May Day organisers condemn repression of Polish protests

dublin | summit mobilisations | press release

Wednesday April 28, 2004 13:24

by Dublin Grassroots Network

We are the real Europeans, say Grassroots group

Dublin Grassroots Network, which is organising a Mayday weekend of
events for an alternative Europe, today condemned the repression of
activists campaigning against the World Economic Forum in Warsaw.
Poland is one of the ten "accession states" due to join the European
Union this weekend.

Spokesperson Laurence Cox said, "These attempts to suppress the
freedom of speech and assembly are parallel to those we have seen in
Ireland in recent weeks. They show the unease of European
governments faced with dissent from within their own civil societies.
While the EU pays lip-service to democracy, it seems that in practice
opposition to privatisation, militarisation and "Fortress Europe" policies
are so threatening that governments want to silence these alternative
voices."

Polish activists associated with the Alternative Economic Forum say that
Warsaw has been turned into a "no-go" area by the police, with
harassment of organisers, prevention of leafletting, the closure of
venues and targetting of "foreign" protestors from other European Union
states. Irish activists were quick to draw the parallel with what they say
are similar heavy-handed Garda tactics in the run-up to May Day.

The Polish and Irish events both stress positive alternatives to the
existing direction of EU policy, and form part of a global movement of
opposition to neo-liberal economic policies, the increased militarisation
of world politics, and state attacks on the right of asylum. Cox said, "The
true European heritage is one of struggles for social justice and the right
to dissent. Our May Day events are part of the real Europe, along with
the events in Milan, Barcelona and Warsaw."

ENDS

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Comments (5 of 5)

English language reports on the WA29 activities

by various

Wed Apr 28, 2004 16:11

Police against activists
http://pl.indymedia.org/pl/2004/04/5135.shtml#english

A day before the summit
http://pl.indymedia.org/pl/2004/04/5252.shtml#english

Report from the surrounded city
http://poland.indymedia.org/pl/2004/04/5242.shtml#english

Free expression zone in central Warsaw
http://pl.indymedia.org/pl/2004/04/5320.shtml

Several people and groups of activists have been stopped from entering Poland - no [en] yet.

Some very nice photos - no need for translation.

A sample of Polish harassment

by Joe

Thu Apr 29, 2004 16:47

The house of a Polish activist from the Coalition of Anti ?
authoritarian Groups was raided by police yesterday evening. The
police started their visit on 28th April just before 10pm. There
were 4 police cars seen from the house, and some other 6?7 visible
further away. The house of the activist is situated outside of
Warsaw; there were 11 people in the house at the time of the visit.

The policemen entered the house without any warning, they came in
with weapons. They did not give any legal justification of their
visit, nor any of their names or identification numbers, which they
should do according to the Polish law. Although there were several
girls in the house, the policemen made personal searches of everyone
present there. The policemen were joking about "choosing the
prettier one" etc. One person was kicked several times by the
police, another was brutally thrown on the wall. Everything happend
according to a silly action movie scenario ? the policemen were
shouting "fucking bastards" etc.

Handcuffs were put on everyone present in the flat. Than everyone
was led outside ? and the search [of the flat] took place without
any witness ? again illegally, because at least one inhabitant and
one witness should stay at the place [while it is being searched].
The other people coming to the flat from outside were not let in.
The car of some Bielorussian friends of the activist was searched too.

At least 4 person will file a lawsuit against the police tomorrow.
The police did not have any order from prosecutors to search the
house. One of the most known Polish lawyers, prof. Rzepliñski, the
president of the Helsinki Foundation of Human Rights, came to the
place just after the police left.

Update from Poland

by Agnieszka

Fri Apr 30, 2004 12:55

Hi, Just wanted to let you know what is going on in
Warsaw, Poland. This is the second day of the
Alternative Summit and the protests surrounding the
WEF. Polish Police staged a show that the Davos police
would admire. Many stores and streets were shut down,
and many activists from abroad were stopped at the
Polish border. But in spite of repression, the activists
did manage to stage numerous demos, blocked streets,
organized alternative meetings, conferences, street theater.

The new polish IMC (which has been around for less
than two years and has very scarce or no resources)
has been important in disseminating information,
coordinating actions, and providing alterative
information exchange. You can only imagine what spin
Polish mainstream media took on the WEF! We tried to
keep the site updated and to have it translated into
more than two languages. Below are a few quick pix and
some text in English.
Please check out Polish IMC for more info.
Peace,
Agnieszka
IMC PL

http://www.pl.indymedia.org/pl/2004/04/5417.shtml

More on Poland

by Mainstream media

Fri Apr 30, 2004 12:57

Thousands of anti-globalisation demonstrators marched through
central Warsaw on Thursday as the city hosted an economic
summit marking the reunification of Europe.
Flanked by police in riot gear, some 3,000 young leftists,
accompanied by a sprinkling of radical trade unionists and
laid-off miners walked down one of Warsaw's main streets,
chanting anti-globalisation, anti-capitalist and anti-war slogans.
Rolling slowly among the marchers was a float draped in a
blood-red banner with white lettering proclaiming: "The
world is for the people, not for (U.S. President George W) Bush."

Protesters carried placards and banners reading "People are
more important than profits".

Almost 1,000 business leaders and government representatives
are in town for the European Economic Forum, discussing
issues of EU integration as Poland prepares to enter the
European Union with nine other states on Saturday.

Although black-clad, long-haired anarchists predominated,
the protesters included a group of laid-off miners forced to
dig coal out of illegal makeshift pits to feed their families.

The crowd crawled along major Warsaw thoroughfares flanked
by shops, cafes and other businesses boarded up in
anticipation of the kind of rioting that had erupted at
other Economic Forum sites including Seattle, Genoa and Prague.

The heavy police presence, which included water cannon
tucked away in side streets and a helicopter clattering
overhead, was dismissed by many protesters as a typical
example of politicians and the media inciting public hysteria.

"They have been building up the tension for weeks and
inciting public panic, but the only reason is to score
political points," said a 30-year-old lawyer from the
so-called "Legal Team", a police-brutality monitoring group.

"And the media have to have something to show on television
and write about. It's all about profits," he added.

The march is due to move past the Finance Ministry, the
American Embassy and end outside the Polish government
headquarters in the early evening.

"The media reported that football hooligans from all over
Poland were coming to start trouble, but fortunately so far
they have not been heard of," said one policemen surveying
the march.

Poland. and the other 386,000,000 Europeans a "less than 1000 word side ways glance"

by Iosaf

Wed May 05, 2004 20:09

Great big place, lovely people. really been around a long time. Been through the wars.
Been right in the middle of the wars. This connection to the wars, accounts for Poland's constantly changing borders through history.
Perhaps the poles could have all moved somewhere else, and settled down to living in peace and prosperity. But they didn't get it together. Despite all the train lines conveniently going West and East they never managed to all get the same train ad the same time and go away into exile and find that peace and prosperity deal.
Oh no, what happened to the tardy poles instead? Well they got squeezed between Prussia and Russia. But they were pronounced to similarly, so they suggested changing the name of at least one neighbour. The Prussians pulled the short straw, and opted at Beethovan's suggestion one storm evening to call themselves Germans. And the rest is of course history.
The Russians however, felt a bit out-done by this crafty name-changing thing, and decided to excell themselves over a period of a century and a bit (centuries always come with at least one bit) at changing the names of the gemeinschaft, ört, and stadt.
lesen sie bitte:-
http://www.zeit.de/2004/19/sonnendeck

The Pope is from Poland.
He's great. His spokesperson, (another statement from the pontiff, without the great man appearing) has softened the line on single sex relationships. Now this doesn't mean everyone in the church booking in for a night in a central city sauna, but rather that single sex relationships do not necessarily merit burning at the hypocritical stake.

And it happened in Madrid. Where everyone, like everyone is looking forward to the jolly pleasant wedding. We are all getting cake.
And just like it says in the cartoon in the local paper, as a family of happy peasant types looking a bit mullet haircutted and gypseyish, look on at their beautiful little babies, one says "we're getting married", next one quite tubby "we're giving everyone cake", and the last lad, "our cousin doing security". Now no-one but no-one from the Atlantic to the Urals, from the Atlantic to the urinal is going to spoil that gig.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/gayrights/story/0,12592,1209663,00.html
And as I told you the eclipse passed over Burlusconi to mark his 1060 day, the same day that one of his TV companies TV5 issued a video of Dublin Mayday in Spain, I thought to tell you a second high ranking official has quit his media empire in Italy.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,12576,1209596,00.html

Meanwhile, the people who gave us the Lock Out in 1913, before the russichergemeinschaft name changing, the Irish Independent want us all to know Carlos the Jackal is on hunger strike. Ilyich Ramirez Sanchez is being held in Paris for being a right prick consistently over a really long period of time and then regrettably incoherent at the end and he stopped eating and drinking yesterday. Newsworthy no?

- but what has this got to with Poland,
or why the trains don't leave on time?

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May Day organisers condemn repression of Polish protests

Comments (5 of 5)