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Pepper spray, kicks and punches
Press Release 28th May 2007
- Massive police presence at demonstration in Hamburg
- Resistance is large and resolute
6 – 8 000 people were in good spirits as they demonstrated against the ASEM conference in Hamburg. The demonstration was part of the beginning of the G8 protests.
After the police changed the registered route, the organizers appealed at the highest court. There the registered route was partly approved.
The police were clearly nervous. Repeatedly the procession was stopped for no reason and was provoked by individual police troops. Snatch squads and other units tried to penetrate the demonstration. This could mostly be prevented through the linking of arms.
The demonstration was accompanied by a large police cordon. Repeatedly, police sprayed pepper spray arbitrarily and attacked with kicks and punches. Even a correspondent of the free radio station Kombinat Hamburg was punched in the face. One affected demonstrator was told that the reason for the attack on him was because he took a photo of a police officer.
Due to continuous provocation by the police as well as the altered route through empty streets, the organizers decided to end the demonstration and disperse and Roedingsmarkt. Participants then left the rally in small groups. Following this, a large part of the demonstration was surrounded by the police. At this time it is still unclear how many people have been arrested.
The ‘Schutlerblatt’, a part of Hamburg was completely cleared by the police and currently the police have surrounded by the Convergence Centre “Flora”. In the vicinity of the Flora people are being stopped and have to give the police their personal details.
“The police tried to stop the protest by putting conditions on the march, changing its route and using arbitrary measures”, the participants of the demonstration explain. This didn’t work. Resistance against the G8 is large and resolute!”
[Gipfelsoli Infogroup/Media G8way]
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