Canberra
7 Melbourne Avenue
FORREST ACT 2903
Phone: 02-6273 3977
Fax: 02-6273 3428

please call if you can!


PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. LETTER ENCLOSED BELOW TO
FORWARD TO SWISS EMBASSIES.

As a result of actions by the Swiss traffic police as a part of the
repression of protestors against the Evian G8 Summit on Sunday 1st
June, a UK national, Martin Shaw has been severly injured and
hospitalised. The protestor, part of a 15 person international
collective blockading a bridge in Switzerland to prevent G8 delegates
passing from Geneva to Lausanne, was participating in a banner drop
with the slogan "G8 Illegal". Martin and another protestor who doesn´t
wish to be named were hanging from both ends of the same rope from a
30m high bridge over a small stony riverbed alongside the banner.

Two traffic police arriving at the scene panicked about the build up
of the traffic and cut the supporting rope of the two protestors
despite repeated warnings about the danger of this from everyone
present. The police later admitted to their actions in a press
statement. Following this, there will be a judicial enquiry. Martin
who is a very experienced and careful climber, then fell 20m into a
stony river bed and was left there with spinal injuries, pelvic
damage, an injured spleen and two broken ankles for an hour before the
emergency services arrived with a ambulance helicopter to take him to
the hopsital.

Other people present managed to rescue the second climber by holding
on to the other end of the rope for 15 minutes so that she also didn´t
fall, although she was later delivered to the hospital suffering from
shock. Whilst Martin lay collapsed on the ground and demonstrators
rescued the second climber, police continued to direct traffic over
the bridge as if nothing had happened.

Martin currently remains in hospital in Geneva where he has undergone
an emergency 3 hour operation on his vertebral injuries and ankles.
The doctors have stated that his back will slowly recover, but it
looks like unlikely that he will be able to walk properly again as a
result of his leg injuries.

Please send your thoughts on this despicable action by the police to
your nearest Swiss embassy and help support Martin. Below are the
contact details of Swiss embassies in the UK, France, Spain, Germany
and the USA. Please send them the below text and any personal response
you might have to the available fax, postal or email addresses which
are also enclosed below:

TO SEND TO EMBASSIES:

To whom it may concern,

On Sunday 1st June, a UK national, Martin Shaw was severly injured and
hospitalised as a result of actions by the Swiss traffic police. The
protestor, part of a 15 person international collective blockading a
bridge in Switzerland to prevent G8 delegates passing from Geneva to
Lausanne, was participating in a banner drop with the slogan "G8
Illegal". Martin and another protestor were hanging from both ends of
the same rope from a 30m high bridge over a small stony riverbed
alongside the banner.

The two traffic police arriving at the scene panicked about the build
up of traffic and cut the rope that the two protestors were hanging
from despite repeated warnings about the danger of this from everyone
present. Martin who is a very experienced and careful climber, then
fell 20m into a stony river bed and was left there with spinal
injuries, pelvic damage, an injured spleen and two broken ankles for
an hour before the emergency services arrived with a ambulance
helicopter to take him to the hospital. Eye-witnesses report that the
police were much more concerned with immediately restoring the flow of
traffic than they were with getting medical attention to Martin.

The other people present managed to rescue the second climber by
holding on to the other end of the rope for 15 minutes so that she
also didn´t fall, although she was later delivered to the hopsital
suffering from shock. Whilst Martin lay collapsed on the ground and
demonstrators rescued the second climber, police continued to direct
traffic over the bridge as if nothing had happened. It is extremely
lucky that these two people are not dead as a result of the actions of
the Swiss police.

Martin currently remains in hospital in Geneva where he has undergone
a series of emergency operations on his vertebral injuries, spleen and
ankles. The doctors have stated that his back will slowly recover, but
at this stage the doctors are unable to say whether or not he will
ever regain full mobility in his ankles.

I am writing to express my anger and wish to register my protest of
this terrible incident and of Martin Shaw´s near fatal treatment as a
result of the actions of the Swiss police. I condem the gratuitously
violent represssion of people exercising their democratic right to
protest at global summits like the G8. I demand a full and transparent
enquiry into the behaviour of the police involved, an unreserved
apology on behalf of the police authorities, compensation for the
injured climber and a promise that this brutal behaviour will not be
condoned or tolerated by the Swiss authorities at any time now or in
the future.

Signed



---------------------



LIST OF EMBASSIES

------------------------------

UK

-------

Embassy of Switzerland

16 -18 Montagu Place,

London

W1H 2BQ

Tel: 00 44 (0)20 7616 6000

Fax: 00 44 (0)20 7724 7001

E-mail:  swissembassy@lon.rep.admin.ch

France

----------

Embassy of Switzerland

142, rue de Grenelle

Paris - 75007

Tel: 00 33 1 49 55 67 00

Fax: 00 33 1 45 51 34 77

E-mail:  vertretung@par.rep.admin.ch



Spain

---------

Embassy of Switzerland

Calle Nuñez de Balboa

35-7 Edificio Goya

Madrid

Tel: 00 34 91 436 39 60

Fax: 00 34 91 436 39 88

E-mail:  vertretung@mad.rep.admin.ch

Germany

------------

Embassy of Switzerland

Otto-von-Bismarck-Allee 4ª

Berlin 10557

Tel: 00 49 (0)30 390 40 00

Fax: 00 49 (0)30 391 1030

E-mail:  vertretubg@botschaft-schweiz.de

USA

-------

Embassy of Switzerland

2900 Cathedral Ave, NW

Washington DC 20008

Tel: 001 202 745 7980

Fax: 00 1 292 387 2564

E-mail:  vertretung@was.rep.admin.ch

Italy

------

Embassy of Switzerland

Via Barnaba Oriani 61

Rome 00197

Tel: 00 39 06 8083641

E-mail:  Amsuisse@rom.rep.admin.ch

The Netherlands

-----------------------

Embassy of Switzerland

Lange Voorhout 42

Den Haag 2514 EE

Tel: (+31) (0) 70 - 3642831

Fax: (+31) (0) 70 - 356 12 38

E-mail:  Vertretung@hay.rep.admin.ch

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