A rash of vandalism, intimidation and arson across continental Europe in 2008 is evidence of a worrying new wave of animal-rights extremism being exported from Britain, experts say.
Novartis HQ in Spain after the march against HLS
ALF blazing it up in Belgium causing €100,000 in damages
From Nature News (Corporation).
Selected paragraphs and such that provide the evidence of the increase in activity...
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In early January, threats led to a Dutch developer withdrawing from a new, €60 million (about US$89 million) biomedical research park in Venray, the Netherlands. A month later, Hasselt University's Biomedical Research Institute in Diepenbeek, Belgium, was set on fire. And in Barcelona in Spain, vandals targeted the offices of biomedical-research firm Novartis.
UK
Over the past year, the United Kingdom has cracked down on animal-rights activists who break the law. Last May, police carried out Operation Achilles that led to charges against 16 activists. A trial involving several of them is expected to begin later this year.
NETHERLANDS
“It's been going on for years, but it's become worse,” says Robert Janssen, the managing director of the Netherlands' biotechnology industry association NIABA in Leidschendam. Janssen estimates that Dutch researchers and institutions have received more than 200 threats in the past year.
BELGIUM
It has come as a shock to some in the scientific community. “We've never had problems before,” says Piet Stinissen, director of the Biomedical Research Institute at Hasselt University. On 1 February, the Institute was set ablaze, causing around €100,000 in damages.
SWITZERLAND
Andrew Jackson, deputy head of security at Novartis in Basel, Switzerland, says that industry is also being affected. On 9 February, Novartis's offices in Barcelona were vandalized during a protest, and Jackson says that there has been an overall increase in both legal demonstrations and illegal acts. “We've had to increase the security of some of our facilities in Europe,” he says. Novartis says that incidents outside the United States and United Kingdom rose by nearly 50% last year to 97. There have been 15 events so far this year.
AR SPOKESPERSON (Oxford, UK)
Amanda Richards, a spokesperson for SPEAK, believes that the rise in Europe is due primarily to rising awareness on the continent. “It's mainly people in the countries themselves,” she says. SPEAK has been contacted by several individuals and groups in Europe who want to organize events against animal testing, she adds.
Source:
http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080227/full/4511034a.html
Info: http://www.animalliberationfront.com
Selected paragraphs and such that provide the evidence of the increase in activity...
>>
In early January, threats led to a Dutch developer withdrawing from a new, €60 million (about US$89 million) biomedical research park in Venray, the Netherlands. A month later, Hasselt University's Biomedical Research Institute in Diepenbeek, Belgium, was set on fire. And in Barcelona in Spain, vandals targeted the offices of biomedical-research firm Novartis.
UK
Over the past year, the United Kingdom has cracked down on animal-rights activists who break the law. Last May, police carried out Operation Achilles that led to charges against 16 activists. A trial involving several of them is expected to begin later this year.
NETHERLANDS
“It's been going on for years, but it's become worse,” says Robert Janssen, the managing director of the Netherlands' biotechnology industry association NIABA in Leidschendam. Janssen estimates that Dutch researchers and institutions have received more than 200 threats in the past year.
BELGIUM
It has come as a shock to some in the scientific community. “We've never had problems before,” says Piet Stinissen, director of the Biomedical Research Institute at Hasselt University. On 1 February, the Institute was set ablaze, causing around €100,000 in damages.
SWITZERLAND
Andrew Jackson, deputy head of security at Novartis in Basel, Switzerland, says that industry is also being affected. On 9 February, Novartis's offices in Barcelona were vandalized during a protest, and Jackson says that there has been an overall increase in both legal demonstrations and illegal acts. “We've had to increase the security of some of our facilities in Europe,” he says. Novartis says that incidents outside the United States and United Kingdom rose by nearly 50% last year to 97. There have been 15 events so far this year.
AR SPOKESPERSON (Oxford, UK)
Amanda Richards, a spokesperson for SPEAK, believes that the rise in Europe is due primarily to rising awareness on the continent. “It's mainly people in the countries themselves,” she says. SPEAK has been contacted by several individuals and groups in Europe who want to organize events against animal testing, she adds.
Source:
http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080227/full/4511034a.html Info:
http://www.animalliberationfront.com 
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