Aftermath         Friday, November 15th

 

The Castors have been delivered to their "temporary" destination, the police have driven away in long convoys, and life is quieting down in Wendland. There is time now to give you fuller reports about what happened so quickly in the last days -- time for reflections on what went right (or wrong) -- time for a more balanced assesment.

 

Somewhat Milder Police Tactics

 

The police seemed to have learned something from past years -- they got by (they said) with far less force.  In the end, "only" 16,700 police were reported to be on duty. Many demonstrators got a different inpression, but with so many police, who can count them all? Also, the police were obviously told to act with decorum. The majority followed instructions (although some  police will remain forever untameable.) This year there were far less beatings with clubs, no use of unleashed dogs, no water cannons in action.  The well-prepared ambulance crews had almost nothing to do. However, there were significant exceptions to this mildness; see below.

 

The makeup of the police force also seemed different. Perhaps some of the more violent groups were told to stay home. But a far greater force of young plainclothes police in the disguise of demonstrators appeared on the scene.

 

A Battle for Public Opinion

 

Instead of brute force, the police this year fought a media battle.  Almost daily, disinformative reports were issued. Some prime examples:

 

--  The police reported that demonstrators had cut a hole in the Elbe river dike at Laase. This scary story (people are specially sensitive because of recent flooding) was quickly reported in all the media. "How irresponsible those demonstrators are" was the tenor of these reports.  But when dike inspectors arrived on the scene, they found no damage -- the report had been a complete fabrication.  No retractions were ever published -- the truth was not newsworthy.

 

--  At 10:55 a.m. on November 13th, demonstrators managed to get onto the main rail line north of Lüneburg, forming a blockade that caused an inter-city express train (ICE) to stop:  (The ICE trains run at high speeds, approaching 200 km/hr.)  The police reported that the ICE had to effect an emergency stop  Such a sudden stop would have been extremely dangerous for the passengers. "Emergency stop" appeared in headlines across the nation. Again, the tenor: "How irresponsible (and criminal) those demonstrators are!"  The truth: the ICE was forewarned; it slowed gently and rolled to a stop about 400 meters from the blockade. The "emergency stop" never happened.  This police lie was sent out about Noon; the true story appeared on Intermedia about 2:00 p.m. All the media check out the Intermedia coverage, but they all chose to stay with the police version (more exciting). Even the next day, our local newspaper, the Elbe-Jeetzel Zeitung,  featured a front-page headline: ATOM OPPONENTS RISK LIVES.

 

-- At 8:00 p.m. on November 13th, it was reported that policemen were pelted with manure.  The true story: an angry farmer dumped some hay from his tractor onto a road that was being blocked by police.  The hay might have smelled a bit, of course.

 

-- In a satirical revue on NDR (North German television network), Minister Juttner of the Environment Ministry of Lower Saxony, made his own satirical remarks. "Itīs OK, let the people in Wendland have their yearly carnival parade," he said. "They wonīt change anything. After all is said and done, the atomic waste will remain a local problem."

 

Chained Protestors Explain

 

The two persons who had chained themselves to the track near Leitstade (see page 5) didnīt have a chance to hand out a press release they had prepared.  The media was interested only in sensational photos, not in their reasons for being there. Here are excerpts from their release:

"By this symbolic and peaceful action, we demand the closing of all atomic plants.  This demand includes those who haven been damaged by the pure greed of uranium mining companies, because uranium is the beginning of the spiral that ends in atomic waste......"We want to express solidarity with the aboriginal inhabitants of Jabiluka in Australia, where uranium mining not only poisons the area, threatening their existence, but has also curtailed the right to assemble and express an opinion -- all this in order to advance the private interests of the mining companies....."Whatīs on the train thatīs coming here today started out in Jabiluka. This freight can destroy not only our means of existence, but also our basic human rights.  Itīs cynical to call nuclear power "clean energy". We have to look at the whole, poisonous chain -- mining, refining, atomic power plants, waste reprocessing -- and not just our own waste problem....."There will be more of these spectacular actions, as long as this environmental damage continues..... "Connected with this is our demand for the preservation of basic human rights, which is necessary for people to live together in peace."

 

Private School Entered Without Judicial Permission -- School Principal Told to Leave

 

The Hitzacker Free School is a private high school founded by local Anthroposophists and based on the principles of Rudolf Steiner. It is located in a new building adjacent to the railroad track used by the Castor train.  When a fleet of 60 police vehicles, including a prison bus a water cannon, entered the school grounds (rolling through the school garden), the school Principal protested, asking the police leader for his identification and warrant. When she insisted on her rights, the Principal was handed a "Platzverweis": (a police document requiring her to leave the premises!). Later, police helikcopters landed on the schoolīs parking lot.

 

Schoolchildren Mistreated

 

Adjancent to the Free School, a group of aboujt 100 persons, organised by Widersetzen but including many school pupils, staged a sit-in on the track.  They were quickly overwhelmed by police, who carried them into a "Kessel" (an encircling ring of police denying any access or egress). They were kept in the Kessel for many hours, even though the Castor transport had passed in the meantime. Lawyers were not permitted to visit the Kessel. The children had been told that they could leave when the Castors had reached Dannenberg, but instead, they were forced into prison busses and brought to the Detention Centre at Neu Tramm

 

 

Police Detention at Neu Tramm: "Wanton Disregard of Constitutional Rights"

 

A press release was issued by the Lawyersī Emergency Unit at 11:00 p.m. on November 13th.

In the release, they charged that the police were holding 267 people illegally, without being charged or brought before a judge, in wanton disregard of all legal and constitutional prescriptions. One lawyer called the situation "bloodcurdling". "Prisoners are being subjected to degrading accommodation," the release stated. "Although they were arrested between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., they were "parked" until the late evening in prison busses. Seven people were stored for more than four hours in a cell of about 1-1/2 square meters.  Even children and juveniles were locked in narrow transport cells. Some of them  panicked in these cramped and uncertain conditions,  nevertheless this ill treatment was continued for hours by the police. Attending judges confirmed a "flagrant breach of the imperative of immediateness".

 

The news release reported that detainees from the Hitzacker "Kessel" (a closed ring of police),

many of them schoolpupils, had been treated particularly badly. They were promised by the police that they would be released  once the CASTOR reached Dannenberg -- this promise was not kept. Instead, they had to spend hours in the "Kessel", and after that, many more hours in the busses at New Tramm.

 

The lawyers further charged that they were denied free access to the prisoners in the busses and cells.  Contrary to the law and justice, requests by the prisoners for contact with their lawyers were disregarded. Only after strong complaints and demands of ministers and the members of the press were children and juveniles finally brought before the court and released.  Not one of the detentions was upheld by the judges.

 

Protest Leader Brutally Beaten

 

At 7:25 p.m. on November 14th, the last of 12 Castors rolled through the gates at Gorleben, thereby automatically ending all restrictions on movement and assembly.  Nevertheless, the first moments of "freedom" can be specially dangerous, as protest leader Jochen Stay discovered.  Stay, a founder of the

"X-Tausend-Mal-Quer" movement, a non-violent organisation based on Ghandian principles, was on his way to a press conference at Gedelitz, where he planned to speak about the latest demo at Laase (see Page 7). When his car was halted in a traffic holdup, Stay got out to investigate, and was immediately recognised by five BGS policemen, who attacked him by forcing his head several times against a car, throwing him to the ground, and stomping on him.  They then threw him brutally into a police vehicle. The protest leader, who is now recovering from serious head injuries, has filed maltreatment charges against his attackers.  His case will also be discussed next week in the Lower Saxony parliament, a Wendland parliamentarian promised.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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