2007-04-04

April 4th 2007, Heiligendamm – Seattle

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WTO protesters to receive $1 million

City's settlement is largest and last to arise from suits

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

By COLIN MCDONALD
P-I REPORTER

Seven years after being illegally arrested in Westlake Park, about 175 World Trade Organization protesters settled their claims with the city of Seattle for $1 million -- and promises to clear their records and improve police training.

The settlement announced Monday is the largest -- and last -- to arise from dozens of lawsuits filed after the 1999 downtown protests.

"The lesson here is that the police can respect the constitutional rights of protesters and at the same time protect the public safety," said Mike Withey, lead attorney for the plaintiffs.

After legal fees are subtracted and members of the class action are properly identified, each will be eligible for between $3,000 and $10,000.

So far, only half the plaintiffs have been contacted about the lawsuit, according to Public Justice, one of the law firms that argued the case for the protesters.

For lead plaintiff Kenneth Hankin, no amount of money will ever replace what he lost after being arrested and jailed.

"For three days, I lost my right to protest the WTO," said Hankin, a Boeing Co. engineer. "That still upsets me a great deal."

In January, a federal jury found that Seattle police had violated the protesters' constitutional rights because they were arrested en masse, without any attempt to determine whether people had a right to be in that area at that time.

The settlement, which requires approval from U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman, avoids a damages phase to determine how much the city owed.

The city's insurance company, National Union, decided it would rather pay than continue to fund the city's legal fight. The city already has paid a total of $800,000 to resolve WTO-related lawsuits.

City Attorney Tom Carr maintained Monday that Seattle would have won on appeal by proving the police did not need individualized probable cause in such a mass disturbance. But he's happy to be moving on.

"The city is pleased that the last of the WTO cases is resolved, and we believe the settlement is extremely reasonable," he said.

Both sides emphasized that the settlement does not require any taxpayer dollars to be tapped.

The deal requires Seattle to add copies of Pechman's rulings about the city's unlawful arrests to police officer training materials to help avoid repeating the mistake.

"The proper lesson is to avoid repetition of the fiasco in Seattle by allowing peaceful protesters to gather -- as guaranteed by the Constitution," said Fred Diamondstone, another attorney for the plaintiffs.

As part of the settlement, the city has agreed to clear the records of the plaintiffs and ask the Washington State Patrol, FBI and King County Sheriff's Office to do the same.

Withey said he also will contact the New York Police Department, which he believes created a list of those arrested in Seattle after the WTO conference in preparation for the Republican National Convention in 2004.

NYPD spokesman Michael Collins said he could not comment on whether such a list exists.

According to court documents, the protesters were sitting in the park singing patriotic songs the morning of Dec. 1, 1999, when police began making mass arrests.

Earlier that morning, a group of protesters ignored an emergency order by then-Mayor Paul Schell of a "protest-free zone" by marching into a "limited access" zone.

The group, along with other protesters and pedestrians, was then corralled into Westlake, where they were arrested.

"They just surrounded us," Hankin said.

That week, 50,000 demonstrators flooded downtown Seattle, overwhelming local law enforcement and closing down sections of the city and the WTO conference.

P-I reporter Colin McDonald can be reached at 206-448-8312 or colinmcdonald@seattlepi.com.

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Bicycle caravans to the G8 - summit

G8-Summit protest will begin with the start of the first bicycle caravan from Budapest in 5th of April

From 6th to 8th June 2007 the G8 will meet in Heiligendamm near Rostock (Germoney). A lot of creative actions have been (and will be) prepared, such as bicycle caravans to mobilise protests in the run-up of the meeting.

So far, 4 routes have evolved from the idea to travel to the G8 by bike from all over Europe:

* The "shake-G8-bikeride" will go from Budapest (5. April) via Györ, Bratislava, Brno, Wroclav, Poznan, Schwedt to Wittstock.
* The "Gr8chaoskaravaan" will go from Brugge via Brussels, Utrecht, Nijmegen, Münster, Osnabrück, Oldenburg, Hamburg, Gorleben to Wittstock.
The Scandinavian caravan will go from Rovaniemi - Stockholm (23-04) via Linköping, Jönköping, Malmö, Copenhagen, Odense, Flensburg, Hamburg to Wittstock.* The bycicle caravan from Berlin, will start at 21.5
* The four caravans will meet on the planned military bombing territory "Bombodrom" near Wittstock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern at the end of May and participate in the actions there. Further they`ll join the protests around Heiligendamm.
What the people of caravan want

On their way they want to spread information about and fight against the politics of the G8 and the effects of global capitalism. For that we are planning information events and creative direct actions with local groups. By doing so they' ll try to link the global politics of the G8 with local struggles and build networks.

The caravan as a space for experiments

The cyclists don't want to take part in the whole neoliberal circus and the division of people for example along racist criterias and economic exploitability. They consider the caravan as a place for experiments in which they can realize their ideas and ideals (even if only temporarily). They want to create a non-hierarchical structure during their ride in which we can learn and act in a self-organised manner. They want to make it possible for all people to participate regardless of money, bicycle, physical condition or papers. They want to use our time together for exchange and to build networks with various local groups from different backgrounds.

"Come in multitudes and bring bicycles, let's take ride with many people collectively! You should bring along between one day and two months time - and an interest in self-organisation and creative actions. join the ride, be it from Budapest, Brugge or anywhere else.", says Franz Farin from the caravan Info Office in Rostock, Germany

Don't fight (only) the players - Fight the game !!!

For more infos visit: http://www.g8-bikerides.net

Contacts:

East caravan: fahrradkarawane07@lists.riseup.net
If you want to get in contact to people of the east-caravan and arrange meeting
at their starting point, please contact the phone 0036706356398
West caravan: gr8chaoskaravaan07@lists.so36.net
Scandinavian caravan: scandinaviacaravang8@lists.riseup.net
caravaninfo-office: Mr. Franz Farin, available under 0049 - 179-6268785, Rassmussenstr. 8, 18106 Rostock, Germany