[Imc-beirut] Aubonne Bridge trial over... with no surprises!

[!-Mad]

Please circulate!

On the 17th of February, 2006, activists walked out of court in contempt
of the whitewashed trial of two police officers in Switzerland, who were
acquitted of charges of causing severe bodily harm. The two victims
narrowly escaped with their lives after a police officer cut a climbing
rope during a protest action against the G8 in Evian, France in 2003.
Despite clear video evidence that the police officers had cut the rope in
question, the judge helped to provide support for continuing police
impunity by ruling that they could not be held responsible for their
actions.

The following statement was read by Martin Shaw and Gesine Wenzel
immediately after walking out of the courtroom, while the judge was
reading his verdict.

“What we have seen here during the last three days is exactly the reason
why we and thousands of other people like us all over the world think that
direct action is the best way to overcome injustice.
The entire judicial procedure from the time the rope was cut has been
clear whitewash. The prosecution is supposed to defend the law but what
they actually defended is the state – and its officers. This court case
has been an elaborate, expensive and time-consuming piece of theatre to
provide a platform to find excuses for inexcusable actions and to misguide
the public by pretending to provide justice.
This verdict is a pure cover up of police brutality by the justice system
and is just further proof of the almost complete police impunity in
Switzerland.”

For (previous) more info http://www.aubonnebridge.net/

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