We demand the release of climate prisoners in Copenhagen

As the world burns, they put the good guys and gals in prison and stuff the pockets of the bankers with money...the climate circus continues, we will they relize that suicide is the result of the system they seek to defend and enrich.


Distributed by Turbulence (www.turbulence.org.uk)
See http://turbulence.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Tadzio-Press-Release-II.pdf

*Press Release for Immediate Release*
Friday, December 18 2009
15.00 Hours

Campaign for the Release of Tadzio Mueller and Other Climate Prisoners in Copenhagen
Continues: 4,000 Signatories to Petition; Delegations to Danish Embassies in Berlin,
London and San Francisco

Copenhagen, Denmark

This morning, delegations visited the Danish embassies in Berlin and London to demand
the release of Tadzio Mueller and other climate prisoners in Copenhagen. A similar
delegation visited the Danish Embassy in San Francisco yesterday. The Berlin and
London delegations handed over the almost 4,000 signatures so far collected on an
online petition. Tadzio Mueller is a spokesperson for Climate Justice Action. At
least two other spokespeople belonging to the same network have also been arrested.

The Berlin delegation consisted of Mona Bricke (climate activist with Gegenstrom
Berlin and UN Climate Conference delegate), Katja Kipping (Member of the German
Bundestag and Deputy Leader of the Left Party, Germany), Corinna Genschel (Committee
for Basic Rights and Democracy), and Ben Trott (editor, Turbulence: Ideas for
Movement). The delegation met with a representative of the Embassy, expressed their
concerns, and hand delivered the petition.

The London delegation were met by the London Metropolitan Police and a security
guard. They were denied entry to the building and Embassy officials refused to meet
with them, despite prior notice having been given. The petition was read out in full
and left with the security guard. David Harvie, also of Turbulence and who was part
of the London delegation, said, “The refusal of any member of diplomatic staff to
meet us or even allow us across their threshold was disrespectful. In a small way it
mirrors the attempts of the Danish government to suppress free expression in
Copenhagen and of the United Nations to silence those demanding climate justice
inside the COP process.”

Katja Kipping of the German Left Party said, “I demand the immediate release of
Tadzio Mueller and all those still in custody. I am especially worried about the use
of preventive arrest. This allows the police to act arbitrarily. 1,700 preventive
arrests show that people’s right to public assembly is being effectively contested,
and, in Tadzio’s case, that the organisation of legitimate protest is being
criminalised.”

Ben Trott, who edits the magazine Turbulence: Ideas for Movement with Tadzio Mueller
said, “Tadzio has been arrested for advocating civil disobedience. Yet it is obvious
that civil disobedience has an important role to play to in the kinds of far-reaching
change needed to properly and justly respond to the climate crisis. Al Gore and
NASA’s James Hansen have pretty much said the same thing. Either release Tadzio and
the others, or arrest Al Gore.”

The climate activist Mona Bricke said, “Tadzio and I were both accredited for the UN
Climate Conference, through the organisation A SEED. Tadzio was arrested after a
press conference inside the Bella Centre, and A SEED’s entire accreditation was
revoked, similarly to that of the complete delegation of Friends of the Earth. When
on Wednesday 300 UNFCCC delegates attempted to leave the Conference Centre to join
the People’s Assembly outside, they were forcefully prevented from doing so by both
Danish police and UN guards. I was shocked by the degree of violence that was used
against these people, whom the UNFCCC had accredited to take part in their conference.”


Notes to the Editor

1) For background information, see the Turbulence press release from Thursday 17
December 2009 and the online petition, which can both be found via:
www.turbulence.org.uk

2) Emma Dowling, a lecturer in Ethics, Governance and Accountability at the
University of London who took part in the London delegation is available for press
enquiries: 0044 7967 111 234.

3) The full text of the online petition can be found here:
http://www.petitiononline.com/Tadzio/petition.html

4) Signatories of the petition include: Naomi Klein (author of No Logo and The Shock
Doctrine); Rebecca Solnit (author of A Paradise Built in Hell); Michael Hardt and
Antonio Negri (authors of the books Empire, Multitude, and Commonwealth); Dr. Simon
Lewis (University of Leeds and UN accredited science advisor in COP15); Christine
Buchholz, Ulla Jelpke and Alexander Ulrich (Left Party Members of the German
Bundestag); Halina Wawzyniak and Katja Kipping (Left Party Members of the German
Bundestag and Deputy Leaders of the Left Party, Germany); Gabriele Zimmer (MEP, Left
Party, Germany); Sven-Christian Kindler (Member of the German Bundestag, Bündnis
90/Die Grünen); Jan Philipp Albrecht (MEP, Green Party, Germany); Frieder Otto Wolf
(former German Green Party MEP); Gesine Agena (Spokeswoman, Green Party Youth,
Germany); Walden Bello (Member of Congress, Philippines); Olivier Besancenot (New
Anti-Capitalist Party, France); Lindsey German (Convenor, Stop the War Coalition UK);
Hilary Wainwright (Red Pepper); Elke Steven (Committee for Basic Rights and
Democracy, Germany); Wu Ming (authors of Q and Manituana); Peer Stolle (Management
Board of the Republikanischer Anwaeltinnen- und Anwaelteverein); Moema Miranda
(coordinator, The Brazilian Institute of Social and Economic Analysis – IBASE); Susan
George (Honorary President Attac France); artists Adrian Ghenie and Danica Phelps as
well as Turner Prize shortlisted Tacita Dean and Turner Prize winner Douglas Gordon;
Jimmy McGovern (screenwriter); and the NGO network Friends of the Earth International.