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G8 injured activist released from hospital after one month - new video evidence demonstrates police negligence

01 July 2003

"Anti-G8 activist Martin Shaw was released from Lausanne hospital this morning. He has
spent a month recovering from near-fatal injuries sustained from an incident on the 1st of
June in which the Swiss police cut the rope that he and his climbing partner were hanging
from while attempting to stop delegates from attending the G8 summit in Evian.

In a press conference held this morning, new video evidence was revealed which clearly
demonstrated the criminal negligence of the senior police officer at the scene of the incident.

An independent, international inquiry is to be launched into the Aubonne bridge incident,
along with other accusations of police brutality against protestors during the G8 summit.

Despite the seriousness of his injuries, Martin expressed no regrets in having attempted to
disrupt the summit. “The G8 is an institution which claims to address problems such as
world poverty, but actually increases the unequal distribution of global wealth through its
pursuit of neo-liberal policies,” he said. “Politicians take no notice of the massive popular
opposition to such inhumane economic policies, so it is up to ordinary members of the
public to take direct action against the root causes of structural global injustice like the G8
summit.”

Jean-Pierre Garbade, the lawyer defending the group who blocked the Aubonne bridge
produced new video evidence that showed the responsibility of the officer in charge in
allowing the lives of the protestors to be endangered. “We can see on the most recent video
evidence that the Sergeant Major (the officer in charge) and Monsieur Deiss have an
encounter just a few seconds before Deiss cut the rope, when Deiss had already shown his
intentions by taking out his knife,” explained Jean Pierre. “We know from the recording of
the police radio conversations that the Sergeant Major knew that people were hanging from
the rope, but he still failed to stop Deiss from cutting ït.”

Gesine Wenzel had been hanging on the same rope as Martin but was rescued by the quick
reactions of her support team when the police officer cut the line. She was keen to point out
that this was only one instance of repression in a growing tide of state-sponsored violence
against anti-capitalist activists. “This was not an isolated incident,” she said. “From
Gothenburg, to Genoa, to Evian, supposedly democratic governments are giving the green
light for their police forces to use lethal levels of violence against people daring to exercise
their rights to denounce the economic injustice of institutions like the G8.” "

For interviews with Martin Shaw, or Gesine Wenzel, call 0041 (0) 78 68 36 405
For interviews with the lawyer, call 0041 (0) 22 329 57 52
Emails to aubonne@no-log.org
WWW.AUBONNE.CH.VU

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO RECEIVE THE NEW FOOTAGE FROM THE
AUBONNE BRIDGE INCIDENT, CONTACT KIM ON 0041 (0) 78 74 13 116

Earlier coverage (from seed):

The British activist Martin Shaw, (37) whose climbing rope was cut by police as he hung
from a 30m bridge in protest against the G8 meeting yesterday in Evian is said to be in a
stable condition. An operation was carried out yesterday on his fractured pelvis, two
fractured vertebrae, and two broken ankles. Martin Shaw an experienced climber was
non-violently blockading a road in protest against the undemocratic G8 meeting-taking
place in nearby Evian.Martin and his fellow climber abseiled of the bridge to unveil two
banners and blockade the road using a clearly and well-marked rope. Other members of
the affinity group remained on the bridge to blockade it.

The protests against the G8 highlighted concerns and anger around the world over current
global capitalist policies that lead to inhumane tr