A-Infos (en) Swedish Police Attack Anti-EU Demo in Malmo

[" AFA GBG 2001" <gbg2001@motkraft.net>]

 ________________________________________________
      A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
            http://www.ainfos.ca/
 ________________________________________________

Over 2000 people participated in a demonstration against the EU Finance and=
 Economic [ecofin] Minister Meeting in Malm=F6, Sweden on Saturday the 21st=
 of April. Spring weather made for high spirits as the demo started. Howeve=
r, after only a few hundred metres, riot police stormed the demo, isolated =
229 demonstrators and made mass arrests with brutal force. 

The news media has shown pictures of demonstrators being punched with fists=
, hit with batons and dragged over the asphalt by stone-faced police in rio=
t gear. A member of the EU parliament from the Swedish Green Party was also=
 arrested as he protested against the obvious police violence. His claims o=
f EU parliamentary immunity fell of police ears deafened with adrenaline. F=
or nearly two hours, demonstrators in the isolated block were removed one b=
y one and subjected to brutality and humiliation =96 all as the news media =
and other demonstrators looked on from beyond heavily armed police lines.

In the aftermath of the exaggerated police action it has been explained tha=
t the police action was initiated by a few eggs being thrown at the demonst=
ration=92s gathering point. As the police moved in on the demo with horses,=
 K9 corps and a hovering helicopter, one demonstrator emptied a fire exting=
uisher towards a mounted police officer in self defence. This caused the ho=
rse to rear - another excuse used by the police to justify their action. Th=
e arrested EU-parliament member, several abused demonstrators and individua=
l policemen [sic!] have pressed charges against the police action. It has a=
lso been commented that identification of the most brutal police officers w=
ill be difficult as they had removed ID numbers from their helmets.

The police action in Malm=F6 exemplifies the Swedish police force=92s inten=
tions and methods of =93nurturing a dialogue=94 between opponents of the EU=
 and Swedish government=92s anti-social and neo-liberal policies and it=92s=
 proponents. 

We=92ll see you in Gothenburg in June!


--
AFA GBG 2001
c/o AFA-Stockholm
Box 381 96
100 64 Stockholm
Sweden
gbg2001@motkraft.net
www.motkraft.net/gbg2001

e-mail list: afagbg2001-subscribe@egroups.com

anti-fascist internationalist revolutionary

[PGP key available at website]
--


                       ********
               The A-Infos News Service
      News about and of interest to anarchists
                       ********
               COMMANDS: lists@ainfos.ca
               REPLIES: a-infos-d@ainfos.ca
               HELP: a-infos-org@ainfos.ca
               WWW: http://www.ainfos.ca
               INFO: http://www.ainfos.ca/org

 To receive a-infos in one language only mail lists@ainfos.ca the message
                unsubscribe a-infos
                subscribe a-infos-X
 where X = en, ca, de, fr, etc. (i.e. the language code)