Saturday 24.08.2002: Article in Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace (Strasbourg local paper)

Strasbourg, Saturday, 24.08.02.
The assistant prosecutor announced, last night, when the occupants left
the Ministry of Justice, Gustave Adolphe Hirn Road, in Strasbourg, that he
planned to charge the 17 youths from the "Collective to Support Ahmed"
with "Kidnapping". The jokes, the teasing, and the slogans only provoked
severe grimaces...

This is the story of a well-organized collective, which came to the doors
of the local office of the Ministry of Justice around 4 pm, yesterday.

The 17 people entered in the offices, told the staff that they were
planning to occupy it, and left the 3 employees, 2 men and 1 woman, free
to leave the premises. Afterward, a completely surreal scene unfolded.
In the street, a multitude of police. The GIPN came around 5 pm. The
assistant prosecutor Philippe Vannier came, too. Then came the
firefighters and the emergency medical team... a deployment promising that
the authorities did not plan to take this affair lightly.

At the window, smiling hostages.

In the other camp, they are laughing and having fun. From the window, a
young woman, a member of the collective, describes to the press and to the
passers-by the reasons for this action: "Since July 26, Ahmed is in total
solitary confinement, even though it's his first offense. He sees nobody
but his lawyer and the prison staff. We received a letter, sent to his
legal file, that said he was placed in solitary because he was part of a
group that fights to close down prisons - which is not true - and because
of his general opinions, which might trouble the order of daily life in
the prison." On the ground, the journalists take notes. The crowd
comments. The police observe, poker-faced, leaning against their cars. A
bit later, the three employees present themselves at the same window.
They are smiling: "We're staying to watch over our equipment." "You see,
they have chosen to stay where they are," comments a "hostage-taker."
"Make sure they pay you overtime!" shouts a passerby. "Oh, no," protests
an employee. Everyone pulls back. There's work to do.

Faxes are sent.

The Collective inundates the editors of newspapers with faxes. They
telephone journalists. They get into contact with comrades outside, who
are in charge of press contacts. The office photocopier is also put to
use. They make leaflets on the computer, copy them, and throw them out of
the window by the dozen: "Close all detention centers!" "No deportations!"
An activist reads a support communique from the group Act Together Against
Unemployment (AC) of the Rhone. A young man sticks his head out the
window and calls: "Is Amelie here? Amelie from France Press?" Response:
"Here I am!" "You've turned off your telephone! We're trying to call
you." An employee of the Ministry of Justice pops up: "Paris asks the
secretary to come out." Question from the ground: "And you?" "I'm
staying. I'm watching over the equipment." The office equipment is
working overtime. He adds: "Paris told me to stay."

"We need two journalists"

This complicates things. A young woman: "We want to free the secretary,
but the police are in the call and they're blocking the emergency exits.
We need two journalists." The "hostage-takers" are attacking the problem
on two sides: from the hall, they send the assistant prosecutor Philippe
Vannier demands that their imprisoned comrade be allowed visits. From the
window, they comment directly on what's going on. The radio holds its
microphone, the television points its camera, the other journalists take
notes. The telephones are ringing. At 6:30 pm, the phone of a DNA
reporter rings: "They're attacking the door. There are sparks and
sawdust. They're coming." The conversation continues, almost banal:
"Here they are, they're coming in, they're looking around." The line goes
dead. In the street, supporters guess that the occupation is over.
Anti-police slogans are shouted.

Caught

A moment later, the 17 "hostage takers" are evacuated in little groups,
put into police vans and brought to the police station in handcuffs. It
all happened without violence. And it's in the street that things almost
got out of hand. A group of protesters continued to shout slogans; and an
altercation broke out between a sympathiser and the officers. POlice
officers, visibly tired from 3 hours of waiting and discussions, have lost
their temper. Insulted, some move against the protesters, provoking
conflict. Events unfold in the confusion, officers intervene to calm
things down: three people, including one woman, are knocked to the ground,
arrested, and brought to the police station. No more joking. The
atmosphere has changed. A bit later, calm restored, the assistant
prosecutor explains that there has been a "hostage-taking" and that the 17
members under arrest would answer charges of "kidnapping". Game over.
Nobody's laughing now.

Christian Bach

© Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, Samstag, 24. August 2002


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ac-forum
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source : DNA
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Strasburg
"No Border" activists still in police custody

Sunday, 25.08. Police custody against 17 activists of the Collective for the Liberation of Ahmed has been extended on Saturday evening. They will see a judge today.
The 17 activists of the Collective for the Liberation of Ahmed who were taken in Friday evening after occupying the rooms of an extension of the Ministry of Justice in Strasburg (see yesterday's DNA), still were in police custody yesterday evening -- by the way, the custody has been extended until tonight. Friday afternoon, 17 persons related to the collective "No Border" had occupied a local extension of the Ministry of Justice in the rue Gustave-Adolphe-Hirn for three hours with three employees still in the house. They protested the conditions of imprisonment of Ahmed, an activist who had been sentenced to three months of imprisonment unconditionally for attack on police officers in Strasburg on Wednesday. The occupyers had been pushed out eventually by the GIPN [intervention squad of the national police]. Yesterday they were questioned by the police and then by Strasburg's vice-prosecutor Philippe Vannier. As they are being accused of wrongful detention with liberation before the 7th day, they face prison sentences up to five years.

Quick trial in sight

The court have to decide today if they begin legal investigations or if the activists can be judged in a quick trial. The latter seems more probable. In this case, the 17 activists can be judged from tomorrow on. As to the three demonstrators who were taken in from the street, near the collective's action, they are being accused of insultations. All three were set free again yesterday evening and will be called in later by the justice.

© Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, Sunday 25 August 2002.