Tumultuous days for the police

     The days around the G8 summit were a strain for all people involved. The inhabitants of the area around Rostock had to accept the blocked roads, busses full of demonstrators and many police cars waiting in the streets for their orders.

     Already weeks before many police officers came to Rostock to prepare themselves for the summit. The actual beginning was on Saturday June 2^nd with the first big demonstration in Rostock-City. 30 000 people demonstrated peacefully in the streets. They had colourful posters with “Peace“ written on them and the police officers were also impressed by the creative ideas of the demonstrators. Their slogan was: “Another world is possible“ and some of them had travelled to Rostock even from foreign countries.      

     But the atmosphre of the demonstration changed after a small group of activists, which were wearing black masks and hoods, attacked the police with bottles and Molotov cocktails. They threw stones, destroyed windows and burned a car. The police also resorted to drastic methods such as tear gas and water cannons. They stormed through the streets with helms and clubs. The result of the excesses were 433 injured police officers and an unknown number of hurt demonstrators. In addition to that march other demonstrations in Rostock, Laage and around Heiligendamm followed. A few demonstrators even succeeded in outsmarting the police and crossing the security zone.    

      But apart from all the negative headlines, there were also good events like the “Anti-Poverty-Concert“, which was organized by Herbert Grönemeyer. It took place in the IGA-Park in Rostock and stars like Bono, Bob Geldof or bands from Africa sang against the proceedings of the G8 and demanded more financial aid from the industrial countries. 

written by J. M., 11.06.2007