Warsaw cops attack cultural centre, beat up pregnant activist Systematic police repression led up to and followed the alternative economic conference and anti-WEF protests on 29 April 2004, but during Dec/2004 and Jan/2005, a new wave of police repression against human rights activists has started in Poland. On 11 December 2004, police attacked a music concert at the ElektroMadonna squat in Częstochowa without showing a warrant, illegally searched the building without independent witnesses present, detained 15, and filed minor drug charges. The motive for the attack is hypothesised to be anti-war organising at the squat. On 26 January 2005, police in Krakow violently attacked peaceful protestors (pl) (en) opposing war criminal Putin's presence at the 60th anniversary of the freeing of Auschwitz-Birkenau, and detained about 28-35. Police suggested they would charge people for insulting a head of state (Article 136 in criminal law), but as of 29.01.2005, only one person remained accused of this; other charges such as assaulting a police officer remain. On 28 January 2005, the third attack occurred when police attacked (pl) (en) the Fabryka squat in Warsaw. They refused to show a warrant or to provide their identity numbers, and they beat up a 5-month pregnant activist. Videos of the Krakow attack and audio files of the Warsaw attack are being widely distributed, calls for the resignation of the police minister Ryszard Kalisz are being made, but your pressure on Prime Minister Belka, President Kwaśniewski and at your local embassy calling (1) for all charges against the victims of the three attacks to be dropped and (2) for Kalisz to be dismissed, might help stop this wave of police violence.
I thought that we had problems here in Zpain, but i see we're not the only one, and btw, I remember when i was in finland last year, i met a Polish guy with whom i had a little discussion about war in Irak, because it was just after the Spanish came back from Irak, and we were in the same mission than the Polish, and he asked me if i agreed, and obviously i said yes, we were happy in Zpain because of our troops came back, and he told that we should stay together no against Saddam and a lot of shitful, proyankee stuff... Are there many people for the war in Poland, i want to believe that it isn't right, is it?
