GÖTEBORG READER 2002

This booklet contains articles, call for justice, informations related to the Eurotop in Göteborg. Money raised from the benefit party in Vrankrijk on April 27th 2002 goes to the Solidaritetsgruppen and the Swedish Anarchist Black Cross.

Contents:

Addresses of people in jail and support groups
Prosecutions and verdicts, some detailed cases
Update from Solidaritetsgruppen, March 6th 2002
Call for Justice after the Occurrences in Gothenburg
Oproep voor gerechtigheid na de gebeurtenissen in Goteborg
Sweden is heading towards an indefinite future where justice may have no place
40 Gothenburg police suspected of neglect of duty
Letter sent to Motkraft on April 11th 2002
Nog een politierapport Goteborg
Article from Göteborgs-posten 24.03.2002
Wij eisen genoegdoening voor de overtreding van de politie
Het 15e Juni Initiatief
Noorwegen sluit grenzen bij ABCDE-vergadering
Statewatch reports related to Schengen Information System (SIS) and Europol

Addresses of people in jail and support groups Send mail to victims of repression in Sweden. Three of the defendants, who have begun their prison sentences, have agreed to have their names and prison addresses published. You may send mail and support to other prisoners through Solidaritetsgruppen and the Anarchist Black Cross.

Hannes Westberg
Anstalten i Skanninge
box 214
596 29 SKANNINGE
Sweden
(sentenced to 8 months)

Ivar Andersen
Anstalten i Aby
Funbo, 755 97 UPPSALA
Sweden
(sentenced to 8 months)

Josse-Bjorn
Anstalten i Boras,
box 221 13
500 02 BORAS
Sweden
(sentenced to 20 months)

Luigino Longo support group
Free_gigi@hotmail.com
http://home.no.net/freegigi
(sentenced to 2 years)

Solidaritetsgruppen
c/o Syndikalistiskt Forum
Box 7267
402 35 Goteborg
Sweden
solidaritetsgruppen@hotmail.com

Anarchist Black Cross/ASH
Box 4081
10262 Stockholm
Sweden
abc-stockholm@autonom.zzn.com
http://www.inventati.org/abc-stockholm

Prosecutions and verdicts, some detailed cases Prosecution 1 (closed case)
Date of prosecution: 3 of July 2001 and 27 of July 2001
Prosecuted for: two instances of 'rioting'
Who: SS (20 years. German shot in leg)
The verdict of the appeal court: Prison 1 year and 8 months. Banned from Sweden for 10 years
Status: The decision has become legally binding. After a first verdict (6 months and Schengen Ban), both prosecution and defense appealed. The Supreme Court decided not to try the case. He's now in prison.
He was shot in the leg during the clashes with police in connection with the neo-nazi assault on the Reclaim the Streets party. The prosecution showed a videotape of the German man throwing stones at police and he admitted that he did it.

Prosecution 2
Date of prosecution: 4 of July 2001
Prosecuted for: Rioting
Who: 7 persons from Denmark
The verdict of the appeal court: JB prison 6 months, CW prison 5 months, RLH prison 5 months, LJ prison 8 months, JM juvenile prison 1 month, KS prison 8 months, JS prison 6 months
Status: Appealed to the Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court decided not to do this case.
These seven Danes were tracked by an undercover policeman who says he saw them throwing stones at the police. He then followed them to the café were they took their hoods of. During the first trial, the prosecution showed random video footage of the riots in Goteborg where no person could be identified. The first appeal was only a remake of the first trial, confirming sentences. As the Supreme Court refused to do this case, the case is announced to the European Court of Justice.

Prosecution 6
Date of prosecution: 9 of July 2001
Prosecuted for: Preparing assault and heavy damage
Who: S B, J P J, K M, J D R, S K S (5 persons from Denmark)
The verdict of city court: acquitted
Status: Appealed by the prosecutor. The prosecutor has cancelled two appeals, for S B and JDR. Date for trial in appeal court: 6 of may 2002
The five Danes were prosecuted for preparing assault and destruction of property. These guys made big headlines when they were arrested in an apartment containing five "bombs", later proven to be five big firecrackers made out of bits of garden hose. The police maintained they would have caused "great damage". The apartment also contained some signal flares and a can of butyric acid, an acid that smells very badly it was probably going to be used against police dogs along with the "bombs". The Danes denied any knowledge of these items since they were only borrowing the apartment from a friend who was out of town. The police had followed these guys around as they made several trips into a nearby forest. The police later found a glove with butyric acid on it in those woods.
One of the 27-year old Danish activist will receive a compensation pay of 4,400 Euros after Swedish courts found he was arrested without justification during the EU summit in Gothenburg, June 2001. They were arrested when they arrived in Gothenburg on the morning of the 12th June 2001, two days before the summit, and accused of preparations for sabotage. The man spent one month in jail, before the charges against him were dropped. His name appeared in the Danish press.

Prosecution 7 (closed case)
Date of prosecution: 11 July 2001
Prosecuted for: two instances of 'violent rioting'
Who Luigino "Gigi" Longo (43 year old Italian citizen living in Norway)
The verdict of appeal court: Prison 2 years and banned from Sweden for 10 years
Status: The verdict has become legally binding. The Supreme Court decided not to try the case. He is in prison in Norway. The case is announced to the European court of justice, but that court can't influence the punishment, but it can criticizes and can order Sweden to pay a fine to the accused person.
Luigino "Gigi" Longo is a trade unionist and socialist that has been on sick leave from his work as a cook since February because of a serious heart condition. He was sentenced for being violent but the evidence seems dubious or non-existent. The second biggest Norwegian taboid Dagbladet could report the fact that the police have changed the date of their video "evidence". Originally they had footage claimed to have been taken between 12.00 and 15.00 on Thursday the 14th. Unfortunately for the prosecutor, Norwegian national television was filming Gigi in the Attac-bus heading from Oslo to Gothenburg playing guitar at this time. In fact he didn't arrive in Gothenburg until three hours later. They still used the video of a person that they thought was Gigi without dating the time of the footage. The evidence for his biggest alleged crime is however not based on this footage where a person, who the prosecution thinks is Gigi, is holding a tree trunk. 2 of the 21/2 years are based on him supposedly injuring a police officer with a stone in the Anti-capitalist march on Friday. Of this there is no footage, and not even a police witness seeing this has been produced. The injured policeman didn't see who threw the stone at him. The prosecution has however been able do deduce this from the testimony of another policeman who claims he saw Gigi as the only one among a "peaceful section" of the anticapitalist march throwing something. Gigi denies throwing any stone. These are the evidence for the repeated felony that have convinced the judge to give the prosecutor everything he asked for: 21/2 years. Gigi is still isolated in a prison cell in Gothenburg (in august 2001). Only his partner has been able to visit him (this is normal in Sweden), letters have not reached him, and he wasn't even allowed to phone his daughter at her 17th birthday on Sunday a week ago. He has been to hospital at least once during his stay, because he had breathing problems. (His family was not informed of this - not even by the defense lawyer - until much later). The family, both his ex-wife, her partner, Gigi's partner and his daughter are working for his appeal and for the campaign "Free Gigi".

Free_gigi@hotmail.com
http://home.no.net/freegigi
Donations can be sent to:
Luigino Antonio Longo, c/o Trygve Guntvedt, Friis gt. 6, 0187 Oslo, Norway
Account 05373086055

Prosecution 8 (closed case)
Date of prosecution: 13 of July 2001
Prosecuted for: Leading riots
Who J E (20 years, from Nacka, near Stockholm)
The verdict of the appeal court: 2 years and 6 months
Status: The verdict has become legally binding. The Supreme Court decided not to try the case. The case is announced to the European Court of Justice, but that court can't influence the verdict, but it can criticizes and can order Sweden to pay a fine to the accused person.
He was prosecuted for leading, "carefully" planning and instigating violent riots. A group of 5-10 of the Swedish secret police had been following him around for a month since he had been arrested during the protests in Prague. During the trial the police witnesses refused to say why they were watching him. They only said they were following orders. The sentenced is active in the swedish White Overal group Globalisering Underifran. His defence attorney, Stig Centerwall, says he has been convicted without any evidence. "I've never seen anything like this." He was arrested one kilometre from one of the riots he supposedly instigated. The verdict is, among other things, based on the fact that the 20 year old man waved his arms during a riot (he says he waved at a friend). A police witness testified that there could be "no doubt" that he directed the riot. Stig Centerwall: "It's guesswork from the police. That the court hereby finds it proven that he encouraged violence against the police suggests that they haven't tried the evidence enough. The court hasn't been as careful as it should have." Centerwall also states that the court is putting all political groups in the same category and is trying to smear the left. "It is dangerous to do so." Centerwall was thinking his client was going to be freed of all charges in the upcoming appeal. The final verdict is 2 years and 6 months. It would have been 3 years if he had been older.

Prosecution 9 (closed case)
Date of prosecution: 12 July 2001
Prosecuted for: violant rioting
Who: Paul Robinson (33 year, England)
The verdict of appeal court: Prison 1 year, banned from Sweden for 10 years
Status: The verdict has become legally binding . The supreme court did not allow a trial. He is was in prison and was released in the middle of February 2002. Paul Robinson , 33 years old librarian, trade unionist, from London, UK, was prosecued for 'violent rioting'. The prime evidence against him consisted of a 20 second long clip of videotape showing Paul, standing alone in a gap in the crowd, throwing a small rock underarm that went about two metres without reaching anybody. Paul has freely admitted that he 'threw' the rock, it was nothing more than a mere gesture to him. Paul's trial was originally set for June 30th 2001. Because the Prosecutor had only managed to interview one of the three police witnesses by then, it was delayed till July 11th when it was heard at Gothenberg District Court. The bench consisted of a judge and three local politicians. The defence was given two days to prepare its case and was not allowed access to all the video footage that the police had seen. At the start of the trial the defence were not aware of all the evidence that would be presented against Paul. Much video evidence was used. It showed general scenes of the riots that took place. Paul did not feature in any of this footage. A ten second clip showed Paul rolling a small stone underarm which travelled in a direction parallel to the police. It travelled about 2 metres and came to a halt in a gutter without landing near anyone. Paul was pictured in a side street alone. The nearest people to him were reporters. He was clearly not part of the rioting crowd. Two of the police witnesses stated that they did not see Paul throwing stones or committing any violent act. The third stated that he saw Paul throw a stone overarm at the police (video evidence clearly contradicts this statement). After presenting the evidence the prosecutor produced two stones, one small and one much larger: he said that Paul threw a small stone like the one he had in his hand farthest from the bench but he kept stating that stones like the much larger one he held in his hand nearest the bench were thrown in the riot and he kept on lifting it to draw the bench's attention to that one and away from the small one. He also told the court that Paul was tried previously for a similar offence in England even though he was found not guilty on that occasion. By saying this (which he had previously told the defence lawyer he would not) the prosecutor was attempting to show guilt by association. The verdict was announced and the sentence passed seven days later. Paul was not present in court for it. He was found guilty and sentenced to one year in prison and he received a five-year Schengen ban. He was told of his sentence by a prison warder who took a sadistic delight in its severity. Paul believed that the man was joking but a subsequent phone call to his lawyer told him that he was not. One of the things the judge said in his summing up of Paul's case was that stones were being thrown at the police from all directions so the crowd was tried as one. None of the evidence presented at Paul's trial supported this statement. The appeal took place on September 12th, 2001. The verdict remained prison for 1 year and a ban from Sweden for 10 years. Even if the evidence was deemed to be showing Paul committing a crime, then sentences for similar crimes in Sweden have usually been imprisonment for 2 months.

Prosecution 16 (closed case)
Date of prosecution: 18 of July
Prosecuted for: Rioting
Who H H (20 years, Germany)
The verdict of appeal court: acquitted
The 20 year old german was prosecuted for leading a group of five rioters and 'violent rioting'. The court says in the verdict that he was well prepared and had planned to partake in riots since he was wearing a ski mask, gloves, and protective goggles. He says he was in Gothenburg to write an article for a German union paper. The court thought this was strange since he doesn't understand Swedish... An interesting element of this judgement is that the court's chairperson (the only legal scholar of court's board) wanted to free him. The chairperson did not think that the evidence was 100% conclusive as the police's video evidence contained discrepancies regarding clothing. His objection to the verdict was exactly the same as the defence lawyer's. The chance of wining the appeal in this case was strong. He was sentenced to1 year and 2 months and Schengen Ban. Acquitted by the appeal court.

Prosecution 20
Date of prosecution: ?
Prosecuted for: Rioting, instigation of riot, causing riot
Who: "the command central"
The verdict of city court: AB Prison 1 year 8 moths , MJ Prison 1 year 4 moths, AL 2 years 4 months, SN Prison 1 year 4 months, SN Prison 1 year 4 months, RS Prison 2 years, MW Prison 2 years, HS Prison 1 years 8 months Status: It is still not clear if it's going in appeal to the Supreme Court. In the biggest of all courtcases after GBG 2001, the court lowered their sentence in the appeal. The reason is that they rejected the only real connection between the communicationcentral and the riots: the well debated sms-messages and the telephone contact with a 20 year old person on the streets. Despite all this, the "command central" in going to around 2 years in prison each for "assisting violent riot". Their guilt is not proven as the court itself admited! But says that "what else can they been up to" and that they actually were in contact with this 20 year old person that in his courtcase got convicted for violent riot. Do we have to tell you that the 20 year old person got convicted with the strongest argument for have been in contact with the communication central? In several courtcases the prosecutor has been showing video clips of the most violent scenes for the diffrent riots that took part during the Eu-summit, even if the acused person weren't even their. In the courtcase against the "command central" they showed pictures about how sms-dataprogramms work. The whole thing started with a picture of a demonstrator pointing a gun at a cop. the picture is from Germany. One cop is going top be trialed, acused for lying. The cop was working as a silent cop and went to a planning meeting before the riots. He say he wittnessed a 20 year-old person (the same that was the "command central's contact" on the street) being really agressive in his language and saying that "if some fucking cop bastards show up we'll give them a fight!". What the cop didn't know about was that a photographer recorded the meeting. On the video it's really clear that the 20 year-old person doesn't say any of this stuff and only describes the white overalls well know action of a symbolic break-in, that will be none-violent. This is not the only case that looks like this. one silent cop is "totallt sure" he saw NN leave in one direction, when a video recording later on proves NN went a total diffrent way. Another silent cop is even "totally sure" that he saw NN smashing a specific policecar window with a wooden stick. A serie of still-pictures taken by photographer Jörgen Hassler proves that the window was smashed by two persons standing on top of the car. And NN is nowhere in sight. It's on these wittnesses the court relay on when they give their sentenses, so I would like to quote Rudbacks reflection in the appeal: "After this it's hard to not ask the question how often someone innocent is made guilty, when the courts take for granted that the cops statement not only are belivieable but trustworthy which is of big differance." by Nils Wadström, Aftonbladet, 18.02.2002 About the "command central", myth created by the swedish media, read also the article "Sweden is heading towards an indefinite future where justice may have no place" by Nils Wadström, IMC Sweden.

Prosecution 21 (closed case)
Date of prosecution: October 2001
Prosecuted for: Rioting, assault of police officer
Who Hannes Westberg (Boy from Goteborg shot in stomach by police)
The verdict of city court: Prison 8 months
Status: Not appealed. The decision has become legally binding. He is in prison. The second investigation on the cop that shot Hannes Westberg is closed.
Police manipulated video evidence that has been used against people in their court cases. Among others they cut out a part where one cop kicks a person in the head. From MTV footage, a lot of different sequences had been edited together to make the situation looking far more stressing for the police than it was in reality. In total over 30 different scenes are put together in the period of a few minutes. When the cops are shooting the warningshots at Vasaplatsen, sound of shotguns had been given bigger effect. As the cops showed it, all the people fled, but when you look closer at it, you can clearly see that the people running are filmed from a total different block. In the sequenses taken by the belgian fotographer Daniel Demostier when Hannes Westberg got shot, the cops had added voices of a crowd shouting "Eins, zwei, drei - nazi polizei!". A Swedish television program even send a copy of this version to Daniel Demostier who confirms that it's not on the original version.

Another prosecution for instigation of riot (perhaps this person is already mentioned in previous cases... perhaps the "command central"?). Date of prosecution: ? Who: ? Status: ?
A 24 year old non-violent swede prosecuted for instigating the riots at the police siege of Hvitfeldska. He was on the inside, "leading" (he was a "mötesunderlättare", it translates directly to "meeting helper") the meeting the besieged held to decide what they should do. The meeting decided to walk out collectivly and that the White Overals would carry their rubber-foam armor and helmets with them out of the school. When the police learned this they backed down from their promise to let everyone go and the beseiged attempted a non-violent breakthrough with swedish White Overals in the front. The police had probably learnt of the White Overals upcoming attempt at breaching the EU summit and it was probably trying to sieze the very rubber-foam armor and helmets some of the beseiged were trying to carry out of the school. Hence they wouldn't let them go. The police later bragged that they had filled three containers full with weapons from the school (probably the rubber-foam armor). "Oddly" enough, all swedish TV viewers got to see of this mighty arsenal was a bucket of cobble stones and clothes hangers ("hooks to hurt horses", according to Gothenburg chief of police, Hakan Hjaldung). He risked being sentenced to a long prison sentence and that's a really nice way for the government to reward people's effort at non-violent, un-masked resistance. A number of people have testified that he never encouraged anybody to use violence and no witness has testified to the contrary. In spite of this the prosecutor wanted the court to sentence him to between 3 and 5 years in prison. His defence attorney, Per Rudbäck, said that it is as if the prosecution is demanding higher and higher sentences for each trial. "This isn't normal". The prosecution realied heavily on two police witnesses who were very sure of themselves, during this trial. The defence, however, could show video evidence that proved that the policemen were giving a false description of these particular events. Police witnesses has been given high credebility during all of the trials... The police did manage to find 0,2 grams of cannabis on his person when he was arrested so he was sentence to pay a fine for that. Another dazzling victory for the swedish justice system.

Update from Solidaritetsgruppen, March 6th 2002 33 prosecutions, 58 people prosecuted.
Closed cases: 13 persons (9 prison sentences, 4 acquitted). The rest of the cases have been appealed, or have not been in court yet.
49 verdicts: 30 prison sentences, 1 youth prison, 8 community service (given to them under 18 years old), 1 fine, 2 care by social service, 8 acquitted.
The sentences to prison have been 1 year and 3 months in average, for those convicted to prison. The highest prison sentence is 2 years and 6 months, the lowest 5 months.
About 80% of the prosecuted persons are men. The average age is about 21 years. 18 of the prosecuted are from Gothenburg, 22 from the rest of Sweden, 13 from Denmark, 3 from Germany, 1 from Italy and 1 from England.

Five persons are in prison right now. Of these five persons, three have been locked in since June, one is released (The rest of the persons that are convicted to prison, are waiting to start to serve their sentence)

Contact the solidaritygroup in Goteborg at:
Solidaritetsgruppen
c/o Syndikalistiskt Forum
Box 7267
402 35 Goteborg
Sweden.
Telephone: +46(0)733-16 42 96
e-mail: solidaritetsgruppen@hotmail.com

Please, give money! We need money to buy things, or in other ways help the prisoners through the time in prison. We also need money to be able to prepare those who are going to prison. Because there is so much people convicted after the summit there is big expences. All money goes directly to the prisoners. All work is done voluntarily. Please help us!
Financial support:
account info:
Postgirotbank
405 06 Stockholm
Sweden
Swift "number": pgsisess
Account Name: Nisse-Latts minnesfond
Account number: 27602-2

Call for Justice after the Occurrences in Gothenburg We the undersigned of this Call for Justice are deeply troubled by the judicial aftermath of the occurrences during the EU Top Meeting in Gothenburg in June of 2001.

We have concluded that:

50 civilian citizens have been accused, or risk being accused, in conjunction with the occurrences in Gothenburg. Another 450 are identified suspects waiting investigation.
Meanwhile, none of the over 100 complaints filed with reason of police violence have lead to charges being pressed. We know that only a quarter of all those who received medical treatment after the riots in Gothenburg were policemen. We ask ourselves if these numbers hold up proportionally to that which actually happened.
The incarceration of many of the accused young people has been, in contradiction to the meaning of the law, excessively long (1-3 months). Those incarcerated have, as a matter of routine, been held in isolation.
The punishment for rioting has suddenly increased ten-fold or more. Currently, nearly 30 young demonstrators have been sentenced for rioting during the occurrences in Gothenburg. In the past, the punishment for this crime has ranged from community service or probation to a few months imprisonment. However, the average punishment for the occurrences in Gothenburg has been one year and nine months. For instance, four teenagers have been sentenced to between two and three years imprisonment. These harsher levels of punishment, when appealed, have been sustained by higher courts.
In several cases, the accused have been sentenced collectively (up to eight individuals and up to four years imprisonment) with identical charges and identical repercussions. All have been charged without their individual actions being documented or taken into account. This lack of individual accountability exemplifies the non-existence of justice.
The prosecutors have used every opportunity to bind the accused to politicalactivities and organizations, ranging from actual membership to supposed sympathies.
Many witnesses that may have been able to speak in the defense of the accused, have chosen not to witness for fear of being themselves accused and treated in a similar degrading manner by the police and the judicial system.
Film and photo materials taken by witnesses, and then confiscated by the police, have, according to the same police force, been lost and therefore can not be used as evidence. When defense lawyers have requested to use the police's own film materials from certain places and times during the riots, the police have notified them that such materials do not exist. At the same time, prosecutors have been able to use film materials from these exact places and times in other cases.
During several trials, the prosecutors have been allowed to show a emotionally-charged film from the worst riot scenes, even when the accused in the case have not even been anywhere near the scenes portrayed onscreen.
The prosecutors have in at least one trial, shown a film where the soundtrack was manipulated. Research of this film material's origin has shown that the manipulation occurred while the film was being processed by either the police or the prosecutor.
Other accused individuals have, in separate circumstances, also claimed that evidence against them has been falsified.
The prosecutor has categorized the police raid of the Schillerska school building, were card-playing and sleeping youths were dragged out onto the schoolyard, and the five hour long police containment of a peaceful protest manifestation at Järntorget, as a "violent riot". This categorization leads to the fact that possible witnesses of, or lodgers of complaints of, these acts to risk being charged for participation in these "violent riots".
During the EU Top Meeting in Gothenburg, no attempt was made to enter or stop the meeting with the use of violent methods. However, everything from the prosecutors charges to the documents containing court decisions, contain the assertion that the accused attempted to stop the democratic process by stopping the EU Top Meeting. This assertion lacks all factual basis.
No firearms or explosives have been found in the possession of the accused, or in the possession of the other 30,000 to 40,000 Swedish and foreign nationals manifesting their opinions in Gothenburg from the 14th to the 16th of June, 2001.
The High Court has, to this date, not tried an appeal of any of the cases pertaining to the occurrences in Gothenburg (bij in elkaar flanzen website is dit wel het geval: zie http://www.indymedia.nl/2002/05/3999.shtml).
We demand that:
The prosecutor's suspected manipulation of evidence be investigated with the utmost of priority.
The High Court try the appeals of several of the cases pertaining to the occurrences in Gothenburg; with special attention given to the reasonability of the harshness of punishment. • If evidence is found to have been tampered with and/or the High Courts find unreasonably high levels of punishment have been dealt out, that all the cases pertaining to the occurrences in Gothenburg be tried in appeals courts and in those cases where sentences have been ratified, that are held.
We additionally demand that:
All complaints lodged against the police be investigated by a special, independent commission. If the constitution of such a commission requires the passing of new laws, then we recommend that they be so passed.
All of the police's film materials be made available to the defence lawyers. •
The accused be tried and judged with a high degree of individualisation.
The prosecution remove their categorisation of the occurrences at the Schillerska school and J?rntorget on the 16th of June as a 'violent riot'. •The trials pertaining to the occurrences in Gothenburg be moved to neutral courts and communities, which means, courts far removed geographically from Gothenburg.
We urge all citizens and organisations, with no regard to their political leanings, to support this call for the defence of justice. If you wish to sign this call, please send mail with name, title/profession and location to: erik.wijk@odata.se or Erik Wijk, Näckebovägen 3, 272 92 Simrishamn, Zweden. www.manifest.se/upprop

Oproep voor gerechtigheid na de gebeurtenissen in Goteborg Wij, de ondertekenaars van deze oproep, zijn zwaar verontrust over het gerechtelijke naspel van de gebeurtenissen rondom de Eurotop vergadering in Goteborg, juni 2001.

Wij constateren dat:

Tegelijkertijd heeft geen van de ongeveer 100 klachten over politieovertredingen tot nu toe geleid tot een aanklacht. Met de wetenschap dat slechts een kwart van de in het ziekenhuis behandelde personen behoorde tot de politie, vragen wij ons af of dit in redelijke proportie staat tot wat er gebeurde.
De tijd gedurende dat vele van de jonge aangeklaagden in bewaring zijn gesteld is in tegenstelling tot de geest van de wet onredelijk lang geweest (1-3 maanden). De in bewaring gestelden zijn in de regel in isolatie gehouden.
De straf voor 'geweldadige oploop' is plotseling meer dan vertiendubbeld. Tot nu toe zijn ongeveer 30 burgers, de meesten van hen jonge demonstranten, veroordeeld voor 'geweldadige oploop' onder de gebeurtenissen in Goteborg. De gangbare veroordeling voor deze overtreding bevond zich in de laatste jaren tussen maatschappelijke dienstverlening en enkele maanden gevangenisstraf terwijl de gemiddelde straf in de Goteborgveroordelingen ligt op een jaar en negen maanden. Er zijn onder andere 4 tieners veroordeelt tot tussen de twee en drie jaar gevangenisstraf. Het hoge strafnivo is, in die gevallen waar men in beroep is geweest, bevestigd door het hooggerechtshof.
In verschillende zaken zijn de aangeklaagden groepsgewijs veroordeeld (tot en met 8 personen en met maximumstraf van 4 jaar) met identieke zaakbeschrijvingen en identieke straffen zonder dat er met de individuele verdediging enige rekening is gehouden. Met een dergelijk tekort aan individualisering houdt de rechtszekerheid op te bestaan.
De aanklagers hebben elke mogelijkheid aangegrepen om de aangeklaagde te kunnen verbinden met politieke aktiviteiten en organisaties. Alles van een lidmaatschap tot vage vermoedens om sympathieen.
Vele ooggetuigen die in het voordeel van de aangeklaagden zouden kunnen verklaren hebben afgezien van getuigenissen uit angst om zelf door politie en het rechtsapparaat onder handen genomen te worden zoals de vele afgevoerden en aangeklaagden.
Films van getuigen die door de politie in beslag zijn genomen zijn, volgens de politie, zoek geraakt op het politieburo en kunnen daarom niet aangevoerd worden als bewijsmateriaal. Als de verdediging inzage wilde hebben in filmmateriaal van de politie van bepaalde tijdstippen en plaatsen gedurende de rellen werd hen medegedeeld dat dergelijk materiaal niet bestond. Tegelijkertijd heeft de aanklager in andere zaken juist het gevraagde materiaal wel gebruikt.
In meerdere rechtszaken heeft de aanklager een suggestieve film vertoond met de ergste relbeelden van de Goteborggebeurtenissen zelfs als de aangeklaagde niet eens in de nabijheid van de vertoonde gebeurtenissen was geweest.
De aanklager heeft in minstens een rechtzaak een film vertoond waar het geluid achteraf was gemanipuleerd. Onderzoek van de TV-maatschappij wijst op manipulatie door politie en aanklager.
Aangeklaagden hebben ook in andere zaken aangevoerd dat bewijs vervalst was.
De aanklagers hebben zowel de bestorming van het Schillerska gymnasium, alwaar men kaartspelende en slapende jongeren het schoolplein opsleepte, alsmede de vijf uur durende omringing van een vreedzame protestvergadering op het Järntorget aangemerkt als 'geweldadige oploop' waardoor eventuele getuigen risikeren een aanklacht aan hun broek te krijgen.
Er werd in Goteborg geen poging gedaan om met geweld binnen te komen bij de Eurotopvergadering of deze te hinderen. De aannames van zowel de aanklagers als de rechters dat de aangeklaagden poogden de demokratie te hinderen door het stoppen van de Eurotop vergadering, raken kant noch wal.
Geen enkel schietwapen of springstof is gevonden onder de aangeklaagden, noch onder de overige 30- 40.000 Zweedse en buitenlandse burgers die naar Goteborg gekomen zijn tussen 14 en 16 juni om hun ideeen te manifesteren.
De hoogste rechtbank heeft tot nu to geen enkele Goteborgsveroordeling getoetst. (bij in elkaar flanzen website is dit wel het geval: zie http://www.indymedia.nl/2002/05/3999.shtml).
Wij eisen dat:
Eventuele manipulatie van bewijsmateriaal door de aanklagers onmiddelijk wordt onderzocht.
De hoogste rechtbank zo spoedig mogelijk meerdere Goteborgsveroordelingen toetst wat betreft de redelijkheid van de hoge straffen.
Als blijkt dat het bewijsmateriaal gemanipuleerd is en/of als de hoogste rechtbank onredelijke straffen konstateert, zouden alle vonnissen uit Göteborg bij een hogere instantie getoetst moeten worden en in die gevallen die al in werking gesteld zijn zou herziening nodig zijn zodat nieuwe rechtzaken gestart kunnen worden.
Verder moet(en):
Alle klachten tegen de politie onderzocht worden door een speciale en onafhankelijke kommissie. Indien dit nieuwe wetgeving vereist, bevelen wij dit aan.
Al het filmmateriaal van de politie toegankelijk worden voor de verdediging.
De aangeklaagden berecht worden met een voldoende individualisering.
De aanklager de gebeurtenissen bij Schillerska en Järntorget de 16e juni niet meer kategoriseren als 'Geweldadige oploop'.
De vrijheid van mening gerespekteerd worden en dienen politieke zienswijzen niet tegen iemand gebruikt te worden in de rechtzaal.
De Goteborgsprocessen verplaatst worden naar rechtbanken op neutrale grond, dat wil zeggen op voldoende afstand van Goteborg.
Wij roepen alle burgers en organisaties ongeacht politieke kleur op om zicht achter deze verdediging van de rechtssamenleving te stellen Ondertekenaars kunnen een e-mail sturen naar erik.wijk@odata.se of via papieren post naar: Erik Wijk, Näckebovägen 3, 272 92 Simrishamn, Zweden. Geef je naam en graag ook eventuele titel of beroep alsmede woonplaats. Pseudonymen worden niet geaccepteerd. www.manifest.se/upprop

Sweden is heading towards an indefinite future where justice may have no place By Nils Wadström, IMC Sweden, 10.02.2002

The aftermath of the riots in Gothenburg where three demonstrators were shot by the police, have turned in to a corrupt legal practice which may result in a transformation of the legal system in an unsatisfactory direction, where legal rights of the individual have no place. Here is a résumé of the situation: (some are quoted from the earlier appeal for justice).

· The preliminary investigation of the shooting of a 19-year-old protestor was cancelled. The investigators could not find any suspicion of crime! No preliminary inquiries have been launched regarding the 12 pistol shots by the police into a fleeing crowd that injured two more people (not severely).
· Of 182 (-and counting!) reports to the police about "undue interference by the police" [mistreatment, beatings, unlawful arrest, etc.], only ONE has resulted in a preliminary inquiry, and only after the severe beating of a defenceless protestor by four policemen was shown on national TV!
·It has been proved on national TV that the police have manipulated a film used in a trial. The prelim. investigation was cancelled with the now standard explanation: "no suspicion of crime". (Proof of crime is not enough for suspicion of crime, as for as the investigators are concerned!)
·Responsibility for the illegal police interventions at the schools Hvitfeldtska and Schillerska (lodging totally almost a thousand demonstrators), where in the first case the school was closed in by freighter containers, stopping the demonstrators from using their freedom to protest in the large demonstration against Bush's visit the same day that gathered 16,000 people - and in the second case the school was stormed in the middle of the night by a special police force equipped with automatic rifles, the demonstrators beaten and harassed, arrested and then hours later released without explanation.
· The sentences for riots have suddenly increased ten-fold or more compared to the legal-usage regarding the same crime before June 2001. Average sentences for riots before June 2001 has been community service or probation to 2 months imprisonment. The average punishment for the riots in Gothenburg has been 1 year and 9 months. In many cases it has been judged more serious than rapes or ill-treatment or even assistance of murder, where the convicted have been soccer-hooligans or nazis.
·In several cases, the accused have been sentenced with identical charges and identical repercussions. All have been charged without their individual actions being documented or taken into account. This lack of individual accountability exemplifies the non-existence of justice.
· Over 50 people have been indicted or await indictment, and many are still suspects awaiting investigation. 350 people were freed from suspicion in December. The incarceration of many of the accused young people has been extremely long (1-3 months). Those incarcerated have been held in isolation cells; 8 youths have been held in isolation-cells for 100 days, forced to take heavy narcotics to withstand ("mental torture" according to Amnesty International.)
· The prosecutors have categorized many legal and peaceful gatherings that were stormed by the police as "riots", which mean that people can't testify of undue interference and mistreatment by the police without themselves risking a charge for "rioting" and several years in prison.

The scandal above all others

The most central process of the ongoing Gothenburg-trials is the one about the "command central". According to the myth created by our media this summer, the riots in Gothenburg were carefully prepared, planned, organized and commanded by a "command central", which directed the "vandals" in the streets. There is, however, a small problem with this conspiracy theory: the persons who allegedly commanded the riots were arrested the first day, and could thereby not have had anything to do with the riots on Friday, which were the most severe. This minor problem in the logics does not hinder that the reason for the ten-fold increase in length of the sentences, the reason mentioned frequently in many of the cases, is the careful preparations, planning and organizing and that they were directed by a "command central". So, what did this so-called "command central" exist of?
Eight teenagers in an apartment, equipped with ONE computer and a few cell-phones, and a little apparatus to monitor the police radio. C'est tout. It is fully legal to monitor the police radio, and they did not hide from anyone what they were doing. The apartment was full of people all day long, and there was a telephone list where you could register for cell-phone text messages (SMS) to know what was going on in the streets and where. The 8 youths and probably several others then sent them information about what was going on in the streets, by what they had heard on the police radio and also read on the newspapers website-coverage. Yet the court did not pay any attention to the other people in the apartment or even who did what - they were judged collectively. For what? The district court first ruled: "instigation of riot". The only substantial evidence consists of 5 SMS (cell-phone text messages) sent to around 50-60 people. The most specific and concrete of the messages reads as follows:
"People are preparing to defend themselves inside Hvitfeldtska. The police are too few. Everybody go there to help their comrades! Spread the word!"
For this, and other much more unclear messages, they were sentenced by the district court to between 3 and 4 years in prison! Since telling people to help their illegally locked-up friends is - obviously - a very criminal act, some 60 brave citizens who, having committed the very same criminal act, turned themselves in at the police station in an act of solidarity. "Should we all spend 4 years in prison?" was the question they asked. After appeals from the convicted, the court of appeal took on the case, and on February 8 the penalties were lowered to between 1 year and 4 months to 2 years and 4 months in prison, and the classification of the crime was changed (!) from "instigating of riot" to "assistance of riot"! The sentence reads:
"It is not clarified if those who received the messages had connection with each other or how they acted as a consequence of the messages".
The word "scandal" is not strong enough: in the sentence itself, they admit that THERE IS NO EVIDENCE FOR THE CRIME THEY ARE SENTENCED FOR. In other words, the court has put aside the very principle upon which the whole legal system rests: NOT GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN OTHERWISE. In absence of evidence, the court instead refers to the political views of the accused and their alleged intentions, based on findings among texts in the computer and "political material " in the bookshell! As the Swedish writer Jan Guillou recently noted; not even under the dictatorship of the Swedish king Gustav III (1772-1792) was it possible to put aside that principle. Although that was mentioned in the context of three Swedish citizens having all their partitions confiscated and their sources of income cancelled because of their "complicity in terrorist funding", on order from the United State's UN-legitimised "terror-list", but that is a whole other story... (Must I mention the US refused to present any evidence of their crime?)
Political phoney-trials in Sweden - is it hard to believe? You'd better believe it!

The marriage between the Swedish media and the Swedish police authorities

The fact that the Swedish media hasn't reported the truth about this should tell you all that's worth knowing about our media-situation. But there's more to know. Did you know that one rich and (by Swedish measures) extremely powerful family - the Bonniers - owns 30 percent of the whole media-market, and that 80% of our daily newspapers are officially right wing?
Media have played a big part in the ongoing scandal and bulldozing of legal rights and principals. By consequently excluding the controversial facts from their reporting and actually lying, the journalists have deceived the public and allowed these happenings, for which there are no equivalent in Sweden's history, to pass by almost unnoticed. The journalist either lie or ignore, and the intellectuals seem to be living on another planet. I think even Noam Chomsky would be surprised by the moral breakdown on part of the "intellectuals" in Sweden.
The myth about the "command central" is significant for motivating the outrageous sentences. It was created this summer by the media, after dubious information from the police, and with great effect rooted it in the public consciousness. The myth is used to justify the long sentences, and for that reason, the courts will hang on to it till the end, until it gets really absurd (Isn't the court of appeal's sentence evidence enough of this?). Because otherwise, there is nothing motivating them - and then the whole building will crumble down like a house of cards!
Our hope is that the Supreme Court will take on the case and re-examine the (non)evidence. If the 8 teenagers are acquitted, this will lead to more cases being re-examined by the Supreme Court. But this requires that the journalists start digging. So far they have only shown their apathy towards justice, their antipathy against demonstrators, and their dislike to kill a myth of their own making, no matter how absurd and false it is.

Let me finish by quoting Erik Wijk, the only journalist in Sweden who has examined the sentences:
"It is a social contract that is being dissolved. Equality before the law, forget it. A police working for the benefit of the public, really? A body of journalists and intellectuals as a counter-power, what a joke...
The photos from the [vandalism on the] Avenue have stuck on the retinas of the Swedish people - they think our vital struggle for justice and legal rights is some kind of defence of terrorists."

We fight a more and more desperate struggle. The Swedish people are blindfolded and either rejoice or slumber as democracy and legal rights sink like a battered ship before their eyes.

40 Gothenburg police suspected of neglect of duty

Article from Svenska Dagblat 13.03.2002 40 police officers are suspected of neglect of duty following the Swedish Police's raid on the Schillerska School in Gothenburg during the European Union summit last summer. In light of the police raid on the school, which young protesters were using as a place for sleeping, accusations of police brutality and abuse of power has come to light after investigations conducted by Swedish Radio.

Letter sent to Motkraft on April 11th 2002 Today at 07:00 another person was arrested in connection with the GBG 2001 riots by cops who also came with a search warrant. Three cops got in by using a key and brought the person with them for questioning to Stockholm. They searched the apartment and brought clothes and a computer belonging to the arrested person. The cops behavior was as correct as possible as long as your job is to just walk in on people while they are still asleep. The only sign of interest on the apartment from the cops has been two big guys in front of the door about 4 weeks ago. Since that 4 people are living in the apartment and that the cops went directly to the right room, it shows that they know quite a lot.
Why do they still bother? When will stop this? How many search warrants have been signed for our already insulted comrades? What has happened to the guilty cops? Nothing. It's really obvious that there are two different law books to judge people. One for the common people, and one for these in blue.

One of the persons from that apartment.

Nog een politierapport Goteborg Artikel uit de Göteborgs-posten (al hetzerig ruim voor de eurotop afgelopen zomer) heeft weer een kritiekloos stuk over een politierapport over het optreden in juni 2001

Politierapport over EU-top klaar.

´Geweld erger dan verwacht´ Uit de Göteborgs-posten 21-3-02

De politie slaagde in haar opdracht ondanks het feit dat het geweld krachtiger was dan verwacht. De aktie tegen de Hvitfeldska was beslissend om de EU-vergadering doorgang te kunnen laten vinden.
Dit zijn enige konklusies uit het politierapport over de Eurotop De politie in Västra Götaland heeft afgelopen donderdag haar 180 pagina´s tellende rapport over het politiewerk gedurende de Eurotop in Göteborg afgelopen zomer gepresenteerd De top kon zoals gepland doorgang vinden terwijl er tegelijkertijd 43 verschillende demonstraties gehouden werden in centrale stadsdelen zonder al te grootschalige afzettingen. Tegelijkertijd meent de politie dat het diep beklagenswaardig is dat de openbare orde en zekerheid anderhalf uuur op het Vasa-plein en een half uur op Avenyn niet gehandhaafd konden worden. Nooit eerder stond de zweedse politie tegenover een dergelijk krachtig geweld en de kracht en medogenloosheid waren erger dan verwacht, aldus het rapport. Maar het had veel erger kunnen zijn, meent de politie. De inzet op de Hvitfeldtska op de 14e juni, het ingrijpen tegen de zogenaamde kommandocentrale in Högsbo en het arresteren van vijf deense verdachten voor het voorbereiden van ernstige sabotage waren beslissend voor het feitof de eurotop doorgang kon vinden zoals gepland.

Goede Dialoog

De dialoog van politie werd geroemd in het rapport. Door het werk van de kontaktgroep die zich tussen de politie en de demonstratieleiders bewoog, konden demonstraties doorgang vinden en de openbare orde gehandhaafd worden. Dankzij de dialoog kregen de kriminele demonstranten die zich in de grote demonstraties mengden beperkte utrymme?, aldus het rapport. De aktivistenorganisaties, met uitzondering van Göteborgsaktion 2001, krijgen een pluim van de politie voor het feit dat zij aktief afstand namen van het geweld. Daarom kunnen zij niet bekritiseerd worden voor het geweld en de toegebrachte schade.

Vermommingsverbod

De politie in Västra Götaland wil de mogelijkheid krijgen om arrestanten langer vast te houden dan de zes uur die vandaag de dag zijn toegstaan en stelt voor dat deze vraag onderzocht wordt. De politie wil ook een vermommingsverbod voor ´algemene samenkomsten´ naar Deens model. Daarnaast wil de politie in het bijzonder alternatieven onderzoeken voor de hedendaagse bewapening, knuppel en pistool.

Feiten

De politieaktiviteiten gedurende de eurotop hebben geleid tot twee eerdere rapporten. Polisförbundet, De politievakorganisatie, kwam met sterke kritiek tegen de politieinzet. ´Chaos´ was de titel van hun rapport. In een vragenonderzoek getuigde de politie van een ´brist på utbildning (opleiding)´, onvoldoende uitrusting en een extreme werkbelasting. De enquete werd gehouden onder 1800 van de 2500 agenten die onder bevel waren in Göteborg. 926 antwoordden en de vertrouwenskrisis was overduidelijk. 541 agenten uitten een vorm van kritiek tegen de politieleiding.
Het andere rapport kwam van het bestuur van de Rijkspolitie. Daar werd de inzet goedgekeurd, maar met een zekere kritiek. Onder andere ´brast dialogen´ en werd de omvang van het geweld verkeerd ingeschat.

Article from Göteborgs-posten 24.03.2002 Åklagarens beslut startsignalen för EU-kravallerna" by Per Nygren

The police raid of the Hvitfeldtska gymnasium is a breakpoint during the riots in Goteborg during the Eu-summit. The cops defend their action by saying that it would have been far worse if they would have not done it. While to me, it is really obviously that it's at that point it all started! In total 50 complaints have been handed to the police from people who were on the inside of the school. All investigations are dropped, even though cops have confessed that they threw stones and searched the wrong busses. The cop who was in charge of the raid, Hakan Jaldung, gave this comment: "A splendid action!"

People have witnessed about unreasonable violence and aggression from cops:
17 year old girl: "they asked me: Are you happy now that the whole town's in chaos? They made me fell really small. And I don't think that was necessary even if I would have done something."
Woman: "They insulted us, we got to hear a lot of different bad words, said that we smelled bad. We got threatened time after time when we were sitting there with our hands on our heads."
Man: "We are walking in lines with our hands on our heads. A cop comes up to me and calls me fuckin' faggot and aim for a punch. He never hits me. He pulls out his stick...calls people that are not from Sweden for different degrading stuff. Makes fun of people that are not fluid in swedish by retelling their accent."
19 year old girl: "A girl in one of the busses says to a cop: I'm not feeling alright and I have diabetes and would like to get some help. The cop replies that he doesn't believe her, and leaves. The girl passes out latter on."
This is how it all happened day by day, hour by hour at the Hvitfeldtska gymnasium:

Wednesday 13/6

21:00 The decision to search the public areas in the school is taken. Thursday 14/6
09:00 decision to seal off the area is taken.
10:30-11:00 The school is being sealed off.
13:00 Decision about negotiating
15:00-15:15 The people inside the school are told that they are allowed to leave the school if they get search by cops. 100-150 leave.
16:40 Every cop is ordered to arrest people in the school.
16:42 People are forming lines in the school yard.
16:54 The order is given that no one is allowed to leave or enter the area. Except ordinary dressed people, after searching.
16:59 Ya Basta takes the front of the lines in the schoolyard.
17:02 The lines are moving towards the cops.
17:09 The attorney has made the decision that this is a violent riot.
17:10 People are ordered to get back.
17:15 Ya Basta is trying to break out through the cop-lines.
17:25 The order is given to arrest the Ya basta group and to push the rest back with horses.
17:33 Ya basta wants to negotiate - dress off and get out. Not negotiable according to Hakan Jaldung (the cop in charge of the raid).
17:55 People are ordered to get back.
18:03 The first units are sent in.
18:10 First arrestments made.

Some witness statement made by cops: "When we were done with searching busses, we noticed a little mistake. We searched the wrong busses. Around the corner, we saw another bus, and searched that one as well." People have witnessed that the searches of the busses were extremely violent and that busses got totally smashed.

Another cop: "We let the horses in. We thought the black (block) were so dangerous that it was okay to ride them down." "My department has been using sticks in great numbers. At one point, I threw 3 stones to survive."

Wij eisen genoegdoening voor de overtreding van de politie Aftonbladet 21-03-2002

Nog niet zo lang geleden stormden mannen met automatische wapens mijn slaapkamer binnen, trok me uit een kaartspel en legde mij neer op een nat schoolplein waar honden en politie naar mij blaften. Ik lag daar met het gezicht naar het asfalt en boosheid kromp tot angst en vertwijfeling. Het duurde een uur voordat ik uiteindelijk van de grond werd gerukt. Een gemaskerde man filmde mij, mijn schoenen werden mij geweigerd en zo werd ik weggereden van het plein. Met een waas van razernij en vernedering dwaalde ik door de nacht met plastic zakken aan mijn voeten. De volgende dag vertrokken we.

Toen konden we in de Göteborgs Posten lezen, als bewijs dat we toch niet hadden gedroomd: "RAZZIA IN HET SCHILLERSKA GYMNASIUM'. Het bericht was kort en meldde dat er geen wapens waren gevonden. In mijn ogen zag het eruit als een overlijdensadvertentie van het geloof in gerechtigheid

Een officier, die nu gedeeltelijk verdacht wordt voor 'fout in dienst', vond dat de aktie bij het Schillerska OK was. Ik stel mij voor dat het een stuk makkelijker is om te vinden dat iets OK is als je er zelf niet door wordt getroffen. De konsument die kleding koopt gefabriceerd met kinderarbeid kan niet het leiden zien waar hij aan bijdraagt. George W Bush vindt duidelijk dat het acceptabel is om burgers te offeren in Afghanistan. Maar welk recht hebben wij andermans lijden te beoordelen?

De machteloosheid en vernedering die ik ervaarde op Schillerska was een duistere en walgelijke ervaring. Verder denk ik dat de kinderarbeiders liever willen spelen en dat de doden in Afghanistan liever zouden willen leven. Maar zij mogen het zelf niet beslissen en in het algemeen wordt hen niet eens iets gevraagd. De manifestatie in Goteborg ging juist hierover dat wij in de rijke wereld solidariteit betuigen met hen wiens stemmen niet gehoord worden, en waar wij een economisch systeem proberen te beinvloeden dat hen 'zonder stem' raakt.

Voor vele jonge mensen brachten de gebeurtenissen in Goteborg een inzicht met zich mee dat protesten niet ongevaarlijk zijn, dat er een keerzijde is van het enthousiasme en engagement dat onverwacht was. De demonstraties in Goteborg waren niet zoals de 1e mei, het voelde niet als manifestaties van het volk.

Men heeft gezegd dat de politieagenten niet voorbereid waren op wat hun stond te wachten. Moet men zich niet afvragen of wij als demonstranten erop voorbereid waren om als vijanden gezien te worden? Een nieuw beeld van activisten kwam naar voren in Seattle, Genua, Praag en Goteborg dat in de meeste gevallen niet overeen kwam met het beeld wat wij van onszelf hebben. Door een mediaberichtgeving die boeit en verleidt wordt door het 'beeldschone' van de brutaliteit van geweld verandert de betekenis van de manifestaties. De media geeft niet langer een verslaggeving van de inhoud maar over de oppervlakte. De demonstranten zijn niet langer mensen, maar veranderen tot een grote donkere dreiging. De opinies zijn niet langer opinies en het woord demonstrant wordt leeg en zonder betekenis omdat men niet vermeldt waar de demonstranten zich tegen verzetten. Het is ironisch dat de man die voor ons beschermd zou moeten worden (George W Bush) waarschijnlijk een van de meest geweldadige en gevaarlijkste mensen is die ooit Goteborg heeft bezocht.

Veel ging verloren in Goteborg, ramen van winkeliers werden verbrijzeld, McDonalds verloor meerdere dagopbrengsten, straatstenen raakten zoek en werden weer gevonden. Maar veel wordt vandaag nog gemist. Bij de Schillerska school gingen op een brute manier mijn ogen open en mijn beeld van Zweden dat ik daarvoor had, bleek plots erg naief. Wij die bij Schillerka waren werden als bij toverslag van onze grondleggende burgerlijke rechten ontdaan en die zijn daarna niet meer teruggegeven. Om op te komen voor iets kost ontzettend veel moeite, om buiten het eigen kringetje te kijken, het televisietoestel uit te zetten en zich te bekommeren om de wereld om je heen vergt veel. In het donker bij Schillerska voelde het alsof wij onze betrokkenheid door ons strot geduwd kregen.

Vandaag weet men dat actie van de politie bij Schillerska een vergissing was. Bij de school vond men geen wapens, niemand verzette zich en geen van diegene die in de school verbleven zijn verdachten van een strafbare handeling gebleken. Maar de vergissing wordt meer dan een vergissing als het stilletjes voorbij gaat. Dan wordt het, zoals Hlkan Jaldung zei, iets waar men rekening mee moet houden. En moet men daar rekening mee houden, moet men ook met andere dingen rekening houden; een vermoeide apathie en woede als twee kanten van hetzelfde munt. Als onrechtvaardigheden onbemerkt voorbij mogen gaan, zal die solidariteit die tussen een maatschappij en hun burgers moet bestaan, worden uitgehold.

Politici en politieleiding moeten aangeven dat wat er bij Schillerska gebeurde fout was. Gedeeltelijk omdat ik en mijn 'pech-kamraden' behoefte hebben aan die genoegdoening maar ook om de nadruk op te leggen op de humanitaire waarden waar een maatschappij op moet steunen. Hoe moeten we het geloof terugkrijgen in een staat en maatschappij wanneer dezelfde maatschappij de rug toekeert op hetzelfde moment wanneer men van zijn democratische rechten gebruik van maakt? Wat is het geloof in demokratie waard wanneer het demokratische recht van meningsuiting niets waard is?

De politieaangifte die wij deze zomer deden heeft in zoverre ik weet niet tot iets geleidt, ondanks overeenstemmend getuigen. De stilte over de politieactie bij Schillerska moet worden gebroken omdat er anders een enge vraag gesteld wordt: Als het mogelijk is om wat wij meemaakten stil te houden, wat kan er dan allemaal nog meer stilgehouden worden?

Elias Granath, student, en: Pernillla Edin, David Flato, Magdalena Hulth, Maria Hulth, Petter Westerman, Jenny Appelblad. (Vertaald dd 27-4-2002 Sara/Ox)

Het 15e Juni Initiatief Binnenkort is het een jaar geleden sinds te Eurotop vergadering waarbij Zweden zijn grootste protesten in de moderne tijd beleefde. Protesten tegen onze machthebbers en het neoliberale beleid dat zij uitvoeren. De protesten werden tegemoetgetreden met een bijna totalitaire politieinzet waar rellen op volgden.
Vergaderingen, konferenties, informatiecentrum, slaapplaatsen etc. die al sinds geruime tijd gepland waren, werden de das omgedaan.

In totaal werden 1000 mensen van hun vrijheid beroofd, veelal op brutale wijze. Burgers die hun recht op demonstratie uitoefenden, diskussieerden en vergaderden of alleen maar aan het dansen waren, werden tegemoetgetreden met containters, knuppels en pistolen. Hierop volgde een mediahetze zonder gelijke. Tieners die wakker werden met automatische wapens van elitetroepen boven hun hoofd konden later lezen dat zij zelf gewapende terroristen waren. Dit mediale schandaal vormde en vormt de grondslag voor het gerechtelijke schandaal dat hierop volgde en nog steeds bezig is. Mensen worden van gevangenis naar gevangenis gesleept en vastgehouden met behulp van bewijs in de vorm van gemanipuleerde films en agenten die valse getuigenissen afleggen.

Het doel van het optreden van de machthebbers wordt langzamerhand zonneklaar. Een beweging die in potentie sympathie bij vele mensen zou kunnen winnen wordt verdachtgemaakt. Daarnaast veroorzaakt een dergelijke houding ook een versplintering en strijd binnen de beweging.
Tegelijkertijd is het van belang om het positieve van Goteborg vast te houden. Zweden heeft al lang niet meer een dergelijke grote mobilisatie van een beweging gekend met onder andere meerdere indrukwekkende demonstraties. Twee ervan hadden elk tegen de 30.000 deelnemers.

Wij roepen daarom organisaties in het hele land op om te mobiliseren voor een lokale maar synchrone aktie om de straten en pleinen op te gaan op de 15e juni om onze stemmen gehoord te laten worden.
Dit om solidariteit te tonen met de mensen die vast hebben gezeten, vast zitten of nog moeten. Het kan ons een gelegenheid bieden om samen te strijden voor een andere geschiedschrijving dan die door de media naar voren wordt gebracht. De beweging kan zo een hernieuwde impuls krijgen na goteborg.

De initiatiefnemers zijn mensen die bezig zijn met buitenparlementair links in Stockholm waar we ons o.a. bezig houden met gerechtelijk solidariteitswerk nar de Goteborgsgebeurtenissen.

Groeten,
Het 15e juni initiatief Stockholm
e-post: j15initiativet@hotmail.com
Kontaktpersoon: Jens Larsson . Telefon 073-7688047.

Dit is een vrije en ingekorte vertaling van de oorspronkelijke oproep.

Noorwegen sluit grenzen bij ABCDE-vergadering bron Klassekampen

DEMONSTRATIE: De politie wil een vesting Noorwegen scheppen gedurende een wereldbank konferentie in Oslo 24-26 juni. Demonstranten uit het buitenland worden uitgezet op verdenkingen, zonder eerdere veroordeling of straf. Door Magnus E. Marsdal, vrijdag 05 april, 2002 Wij kijken naar de ervaringen van Gøteborg. We beramen iets vergelijkbaars hier in Oslo, meldt de informatiechef Inger Elisabeth Hindahl van Oslo Politidistrikt aan Klassekampen. Er zijn ongeveer 2000 agenten nodig in Oslo tijdens de ABCDE-konferentie, meent de politie. Hiermee wordt het een groter gebeuren dan het bezoek van Bill Clinton .
Het is moeilijk om te weten of deze konferentie gaat behoren tot de prioriteiten van de demonstranten. Maar we zijn bezig met inlichtingenwerk om uit te vinden hoeveel zullen komen, zegt Hindal.

De politie heeft nu maar alvast 72 miljoen kronen uitgetrokken voor de inzet rond de konferentie. Hindahl zegt dat de politie alle toegankelijke methoden zal toepassen om de veiligheid, orde en vrijheid van meningsuiting te garanderen. Demonstranten uit het buitenland kunnen worden gestopt bij de grens. We kunnen van de gelegenheid gebruik maken om strengere grenskontroles in te voeren, aldus Hindahl. In dat geval moet het justitiedepartement paragraaf 2.2 van de Schengenovereenkomst gebruiken om het vrije verkeer van burgers buiten werking te kunnen stellen op grond van de ´openbare orde of zekerheid van de staat´. Dit moet gebeuren na overleg met de andere Schengen-landen.

Het liefst Uitwijzing
De politie aan de grens en in het land zullen gebruik maken van paragraaf 57 en 58 van de buitenlanderswet, die verwijdering en uitwijzing regelt van EEA-burgers (=ongeveer EU + EFTA). Zij kunnen worden uitgewezen wanneer de openbare orde of veiligheid dit verlangen.
-In een dergelijke situatie zullen we ons voornamelijk richten op uitwijzing (utvising) in plaats van verwijdering (??)(bortvising) zodat ze de dag erna niet zomaar weer erin kunnen komen aldus Runa Bunæs Uitwijzing betekent ook een inreisverbod. bijna altijd voor minimaal twee jaar. Het Utlendingsdirektoratet neemt in elke individuele zaak een beslissing. De politie heeft ruime volmachten voor het interpreteren van de openbare orde en veiligheid.
-Als er mensen komen die bekend zijn van bijvoorbeeld de onrust in Gøteborg die niet een acceptabele reden hebben om in Noorwegen te zijn, zal dit genoeg zijn om hen uit te wijzen, meent Bunæs. Paragraaf 58 stelt dat uitwijzing kan gebeuren wanneer bij de buitenlander de persoonlijke situatie een aktuele en ernstige bedreiging is voor de samenleving Bunæs benadrukt dat het niet noodzakelijk is dat de persoon eerder veroordeeld is om onder paragraaf 58 te vallen. Zij verwacht dat deze wet aktief gebruikt zal worden indien vele demonstranten naar het land komen en het bestuur bang is voor rotzooi.
-Deze wet wordt zeer zelden gebruikt, maar de situatie zoals jij die schetst is precies waarvoor deze wet is bedoeld.

Radiokanaal p4 meldt dat de politie voor 20 miljoen beschermingsspullen heeft aangeschaft om in de straten van Oslo te gebruiken. In een brief naar het Politidirektoratet schrijft de politimeister Arnstein Gjengedal dat Oslo Politidistrikt daarbij nog veel kosten zal hebben aan mensen van defensie, arrestantenkapaciteit, barrikademateriaal, helikopterhuur, speciale voertuigen, eerste hulpmaterialen, radioverbindingen en inkwartiering.

Aktivisteninfo te vinden op http://www.oslo2002.no

Statewatch reports related to Schengen Information System (SIS) and Europol Statewatch (www.statewatch.org), is a London based organization monitoring the state and civil liberties in the European Union.

The SIS, Europe's biggest law enforcement database, was created under the Schengen Agreement of 1985 and went online in March 1995. Member states contribute data to the SIS. In May 1999, the SIS contained nearly ten million records, including more than 1.3 million names and aliases (these are the latest figures in the public domain, and perhaps the last).

Extending the SIS
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2001/nov/19sis.htm

The Council of the European Union (the 15 EU governments) are discussing plans to create two new dedicated databases on the Schengen Information System (SIS). Both of these new databases are being put forward under the post 11 September "Anti-terrorism roadmap".
The first database would cover public order and protests and lead to "Barring potentially dangerous persons from participating in certain events [where the person is] notoriously known by the police forces for having committed recognized facts of public order disturbance".
The second database would be a register of all third country nationals in the EU who will be tagged with an "alert" if they overstay their visa or residence permit - this follows a call by the German government for the creation of a "centralized register".

The targeting of "known individuals" will be based on information gathered at national level (by police and security agencies) and passed on to the SIS in Strasbourg. The database of suspected "troublemakers" held on the SIS will then be accessed by police and internal security agencies when there is an assumed "threat" for a particular event in that country. This would deny people the right of free movement in the EU and the right to protest. However, the placing of an "alert" on the SIS that a "targeted" person is a suspected "troublemaker" could be accessed - during a specific event - and used to stop them traveling for other purposes such as visiting friends or to go on holiday - it would constitute a quasi criminal record. Moreover, the construction at national level of a register of "known individuals" means that quite ordinary and everyday political activity of groups and organizations will have to be placed under regular surveillance.

"anarchist terrorism"
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2002/feb/10anarch.htm

Europol, through the Situation and Trends report on terrorist activity in the EU, is aiming at criminalizing the radical left and expanding the concept of terrorism.
One new category added in 2001 was "eco-terrorism" on which the report gives no examples. The report simply says in total that: "Radical environmentalists and animal rights movements have maintained a limited campaign. Nevertheless, the material damage they caused was extensive". No definition of "eco-terrorism" is given nor is one planned in the proposed extension of Europol's role.
Another new category, which is even more problematic, is that of "anarchist terrorism". In February 2001 a Europol seminar on counter-terrorism held in Madrid agreed on a proposal by Spain, Portugal, Greece and Italy to set up a joint investigation team on "anarchist terrorism". It appears that after Genoa in July 2001 Europol may have set up an "analysis file" on "anarchist terrorism" which in turn fed through into this Situation report. Interviewed by a German newspaper in August Jurgen Storbeck, Europol's Director, said the so-called "Black Block" of anarchists could be seen as "terrorist or pre-terrorist".
The report says that "anarchist terrorism" could be a symptom of the possible "resurrection of left wing terrorism" and refers to a series of terrorist attacks "in the southern part of the Union". In fact all the incidents referred to are in Italy, and the report claims that these examples could spark the return of EU-wide "left wing and anarchist terrorism".

radical extremist groups terrorising society"
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2002/feb/07protest2.htm

The Spanish Presidency of the EU proposed, in a report dated 29 January, that law enforcement and intelligence agencies should exchange information on "terrorist incidents" to combat the increase during "various European Union summits and other events, in violence and criminal damage orchestrated by radical extremist groups, clearly terrorising society".
However, at the meeting of the EU's Working Party on Terrorism on 4 February, various delegations insisted "public order incidents are not always terrorist related. A clear distinction should be made. Incidents at the G7 Summit in Genoa were not caused by terrorists."
As there is already in place a "standard form" and procedure to report and coordinate information and intelligence on real terrorist incidents, the proposal of the Spanish Presidency can only be seen as seeking to get the backing of other member states to extend terrorist reporting/intelligence to protests and normal democratic activity.
What is extraordinary about the Presidency proposal is that the same working party has already agreed on a standard form to exchange information on terrorism in a series of meetings last year, before 11 September. Discussions were clearly concerned with real "terrorism" and not protests and protestors.

Europol and the SIS
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2002/mar/15europol.htm

EU working parties are to begin making preparations to give Europol access to the Schengen Information System (SIS). Both legal changes and technical measures are necessary, and work is to begin immediately. The proposals will not just allow Europol to consult data, but to add and amend it as well. Under the two-stage EU Presidency proposal, phase one covers "immediate access to all information" with a "partial download" facility. Phase two provides for the "possibility of updating SIS by adding, deleting and modifying information".
Europol has long wanted access to the SIS and given the failure of several of their "analysis work files" because of a reluctance of member states to share their intelligence data, being able to trawl the SIS for information would give the agency access to extensive EU-wide data. Law enforcement and administrative agencies' access to the SIS is restricted to certain categories of data but it is presumed that Europol will have full access.
The further possibility that Europol could also delete and modify information would effectively make Europol custodian of the database. At present, data can only be added by authorities in the member states, and only the state which entered information can amend or delete it (although the supervisory body on data protection can order its deletion). If the phase-two proposals are implemented, Europol would be the only law enforcement agency with central executive powers over data on the SIS (since the member states only have jurisdiction over their own data). This would raise a number of highly contentious legal issues with regard to data protection, privacy and civil liberties.

SIS II , EU's "Big Brother" database
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2002/apr/01sis.htm

"Requirements" for SIS II, the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS) have been outlined by the EU. The proposals would introduce a number of new functions for the SIS, allow more types of personal information to be retained, provide wider access to law enforcement and administrative agencies and reduce data protection standards.
Under the proposals SIS II will contain new additional "identification material" such as photographs, fingerprints and "possibly even other material" (a potentially veiled reference to DNA profiles) as well as "intelligence markers", or police supposition, which would bring in suspected offences, any "psychological danger", covert markers (eg. "suspected drug dealer") and objects "owned, held or used".
The document also suggests biometrics records that would be linked by "SIS II to national databases for... facial/iris recognition, number plate recognition and fingerprint identification". In addition it is proposed to create "new categories of objects for the purpose of seizure, use as evidence in criminal proceedings or surveillance" and to record every search on the SIS that is carried out. It is claimed that this would allow greater data protection supervision although it would also expose enquiries by authorities in one member states to those of all the others.
Data held in SIS II is to be made available to a number of new agencies. Europol and Eurojust will have access to SIS II - Europol may even be able to add, amend, modify and delete data. Public prosecutors and magistrates will be able to access the European Arrest Warrants which will be retained on the SIS and transmitted to police through either the SIRENE bureaux or Interpol (this matter is still under discussion).
Access for security and intelligence services is proposed and symbolises the way in which the SIS is being developed. This was not envisaged in the Schengen Convention and in fact provision was made for allowing "alerts" to be placed on the SIS on their behalf .
The intention is two-fold: First, to give the security and intelligence agencies direct access to the SIS and second to create on the SIS a "restricted access terrorist database". The rationale is to develop "alert and intervention plans" to deal with "transfrontier terrorist acts".

Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, commented:
"At the end of 2001 there were 10,541,271 records held on the SIS and this figure will grow enormously over the next few years, as will the number of state agencies who will have access to it. In the wake of 11 September records on protestors, terrorist "suspects", refugees and possibly all resident third country nationals are to be added.
The Schengen Joint Supervisory Authority has some oversight powers over data protection issues but none over the operation of the Schengen acquis as a whole. Nor is there any longer an annual report on the whole of the Schengen operation - this was arbitrarily abolished after May 1999 when the Amsterdam Treaty came into effect.
Furthermore to propose that EU security and intelligence agencies should have access to all SIS data without amending the Schengen Convention would be very simply unlawful. We are heading for a situation where an enormous, intrusive, database will affect the lives of thousands of people without any proper accountability to parliaments let alone to civil society"