Ralo Mayer and Philipp Haupt
http://www.manoafreeuniversity.org/gothenburg_nb

“It looked like maps, very much like structures – and arrows of communication – how the communication was going between different points. (…) Because of the serious look of it the jury was really sucked into it. In the court, yeah – i think that’s really when it differs… My experience from the streets was so different from these organized maps of the situation.”

This quote is from one of numerous interviews with actvists being involved in the protests against the EU-summit in June 2001 in Gothenburg. It describes diagrams of traffic data the prosecutors used to prove the organisation of the “black block” through mobile phones. Based on such “evidence” people were convicted to years in prison for sending out four SMS-messages.

No one likes to hang out at offices after the working day is done, but when we found ourselves squatting the lobby of the biggest commuting contractor in Stockholm we felt that staying late hours at the office need not be so bad after all. This was during a conflict over union representation that started in the subway, but after taking it to the streets we went one step further and took it to the contractors’ headquarters. The union representative brave enough to speak out about safety hazards in the Stockholm subway got fired, and we as part of the extra-parliamentary left as well, as daily commuters, saw it as an attack not only on the unions but as a threat to our physical safety as commuters.

How the Swedish parliamentary parties betrayed the Global Justice Movement

It happened in the most unlikely country at a most unlikely place. The great international step forward in the repression against the global justice movement summit protests begun right in the middle of the cradle of the Swedish workers movement in Malmö. Some weeks later police were for the first time shooting at protesters in Gothenburg at an EU Summit and built a wall of containers around a counter summit, convergence center and school complex used for accomodation to end up violently storming the protest gathering arresting 456 people. The parliamentary parties supported the escalation of the repression of the demonstrators that followed, with Left Party leader Gudryn Schyman as a main betrayer of the movements. With this support the police could attack any demonstration and use any weapons legitimated by all parliamentary parties. 7 years later the global justice movement in Sweden and internationally gathers again in Malmö to exchange experiences on lessons learned and what conclusions to draw for the future.

Against the background of the European Union summits in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2001 and Copenhagen, Denmark in 2002, this article investigates the legal framing of police public order practices in conjunction with mass demonstrations and rioting in urban surroundings. Differences between legalistic and opportunistic ways of administering laws and regulations are illustrated, focusing on the policing of political disorder in two case studies with quite different outcomes. Theoretically, attention is also directed towards the notion of crisis, in terms of frustration and aggression. The basic argument is that the hyper-complexity of the legal framing in Sweden seems to have played an important, but unintended, role in the violent handling of the serious riots in Gothenburg; and that the legal powers in Denmark, in contrast, seems to have contributed to the less aggressive handling of the protest events during the European Union summit in Copenhagen.

To understand what can be done about repression issues at ESF it could be useful to know something about the situation in the host countries. I am not an expert and my knowledge is superficial but I may have a general picture which may be of use to you. I guess that it is of importance that Nordic organisations get involved to make repression and important issue at ESF-5. The information and opinion below are from the perspective of Friends of the Earth Sweden and are not to be seen as the opinion of any organisation. They can be published for non-profit purposes.

Liebe Leute,
fast ein Jahr ist es her, dass in Göteborg ein sogenanntes Gipfeltreffen der Europäischen Union (EU) stattfand. Was Anlass genug war, um auf die Strasse zu gehen gegen kapitalistische Verwertungslogik, Rassismus, Überwachung und die anderen Ungerechtigkeiten, die uns tagtäglich als etwas normales und natürlichgegebenes unter die Nase gerieben werden.

Auch wenn die Strukturen von Herrschaft und Ausbeutung weit komplexer sind (und sich nicht allein an den einem oder anderen Gipfeltreffen verkürzt kritisieren lassen) ist es richtig und wichtig eine radikale Ablehnung des Bestehenden genau dort zum Ausdruck zu bringen.

Wenn sich die reichsten Länder der Erde treffen, um über eine einheitliche Witschafts- und Sicherheitspolitik zu beraten, ist das ein guter Anlass den Widerstand dagegen global zu organisieren. In der Öffentlichkeit war das Geschrei groß als die Demonstrationen die Spielwiese des “legitimen” Protestes verließen und sich mitunter zur Wehr setzten. Welch ein Mißverständnis, als allerorten das Auftreten von “Gewalt” beklagt wurde, geht es uns doch darum der Gewalt endlich eine Ende zu setzen. Doch jene Verhältnisse die Ausbeutung und Elend schaffen, die davon leben und die Gewalt aus allen Poren schwitzen, empfinden kaputte Schaufensterscheiben auf ihren Prachtstrassen als ein weit größeres Verbrechen. Ein Verbrechen, das jene die die Gewaltfreiheit für sich beanspruchen dazu legitimiert Jugendliche niederzuschießen. Nur durch Zufall starb in Göteborg niemand.

An examination of the events at the EU-summit in Gothenburg 2001 and their racialisation by Swedish news media

Seattle, Prag, Gothenburg, Nice and Genua. These cities may form a chain of meaning, not only commenting their geographically location, but representing a force of potentiality for making another kind of world possible. Alternative conferences at these locations are one kind of possibility. Humans discussing environmental issues, privatisation, commute possibilities and demonstrate their void against the various problems they recognise in our contemporary world. But mainstream media have not been that interested in representing the cities, the events and the symbolic imaginary around them in that way. Instead, they have been interested in focusing on the clashes between the police and demonstrators.

Download on http://nicomedia.math.upatras.gr/conf/CAWM2003/Papers/Hultman_racial.pdf

The following text is based on a discussion held at an info meeting about Gothenburg and Genoa prisoners in March 2003.

Background: The Swedish Model

Sweden has long been regarded as a model social democratic society; where an extensive welfare state has existed parallel with a highly developed capitalistic economy. This peculiar situation has been the result of a long tradition of cooperation and collaboration between the antagonistic parties, namely the Social Democratic Workers Party, its closely allied Lands Organisation union and the economic forces of capitalism with the industrial giants ABB, Ericsson, SAAB and Volvo at the forefront. The state and national ideology is based on the thought that through dialogue and understanding, all conflicts, no matter how large or small, can be amicably solved.

(Stand 16.6.2003)

Chronologie des Gipfeltreffens Göteborg 2001

14. Juni

Kurz vor 11 Uhr umstellt die Polizei das Hvitfeldska-Gymnasium, in der sich 500 Personen befinden und das von der Gemeinde den AktivistInnen und BesucherInnen des Gegengipfels als Unterkunft zur Verfügung gestellt wurde. Grund für die Belagerung soll das Gefahrenpotenzial sein, dass von den BewohnerInnen ausgeht. Mit Containern wird ein Belagerungsring um die Schule gebaut. Im Laufe des Nachmittags kommt es zu Auseinandersetzungen zwischen DemonstrantInnen und Polizei im benachbarten Vasapark. Nachdem die Polizei versucht die Schule zu stürmen kommt es zu Ausschreitungen.

Um 18 Uhr demonstrieren 12 000-15 000 Menschen friedlich anlässlich der Ankunft von George Bush. Anschließend strömen mehrere hundert Menschen zu der eingekesselten Hvitfeldska. Bis Mitternacht ist die Schule geräumt.

Support group

The support organisation is trying to attract attention to the case of Maarten and the many other who are unjustly imprisoned or have been imprisoned in connection with the European Summit in Gothenburg in 2001. We are co-signers of the ‘call for justice’ drafted by the Swedish journalist Erik Wijk and we are striving for a fair trial for Maarten and all other victims. Because Maarten has no chance of a fair trial in Sweden, we demand the transfer of his case to a Dutch prosecutor, in the hope that he would indeed get a fair trial here.

• www.steunmaarten.org

This C-paper is a study of state practices around the anti-EU demonstrations in Gothenburg 2001. Based on Louis Althusser’s recognition of repressive and ideological state apparatuses, I look at how a democratic state tries to control the political message of a demonstration, by relying on its force and ideology. My argument is that the state controls protests by locating them within a “space of sanctioned resistance.” Being defined by state practices and discourse, this space becomes a part of the state system and can because of that never oppose it. This strategy of inclusion is in other words a way for the state to locate resistance under its own umbrella, thereby silenting it to become nothing but a pseudo-affirmation of the freedom of expression within the democratic state system.

Download: http://hdl.handle.net/2043/1868

updated 25.2.04: The prosecutor (the parliamentary ombudsman) today decided to appeal the decision by the local court in the Jaldung-case.

The District Court of Gothenburg today (20.2.04) acquitted the former police commissioner Håkan Jaldung, chief of the police staff during the EU-Summit and visit of President Bush to Gothenburg, June 2001. Jaldung was accused unlawful deprivation of liberty, when he decided to shut the school by blocking it with containers, where more than 600 people were living. According to the court the prosecution failed to prove that the 454 activist's (later arrested, but none of them prosecuted) were denied the right to leave the area. Hence, there was no deprivation of liberty - everyone was free to leave the area.

Prelude: Våldsromantik

Riot – the unbeatable high! Adrenaline shoots your nerves to the sky. (The Dead Kennedys)

There’s a great word in Swedish, one of those compound nouns of which the English language sadly is not capable: Våldsromantiker.1 Someone who is captured by the romanticism of violent struggle, by the exhiliration, fear, adrenaline, and existential positioning of physical confrontation. Predictably, most våldsromantiker tend to be men. So now, here it is: I, too, occasionally suffer from våldsromantik. Ever since getting involved in ‘radical’ activism I have relished most these moments when the boundaries of legality are crossed, where there is rapid movement, and where there is at least a potential for physical escalation. What a confession. Unsurprising – våldsromantik seems to be common among alienated middle class young men like myself – and politically unpleasantly incorrect. Mind you, not that I was ever much of a street fighter. I generally just hover around the edges of confrontations, tickled by fear and adrenaline, a spectator in a spectacle of violence, ‘dissent’, and oppression. But I did not write this text to confess my personal/political weaknesses. Rather, I write it to offer a (qualified) defense of them, not by extolling the virtues of ‘rioting’, or ‘violent protest’ in general, but by attempting to point out what I take to be the positive impacts (from a left-libertarian perspective) that one particular riotous event had, namely the riots that occurred during the protests against the European Union (EU) summit in Gothenburg, Sweden, in the summer of 2001, one month before the fateful events of Genoa.

Download full text at www.ephemeraweb.org

Während Kapital und Dienstleistungen zu unser aller Wohl EU-weit frei zirkulieren dürfen, gilt das wohl nicht für KritikerInnen der "Globalisierung". Nachdem es während des EU-Gipfels in Göteborg zu Ausschreitungen infolge von Polizeiprovokationen gekommen war, griffen deutsche Sicherheitsbehörden im Vorfeld des G-8-Gipfel in Genua (20./22.7.01) zu Ausreiseverboten und Meldeauflagen, um GlobalisierungsgegnerInnen die Teilnahme an Protesten in Genua unmöglich zu machen. Elf Personen wurde unmittelbar an der Grenze die Ausreise verweigert.1

In der Region Berlin/Brandenburg wurden in mindestens 20 Fällen Ausreiseverbote und Meldeauflagen verhängt.2

On Thursday, 27th of March, a court in Berlin sentenced the activist Timm because of violent rioting and bodily harm during the EU-Summit in Gothenburg 2001. This trial was the first one against a activist charged because of GBG2001 and took place in Germany. The conditional(!) sentence is two years prison with a three year period of probation. The evidences against him were pictures taken during the riots on the Avenyn and at the Vasapark. There were no prosecution witnesses from Sweden. This is worth mentioning, because it would have lead to high expenses for the sentenced. Timm confessed the counts of the accusation and justified his actions with the aggressive behavior of the Swedish Police.

source: Jansen & Janssen (Netherlands)

The after-effects of the EU's Summit meeting in Gothenburg, Sweden in June 2001 is still ongoing on. In Sweden, many people are serveing severe sentences and for the non-Swedes, the trials are only just beginning. Norwegians, Germans, Danes, Finns and one Dutch person are still waiting for their trials. Several weeks ago, the long-awaited report appeared on the conduct of the police, which acknowledged that the police were decidedly in the wrong, and which only calls for a ban on masks in the future.

Am 14. Juni jährt sich zum zweiten Mal das EU-Gipfeltreffen und der zeitgleiche Besuch des US-Präsidenten Bush im schwedischen Göteborg. Blickt man auf den Gipfel im Juni 2001 zurück, so verblast die Momentaufnahme des vielseitigen globalisierungskritischen Protestes hinter dem brutalen Vorgehen der schwedischen Polizei und der nachfolgenden Repressionswelle gegen AktivistInnen in Schweden und dem benachbarten Ausland. Was seitens der sozialdemokratischen Gastgeberregierung als schwedisches Modell angedacht war, nämlich ein Deeskalationskonzept, das einen "störungsfreien" Ablauf des Gipfeltreffens garantieren und trotzdem Platz für Proteste lassen sollte, endete mit über 250 Verletzte und mehr als 600 Verhaftungen bzw. Ingewahrsamnahmen, mit Schüssen auf DemonstrantInnen und mit in einer in Schweden nie da gewesenen Repressionswelle. Auch umfasst das schwedische Modell die Kriminalisierung der so genannten globalisierungskritischen Bewegung bzw. die Spaltung dieser in "Gut" und "Böse" und lässt ahnen, wie gut die Zusammenarbeit der Ermittlungs- und Strafinstitutionen auf EU-Ebene funktioniert.

Redebeitrag Demo 20. Juli Berlin

Am 11. Juli stürmten 4 Polizisten frühmorgens eine Wohnung im Odenwald. Die darauf folgende Hausdurchsuchung führten sie äußerst akribisch durch, auch der Computer wurde durchsucht. Schließlich beschlagnahmten sie Fotos von Demonstrationen sowie sämtliche Adresslisten. Der Durchsuchungsbefehl führt zur Begründung aus: "Der Beschuldigte ist verdächtigt, sich anlässlich des EU -Gipfels am 14.-15.06.2001 in Göteborg an gewalttätigen Ausschreitungen, die zu erheblichen Personen- und Sachschäden geführt haben, beteiligt zu haben." Angeblich konnte der Beschuldigte "durch Auswertung von Bilddokumenten (...) als einer der an den Ausschreitungen Beteiligten identifiziert werden."

2. Jahrestag von Genua: Demo in Berlin

Mobilisierungsjingle für Radios, demos, Veranstaltungen…

Demonstration gegen die Kriminalisierung emanzipatorischer Bewegungen am 20. Juli 2003
Die Proteste in Göteborg gegen den EU-Gipfel und darauffolgend gegen den G8-Gipfel in Genua sind zu einem Symbol der globalisierungskritischen und antikapitalistischen Bewegungen geworden. Dies liegt nicht zuletzt an dem einschneidenden Ereignis der Ermordung Carlo Giulianis, deren Jahrestag Anlass für diese Demonstration ist. Menschen aus den unterschiedlichsten gesellschaftlichen und politischen Spektren von Gewerkschaften bis hin zu linksradikalen Gruppen gerieten in Bewegung. Doch am Ende des “Summer of Resistance 2001” sahen sich die AktivistInnen auch mit einer neuen Dimension der staatlichen Repression konfrontiert. Immer noch stehen Prozesse aus und einigen Personen drohen langjährige Haftstrafen.

MOPO 28.3.2003

Student muss sich für Gewalt gegen Polizei in Göteborg verantworten

"Es gab keine Handlungsmöglichkeit gegenüber der Polizei", sagt der 24-jährige Tim E. vor einer Strafkammer in Moabit. In diesem "Gefühl der Ohnmacht" schien "mir die einzige Möglichkeit, mich zu wehren, in Sachbeschädigung zu bestehen". Der wegen Landfriedensbruchs und versuchter gefährlicher Körperverletzung angeklagte Student trägt das ganz ernst vor. Er fühlt sich noch immer absolut unschuldig. Ein Opfer der Polizeiwillkür, zu Straftaten quasi gedrängt.