ANARCHY at the G8
20 February 2005
 http://www.sundayherald.com/47848

More than 100,000 people, including the most determined activists and protesters on the planet, will descend on Edinburgh and the Gleneagles Hotel as the leaders of the richest countries gather to decide the fate of nations. At the G8 summit in Genoa four years ago widespread rioting led to violent clashes with armed police. This summer Scotland isn’t taking any chances …

TUCKED away in a secluded corner of Edinburgh’s old town, just off the cobbled streets of the famous Grassmarket, a small but burgeoning band of activists are gathering tonight to talk strategy about the G8.

The venue – the Quaker Meeting House – is unimposing, the kind of building that you’d miss if you blinked. But from 5pm, behind its doors, a plan will be hatched to take forward the largest and most controversial series of demonstrations that Scotland has ever seen.

This weekend, activists are also gathering in Glasgow. A website linked to anarchist groups reveals plans for the city to become a base for training protesters in techniques of direct action.

The site, run by the Seeds for Change network, warns that workshops – held at an undisclosed location in Glasgow until today – “aren’t designed for the mildly curious – you’ll be coming because you want to stimulate real action at the G8”.

It says that sessions are designed to show activists how to “use their body and some simple equipment to prolong protest”, “make quick group decisions on actions”, “build affinity groups and other support systems” and teach them about their legal rights.

The site reads: “By the end of a Direct Action Trainers’ Workshop you’ll be equipped to run direct action training sessions – stimulating action in your community and helping other activists prepare for effective action at the summit. Priority will be given to people that can make the whole weekend and have a firm intention of using the skills they learn.”

A n investigation by the Sunday Herald this week reveals in the starkest terms just how seriously Scotland’s entire criminal justice system is taking their threat.

Drawing from interviews with police leaders, legal figures and the security services, a picture of the sheer scale of the G8 security operation is beginning to emerge for the first time.

As the world’s eight most influential leaders gather at Gleneagles for the G8 summit on July 6, an unprecedented Scotland-wide security operation will be under way to deal with a calendar of protest that includes a massive Make Poverty History rally in Edinburgh on July 2, demonstrations at Dungavel detention centre and anti-nuclear protests at the Faslane naval base on the River Clyde.

Last week Tayside Police Chief Constable John Vine announced that thousands of officers on duty during the July summit could be used to form a human barrier around the five-star resort amid concerns that protesters would attempt to breach the site to disrupt the G8 meeting, attendees of which will include Tony Blair, Vladimir Putin and George Bush.

But there is also growing concern that two weeks of protests planned across the country in early July – including an expected 200,000-strong anti-capitalist march in the capital – will trigger chaos and rioting across Scotland. In the strongest indication yet that the country’s political leaders are expecting mayhem, the Sunday Herald has learned that every criminal court in Edinburgh Sheriff Court, bar one, will be freed to deal with custodies relating to the G8 protests.

With the chaos of past G8 summits fresh in the memory, the litany of measures to be introduced will include the scrapping of all trials at the sheriff court from July 1 to July 14 and up to seven Edinburgh sheriffs, capable of dealing with hundreds of court cases, being placed on standby.

Such is the fear that Edinburgh will be swamped by activists intent on wreaking havoc that the Sheriff Principal, the city’s senior judge, has passed a directive authorising the court to sit on Saturdays, on July 2 and 9.

Legal sources have also told the Sunday Herald that, if required, Edinburgh’s courts will sit from 9am until 9pm. A startling array of other measures being put in place includes procurator fiscals on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week; teams of interpreters being drafted in to Edinburgh’s courts to deal with foreign arrests; court holidays cancelled; and a raft of duty defence solicitors being assigned to the court to represent those charged with public order offences.

A typical day at Edinburgh Sheriff Court could see up to 40 custodies, dealt with by a single sheriff in one court. Under the plans for July, up to eight courts will be freed to hear G8 custodies only. Trials have been shelved to free up police officers who might otherwise spend the day in the witness room waiting to give evidence.

All police leave has been cancelled for the first two weeks in July and force leaders have been told to inform their staff they will be expected to work “excessive hours”.

The most controversial measure under discussion at top-level meetings is a plan for a special “holding facility” – dubbed by some a “mini-Guantanamo” – to be set up in the capital to deal with hundreds of G8 protesters arrested and awaiting trial. A police source close to the discussions revealed there is concern that St Leonard’s Police Station, the capital’s main holding station with 40 cells, will be unable to cope with the expected number of arrests.

According to the well-placed source, the former RAF Turnhouse base, an unused site at Edinburgh Airport, is one of a number of options being considered.

The base has previously been considered by the Home Office and the city council as a site for housing asylum seekers. According to papers on the Scottish Executive website, Turnhouse could have been used as an “accommodation centre” for 750 asylum seekers. Although the site has been discussed, it is believed that police chiefs and the Scottish Executive are examining other possibilities, including a new pre-fabricated structure in the city or having an existing building “moved in from elsewhere”.

As with previous summits, thousands of protesters are expected to descend on Scotland from around the world, mostly from the continent. “While there will be people who are coming over with the genuine intention of demonstrating peacefully, there will also be people who attach themselves to these groups and who have one thing in mind – to disrupt proceedings by protesting violently,” another police source said.

“My fear is that we’re going to have something on a scale that we’ve never had in Scotland before. We’ve all seen what has happened during previous G8 summits and we have to assume that’s the kind of situation we’ll be having to deal with. You have to plan for the worst case scenario.”

Anarchist websites detail a host of gatherings taking place across Europe as the countdown to the G8 conference continues.

The most high-profile, to be held later this month, will be in Tubingen, in the southern German state of Baden-Wurttemberg, where anti-globalisation and anti-capitalist campaigners will draw up plans to disrupt the Gleneagles summit.

Senior officers have repeatedly warned of the threat of extremist violence and have shown MSPs footage of the riots that accompanied recent G8 summits in Genoa in Italy and Evian, France.

The Genoa riots ended with one protester dead, more than 200 people injured and 250 arrested. In a bid to limit violence, the US last year held the summit on an island off the coast of the American state of Georgia.

But with this year’s summit planned for the Gleneagles resort in the heart of the Scotland, it is widely believed that parts of Tayside, Edinburgh and Glasgow will become virtual no-go areas. Despite Vine’s promise to construct a physical barrier around the Gleneagles resort, anti-G8 campaigners say they will converge on the hills above the hotel to protest against the meeting. They plan to run organised walks every weekend from the middle of next month to “get familiar with the landscape and to meet other walkers”.

Under the heading “A celebration of the right to roam”, the latest newsletter of activists’ network Dissent, reads: “We hope to test out and learn various communications methods on the hills, from using simple whistles, to morse code with flashlights.”

This weekend, Vine told the Sunday Herald that the police were considering a range of measures to crack down on protesters who were intent on causing trouble. There has already been widespread anger at the news that Tayside Police intends to issue residents near the Gleneagles Hotel with ID passes and restrict movement throughout the week.

He confirmed his force were looking at controversial measures enabled by the Terrorism Act 2000. One measure being examined was the use of powers under Section 44 of the act, which gives the police the right to stop and search anyone without reason.

The measures, which have been derided as “draconian” by campaigners, would only come into force if the Home Office granted an application made by a senior police officer. Under the act, specific geographical areas can become “stop-and-search zones” giving officers the right to challenge anyone even if they have no reason to believe a crime has been committed.

Confirming the Section 44 powers are being considered, Vine said: “We are examining how they work and how they might apply to the G8 summit in Scotland. If the circumstances merit an application to the Home Secretary then this will be considered.”

He stressed that Section 44 was there to allow the police to take a “proportionate approach when judged necessary to assist in the prevention of acts of terrorism”.

Human rights campaigners have reacted with concern at the news that such powers were being considered. “The use of these measures should be used only when absolutely necessary but it appears that this is being considered to make sure that the politicians aren’t offended or troubled by the protests,” John Scott, chairman of the Scottish Human Rights Centre, said.

“It’s as if the right to protest peacefully and the right to freedom of expression doesn’t mean anything any more in this country, when if fact it’s a basic right. This is the sledgehammer to crack the nut.”

As part of what will be the largest security operation in modern British history, 10,000 officers will be required country-wide to police the entire event.

An army of specialist officers from across the country is preparing to secure the event. Halls of residences at the universities of Stirling and Edinburgh have been set aside as accommodation for the police presence in the Lothians and Perthshire.

Special Branch is also covertly monitoring activists throughout the UK and liaising with national and international security agencies. Ports, airports and road links into Gleneagles have been put on high alert to prevent anarchist protesters from reaching the summit.

It is expected that once the demonstrators start arriving, the Edinburgh authorities will cordon off the Scottish Parliament, the Palace of Holyrood House and other historical sites around the city. Separate arrangements are also being set in train in Glasgow, where a large number of the Scotland-based activists are known to be based.

While activists plan their tactics for the event, the police are being given public order training at a number of sites across Scotland. At the disused Law Hospital in Lanarkshire, hundreds of specialist officers have been honing civil order control techniques. Officers are forming mock “protest” gangs to train colleagues how to apprehend violent protesters and contain unruly groups.

Ian Woodhead, secretary of the Lothian and Borders Police Federation, said: “You’ve seen yourself the experiences from some of the previous summits. Our officers are going to be extremely vulnerable to violence. That is a difficulty we’ll have to gear up to.

“The officers on the street will have batons, CS spray and their stab-resistant vests. But we’re acutely aware of the different levels of protection that may be required to meet each situation.

“I would not envisage the normal day-to-day beat officer having to confront violent groups. That will be the domain of our public protection officers. We’ve got additional officers undergoing public order training as we speak.”

He said the specialist officers would be kitted out with “vests, shields and helmets with back up from other options”. But he added: “I can only describe it as ‘other options’ at this time. I wold not want it publicised what we have in our back pocket.”

He acknowledged that while the summit itself was at Gleneagles, there was “no doubt” there would be a “knock-on effect” in Edinburgh and even in Glasgow. Hinting that the police would use helicopters to take officers from one part of the country to the other if the force was stretched, he said: “We’ve got to be flexible enough so that if we’ve got 1000 officers in Edinburgh and something happens in Glasgow we’ve got the logistics in place to deal with that and get our officers there to assist our colleagues in the West.

“There will be contingency transport plans in place to allow quick movement of officers where that is required.”

Other high-profile targets for campaigners in Edinburgh, including the McDonald’s burger chain, confirmed to the Sunday Herald this week that they were in talks with Lothian and Borders Police over security concerns. A McDonald’s spokesman said it was “working closely with the local police in the build up to the G8 meeting”.

Kenneth McFarlane, president of the Edinburgh Bar Association, the lawyers’ body, confirmed that “extensive” measures were to be implemented to cope with the fallout of the G8 summit including sitting on Saturday, July 2 – the day of the Edinburgh anti-poverty march.

He said: “The reason it will sit on that day is so that the cells in Edinburgh are cleared of prisoners. So by the time the march starts on the Saturday, Edinburgh will be at maximum capacity for accepting custodies.”

---

ONLINE VOTE: Is a heavy-handed policing policy the right approach to this summer's G8 summit?

As of 1400hrs 21st February Results = Yes 36% No 64%

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

The Gathering Storm
Scotland prepares for two weeks of rioting and mayhem as the G8 summit descends on Edinburgh and Gleneagles
By Liam McDougall, Home Affairs Editor
20 February 2005
 http://www.sundayherald.com/47894

SCOTLAND’S entire criminal justice network is preparing for two weeks of rioting and mayhem in July as hundreds of thousands of campaigners, including anarchist groups, mount a calendar of protests against the G8 summit.

A Sunday Herald investigation can reveal that a raft of controversial measures are being put in place by police and the justiciary to cope with thousands of arrests in Edinburgh and Perthshire during the period when the leaders of the world’s eight industrialised nations come to Gleneagles.

The measures include:

Scrapping all trials at Edinburgh Sheriff Court for the first two weeks in July;

Every criminal sheriff court in the capital, bar one, freed up to deal only with G8 custodies;

Prosecutors and up to seven sheriffs put on standby to deal with G8 arrests in the capital;

Plans to turn a former RAF base in Edinburgh into a “holding facility” for protesters awaiting trial;

Teams of interpreters drafted into courts to deal with foreign suspects;

Plans for special anti-terror stop-and-search powers around Gleneagles;

All police leave cancelled from the start of July for two weeks.

The moves are the strongest indication yet that Scotland’s political leaders fear a repeat of riots that have marred previous G8 summits, such as in Genoa in 2001. Violence in the Italian city ended with one protester dead, more than 200 people injured and 250 arrested.

Preparations by police and anarchist groups have been building as the meeting of world leaders – including Tony Blair, George Bush and Vladimir Putin – at the five-star Gleneagles Hotel draws nearer.

They will meet at the resort from July 6-8 , but anti- capitalists have planned a week-long protest leading up to the summit, including a Make Poverty History march, which is expected to attract 200,000 people to Edinburgh.

Terrorism experts have warned that because of tight security around the hotel, Edinburgh and even Glasgow could become the focus of the most violent demonstrations. David Capitanchik, an expert formerly of Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, said the Scottish parliament at Holyrood would be a likely target.

With only 40 cells available at St Leonard’s Police Station, the capital’s main holding police station, plans are under way to ensure Edinburgh has enough jail space to accommodate arrested anti-G8 activists. One option being examined is converting the former RAF Turnhouse base at Edinburgh Airport into a temporary prison. The base had been considered by the Home Office in 2002 as an “accommodation centre” for asylum seekers.

Last night, human rights lawyers reacted with concern over plans for the special “holding facility”, dubbed a “mini-Guantanamo” by activists. They were also angry at news that police chiefs were examining anti-terrorist legislation which would give officers

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

Anger over G8 summit anti-terror policing measures
RUARIDH ARROW
February 21 2005
 http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/33827.html

PROTEST groups have reacted angrily to a police proposal to use anti-terror legislation to stop and search protesters at the G8 summit in July.

The proposal, revealed by the Sunday Herald, is one of a number of measures to cope with potentially large numbers of arrests in Edinburgh and Perthshire. They include holding those awaiting trial at a makeshift detention centre.

The G8 summit at Gleneagles Hotel from July 6 to 8 is expected to host world leaders including Tony Blair, George Bush and Vladimir Putin.

Anti-capitalists have planned a week-long protest leading up to the planned a week-long protest leading up to the summit, including a make Poverty History March, expected to attract 200,000 people to Edinburgh.

The security operation will not only have to deal with a potential terrorist threat but also prevent outbreaks of violence which have marred previous G8 summits.

Measures to be put in place this year include deferring all trials at Edinburgh Sheriff Court for the first two weeks in July, cancelling all police leave for the same time period and drafting in teams of interpreters to deal with foreign suspects.

Hundreds of Metropolitan Police officers are coming north to bolster security.
John Vine, chief constable of Tayside Police, who is co-ordinating the G8 security operation, said he is considering using section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 to allow police to stop and search protesters.

Aamer Anwar, the human rights lawyer, said the proposal was outrageous and urged the executive to prevent the use of the act. Osama Saeed, of the Muslim Association of Scotland, said the measures "look like a campaign to smear legitimate protest groups".

A Home Office spokesman said the use of the Terrorism Act was an operational matter for the police, and could not confirm a request had been made to use it at Gleneagles.

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

SUMMER CHAOS
Cops braced for 100,000 protesters at G8 summit
Feb 21 2005
By Dave King
 http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=15212347&method=full&siteid=89488&headline=summer-chaos-name_page.html

POLICE are preparing for chaos when the G8 summit comes to Gleneagles in July.

Tough action is being planned to deal with the 100,000 anti-capitalism protesters expected in Scotland in the week of the world leaders' meeting.

Perthshire MSP Roseanna Cunningham, right, warned yesterday that local people's worries over trouble are growing.

It's feared police stations will be swamped with arrested demonstrators, so a former RAF base at Turnhouse, near Edinburgh, will be used as a 'holding facility' for up to 750 suspects.

And police guarding the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire will use powers under the 2000Terrorism Act to stop and search whoever they want.

The leaders of the world's eight richest nations will meet at Gleneagles from July 6 to 8. Tony Blair will welcome presidents and premiers including George W Bush and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Riots have marred previous G8 summits in Genoa, Italy, Seattle, USA, and Evian, France. And the scale of the police preparations will only add to the fears of local people around Gleneagles.

Protests are planned across Scotland in summit week.

On July 2, a massive Make Poverty History rally in Edinburgh is expected to attract 200,000 people. There will also be demonstra-tions at the asylum seekers' detention centre at Dungavel in Lanarkshire, and the Faslane nuclear submarine base on the Clyde.

Police chiefs believe around 10,000 police will be needed. All police leave in the first two weeks of July has been cancelled'.

Large numbers of police will be billeted in halls of residence at Stirling and Edinburgh universities. All the courtrooms at Edinburgh Sheriff Court except one will be freed for G8 cases. Normal trials will be cancelled from July 1-14.

Courts will sit every day from 9am-9pm, and prosecutors will be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Teams of interpreters are being drafted in to deal with foreign suspects, and court staff have had their holidays cancelled.

Anarchists have spent months drawing up plans to disrupt the Gleneagles summit.And Cunningham, SNP MSP for Perth, warned yesterday that there was 'a degree of apprehension' locally.

The MSP claimed the A9 dual carriageway and the main rail line from Glasgow could be affected by protests, because both routes pass close to Gleneagles.

First Minister Jack McConnell yesterday refused to discuss the details of the G8security measures.

But he said: 'We would be very unwise if we did not make the right kind of arrangements for a variety of different eventualities.'

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

Justice network gears up for G8 protests
MICHAEL BLACKLEY
Mon 21 Feb 2005
 http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=194812005

Picture: Ian Waldie/ Getty Images (showing riot police wrestling man to the ground)
Quote: "There are fears that the scenes in Geneva may be replicated in parts of Scotland."

EDINBURGH’S sheriff courts are to be cleared for the first two weeks of July as Scotland’s criminal justice network gears up for an influx of thousands of protesters against the G8 summit at Gleneagles.

All trials at the court will be put on hold as the justice system suspends normal business to handle anticipated cases connected with protests up and down the country.

Among other measures being taken are turning a former Edinburgh RAF base into a "holding facility" for protesters awaiting trial; drafting teams of interpreters into court to deal with foreign suspects; giving police special "stop and search" powers around Gleneagles; and canceling all police leave for the fortnight at the start of July.

The Scottish Parliament and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, seen as two of the likeliest targets of any terrorist attack, are also expected to be cordoned off during the week that the summit takes place.

The leaders of the world’s eight industrial nations, including Tony Blair, George W Bush and Vladimir Putin, meet from 6 to 8 July at Gleneagles Hotel. However, it is anticipated that anti-capitalists will protest for the whole week leading up to the summit.

Protesters are expected to target areas much further afield than Gleneagles itself. On 2 July, a Make Poverty History march in Edinburgh is expected to attract up to 200,000 people, with campaigners from a variety of groups expected to rally together.

The Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, together with Trident Ploughshares, have organised a campaign against nuclear weapons to take place at Faslane on 4 July.

David Conway, a spokesman for Trident Ploughshares, said he would be concerned if the new measures meant police are to be heavy-handed at the demonstration.

He said: "We have a long history of doing peaceful demonstrations with the right atmosphere and we would be very concerned at any attempt to diminish our right to protest.

"There are a range of demonstrations during that week and I’m sure there will be a whole range of people attending them, but we will solely look to disrupt work at the base and not cause any sort of trouble."

The plans that are being put in place are seen as a clear indication that political leaders in Scotland and England fear that the summit could lead to violent demonstrations, as have been seen in previous years.

Riots in Genoa, Italy, in 2001 saw one protester killed, more than 200 people injured, and 250 arrests. In Evian, France, where the summit was held in 2003, and in the nearby Swiss city of Geneva, protesters threw bottles at police, who responded with tear gas.

Jack McConnell, the First Minister, yesterday said that the Scottish Executive and the UK government would receive the bill for extra security measures.

However, he was unwilling to confirm what measures have been put in place. He said the amount needed to be spent on security depended on the extremity of the demonstrations.

Mr McConnell added: "I cannot confirm specific arrangements, but there have been a number of arrangements to allow for circumstances that could take place."

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