Icelandic police tell drivers to start machinery risking protestors' lives.

Police and security guards at the Karahnjukar Dam construction site in Iceland, recently ordered the bulldozer drivers to start their engines and move off, despite there being more than 25 people locked on to theunderside of their vehicles.

"It was terrifying, if someone hadn't jumped up on the front of the truck and pulled out the fuel line then I think people may have been killed lastnight" said Rob, one of the protesters from the UK.

Two British activists were forced on to a coach and the police allegedly sexually assaulted one woman while another protestor was assaulted by security personal while being held by police. Three people are being heldon fabricated assault charges and may face deportation.

The protest was peaceful and relations with the workers were friendly until the police arrived at about 3 AM. The police ordered the drivers of the vehicles that people were locked on to, to start their engines. This created an incredibly dangerous situation as the drivers and the police didn't share a common language. The police refused to talk to the protestors and started to forcibly remove people from the site. Theprotesters pleaded for a dialogue, but were ignored by authorities

However, the protesters are defiant and say that this type of police behaviour will not stop them. The protest was part of an international protest camp, SOS Iceland, which has since the end of June used Non Violent Direct Action, mass walk ons to the constuction site and other protests to draw attention to "the destruction of the last remaining wilderness in Europe for building dams to power an aluminuum plant." Despite the greenwash this project will not put any energy in to the
national grid and will only create benefit for the company, Alcoa.

A statement from the camp said, "Multinational companies - willingly helped by the Icelandic government - are about to produce an environmental catastrophe of unprecedented proportions in interest of corporate profits.