From: undercurrents alternative news <underc-AT-gn.apc.org>
Subject: Undercurrents report live from Prague 26 Sept 2000
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2000 05:04:06 -0700


Undercurrents report live from Prague 26 Sept 2000

By Martin Palmer and Paul O^Ò Connor,Undercurrents

The images presented to the planet when the International Monetary Fund and
World Bank hold their annual joint meetings are not ones of men in suits
making key decisions for entire nations. The latest images are now of young
people playing drums and waving banners, often lost in smoke and tear gas
fired from riot police. Today, as the meetings got underway in Prague^Òs
former Communist-era Palace of Culture, a police and army guard set out to
ensure the security of the ^Ócastle^Ô as activists have dubbed it. Around
8000 activists are on the streets of the capital of the Czech republic to
disrupt the meetings, taking inspiration from the actions in Seattle and
Washington DC. 

On Sunday the Undercurrents video crew arrived at the Independent Media
Center to find police illegally insisting on checking the passports of
everyone who arrived. When the Undercurrents reporters refused to give any
details and attempted to enter the police dragged Martin while another
grabbed his lens. The independent media responded by putting a dozen
cameras in the face of the officers and forcing them to leave.

Ya Basta! an Italian network of very together activists hijacked a train to
take them to Prague. 1,200, strong they led one of the three parts of the
demonstration. Protesters sorted themselves into three groups with blue,
pink and yellow colour^Òs for ease of identification and cordination. Flags
in the three colours led the march off in opposite directions both to
surround the castle and also confuse the police.

At the police barricade on the road bridge opposite the conference center,
banners in various languages declared the protests illegal and that force
would be used to disperse people. A stand off was the result with the Ya
Basta! leading the yellow group trying to push past the police line.
Activists succeeded in taking two police batons as souvenirs. Having made
their was round to the other side of the center the Pink group, consisting
of mainly British activists, moved in. With a sound track from a Samba band
and activist folk band ^ÑSeize the Day^Ò, activists got busy with fence
cutting. One fence cutter said ^Ó I am doing this to stop people being hurt
if the police try to force us into the side.^Ô Meanwhile the downed fence
was dragged off to become part of the activist^Òs barricades. Police refused
to talk despite various musicians trying to open a dialogue. A diminutive
middle aged Indian woman from the Narmada dam campaign stood nose to nose
with the line of armed & armored police in gasmasks. The pink group moved
past the military tanks, hundreds of armored police, and dozens of army
personnel and found a side street blocked only by a thin line of uniformed
police. Masked up black clad activists grabbed a metal barrier and ran at
the line and a battle ensued with both sides getting stuck in. Sticks and
rocks were thrown as police responded with deafening loud firecrackers,
smoke grenades, and water cannons. One masked up young man grabbed cameras
screaming at the press, both independent and mainstream, to stop filming.
Meanwhile the samba band and other activists blockaded the streets forcing
a number of delegate^Òs cars off the road. One Mercedes had its windows
smashed and after making a run for it the suited middle aged male occupants
had an undignified clamber over the police barricades to escape.

City center McDonalds restaurants lost a few windows while taxi drivers
complained that activists were targeting them for carrying delegates to and
from their hotels. The British group got a call on their mobile from a
woman named Estelle. She has a broken arm and head injuries and is hiding
in a hospital from the police. Radio and television news is reporting that
25 police officers have been injured. Delegates have been told that they
can not leave the conference center as they are surrounded but later
reports said that they are being evacuated on trains.

End

Undercurrents video reports are due as soon as we can sort out the chaotic
Internet connections in Prague

The one so far uploaded is footage of Wolfenson, the World Bacn President
who gets confronted by Indymedia journalist and is asked why he's cutting
public transport funds as he is actually using the public train. 

You can watch our Videos at
http://www.undercurrents.org/praha/

or http://prague.indymedia.org

please arrange a screening of this event, contact undercurrents for help
more details to follow...
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