
#The ongoing criminalisation of antagonistic social movements worldwide.
Signed
---------------------
LIST OF EMBASSIES
------------------------------
UK
-------
Embassy of Switzerland
16 -18 Montagu Place,
London
W1H 2BQ
Tel: 00 44 (0)20 7616 6000
Fax: 00 44 (0)20 7724 7001
E-mail:
swissembassy@lon.rep.admin.ch France
----------
Embassy of Switzerland
142, rue de Grenelle
Paris – 75007
Tel: 00 33 1 49 55 67 00
Fax: 00 33 1 45 51 34 77
E-mail:
vertretung@par.rep.admin.ch Spain
---------
Embassy of Switzerland
Calle Nuñez de Balboa
35-7 Edificio Goya
Madrid
Tel: 00 34 91 436 39 60
Fax: 00 34 91 436 39 88
E-mail:
vertretung@mad.rep.admin.ch Germany
------------
Embassy of Switzerland
Otto-von-Bismarck-Allee 4ª
Berlin 10557
Tel: 00 49 (0)30 390 40 00
Fax: 00 49 (0)30 391 1030
E-mail:
vertretubg@botschaft-schweiz.de USA
-------
Embassy of Switzerland
2900 Cathedral Ave, NW
Washington DC 20008
Tel: 001 202 745 7980
Fax: 00 1 292 387 2564
E-mail:
vertretung@was.rep.admin.ch Italy
------
Embassy of Switzerland
Via Barnaba Oriani 61
Rome 00197
Tel: 00 39 06 8083641
E-mail:
Amsuisse@rom.rep.admin.ch The Netherlands
-----------------------
Embassy of Switzerland
Lange Voorhout 42
Den Haag 2514 EE
Tel: (+31) (0) 70 - 3642831
Fax: (+31) (0) 70 - 356 12 38
E-mail:
Vertretung@hay.rep.admin.ch
barcelona support group
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