GOTHENBURG ANTI-EU PROTESTS Jun 14-16 2001


At the three-day anti-EU protests in Gothenburg, Sweden, police have fired with live ammunition at protesters and have seriously injured three people. The incident happened at a streetparty on Friday night, when a small group of police attacked the party but were pushed back by the people. Despite mainstream media claims of police self-defence, the video evidence shows that at least some of the shots were targeted shots aimed at particular protesters from a distance, in a situation where there was no immediate threat to police officers.

More than 20,000 people had converged on Gothenburg to protest against the EU summit and to discuss related issues, such as militarisation and increasing repression against refugees. While on the first day actions focused on the presence of US president George W. Bush, the second day saw widespread attempts to reach the conference centre and to disrupt the meeting. On Saturday, 25,000 people joined a mass demonstration "For Another Europe".

Swedish police escalated the situation from the first day, when they attacked the protesters' legal meeting and sleeping place. Throughout the weekend there were heavy clashes between protesters and police, but also peaceful marches and cheerful streetparties.

[ Indymedia Sweden | Summer of Resistance | Photo of shot protester ]


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