UK activist seriously hurt by police in Evian G8 demo (update)
sambaqueen | 03.06.2003 17:15
DEMONSTRATOR SERIOUSLY INJURED BY POLICE IN EVIAN G8 DEMONSTRATION (Update)
PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. LETTER ENCLOSED BELOW TO FORWARD TO SWISS EMBASSIES.
Thanks for all love and best wishes
PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. LETTER ENCLOSED BELOW TO FORWARD TO SWISS EMBASSIES.
Thanks for all love and best wishes
DEMONSTRATOR SERIOUSLY INJURED BY POLICE IN EVIAN G8 DEMONSTRATION
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-road blockade 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 and a broken ankle for a considerable amount of time 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 in the shallow river bed receiving first aid from an activist and demonstrators rescued the second climber, police momentarily continued to direct traffic over the bridge as if nothing had happened. The police did eventually help to lift Martin out of the river, whilst other police and possibly military personnel stopped the traffic on the bridge. The police later said that this main autoroute between Geneva and Lausanne was closed for the rest of the day which is a small victory as it meant delegates were unnable to pass via the road to meetings.
Martin currently remains in hospital in Geneva where he has undergone a number of emergency operations on his vertebral injuries and ankle. The doctors have stated that his back will slowly recover, but are unsure about the state of his left ankle.
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,USA, Italy and Holland. 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-road blockade 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 and a severely broken ankle for a considerable amount of time 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, although two police officers (amongst the many police and possible military present) did eventually help lift Martin out of the river bed.
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 in the shallow river bed receiving medical attention from an activist and demonstrators rescued the second climber, police momentarily continued to direct traffic over the bridge as if nothing had happened, although the traffic on this main autoroute from Geneva to Lausanne was eventually stopped for the rest of the day. 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, pelvis and ankle. The doctors have stated that his back will slowly recover, but at this stage the doctors are unsure about the state of his left ankle.
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
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-road blockade 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 and a broken ankle for a considerable amount of time 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 in the shallow river bed receiving first aid from an activist and demonstrators rescued the second climber, police momentarily continued to direct traffic over the bridge as if nothing had happened. The police did eventually help to lift Martin out of the river, whilst other police and possibly military personnel stopped the traffic on the bridge. The police later said that this main autoroute between Geneva and Lausanne was closed for the rest of the day which is a small victory as it meant delegates were unnable to pass via the road to meetings.
Martin currently remains in hospital in Geneva where he has undergone a number of emergency operations on his vertebral injuries and ankle. The doctors have stated that his back will slowly recover, but are unsure about the state of his left ankle.
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,USA, Italy and Holland. 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-road blockade 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 and a severely broken ankle for a considerable amount of time 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, although two police officers (amongst the many police and possible military present) did eventually help lift Martin out of the river bed.
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 in the shallow river bed receiving medical attention from an activist and demonstrators rescued the second climber, police momentarily continued to direct traffic over the bridge as if nothing had happened, although the traffic on this main autoroute from Geneva to Lausanne was eventually stopped for the rest of the day. 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, pelvis and ankle. The doctors have stated that his back will slowly recover, but at this stage the doctors are unsure about the state of his left ankle.
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
sambaqueen