ANTI-CAPITALISTS CANCEL PRAGUE BANKERS' PARTY

Sept. 26 - Another international day of carnival against capitalism. This time in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic. Cameras rolled, the TV showed the usual tear-gas riot scenes and McDonalds got its customary kicking.

But what didn't make the news was that across the globe 45 cities in 20 countries took part in solidarity actions against the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), which was having its annual meeting in Prague. (There were actions as far afield as Israel, India, Australia (2000 people marched in Melbourne, an impressive turnout obviously swelled by S11), Brazil, NZ, USA, Canada, UK, Holland and Sweden.) Also, hardly mentioned in the media were the hundreds of people stopped from entering the Czech Republic or those beaten up and abused in police stations. And of course convenientally ignored was why thousands of people took to the streets of Prague last week.

FAT CATS & CHUBBY CZECHERS

Maybe it was a bit of an ambitious demand: "We will lay siege to the World Bank and IMF until they dissolve themselves." But with the Conference abandoned a day early and the previous day's meetings poorly attended, there's no doubt that last the S26 mass demonstrations in Prague were a success.

Fifteen thousand people came together from all over the planet to lay siege to institutions that have been blamed for "harming more people than any other non military organisations in human history" (David Korten). The protests were also a success because they drew attention to institutions that have thrived on anonymity. As the chairman of the World Bank inspection panel told our SchNEWS mole inside the conference, "The only thing the World Bank is afraid of is publicity. These protesters are creating that." Another, a Deutsche Bank employee from New York, was even more frank: "The protesters are right of course. We are just interested in the money. The World Bank and IMF are just helping people like us to cream it in. Isn't it great?"

TEARIN' UP THE CZECHS!

Up to fifteen thousand people mobilised from every corner of the planet; Bologna's Michelin-man stylee Ya Basta! anarchist group mingled with Czech Solidaritska, Catalonia's anarcho-syndicalist CNT and blocs from Poland, Germany, Greece and beyond. Latin Americans, Bangladeshis and Maoris traded resistance tips as the sound system kicked in.

Groups divided into yellow, blue and pink-silver blocks and approached the Conference Centre from different directions. As the groups got near to the police lines all hell broke loose, with protesters trading cobblestones with stun grenades, tear gas and water cannons. The bankers couldn't get out, and we couldn't get in, and eventually delegates were taken out by underground - probably the first time a lot of them would have used public transport for a while.

As darkness ebbed in, the remaining pink and blue crew wove their way northwards through the valley to meet the Italians who had blockaded the Opera house - the southern European anarchists obviously craving some higher culture after a hard day's street fight. However, the opera got cancelled and the bankers instead headed to the city limits for a banquet. These people really are down with the world's poor!

MCDONALD'S GETS REDESIGNED (AGAIN)

Protesters drifted to Wenceslas Square, scene of the Velvet Revolution, where ten regular cops stood sheepishly in front of a beckoning McDonald's. Within a minute and a half it received its ritual trashing. KFC followed suit, and by the time the IPB Bank got its share of broken paving stones several dozen Prague locals had joined in to reclaim a little power from the bankers who had foreclosed their business or refused them loans to feed their families. The riot police took their time getting there; just enough damage was done before the cops ran riot and the crowd melted away to pubs with decent prices.

The next day you couldn't move in Prague without being pounced on by police. The WB/IMF cancelled the last day's meetings saying it was nothing to do with the protests. Honest guv, it was just that they had nothing more to talk about. "And as the delegates peer over the side of their ill-protected fortress at the crowds below, scanning signs that say 'Capitalism Kills,' they look terribly confused. Didn't these strange people get the memo? Don't they understand that we all already decided that free-market capitalism was the last, best system?" - Naomi Klein. (SchNEWS).

czech police abuse & torture s26 prisoners

The Czech authorities mounted a massive operation in an attempt to ensure that the bankers' party went uninterrupted - 11,000 police were deployed in Prague, supported by armoured personnel carriers, troop trucks, fire engines, helicopters, tear gas, concussion grenades and water cannons. On the day itself there were few arrests but as night fell and in the following days, police started to randomly pick people up arbitrarily and soon nearly 900 people had been nicked. Many of the arrests were made by masked-up plain clothes cops who were one minute leading attacks on uniformed police and McDonalds and the next dragging activists away.

In custody arrestees were often placed in overcrowded cells, denied access to food, warmth and medical attention and denied a phonecall and a solicitor. Some protestors were handcuffed to walls and beaten, others forced to lie spread eagled on the floor and prevented from sleeping. Some women were strip-searched and humiliated by male prison guards. There are at least 20 international activists still in jail and another 70 are missing but presumed in jail. Up to 600 other Czechs are also suspected detained. They will almost certainly have to stay in prison until their trials, which could be something like three months. Donations (cheques/PO's) can be made out to Prague Prisoner Support Fund, and sent c/o RTS, PO Box 9656, London N4. (SchNEWS, early October).