Press Release May 18th 2007
G8: Urgent appeal lodged against demonstration ban
If necessary, the 'star-march' coalition plan to take matters all the way to the federal courts.
G8 countries' foreign policies are given as the reason for the "police emergency".

[Gipfelsoli Infogruppe | International Press Group]

All demonstrations in the vicinity of Heiligendamm have been prohibited under a
General Ban issued by the German Office for Association. The grounds behind the
fence and a 4 kilometre area around the perimetre of the fence fall under the
ban. With this ban, the protests are to be held at a 6 kilometre distance.

The planned 'star march' is one of the initiatives that is affected by these
measures. With the motto, 'taking the protest to Heiligendamm', the star march
is intended to end with a closing rally in Heiligendamm. Today, the star march
coalition is lodging an urgent appeal against the ruling. A decision is
expected at the end of next week. "If necessary, we will have our right to
protest confirmed by the federal courts", a speaker for the star march
coalition said. The prohibited area stretches from the camp in Reddelich almost
all the way to the camp in Wichmannsdorf. A speaker of the BAO "Kavala" has
declared that a congregation of 3 people within this area is illegal under the
ruling. "This means that we can't even leave the camp in groups of 3 and walk
next to one another without the police breaking us up", says a camp participant
of the WomenLesbianTransgender Network. The rationale for the ban, according to
"Kavala", lies with the foreign policies of the G8 countries. A "latent threat
situation" exists for the representatives of the G8 countries because of the
wars in "Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Palestine". Even
the German Government is perceived as endangered, because of its "increasing
engagement in conflict regions". What is meant is the war in Afghanistan.

Hanne Jobst of the Gipfelsoli Infogruppe finds this reasoning absurd: "Protest
is forbidden because it would have negative effects for foreign
decision-makers. The G8 makes decisions that affect the lives of millions of
people every day, without the legitimacy to do so, yet in the opinion of the
police, the G8 should not have to be subjected to these people's anger".

Even popstar Herbert Groenemeyer has to admit this: "There is real anger", he
explained in the German newspaper 'taz' the day before yesterday.

Conicidentally, this week in Scotland, charges against five activists who were
arrested and detained on their way to a closing demonstration at the conference
hotel in Gleneagles during the 2005 G8 summit, were dropped. "As always during
summit protests the police use arbitrary and often illegal measures to prevent
protest from reaching those it seeks to criticise", Gerda Achterhuis of the
Dutch Dissent network argues. "The move to ban the demonstration does not
surprise us. However, we will not let ourselves be intimidated and will
continue to mobilise for the star march and all other actions against the G8
meeting."