2009-12-16
As Reclaim Power begins in Copenhagen, the UNFCCC and Danish police – acting in close coordination – are clamping down heavily on activists both inside and outside the Bella Center.
On the outside, police have established an extremely strong security perimeter around the building, and have shut down the Bella Center metro station. 50 people from the march’s Green Bloc have been arrested before the march even began. There’s a heavy riot police presence at nearby metro stations and major intersections, and police vans have been seen racing all over the city.
Yesterday, police raided the Candy Factory – a key activist space – and arrested 20 people near the Klimaforum, the alternative COP-15 climate meeting. (Many more details on protests outside will come later – I’m inside, so my ability to report is limited.)
On the inside, NGO delegates were shocked this morning to learn that the accreditation of AVAAZ, Friends of the Earth, TckTckTck, and Via Campesina has been withdrawn (ostensibly because of several minor actions that were done yesterday – although much bigger actions have been going on all week, without similar repercussions). Right now, about 50 members of Friends of the Earth are holding a sit-in in front of the COP-15 registration desk – more details will follow as they come in.
This follows yesterday’s arrest of high-profile activist Tadzio Mueller, who was detained by police without charges immediately after leaving the Bella Center. The details of Tadzio’s arrest were known by UNFCCC officials within minutes – demonstrating the close coordination between UNFCCC and the Danish police. We’ve also heard reports that four Greenpeace activists were picked off the streets and arrested – including one media manager, who clearly was playing no role in organizing – and that two of them were deported.
The atmosphere inside the Bella Center is extremely tense, as security officials prepare for both the outside march’s nonviolent push to enter the compound, as well as for protests and walkouts by activists inside the Bella Center.