A release from Finnish Ya Basta

To Civil Society

On Thursday the police intruded our community's area in Gothenburg. The riot squad besieged our area with riot shields, dogs, horses, helicopters and containers. The police threatened to attack the rooms where we lived.

Our aim was to defend our area with methods that are as nonviolent as possible. After a long discussion with other people living in the Hvitfeldska area, we strived to break out from the besieged area. We used only defensive equipment like personal armour, helmets and shields.

We did 8 attempts to break through the police lines. No violence was committed from our side. But the police attacked us with open violence. They rode horses at full speed into our crowd and beat people up with batons. They even used dogs, and one person was bitten on his face.

We cannot judge people who threw stones at the police, because they were defending their own lives.

We have seen the same happen in Chiapas, Malaysia, Columbia and numerous other countries, where army and the police are at war with people. Now we see this also in Europe. We cannot consider this as anything else than a declaration of war from European Union against its own citizens.

We accuse the police of rioting, brutal violence, repression of citizens basic rights like the freedom to express their opinions. The police who are responsible of all these crimes must made accountable of their action.

Gothenburg 14/06/2001
Ya Basta - for humanity against neoliberalism