----- Original Message ----- From: "Bob Olsen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> TORONTO STAR..... International News Updates Sep 11, 21:59 EDT (Toronto time) Australian cops attack protesters MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Baton-wielding Australian police, some on horseback, charged through a human chain blocking access to an economic forum, leaving several protesters with bloodied faces, as renewed anti-globalization protests erupted Tuesday. The charge allowed several buses of delegates to enter the three-day Asia Pacific Economic Summit - the latest target of an anti-globalization movement - on its second day. But protest organizers warned the police action was an escalation of the violence that could rebound in stronger protests shortly. The police tactic appeared to be in response to the success of about 5,000 protesters Monday in stopping about 200 of the conference's nearly 900 delegates from entering Melbourne's Crown Casino, the venue of the three-day summit organized by the privately funded Switzerland-based World Economic Forum. Conference organizers said virtually all of the delegates were able to attend the conference Tuesday. Microsoft's Bill Gates was one leader due to address the meeting Tuesday. ''We were just linking arms and enforcing the blockade, when the coppers came over the top of the barricade,'' said protester Frank Vanwierst, blood pouring down his face as he sat in a first-aid tent outside the casino. ''I had my back turned but I was told a copper with a shaved head whacked me on the head with his baton.'' Protest spokesman Stephen Jolly said police violence could spur protesters to retaliate, adding the demonstration will be boosted Tuesday by the addition of several-thousand labour union members. ''There's a hell of a lot of workers coming down here today and this is going to heighten emotions something terrible I can tell you,'' Jolly said. In the worst of several isolated clashes Monday, dozens of protesters surrounded and climbed over Western Australian state Premier Richard Court's car before slashing its tires and spray-painting it with anti-capitalist slogans. Police responded by sending in officers on horseback and staging a baton charge. Five protesters and five police officers required hospital treatment. Two protesters were arrested Monday and one Tuesday. They were released and were expected to be charged with assaulting police. One organizer described the protests as ''Seattle without the tear gas'' but anti-globalization protests have only briefly flared into the sort of violence that marred last year's World Trade Organization talks in the United States. Prime Minister John Howard, who had to be taken into the casino by boat because protesters sealed off all other entrances, condemned the protests in a speech Monday night. ''The right of lawful dissent on any subject is etched very deeply into the Australian way of life,'' Howard said. ''We did not see lawful dissent today, we saw hooliganism which is unacceptable and un-Australian.'' Many of the demonstrators said the civil unrest was the only way to register their distrust of the heads of global corporations. ''We have no vote on who these major world leaders are,'' said Michael Gann, a native of California who lives in northern New South Wales state. ''They are not accountable to people because they are not voted into office.'' http://www.thestar.com/ ............................................. Bob Olsen, Toronto [EMAIL PROTECTED] ............................................. ================ Macdonald Stainsby. Rad-Green List: Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion. http://www.egroups.com/group/rad-green [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------- http://www.geocities.com/leninist_international/ http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
