[WSIS CS-Plenary] Polymedia Lab closed by Police

[Ralf Bendrath]

breaking news at http://www.worldsummit2003.org:


Repression against WSIS? We Seize!
Media Laboratory closed by police

  	Geneva, 9 December. As the WSIS summit is opening its doors,
claiming to facilitate peoples access to information and communication,
the main public access space within the WSIS side-events has been shut
down. This morning, police in riot gear raided the Polimedia Lab in
downtown Geneva. However later today, people will set it up again in
another space nearby.

At 10 am this morning police turned up at the Polimedia Lab, blocked the
doors, denied access to participants and visitors arriving at the space,
and demanded those that were present to leave and take all equipment out.
The first reason given was that the owner of the space had not given his
permission for it to be used (even though an agreement had been made on
the use of the space). Later security reasons and health&safety issues
were put forward as an explanation for the police action.

However, members of the Geneva03 collective, which has been preparing the
WSIS? We Seize! events, have said that these reasons are a pretext for
shutting down a space for a critical reflection of the WSIS. They have
pointed to other recent acts of police repression against media activists
and independent media, including the police raid of the Indpenedent Media
Centre during the G8 summit in Geneva earlier this year. It is becoming
normal that police is being used to repress critical voices and
independent reporting during big events, such as WSIS, one activist said.

Polimedia Lab was planned as an open public space for skill-sharing and
experimenting with communication technologies, with a rolling programme of
workshops and presentations. It is part of the WSIS? We Seize! series of
events, which is the only WSIS side-event to take place in the Geneva city
centre and to be completely open to the public. WSIS? We Seize! is
included in the official list of WSIS side-events.

At the moment, around 20 people are still locked inside the space and are
negotiating with the police and with officials from the Geneva city
council. Participants from the strategic conference, which was taking
place nearby, immediately made their way to the Lab to support people
there.

Read more on www.hubproject.org.

Update: After long negotiations with the city council, people have been
allowed to move Polimedia Lab to an alternative space: Maison des
Associations (Rue des Savoises). So the workshop and presentation
programme will go ahead as planned!