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COP15: German activists eye Bella Center
200 activists meeting in a culture hall in Kreuzberg near Berlin to discuss how to take over COP15 at the Bella Center for a day. – Foto: Astrid Dalum
Activists from Berlin have planned how to take over COP15. Politiken was at the final planning meeting.
By Laura Marie Sørensen, Berlin
They know how wide the stream around the Bella Center is. They know the lay of the land, and they’ve found out that swimming goggles are the best protection against teargas.
German activists from Berlin have prepared themselves well on how to take over the Bella Center, and they will soon be on their way to Copenhagen.
Politiken was permitted to attend a meeting in a culture hall in Kreuzberg which started in a café but had to be moved into larger premises as more activists turned up than organisers had envisaged.
Germans, Swedes, Spaniards
The 200 activists in the room had arrived to hear final details before leaving for Copenhagen. Although there were some activists from Sweden and Spain, most were Germans from the leftist environment in Berlin. Some were teenagers. Others middle aged. Most in their 20s.
Non-violent but confrontational
The agenda included issues such as quarters, food and transport – but most importantly information about the ‘Reclaim Power’ demonstration which is due in Copenhagen on Wednesday of next week.
During Reclaim Power, activists will attempt to take over the Bella Center for a day and ‘give it back to the people’. Network Climate Justice Action, which has organised the demonstration, has said that it will be non-violent, but confrontational.
“This will be a demonstration with NGOs. We must respect them so it will be without stones and Molotov cocktails,” says Ruben – one of the meeting organisers.
Digital maps
A photo of a three-metre wire fence is projected onto a screen. “We must decide whether to crawl over or destroy it to get in,” one young man says.
The activists know that it’s not that easy to storm a summit – but they have done their research well. Ruben and his colleague Philipp show a digital map of the area around the Bella Center and explain that roads around the center will be blocked off and activists will probably not be able to use the metro.
Police action
Although Reclaim Power is tabled as a non-violent demonstration, activists at the meeting said they expected confrontation with the police.
“”Expect physical police violence,” the powerpoint show said, adding information about the 6,500 police at the meeting and the fact that they have a new weapon – a water cannon.
“Don’t put on make up or contact lenses – gas and pepper spray stick to them. Swimming goggles are good protection,” the show said.
Police not worried
Copenhagen Police Spokesman Lars Borg says the force is taking the German activists’ plans calmly, as officers have prepared for the eventuality that activists attempt to enter the Bella Center.
“We would be very surprised if some activists manage to get into the areas that we are protecting. But we have our counter-plans. We’ll catch them,” Borg says.
Ruben and Philipp are aliases.
Edited by Julian Isherwood
Source: http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/article856355.ece