Martin Hogbin is responsible for the Diaz raid.

Why would Gianfranco Fini want to have this supposed list of 150,000 British activists? Why would Mrs LeChene sell an overt supporter of Mussolini such information? Why would he then pass it to be Italian police?

As a young woman, she married Pierre Le Chene, a former British agent in Nazi-occupied France who survived the Mauthausen concentration camp and was awarded the Legion d'Honneur and MBE. She wrote books about his life. In 1987, eight years after her husband's death, she attracted news headlines by confronting his former torturer, Klaus Barbie, the ‘Butcher of Lyons’, who was on trial.

Hogbin was over there as an infiltrator not as a salesman offering lists to neo-fascist politicians.

So whilst this does not excuse spying for BAE on anti-arms trade protesters, it seems absurd to suggest that they would try to do such a thing.

Finally, why would the police need a list of activists? Surely the point is that the attack was indiscriminate.

You must be kidding. There arn't 150,000 activists worth the name in the UK. That sounds like a copy of some high street petition rather than a list of active people.

that's really amazing for me to read some really good and truh comments about what happend in the diaz 8 years ago right now...


i live now in newcastle and just organised a night of benefit for the genova legal support. as u probably know there is still lot of work to do to try to have justice for the brutality we had in the diaz and in bolzaneto. during the night, (at the star and shadow cinema, newcastle upon tyne from 7pm) will be show the latest documentary made from the genoa legal support called OP. it will be amazing if more people from the uk would come that night for solidarity....hope to see ya there....


V.

Thank you Emily for your information. From the witnesses i have heard, the 'Hogbin group' travelled on the SWP train from London and arrived in Genova after a little delay (due to SNCF train delays).

As for your point of keeping within factual accuracies, this investigation has been very difficult. This is due to the fact that Hogbin has never stepped forward to give his version of what he did in Genova. Also most witnesses associated with Hogbin and his victims who knew him have not been completely co-operative. I completely understand the emotions involved after being spied upon by a so-called friend and thus wish to forget. Also, another reason is that Diaz is a Pandora ’s Box nobody wants to open and few people want to believe that he was involved in the bloody 'Mexican Butchers Shop', ie the Diaz raid.

Few people here will believe me when i say Hogbin is responsible for the reason that his actions before July 2001 did not involve serious physical injury. I think even he did not realise the consequences of his actions when he went to the G8.

To add slightly more detail and as a partial answer to James, Hogbin’s mission has to broken into two parts to understand. The Diaz victims believe that the deal on the activist list was done before the actual G8 via Eveline Le Chene and probably via the Group 4 company directors (one of them an ex MI6 agent). She probably thought that she was dealing with Forza Italia led by Berlusconi and thus the Italian government but she was not. It is possible that she had no idea that her list would be passed on to Gianfranco Fini and the commanders at Diaz. Also please do not forget that the list had monetary value attached to it. Le Chene would of been very interested in a price, so would BAE and Group 4 (It is thought that their interest in the list (in terms of the G8) was one of ‘being patriotic and assisting the Italian government deal with dangerous anarchists’. It is doubtful that Hogbin saw much of the money involved.

As for the list itself, the 150,000 names as reported on by the Sunday Times in 2003, we believe that Le chene and Hogbin probably offered a ‘refined list’ of activists they thought might travel to Genova to the Italians, however we may never know how large the list was. We do know that the list also contained some 20,000 European names because of Eveline Lubbers investigation into Le Chene’s son ‘Adrian Franks’. We are fairly sure that Le chene’s spy network went into overdrive and expanded their operation in the months before the Genova G8. Probably after witnessing the Prague IMF/WB demos and after requests from their corporate clients to help out the British and Italian governments.

Eveline Le Chene may of hated fascists but she also hated communists. She would of viewed most protesters travelling to the G8 as ‘hardline anarchists and communists’ that had to be stopped according to her philosophy of hatred. It is somewhat ironic that she spent the early part of her life fighting Nazis only to then help them out at the G8 Diaz raid decades later. I personally think she knew nothing about Fini or who he was nor that Fini was planning the bloody Diaz raid. She probably had little idea that the real people she was talking to were attached to Fini’s party and not the Italian government under Berlusconi.

As for Hogbin himself, a picture has emerged that until the G8, he confined himself to spying on CAAT. We are very sure that CAAT did not have much an interest in the G8 apart from the US star wars plan was on the G8 agenda that July thus did not send an ‘organised group trip’. We do not think that he went to Genova following and spying on CAAT members during the trip but used the people he travelled with for cover. With Hogbin travelling to the G8, it marked an unusual departure from his normal mode of operation. We think that Eveline le Chene’s ambitions to assist her clients (including the Berlusconi government) caused her to ask him to travel to Genova to spy on other international groups that may attend DSEI later that year (September 11-13). This may of included indymedia which was based at the Diaz school.

As for the links with British intelligence and police, it is known that an activist list was requested by the Italian government (under Schengen treaty requirements) but was refused. This made Fini angry as G8 security minister. The Schengen treaty was suspended during Genova for Italy to deploy border controls at airports and border points. Each country is required to exchange information across a ‘G8 international police desk’. The British refused to hand over theirs whilst being completely aware of the private Hogbin list was available to the highest bidder that summer. Personally i think that the British intelligence services were well aware of what Fini was capable of and that information by them would be used for internal Italian politics and personal agendas, although they had little idea that Fini was planning such a bloody raid at Diaz against innocent protesters and journalists.

I am going to stop there for the time being. Sadly James the pages of indymedia are a court of public opinion and not a real court. The victims of Diaz want to put Hogbin on trial and therefore i cannot reveal the complete nature of the Diaz evidence. This will be saved for the actual trial or as such times when the victims know it is impossible to bring proceedings. Sorry James.

The Diaz lawyers are especially interested in talking with anyone who travelled with Hogbin so we can build a more detailed picture of what he did and where he went in Genova.

Those who have relevant information should Matt foot, one of the Diaz lawyers, esp you emily. His email is  MattFoot@birnbergpeirce.co.uk . Matt foot is authorised to talk with CAAT about the Diaz case if you are CAAT member and as a collection point for information and witness statements. I wish i could post my email address to shorten the information loop but i would get alot of 'pointless emails' taking guesses about Hogbin.

And Finally, Hogbin if you are out there and you are reading this, i am coming after you with the best human rights lawyers in the country and also in Italy. Do me the favour and contact Matt Foot with your lawyer so we can hear your side of the story and maybe clear your name. Do not worry, the victims from Diaz will not cause you harm despite the fact you have caused them a lot of pain and injury.

Here he is:

 http://www.livingcontrol.com/default.asp?ContentID=8

And this is how to contact him:

Living Control
Ashton House, Farnborough Hill, Orpington, Kent. BR6 6DA
Tel: 01689 861188
Fax: 01689 859915
email:  info@livingcontrol.com
web: www.livingcontrol.com

some sources also show:

Living Control
Tel: 01959 569995
Unit 2
Westerham Trade Cntr
Westerham
TN16 1DE

Let's not forget that Martin Hogbin was not alone, we know he was working with somebody else and that person is still probably within CAAT. Security is still important.

Please could you eleborate on the damage done to the campaign, as this is very vague and seems to be more about spreading random paranoia than concrete evidence.

Whilst security is obviously very important, it is also essential that we don't spread paranoia, and offer evidence if we have something to say.

I will email your solicitor, but just so you know, we travelled by car. This was not the first international protest Martin went to, nor was it the last. At the time he said, and I agreed, that arms trade issues should be linked into the broader anti capitalist movement.