Repression against the radical left G8 mobilisation

[Gipfelsoli Info Group]

As of May 2007 there have been several raids following 4 investigative procedures based on paragraph 129a in Hamburg, Berlin, Bremen, Strausberg and Bad Oldesloe:

  • On 9 May based on allegations of "forming a terrorist organisation for the purposes of stopping the G8 summit" (under various group names, 18 persons) as well as "membership in a terrorist organisation (militante gruppe, 3 persons, based on attacks which took place since 2001).
  • On 13 June-19 July based on allegations of "forming a terrorist organisation (under several group names, e.g. AK Origami). The allegations focus on arson attacks on vehicles belonging to the military and to a company involved in arms manufacturing in in Glinde (2002), Bad Oldesloe and Berlin (2004 and 2006).
  • On 31 July based on allegations of "forming a terrorist organisation" (militante gruppe, 4 persons arrested, 3 others searched).

The federal criminal bureau explained several times to the press that the following house searches had neither anything to do with the raids on 9 May nor with the anti-G8 movement. However, as previous experience in 129-related investigations and trials has shown, search warrants can be obtained based on construed "research findings". This allows the authorities to gather additional information on the radical left movement. In this way, these "findings" contribute to investigative procedures in respect to future attacks; "facts" which are supposedly "linked" with G8. Only 2% 129 cases lead to conviction. The investigative files on the 9 May raids alone add up to about 80,000 pages, about 200 notebooks. Apart from the raids, dozens of phone-tapping permits have been issued, as well as bugging cars and meetings. A witness who supposedly identified a "suspicious person" after the arson attack on Thomas Straubhaar's car turned 80 photos in to the federal criminal bureau.

Some of the persons concerned are accused of initiating a "militant group" against the G8 2007. These allegations are based on telephone conversations where members of the "Global Agriculture" working group spoke of "stepping up" the campaign. The accused became suspects after visiting the web sites of the companies they are criticising or having spoken on the phone about the locations of the companies. This campaign would necesitate IT experts who specialise in setting up mailing lists, servers and managing web sites. A large part of the files consist of analyse of "self-incriminating writings." This entails comparing how sentences are formulated, punctuation, grammatical errors such as "weakness in the genitive case," or whether letters are capitalized. Additional factors looked at are where the date is placed (right or left of the page), written without or without zeros, use of words such as "imperialism" or "precarity", references made by the author to particular campaigns and left groups, whether the spelling is "dissent!", "dissent" or "Dissent" (G8 or G-8) etc. Comparisons are also made between texts for similar expressions such as "raking in the money", "IWF", etc. After every analysis a profile is drafted of potential authors of the text: city of origin, political affiliations, educational background, and position of the author within their political spectrum. Some of the texts are subsequently attributed to specific persons.

Data is compiled on the accused house mates, with whom s/he has phoned, phone and internet service providers, at which demonstrations the accused was detained, or which collaborative projects the person is working on. Much of the data is not intended for exclusive use in the investigation of a particular case. On the contrary, it appears that inquiries for further information collection regardless of context were placed by the BKA at the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Verfassungsschutz), political "crime unit" of the BKA. In any case, the circumstances clearly indicate that the authorities have probed extensive information on the radical left and anti-G8 movements since the beginning. Surveillance permits for the radio cells in and around Mehringhof and the HWP high school were requested for at least the first two "dissent!" network meetings in Hamburg and Berlin, both of which were attended 250 persons. In this vein, the authorities probably have logged every mobile phone which registered with the local network there. The presence of informants at the meeting itself also comes as no surprise. The investigations based on the raids of 9 May are founded on shaky constructs. No stone is left unturned in a desperate attempt to attribute an interest in militant attacks to some of the persons accused. Even association with the persons in question is grounds for suspicion! This proves again that we are all 129a!

[Gipfelsoli Info Group]