WEF/MayDay2004 Warsaw updates

international | summit mobilisations | news report

Saturday April 10, 2004 12:59

by pl/wa29/archive

a few [en] reports from http://pl.indymedia.org/pl/wa29/archive.shtml

4834 - Police against the Anti-summit
4851 - Negotiations for legalising the demo
4852 - Newspaper claims police black bloc planned
4887 - Hyatt denies absurd newspaper propaganda

http://pl.indymedia.org/pl/2004/04/4834.shtml

[en] [fr] Police against the Anti-summit lebabel 09.04.2004 21:38 [en] Police against the Anti-summit

http://poprostu.pl 4 April 2004

In connection with the upcoming Anti-summit, police have started "preventive"
actions.

On Saturday (3 April) in Warsaw in the squat "Fabryka", police officers
refused to allow a concert to take place because posters which advertised it
included the anti-summit logo.

In Wroclaw, police warned the coordinator of the Cultural Reanimation
Centre that there would be problems if the Centre decided to organise
a meeting regarding the Anti-summit, or if accommodation were provided
for people from outside Poland coming to or returning from the Warsaw
demonstration. One Wroclaw activist was stopped by police in front of
his house, when he was carrying anti-summit posters - police took from
him one of the posters, saying that in fact they already had posters
regarding the anti-summit, but not this particular model.

Also in Poznan, police went to the "Rozbrat" squat and contacted one of its
activists in relation to anti-summit activities.

If you have problems in your area, please contact the poprostu
editors (../mailto:poprostuATpoprostu.pl@), or anti-summit activists
(../mailto:represjeATwa29.org@ ; tel 697 77 98 43 [pl,en], 609 473 503 [pl,en,fr]) or
post a report on http://pl.indymedia.org .

http://pl.indymedia.org/pl/2004/04/4851.shtml

[en] [fr] translation 06.04.2004 19:45 [en] On Monday 5th April 2004,
the coalition of groups organising a demonstration for the 29th April
2004 in Warsaw against the WEF spent two hours talking to police, and
politely answered many questions regarding what activists had prepared
for the demonstration, what they would do to prevent violence etc.

The end result was that police *refused* permission for the
demonstration. Thus, as of present information, the march on 29th
April will be illegal. Either the police will give last minute
permission, or they will legally be allowed to start massive arrests
of hundreds of people before the march starts or during its progress.

A comment below (2 days later) suggests that the police *will*
legalise the demo along the route planned by organisers, but "we" are
still waiting for the formal paper:

LEGALIZACJA MANIFESTACJI jaz 08.04.2004 19:54

http://pl.indymedia.org/pl/2004/04/4852.shtml

[en] [fr] traduction 06.04.2004 19:52 [en] According to the main
right-wing newspaper in Poland, Rzeczpospolita, police have spent
73,000 zloty (20,000 euros) buying materials in order to dress up as
fake "black bloc" activists. They plan to participate in the anti-WEF
demonstration of 29 April 2004 in order to "secure" it.

http://pl.indymedia.org/pl/2004/04/4887.shtml

[en] the Warsaw Hyatt denies that alterglobalists have reserved rooms,
says that 2/3 of its rooms are unbooked and finds the Zycia Warszawy
(local newspaper) article rather "strange".

[en] Statement from the Management of the Hyatt Regency Warsaw Hotel:
31 March 2004

The management of the Hyatt Regency Warsaw hotel finds the article in
the Zycie Warszawy daily, which features rumors concerning the
supposed place of antiglobalization protesters' stay during the
European Economic Summit-based on mere circumstantial
evidence-inconsistent with the truth and threatening the good name of
the hotel. The conclusions included in the article are ungrounded,
drawn simply from the fact that the Hyatt Regency Warsaw hotel is
situated in the so-called first zone of special surveillance. They
prove the journalists' loose attitude towards responsibility for their
own words.

The Hyatt Regency Warsaw hotel is one of the most luxurious and
expensive hotels in Warsaw. It is also a chain hotel belonging to a
global consortium. Therefore, the hotel's management finds the idea
of antiglobalization protesters staying in it at least strange.

The hotel's management declares that:
1. the reservations of hotel rooms for the time of the European
Economic Summit reach one-third of all rooms available, which is the
standard number of reservations for this date and time.
2. none of the reservations made for that period have aroused our
slightest suspicions.

As we have been informed by Capt. Zbigniew Matwiej from the National
Police Headquarters, the police have not provided any information or
made any official statements concerning the possible place of the
protesters' accommodation. Being responsible for security, the police
would be obliged to provide information of this kind first of all to
the hotel management, which has never taken place. Besides, Deputy
Minister for Internal Affairs and Administration Andrzej Brachmanski
has prohibited subordinate state officials and police officers from
making statements of that kind.

save preference

Comments (2 of 2)

even Ya Basta at the Hyatt?

by regular hyatt hotel guest ;)

Sat Apr 10, 2004 18:37

http://pl.indymedia.org/pl/2004/03/4522.shtml

Jednak według naszych informacji, właśnie w hotelu przy ul. Belwederskiej zatrzymają się anyglobaliści z Włoch, Niemiec, Szwajcarii, Hiszpanii i Francji. Także radykałowie z organizacji Ya Basta!, którzy podczas szczytu ekonomicznego w Pradze uzbrojeni byli w pałki i tarcze.

[en] antiglobalists from Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and France, including radicals like Ya Basta!, who were active in the Prague IMF meeting, are staying in the Hyatt according to our information.

----

It's really hard to guess why the authorities have put out such silly claims - unless it's just supposed to be disinformation which confuses everyone - or is it maybe trying to promote the idea that "antiglobalists" are a bunch of rich summit hoppers from rich countries who can pay 200 euros (or whatever) for one night's sleep?
and in this way make locals jealous?

Foreign participation will certainly be welcomed by locals, but it's clear that (like in other cities earlier) the vast majority will be locals. Of course, if anyone really did plan to stay at the Hyatt, it would better to stay with a "normal" local (acomodation@wa29.org - yes, yes, the sppeeling's rwogn, but it should work) and spend your money on supporting locals (communication, solidarity, legal, etc)

Upcoming Events

New Events

Other Press

User Preferences

Feeds

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

The Saker

Public Inquiry

Voltaire Network

WEF/MayDay2004 Warsaw updates

Comments (2 of 2)