A German lower court sided with Blockupy activists after the City of Frankfurt – one of Europe’s financial epicentres – attempted to issue a blanket ban on all demonstrations for the “Blockupy Days of Action” from May 16th to 19th. Two main demonstrations have now been allowed, and Blockupy activists plan to file a legal complaint with the State Appeals Court to secure permits for other protests as well.
Blockupy, a European coalition of activist groups, had called for protests in Frankfurt against the hegemony of financial capital and the austerity politics which profoundly affect the lives of millions of Europeans. More than 70 events – marches, rallies, teach-ins, assemblies, vigils, music performances and discussion groups – have already been planned for the Days of Action.
“It will not be possible to prevent these protests from taking place – neither legally nor de facto,” said Werner Rätz, who participated in talks with the city on behalf of Blockupy. According to activist Christoph Kleine, “the planned ban of our protest lies precisely in line with the crisis politics of the troika and the German government, according to which all means are to be used to prevent all resistance, even if basic rights are lost in the process. This kind of politics has lost all legitimacy with the elections in France and especially in Greece. The Blockupy actions are all the more important because we now must defend the democratic decision of the Greek people against a new attempt at extortion by the troika and the German government.”
In defending the blanket ban on public protest, Markus Frank, head of the Frankfurt Police Authority, had previously claimed that “violent actions for the Blockupy days are being prepared” in Berlin and Italy. During the appeals process, activists will attempt to cast doubt on the risk assessment of the City of Frankfurt, which misrepresents the nature of the peaceful Blockupy campaign and unfairly dismisses the right to public assembly and freedom of expression. According to Blockupy spokesperson Martin Mersing, “that is absurd. Frank’s speculations lack any basis and blatantly serve to criminalize the planned actions before they take place.” Public action trainings have been taking place throughout German and Europe. If the police had attended any of these gatherings (as journalists and passerby did), they would have been able to witness the de-escalating behavior of the participants.
Before the lower court announced its decision in favour of Blockupy on Monday, more than 1600 people had signed an online petition against the city that stated: “This ban is an obvious breach of the constitutional right to demonstrate. We insist that the protest against the crisis politics can take place in the Frankfurt financial district and at the ECB headquarters, as it complies with the existing jurisdiction of the German Federal Constitutional Court.” The petition was signed by activists, union representatives, academics and politicians, including the deputy state chairman of the Social Democratic Party, members of the German and European parliaments and members of the national committees of the German Green and Left parties. Other signatories include Konstantin Wecker, a prominent German musician, the American social theorist Michael Hardt, and sociologist John Holloway from Mexico.
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