Horrific raid on GSF and IMC Genoa : Report

Horrific raid on GSF and IMC Genoa : Report
by IMCista 6:29am Sun Jul 22 \'01
http://italy.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=5539

Report from the IMC tonight.

Tonight the carabineraie raided the IMC as many people already have probably seen on the newswire already. As we saw it the carabineraie started by pulling up about 2-300m up the road in initially around four to five vans. They got out and started to jog down the street in riot gear and batons. People saw them and started to enter both building - the main GSF building and the school.

The school had been a safe space for people to sleep and chill for a few days. In the school there were a diverse bunch of people. As the convergence center was quite close, many people came to get information on the counter conference and the solidarity marches and also to use computers. Many people who slept in the school were participants from the marches, a group of pacifists from Zaragoza had come to the school to sleep just fifteen minutes before the arrived, (as it was the only really \"safe\" space to sleep) and ended up with eight hospitalised and more detained by the carabineraie.

The carabineraie, having reached the school and the GSF building started to arbitrarily beat people with the batons as people scrabbled to get inside either building. The door were closed on the GSF building but they entered from, not the main door, but one which was not secured at the side - not secured as this was just not expected.

I can only tell from what happened now from the IMC as I was there working. The IMC tried to calm people down as the carabineraie came in and demanded that all of us stand spread-eagle against the wall for about 30 minutes whilst the people wandered in and out of the rooms a bit listlessly, looking for anything incriminating - as if. They then moved everyone into one area and everyone had to sit down for another twenty minutes or so.

What they found and took was some of the equipment like mini disks videos and disks and searched many peoples bags. They also took some salad knives from the kitchen and a couple of gas masks. Later after it was all over they said to the press that they saw quite a lot of black clothes inside the rooms, well excuse me.

Apparently opposite the police took all available passports and wallets and diaries from peoples bags.

The carabineraie tried to take one of the IMC people but another journalist with G8 accreditation stepped in although he was pushed back the carabineraie left the other guy alone.

They finally left when a women MP who was in the building came to our floor and had powers to make to carabineraie leave - due to the fact that we were an international group and also journo/press. The police left, but we discovered that the people on the other floors of the GSF building had had freedom to roam after only being held on the floor for a short time. Also the GSF Lawyers office was ransacked and the computers destroyed, hard drives taken and the phones smashed