A-Infos (en) Poland, Warsaw, A Summary of Anti-Summit Activities and Update on the Arrested

Pre-Summit Actions
On Friday, May 13, Madeline Albright speaks. Unknown anarchist
penetrates security and leaves critical stickers throughout venue.
  Saturday - Sunday, May 14-15. Conference conference organized
by Anarchist Federation Praga. Anarchists explain their objections
to some of the Council of Europe's politics and practices and to
such institutions.
  Anarchists from Radical Creative Action make billboards.
www.poland.indymedia.org.pl/2005/05/13697.shtml

Sunday night, activists from the Movement for Participatory
Democracy and Warsaw Anarchist Group show films.

At the same time, people from several groups of the Anarchist
Federation great the guests to the Summit as they arrive. Anarchists
with a 13 meter banner and bullhorn march downtown without
permission stopping at 3 hotels where they speak and hold picket.
Despite massive police presence, none of the protestors is even
slightly harrassed in front of visiting dignitaries.

Monday May 16th - Summit Day One

Early morning, people from Anarchist Federation Praga and
Gdansk set sail on the Vistula and plant huge banner on a small
island facing the Summit Venue as guests arrive and look on.

(Another action was held, although it had nothing really to do with
the Summit. It was just since a couple of people concerned about it
were in town, there was a picket in support of the Yorckstr. 59
collective in Berlin who are facing eviction. While we had a
bullhorn in our hands and were all together....)

In the evening there was a demo against the Summit. The demo
was organized by a mish-mash of people. Officially it was organized
by Worker Democracy front group the Stop War Coalition but
others, including the Warsaw Anarchist Group, the Initiative for
Participatory Democracy, the Christian Iniative from Below and
Committee Free Caucases organized their blocks. Besides leftists
and communists, other people who took part were Chechen
refugees and Buddhist monks.
(There are many pictures on IMC from 16 -18 May - just browse.)

The organizers of the demo closed it but it continued illegally for an
hour until police surrounded demonstrators. There were some
clashes with police who from the beginning were harrassing people,
checking their ID at the gathering point, infiltrating the ranks with
agents, etc. In the end, 11 people were arrested and held until the
end of the summit.

Most of the people arrested were not the ones who had clashed with
the police but were specially singled out by police.

(It is possible that they will make more arrests later based on video
evidence.)

Despite the fact that police took people to a different station than
usual and denied they were holding anybody, we arrived at the
secret location just as they were being locked up and called people.
A solidarity demo was held until about 1AM.
www.poland.indymedia.org.pl/2005/05/13806.shtml

Later that night, an alpinist action was held. A short film is here:
www.poland.indymedia.org.pl/2005/05/13922.shtml

Tues. May 17 - Activists mainly deal with the release of comrades.

11 activists in total were arrested: 1 from FA Praga, 1 from FA
WGA, 1 from FA-Lublin, 2 from FA Bialystok, 1 from Warsaw
IMC, 1 from Amnesty International and some others. One woman
was taken to the hospital.

Adam from FA Praga was beaten at the police station and got a
black eye when the slammed his head down onto a table. He'll be
pressing brutality charges.

There are different charges against the activists ranging from
interfering with police work to using improper language in front of
an official to resisting arrest and attacking a police officer. All
people were released but many of them have to appear at the court
or police station once or twice a week until their case is heard -
which can take a year or two!

Perhaps the most serious charges got levelled against the young
activist from Warsaw IMC who was actually photographing things
when police came after him and arrested him. Ironically, police
films clearly show that he was photographing and nothing more
when clashes broke out and an MP from the Law and Justice Party
(!) wound up testifying on his behalf. But there is a good chance
that he'll be cleared because of the video evidence.


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