anti-G8 protesters raided in Germany
10 May 2007 - SACC
Press release from Gipfelsoli Info Group and Campinski Press Groep
Since Wednesday morning 8 am a wave of searches is taking places against left structures throughout Germany. Targeted are social projects and private persons that are organizing against the coming G8summit - or suspected to do so.
In Berlin at least seven flats and office spaces are being searched,amongst which two offices in Bethanien, a social centre in Kreuzberg,
Berlin, and the Fusion shop in the same district. The latter is aspace used by an antifascist organization and the Interventionist Left. Moreover, a bookshop in Mehringhof and the office spaces of several alternative media projects in Lausitzer Straße have been searched.
The criminal investigation police was putting special attention on the alternative Internet server so36.net. Many left and alternative projects have their websites, mailing lists and mail addresses hosted there. This way, the communication structure of the anti-G8 movement is hit on a sensibel point.
In Hamburg the repression is aimed against the social centre "Rote Flora" and diverse housing projects. Also in the surrounding of Berlin searches are taking place. And there are first reports about searches in the city of Bremen.
The orders for the searches are based on § 129a: "Formation of a terrorist association with the aim to stop the G8 summit". The random selection out of many left housing and infrastructural projects makes clear that the investigation is used as an excuse in order to weaken the mobilization against the G8. "Probably diverse cases of property damage serve as an excuse for these investigations", so the impression of the Campinski Press Group. One of these cases occurred at the Kempinski Hotel, where the G8 summit is going to take place. The hotel was targeted with paint balls some months ago.
The context of a §129a investigation are instrumentalized in order to gather data about the protest movement. Besides, such measures have,most likely intended, intimidating effects. Only 2% of all §129ainvestigations result in sentencing.
However: "Who invites the G8 summit, also invites the protest agains tit", explains Hanne Jobst of the Berlin Bethanien office. "All attempts to criminalize this movement will not prevent us from exposing worldwide inequalities during the G8 summit."
The repressive acts of the criminal investigation police are notentirely surprising. The left and radical left resistance against theG8 has reached an uncontrollable level for the police. "So far, the police only tried to split the resistance in the public media through hallucinating about an army of 'anarchists'. Now they will try tosabotage the organizational structures", Jobst explains further.
"It is noteworthy that the searches are targeted against all those parts of the resistance that refuse to direct claims to the G8,because they refuse the G8 in general as an illegitimate institution",explains a spokesperson of the Gipfelsoli Info Group.
[Gipfelsoli Info Group | Campinski Press Groep]
More information
- German police claim G8 terror attack foiled - The Guardian, 10 May
- Wave of Repression against anti-G8 structures - Indymedia report