PublixTheatreCaravan still in Prison
noborder network | 14.08.2001 17:06
Italy-G8
Italian court considers releasing G8 riot suspects on
bail
GENOA, Italy, Aug 14 (AFP) - An Italian court was on
Tuesday deciding whether to release on bail 25 members
of an Austrian theatre troupe charged with rioting
during the Group of Eight summit in Genoa last month.
The court still had to hear one person before
issuing its verdict on the 25, who say they belong to
a militant theatre group called VolxTheaterKaravan
which campaigns against globalisation and racism.
The group comprises 18 Austrians, three Americans,
two Slovakians, an Australian and a Swede
Separately, the court was also on Tuesday hearing a
case against six Germans accused of taking part in the
violent demonstrations during the July 20-22 summit of
world leaders, in which a 23-year-old rioter was shot
dead by police and hundreds were injured.
Italy's Nobel laureat for literature Dario Fo
recently called the arrest of the theatre troupe a
"monumental gaffe". Fo said the authorities had
confused the theatre group's performance accessories
with weapons.
The troupe is also accused of holding a meeting in
Slovenia on June 16 to plan its campaign of violence
for the G8 summit, which brought together the leaders
of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,
Russia and the United States.
The authorities have based their accusations on
tapped mobile phone conversations, telephone numbers
found in the group's diaries, and documents
confiscated when the performers were arrested on July
22.
The members of the troupe have denied all
accusations.
Among the arrested was US national Susan Thomas.
Thomas' mother told Italy's RAI public television her
daughter had only been travelling with the theatre
group "because she was sick" and had wanted to leave
Genoa.
Thomas asked the theatre group to give her a lift
because she thought the Genoa train station was
closed, her mother said. All 25 were then arrested as
they left Genoa.
Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi last
Thursday told his Austrian counterpart Thomas Klestil
the protestors were being treated properly and would
be judged "according to the rules of a nation with
modern laws".
An investigation by the Italian interior ministry
has accused police of using disproportionate force
against the estimated 150,000 protestors who converged
on Genoa during the G8 meeting.
noborder network