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26 january 2001
davos
swiss start deporting davos speakers
"public eye on davos" speaker detained
and deported
On Friday, 26th, Adam Ma’anit, member of
the organization Corporate Europe
Observatory, was prevented from giving his
talk on the role of corporations in
policy-making at the "Public Eye on Davos"
Conference challenging the World Economic
Forum.
Mr. Ma’anit was detained by the Swiss
police in Landquart and sent back to Basel to
be deported back to the Netherlands. The
decision of the police to send him back seems
to be based purely on the person’s
appearance. Mr. Ma’anit’s has long hair. He
was stopped when changing trains in
Landquart, searched, photographed and
questioned at great length. This is not the
first incident of the kind: Students
distributing ‘Public Eye’ programs were
detained in Davos, visitors and even
journalists wanting to attend the Conference
were stopped and many of them sent back.
The "Public Eye on Davos" is an NGO
coalition organizing a public forum which
questions the legitimacy of the WEF and
challenges the Forum's role in promoting
economic globalisation. It does not support
violence from any side.
The actions of the Police prevent the
participants of the Public Eye to express
their views freely and therefore denies the
public access to alternative information.
Peter Bosshard from the Berne Declaration
says:
“This behaviour clearly exposes the
arbitrary double standards of the police and
the Forum: While people carrying WEF programs
and invitations have privileged access to
Davos, visitors of the ‘Public Eye’ are
treated as if they were criminals. These
police state methods are clearly
unacceptable.”
The ‘Public Eye on Davos’ protests against
the Swiss police actions because they violate
the UN Convention on Human Rights which
guarantees the freedom of assembly, of
movement and expression. A protest resolution
will be handed out to the Police and the
President of the Swiss Confederation, Moritz
Leuenberger, after his speech at the "Public
Eye" Conference today. The Public Eye is a
project carried out by 8 international NGOs
and coordinated by the Berne Declaration. For
further information contact:
www.davos2001.ch
Marianne Hochuli, Berne Declaration, 079
419 68 91
Tony Juniper, Friends of the Earth
International, 0044 7712 843 207
Public eye on Davos Peter Bosshard email:
publiceye@davos2001.ch mobile: 079 339 37
01
Ian Willmore Media Co-ordinator
Friends of the Earth 26-28 Underwood Street
London N1 7JQ
Mobile: 07887 641344
Work: 0207 566 1657
Home: 0208 885 3779
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