[A-List] G8 Evian: Briton injured in G8 protest fall

[Macdonald Stainsby <mstainsby@xxxxxx>]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2954964.stm

      Briton injured in G8 protest fall

      A British man has been seriously injured in a fall from a bridge at a
G8 protest in Switzerland.
      Martin Shaw, 39, from Ealing, west London, dropped 20 metres (65 feet)
into a river in Lausanne after police cut a rope to which he was attached.

      The veteran protester was understood to have been trying to block the
traffic with the rope when the incident happened.

      A woman who was connected to the other end of the rope, was hauled to
safety onto the bridge.

      The G8 gathering of world leaders in Evian, just across the border in
France, has sparked violence between tens of thousands of demonstrators and
police on both sides of the Franco-Swiss border.

      In this incident, Swiss officials said about 15 activists had staged a
sit-down protest on the A1 expressway bridge, over the Aubonne river.

      Police tried to lift the rope, with Mr Shaw and his fellow activist
attached, because it was blocking traffic.

      A statement on the government's official summit website said: "Several
policemen raised [the rope] to allow the passage of the vehicles.

      "At the same moment, a policeman that had not noticed the two people
suspended... cut the rope with a knife to clear the passage."

      Mr Shaw was taken by helicopter to hospital after falling into shallow
water.

      He was described as seriously injured with multiple fractures,
although his life was not said to be in danger.

      The Swiss statement added that a district magistrate had opened an
investigation into the accident.

      According to the Independent Media Center website, the activists had
tried to block the bridge by putting a rope across it, with a person
attached to either end.

      Photographer hurt


      "The police turned up pretty quickly, but didn't really know how to
deal with the situation," an unnamed witness said.

      "They started arresting the activists that were on the bridge,
dragging them away but did not know what to do about the rope.

      "The drivers in the traffic were getting quite upset and eventually
the police just decided to cut the rope."

      Meanwhile, a news photographer from London was hurt in the leg after a
stun grenade exploded at his feet during a G8 protest in Geneva.

      Dan Smallman, 31, from Images Sans Frontieres, blamed police for
"going mad with stun grenades" against a "completely peaceful" crowd.

      He underwent two hours of surgery in Geneva to repair the damage.

      Largely peaceful

      The summit itself is protected by a 10-mile security cordon, but the
protesters have been demonstrating in towns and transport routes around the
perimeter.

      Swiss officials estimated the numbers of protesters at 50,000, while
protest organisers said they numbered 120,000.

      The main protest on Sunday saw tens of thousands join a cross-border
march that was largely peaceful.

      But there was rioting and looting in Lausanne and Geneva, with police
responding with tear gas and stun guns.

      The G8 countries are: the United States, Japan, Germany, UK, France,
Italy, Canada and Russia.




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Macdonald Stainsby
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
--
In the contradiction lies the hope.
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