Press Release of Freiburg Anti-NATO Plenum
On March 30, actions against the NATO summit will take place in Freiburg. Around 5pm, there will be a rally at Rathausplatz, and around 6pm, a demonstration to Bertoldsbrunnen. We want our protests against NATO and its war politics to be heard loud and clear before the conference even starts.
The Anti-NATO Plenum is a cooperative effort of various organizations and individuals. They strongly object to NATO policies and will take to the streets in the coming days and weeks to protest and make sure they don't get away with a gilded jubilee. The spectrum of groups in this alliance ranges from political parties and union groups to leftist radicals and peace activists.
Since early 2008, the Freiburg Anti-NATO Plenum has been preparing for the protests being held at the beginning of April. On March 30, demonstrations against the NATO-summit will take place in Freiburg. Around 5pm, there will be a rally at Rathausplatz, and around 6pm, a demonstration to Bertoldsbrunnen. We want our protest against NATO and its war politic to be heard loud and clear before the conference even starts. The temporary NATO police headquarters are located in Freiburg. With that, we can expect to be greeted particularly strongly by the authorities who have decided to employ over 30,000 police to interfere with the protests. We call on all residents of Freiburg to take part. There will be planned as well as spontaneous and unregistered events, not to mention acts of civil disobedience.
An important part of the work is descibed by Amandine Müller:
“We are all running around, creating the infrastructure so that the conference protestors can find their way around and to provide them with what they need: places to sleep, transportation, and info. Part of this is working together with diverse leftist groups such that we can bring together the numerous actions under one roof. We can expect violent repression on the part of the state.…” Anne Schulz recalls the campaigns in summer 2007: “We have seen this already at the G8-summit in Heiligendamm…Deployments and mass arrests based on lies…the military and the secret services are working directly with the police.”
Just like at the G8, the coming NATO summit will also feature targeted intimidation against leftist activists. The Freiburg Autonomous Center, KTS, has already been targeted. It will be a central jumping-off point for demos before the conference. According to Lasse Luxembourg from the Anti-NATO Plenum, “There will be numerous workshops and lectures taking place in KTS. Every evening, warm food will be available. A medical centre and an Infopoint are guaranteed there, so that people can find there way around the area and keep informed without needing to go to the mainstream press.” Lasse continues: “After the peaceful large demos for the freedom of assembly, two members of the KTS Board and the former contact person were summoned to the police as suspected persons, in an effort to intimidate us.”
Police Chief Heiner Amann shared his views relating to the March 14th investigations against the Freiburg radical scene. He claims they are in no way connected to the NATO summit. Rather, it is about an announcement for a demonstration that was not preregistered, a criminal offence in Germany. This doesn’t convince Müller “This raises the question of legal assistance for a police president“ Amman is outlining a scenario of escalation. Thus, the unregistered demonstration on March 30th has become “a non-peaceful gathering.” In addition, despite the fact that the new rules of assembly are not yet in effect, the large demonstration is still considered an infringement of the law. Shultz of the Anti-NATO Plenum: “We don’t have the intention to provoke violence and conflicts. Rather, we want to take our message to the public, in large numbers and with strength. Shortly before the demos and the during the gatherings, we are going to be communicating with the officers in charge by telephone, since we can’t rule out the consequences of personal communication—given the criminalizing of the previous contact person. ”
In case our demonstration will be met with police violence, we invite everyone to a public blockade training session at the Freiburg Central Station at on March 30 at 7pm.
Anti-NATO Plenum Freiburg, March 2009
