LUFTHANSA ONLINE DEMONSTRATION Jun 20 2001


The German airline Lufthansa was the target of one of the first openly publicised "online demonstrations" on Wednesday, June 20th. Coinciding with the annual general meeting of Lufthansa, thousands of protesters logged on to the website of the corporation using specific software, and so temporarily blocked access to the site. Although the company had enough time to prepare counter-measures - the action is part of a wider campaign and was publicised months in advance - its website was repeatedly unaccessible and online booking impossible.

The action highlighted Lufthansa's role in the deportation of refugees. Every year, thousands of refugees are deported from Germany on Lufthansa planes, and the airline benefits heavily from this practise by selling so-called "Deportee-Tickets" to the state. In many cases, refugees have been violently tied to seats by German border police, so far two refugees were killed on Lufthansa planes.

[ Indymedia Germany | Deportation Alliance ]