UK Feature Archive
Carnival of Full Enjoyment, Edinburgh
04-07-2005 13:17
The Carnival for Full Enjoyment travelled around the streets of Edinburgh on Monday 4th, involving a cast of G8 Summit protesters, clowns, police and local people. The Carnival called upon 'workers, migrants, students, benefit claimers, New Dealers, work refusers, pensioners, dreamers, duckers & divers' to resist the 'daily grind of the institutions that plunge us into overwork, poverty and debt.'
The day started with police and groups of protestors playing cat and mouse through the streets, as police quickly started to stop and search people under the Section 60 imposed all over Edinburgh. At 12pm groups of people began to gather in and around Princes St. From that time on, and throughout the day, police tried to heavily repress any demonstration using scores of riot police, horses, dogs, and endless batton charges whilst attempting to pen in groups of people. As a result several clashes occurred in the Princes St and Canning St areas that resulted in more than 100 people arrested, including teams of street medics that were spcificaly targeted for harassment and arrest. Around 60 protesters were also treated for injuries caused by the heavy handed policing. Despite this many streets in central Edinburgh were taken over by protestors throughout the afternoon.
Click here for a full appraisal of the day and here for the Timeline of Events Account of the Day.
Newswire Reports: Medics interview and reports 1 | 2 :: Police [ 1 | 2 | 3 ] :: Princes Street [ 1 | 2 ] :: Carnival for full policing :: Debunking the Myths :: Day report on IMC Scotland
Reports and Pictures: Princes Street [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 ] :: Financial District 1 | 2 | 3 ] :: Clowns [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 ] :: Bristo Place [ 1 | 2 ] :: Soundsystem Seized :: IMC IE on the day
Video: Clowns | Police | Local retaliation 1 and 2 | Arrest outside IMC centre
Other Indymedia reporting: IMC-Nantes | IMC-Germany | IMC-Holland | IMC-Switzerland(It)
Faslane Blockaded - All Gates Closed Down
04-07-2005 10:35
Faslane, a Royal Navy submarine base on the Clyde, is the largest and deadliest military base in Scotland and home port for all four British Trident nuclear armed submarines. Nuclear weapons are the ultimate expression of militarism - only about 60 miles (90 km) away from Gleneagles.
Among those blockading Faslane is a broad spectrum of protestors, from Parliamentarians and Church leaders to anti-capitalists involved with the Dissent! network.
Updates :
12.55pm : All gates remain blockaded - people in high spirits. Clowns army has a presence there as well as many other groups. 10.30am : All gates remain blockaded
09.30am : Faslane is fully blocked - all entrance gates are blockaded with people locking-on. Numbers estimated at up to 2000. One person scaled the perimiter fence gaining entry to the base, and has been arrested.
09.00am : See Early report
[ Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 ] [ Video ]
See full time line
[Faslane G8 Blockade | Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament | Trident Ploughshares | Antimilitarism and the G8 Feature</8> | full time line | Maps: area, base]
G8 Info
03-07-2005 19:34
Background info : Why Are People Protesting? [more] | Groups and Websites | Protests and EventsRead latest G8 coverage : Indymedia Scotland and IMC UK G8 topic pages [ RSS feeds: Newswire | Features ]
Video : Collected G8 Video Coverage - list of links | Upload your videos
Radio : See G8 Radical Radio Collective website or Global Radio Indymedia Newswire for streams or archive material.
Photo: IMC Photo Library and Search website
- G8 Legal Support + Advice | Legal Support Statement
- G8 Medical Support
- Activist Trauma Support
- Submit your G8 story
- G8 debriefs: London, Oxford, Brighton, Bristol, Manchester
G8 Sunday 3rd July
03-07-2005 15:30
The Make Borders History tour of Glasgow. The make border tour-ists split up in 6 groups of 50 to 100 people to explore the border regime as it manifests itself in the Scottish city. The tour guides were from: no one is illegal, noborder network, noborder manchester group, brides without border, and someone from the glasgow committee to welcome refugees [see Report | Pictures 1 | Pictures 2 | Borders at the G8 Feature] [Audio and more pics]| related video of Dallas court reporting Centre
In Edinburgh a Stop the War march led by Heidi Guiliani (mother of Carlo, murdered by the cops in Genoa) and Rose Gentle took place ending with a 'naming the dead' ceremony on Calton Hill [see report and pics]
Sunday also saw Edinburgh as the focus of many G8 counter-conference events [see Corporate Dream ... Global Nightmare | Dissent! Programme (running through til thurs 7th) | G8Alternatives Events + pics]
See Red Pepper G8 Blog for reports of today's main events.
Also check out the latest G8 Audio uploads at Radio.Indymedia, and G8 Video uploads at Video.Indymedia
G8 Reports - 2 July
02-07-2005 17:49
For full collected reports see IMC G8 Newsblast
At least 200,000 demonstrators from very different backgrounds, ranging from religous organisations to samba bands and the Infernal Noise Brigade to the Clown Brigade, joined today's Make Poverty History march in Edinburgh. The organisers had called for people to wear white clothes. The march was set up with staggered starting times, but because of the number of people and small funnelled start gate many were unable to join the actual march. Report
Photos: [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 ]
Video: [ Interviews
Audio: [ interviews | speeches ]
Before the start of the official march, residents of Craigmillar, the most deprived area of Edinburgh, joined with anti-G8 protestors camping on a park in their estate. They marched through the estate to show their opposition to poverty here and abroad.
An anti-capitalist block broke away from the main march and was cordoned off by riot cops. People are being released in small groups, others appear to be held and photographed under a Section 60 order (which police later confirmed was applied to whole city centre). There are two possible arrests. [ timeline | report]
Photos: [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 ]
Other events happened during or after the official march (and we're not talking about Live 8). Faeries moved about the march, as did detatchments of the Clown Army (Photos: 1 | 2). Break Dancers gathered in Bristo Square in an attempt to 'Break Poverty' (photos). Capitalists marched in support of the G8 [1]. An impromptu street party (photos) on one of the roads closed for the march, with samba and music from the Infernal Noise Brigade, lasted until midnight. At that point, police moved the party to the nearby Meadows in order to re-open the road, resulting in one arrest.
G8 Mobilisation Reports - Friday 1st July
01-07-2005 22:25
The Clown army, had a press conference today morning, displaying some ridicilus tactics and reading a (not so) silly statement (report | photos | video). Police payed a visit to the Dissent! Info point, but left quickly. Finally the GR organised train arrived in Edinburgh without any problem, and the Dissent! train arrived just before ten pm. There was a small amount of hassle from the police at King's Cross [video/audio]. Photos: [ 1 | 2 | 3 ]
Preparations for the Make Poverty History march are also under way: the anti-capitalist block meeting point has been anounced, and some happy chalking actions is to be expected.
More spaces are now open: In Edinburgh the Dissent! Infospace, featuring talks and workshops, and the Independant Media Centre, as well as the rural eco-village convergence campsite in Stirling. An Edinburgh Council spokesman agreed to remove CCTV at the official G8 camp site [photos] after 150 people set up a camping site at Pilrig Park (report). On the other hand a theatre play called Black Sun Over Genoa [pic] has opened in Edinburgh and will be playing for three nights before it moves to Glasgow. This is a production that looks at the events that took place during the mobilisations against the G8 Summit 2001 in Genoa, Italy.
G8 Summit Quicklinks
30-06-2005 01:00
Media Indymedia Scotland | Indymedia G8 Reports Section | IMC G8 Features Archive | G8 Bloggers | radio stream | Indymedia Centre in Edinburgh + Reporting numbersWhy Are People Protesting? [1 | 2] | Planned Protests + Events | Groups and Websites | Dissent! Network | G8Alternatives | Make Poverty History
Practicalities G8 Accommodation in Edinburgh and Glasgow + InfoPoints [Update and Pics] | Rural Eco-Village Campsite Update [2 | 3] | G8 Legal Support + Advice | G8 Medical Support | Activist Trauma Support
IMC Bristol Server Seizure Solidarity page
Climate Chaos And The G8
28-06-2005 22:45
The leaders of the world's 8 richest countries will soon gather in Scotland, hoping to carry on carving up the planet. We forecast a high tide of greenwash during the summit, as Tony 'Hot Air' Blair claims to be making climate change a top priority. It's up to us to unmask the G8 Climate Criminals and expose the hypocrisy of their agenda.
Reports of G8 Protest Activities so far
28-06-2005 22:37
On Tuesday, 28th of June, the Red Pepper magazine publishes "Inside the Murky World of Make Poverty History". An in depth summarising analysis about Climate Change has also been published.
The Greek Union report their solidarity and participation of a delegation at the G8 protests in Scotland, whileas the School Students also call for participation in G8 protests [Subvert].
The accomodation situation is Edinburgh is less than satisfying for protesters due to the Edinburgh Council policy, and the Dissent! Edinburgh Accomodation group has put out a statement, describing their difficulties in finding a self-run collective convergence centre and an accomodation meeting is called for Thursday, 30th of June, 6pm at Teviot Student’s Union, University of Edinburgh, Bristo Square, to discuss the issue.
On Monday, 27th of June, the Theatre of Dissent hit the Streets of Edinburgh and the Headquarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland was occupied for about half an hour in an anti-poverty action.
Reports with pictures about the fenced off Jack Kane Centre [ 1 | 2] and the fence around Gleneagles sparked off discussion about possible state repression.
A summary of all activities and events so far reported on Indymedia Scotland features, newswire and on the Indymedia UK G8 subsection in relation to the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland is listed below.
Indymedia Bristol Server Seized by Police
28-06-2005 10:56
On Monday, June 27th, Indymedia Bristol's server was seized by the police. An Indymedia volunteer was arrested during the raid on suspicion of incitement to criminal damage. He is now on bail. See Indymedia Bristol Statement (28th June 05):
"We are outraged at the actions of the police. They have completely disabled the entire Bristol Indymedia news service. By their actions they have undermined the principle of open publishing and free access to the media, thereby removing people's opportunity to read and report their own news. This situation has serious implications for anyone providing a news service on the Internet. We do not intend to let this stop us from continuing the project."
IMC Bristol statements [1 | 2] | Imc Bristol Solidarity Page | Full Feature | donate to imc uk | Autistici Server Surveillance | Mainstream Media Coverage
Alternative Servers Attacked: "Not a Private Question: A Question of Privacy"
27-06-2005 21:32
Italy-based non-profit community webserver autistici have found out that the authorities have copied the keys necessary for the decryption of their webmail a year ago [statement 1 | 2]. Since then, the authorities potentially had access to all the data on the disks. Autistici's provider did not inform them about this. Apparently, this is connected to the same investigation as the one that caused an international law enforcement operation in London last October: A few days before the European Social Forum, Indymedia servers in London were seized, prompting a wave of solidarity statements [report].
Kurdish hunger striker in critical condition
24-06-2005 01:00
Zulkuf Murat Bora, more widely known as Bahoz, has been on hunger strike since 17th of May. He was forced to leave Turkish Kurdistan due to his struggle for the rights and liberty of the Kurdish people. He is now in hospital in a very critical condition. At the moment, Yusuf Temiz, another political asylum seeker, is being kept in detention in Greece. He is under threat of imminent deportation to Turkey, where he faces the death penalty.The last 6 weeks has seen a wave of activities in solidarity with Bahoz and Temiz. On 5th June a large concert took place in Thessaloniki, while on 21st June 1000 people took to the streets in Thessaloniki. The EU Office for Information and Culture was occupied earlier that morning. Others, including various radio stations and Amnesty had their offices occupied. A symbolic hunger strike took place in Athens on 21st June. Various actions took place in Volos, Patras and Edinburgh.
A recent report by the UN Human Rights Committee on Greece, stated 'Ill-treatment of minorities and foreigners or even killings at the hands of authorities resulted in negligible punishment.'
Video interview with Bahoz (in Greek) | Video of concert + speech Bahoz (in Greek) | Video EU office occupation | Thessaloniki IMC | (1) (2) (3) (4)
Zapatista Red Alert
23-06-2005 15:51
A communique from the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee General Command (CCRI-CG) of the EZLN declared a general red alert throughout all Zapatista territory. Members of the autonomous administrative bodies are being evacuated from the various autonomous municipalities and internationals are being urged to leave.
On Monday 20 another communique explained the red alert as a precautionary defensive measure in response to the Mexican governments continued attacks and betrayal, stating that the EZLN is 'returning the word it gave on the first of January of 1994'.
On Tuesday 21 the next communique reassured that the Zapatistas have re-organised so as to survive an attack on their clandestine leadership by government forces or paramilitaries: 'the CCRI-CG of the EZLN is letting it be known that conditions are in place to continue leading the Zapatista struggle even if it were to lose, be it through jail, through death or through forced disappearance'. On the same day, Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos addressed the national and international civil society with another "letter of explanation and/or, perhaps, farewell" that, amongst other things, states that the Zapatistas are not preparing a military ofensive. It starts with: 'This is not a letter of farewell. At times it is going to seem as if it is, that it is a farewell, but it is not. It is a letter of explanation. Well, that is what we shall attempt. This was originally going to go out as a communique, but we have chosen this form because, for good or for bad, when we have spoken with you we have almost always done so in this most personal tone.'
On Sunday 26 another communique is published by the EZLN which states that "The CCRI-CG of the EZLN is informing you that it has finished consulting with tens of thousands of support bases." and that "The results were that more than 98% approved the new step, and less than 2% decided not to support the EZLN's proposal."
On Wdnesday 26 the Six Declaration of the Selva Lacandona is published by the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee – General Command of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. The text does a balance of the last 12 years of Zapatista struggle for autonomy and indigenous rights, and points to the fact that "we have reached a point where we cannot go any further, and, in addition, it is possible that we could lose everything we have if we remain as we are and do nothing more in order to move forward", and that "the hour has come to take a risk once again and to take a step which is dangerous but which is worthwhile".
[Indymedia Chiapas | Radio Insurgente | FZLN (Zapatista National Liberation Front) | IMC UK Zapatista section | IMC-UK coverage of Zapatista Caravan to Mexico City]
Glasgow Cre8 Summit - Reclaiming Community
20-06-2005 13:06
Cre8 Garden Pictures | Audio Interview (mp3) | Film: Cre8 Summit Day 1 (.mov 3mins): Direct Download | Press Coverage
Also see: Jam74.org | Corporate Watch on M74 | Road Block | Road Alert
Smash EDO Take On The Law
15-06-2005 15:17
Update: A legal observer was arrested on the 16th , and has now been released on bail pending a pre-trial review at Brighton Magistrates court on Thursday 23rd June.
In a spectacular march through Brighton on Saturday June 11th, 150-200 protestors showed that they would not be intimidated by the violence meted out at the May 31 Big Demo at EDO MBM by Sussex police.
After an open mic event on The Level where several protestors spoke out against EDO MBM as well as the draconian Harassment Act interim Injunction brought by the company against peaceful protestors outside their factory, and Sussex Police’s brutality trying to enforce it, the march began.
Sheffield G8 Protests
15-06-2005 11:24
Thanks to David Blunkett the G8 Justice and Home Affairs ministers met in Sheffield on the 15th to 17th June 2005. Protests started on the 11th June with a critical mass, demonstration and the Peace in the Park festival.
Protests during the ministers meeting got away with far more than in Derby though there were in several arrests. There is a summury of each days actions, Wednesday 15th June, Thursday 16th June and Friday 17th June. The final day ended with a massive post-protest Insurgents' Party at the Convergence Space, with the Trollyd and Riddimition sound systems and the 2012 Show.
June 17th — Reports: 1 | Photos: 1 | 2 | 3
June 16th — Photos & reports: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Videos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
June 15th — Reports: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Video: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
Untested and in here - Sainsburys GM feed week
12-06-2005 17:40
On Sunday (12th June), eight protesters stripped naked to expose the continued sale of products derived from animals fed on genetically modified crops. The naked demo preceded a separate week long series of events outside Sainsbury head office in London. The Milk Monitor website describes the campaign as "a week long extravaganza of street theatre & protests against GM animal feed".
Read full article for daily updates and details of each days events.
G8 Summit Update: 6th June
07-06-2005 13:56
Evolving Protest Plans
As well as the planned Blockades of the G8 Summit on Wed 6th July, there are now more demonstrations being announced and negotiated. G8Alternatives continues with its plans for a mass demonstration meeting at Gleneagles train station to march past Gleneagles Hotel on the first day of the Summit, despite the initial announcement of security cordons and road closures ruling this route out. Authorities have proposed a rally in Auchterarder village as an alternative but have said this would be limited to 3,500 people - more announcements are expected following a meeting on June 9th. The "Long Walk To Justice", announced at the start of June by Bob Geldof [2 | 3] will potentially see hundreds of thousands of people arriving in Edinburgh for events billed as "part rally, part party" and with a pop concert scheduled for Murrayfield stadium. Meanwhile the Stop the War Coalition has applied and now gained support for two protests in Edinburgh on Sun 3rd and Mon 4th July, despite both Scottish media and the police initialy briefing against the proposed demonstrations.
Accomodation Crisis
Over the past months various groups have been trying to secure mass accomodation for the tens of thousands of people who are expected to participate in the protests. With the lastest moves from Bob Geldof encouraging hundreds of thousands more people to converge on Edinburgh for the start of the Summit, what was already an accommodation crisis has now become a full blown emergency planning issue. Some groups have been trying to find a site to set up a Convergence campsite eco-village to house people, and despite initial set backs are confident a site will be found. Other groups have been in discussions with authorities for larger sites, and while no agreement has yet been reached an announcement is expected soon. Whatever the outcomes it's clear people will come anyway, with many groups encouraging people to bring tents.
See also:
Sheffield Prepares to Welcome the G8
30-05-2005 20:35
The Justice and Home Affairs ministers from the G8 countries are meeting in Sheffield from Wednesday 15th until Friday 17 June. The issues to be discussed at the Sheffield ministerial meeting include counter-terrorism, migration, law enforcement, the expanded use of DNA and legal affairs. People in Sheffield have co-ordinated a number of actions and events against the G8. Full details of these events and a timeline can be found on the Sheffield Against G8 website.
Sheffield Indymedia G8 coverage | Sheffield Against the G8 | Peace in the Park | Sheffield Stop The War Coalition
Transport minister pied for support of Heathrow expansion lobby
25-05-2005 15:21
A climate change activist gained access to the high security event and as the first speaker welcomed all the suits to their exclusive little back slapping event, she sprang up and planted the carrot and cream cake firmly in the face of the Minister. As she did so, she said "Future Heathrow stinks, your bogus economics stink, Alistair Darling being here stinks, and your vision for this planet stinks". She ejected by security guards but not arrested.
Meanwhile over 100 local residents took time off work to demonstrate outside the CBI HQ launch event, with a huge banner reading 'Future Heathrow Stinks', and a new report that concludes that Heathrow contributes little to the national or local economy, but simply lines the pockets of the aviation industry.
For full details see - newswire report
History: [ 'lobbying' of Darling by anti-roads veterans | Heathrow protesters do rush hour leafleting | Crane occupied ]
Links to campaign websites : [ HACAN Clearskies | NOTRAG (No Third Runway Action Group) ]
