SCN: 1st hand account - protesters in Genova brutalized (fwd)

[Sharma]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 09:52:22 -0700
From: "getmelissa at uswest.net" <getmelissa at uswest.net>
To: undisclosed-recipients:  ;
Subject: 1st hand account - protesters in Genova brutalized

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!! The entire freaking world is becoming one military
state.  I'm sick.

-melissa

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [seagreens-talk] IMC Italy raid
Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2001 23:22:28 -0700
From: "Colleen Roman" <colleenr at speakeasy.net>

Horrific raid on GSF and IMC Genoa : Report
by IMCista 6:29am Sun Jul 22 '01 (Modified on 8:05am Sun Jul 22 '01)


Report from the IMC tonight.

Tonight the carabineraie raided the IMC as many people already have
probably seen on the newswire already. As we saw it the carabineraie
started by pulling up about 2-300m up the road in initially around four
to five vans. They got out and started to jog down the street in riot
gear and batons. People saw them and started to enter both building -
the main GSF building and the school.

The school had been a safe space for people to sleep and chill for a few
days. In the school there were a diverse bunch of people. As the
convergence center was quite close, many people came to get information
on the counter conference and the solidarity marches and also to use
computers. Many people who slept in the school were participants from
the marches, a group of pacifists from Zaragoza had come to the school
to sleep just fifteen minutes before the arrived, (as it was the only
really "safe" space to sleep) and ended up with eight hospitalised and
more detained by the carabineraie.

The carabineraie, having reached the school and the GSF building started
to arbitrarily beat people with the batons as people scrabbled to get
inside either building. The door were closed on the GSF building but
they entered from, not the main door, but one which was not secured at
the side - not secured as this was just not expected.

I can only tell from what happened now from the IMC as I was there
working. The IMC tried to calm people down as the carabineraie came in
and demanded that all of us stand spread-eagle against the wall for
about 30 minutes whilst the people wandered in and out of the rooms a
bit listlessly, looking for anything incriminating - as if. They then
moved everyone into one area and everyone had to sit down for another
twenty minutes or so.

What they found and took was some of the equipment like mini disks
videos
and disks and searched many peoples bags. They also took some salad
knives
from the kitchen and a couple of gas masks. Later after it was all over
they said to the press that they saw quite a lot of black clothes inside
the rooms, well excuse me.

Apparently opposite the police took all available passports and wallets
and diaries from peoples bags.

The carabineraie tried to take one of the IMC people but another
journalist with G8 accreditation stepped in although he was pushed back
the carabineraie left the other guy alone.

They finally left when a women MP who was in the building came to our
floor and had powers to make to carabineraie leave - due to the fact
that we were an international group and also journo/press. The police
left, but we discovered that the people on the other floors of the GSF
building had had freedom to roam after only being held on the floor for
a short time. Also the GSF Lawyers office was ransacked and the
computers destroyed, hard drives taken and the phones smashed - so much
for the law. The computers conatined all of the info relating to legal
aid etc over the last few days. The carabineraie obviously had their
purpose here - one mission being to search the IMC floor to find
something to discredit the IMC media movement.

After they left people immediately checked their gear and recorded what
was taken, and then the keypads started burning.

Then we discovered the fucking mass beatings next door where people were
already sleeping and others had been eating and talking, many IMC people
stayed outside to somberly record the devastation and support those in
shock and disbelief at what had just occurred. Tears and shouts of
"assinos" followed the police who for another half an hour or so were
still blocking off exits. Many people outside had been chanting "let
them free" whilst we were up against the wall and the school was being
emptied with stretcher after stretcher of young men and women being
carried out.

The story from across the street in the school was that when police
arrived they grabbed the first people they could outside and beat them
heavily - one of the first to be beaten was a uk reporter who was
smashed repeatedly by a group of them - one held him by his neck while
the others beat him with clubs - unconscious he was left in the street
in a pool of blood (later when we were allowed out of the building the
blood had been cleaned off the pavement). Their intention was clear then
from the start.

Inside the building when police entered many people inside raised their
hands but the police just started smashing windows. One group then ran
to
the third floor and managed to escape out of an upper window and down
scaffolding (the building is a bit of a building site under repair) -
they
were lucky. The others inside were beaten everywhere but from the long
stream of stretchers came out of the building they were obviously trying
to injure people as seriously as possible - at least five were brought
out
unconscious.

Later after more arrests in the street the police and fleet of
ambulances
departed, leaving us access to the building. Inside the sight was
sickening. There was thick dark blood all up the walls, over the floor
and at the bottom of stairs. It looked like several people had been
beaten while on the ground from the blood patters low down on the walls.
The scene was horrible. Even the ambulance staff were obviously shocked.

The night is long and will not end to day. This is a sad day for
democracy. As to the "weapons" they found in the school, the place was
as we said earlier was under repair, a small section blocked off and
littered with pipes and building materials etc Like us they too had
knives (and forks!) for cooking and eating.

The local media and other reports have said police where there searching
for weapons or drugs. No, it is obvious why they were here. The
testimonies of people in both buildings, the blood on the street and
inside the school and the number seriously injured in this so called
search tells the true story. No doubt many things will be said about
this horrific evening here at the GSF building, but whatever happens,
Indymedia will continue to report the truth.

http://www.indymedia.org
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