Basel: riots against borders & militarisation

Two articles about the actions against the ‘Conex15‘. The first one is fromContrainfo; the second was translated by Rabble from a piece in French in Le Chat Noir Emeutier.

On the evening of friday September 18th, around 400 people walked from Claraplatz to the deportation prison “Bässlergut” in a demonstration against the military exercise “Conex15” and to show our solidarity to the prisoners. When the demonstration arrived there, about 60 riot-cops were waiting to protect the prison. From the outside we could hear the prisoners banging on the bars and shouting slogans, amongst others against the cops.

As the demonstration tried to get closer to the prison and the cops were attacked to drive them away, they responded with teargas and rubber bullets. There were a lot of slogans shouted and the attacks on the cops continued, but unfortunately we didn’t succeed to get closer to the fences. After these confrontations, which lasted for about half an hour, the demonstration continued to walk into the direction of the harbour, where originally a part of the military exercise was supposed to take place. On the way buildings of a local newspaper (Basler Zeitung), of the ISS and the border police were attacked and one ISS car was set afire. Several public transport ticket-machines were smashed.

The “Basler Zeitung” takes part in the racist campaigns against the migrants, the ISS participates in the facility management in prisons Europe-wide and the reasons for the attacks against the border police are self-explanatory. After the demonstration 8 people got arrested, but all of them are free again.

This demonstration was a sign of solidarity to the people who are imprisoned and deported and shows our anger against this society which is accepting this situation. And it is an expression of our rage against the cops, the military and the border guards, who are protecting these structures of power like prisons and borders.

Fire and Flames to the (Deportation-)Prisons!!!

Summary from Le Chat Noir Emeutier, translated by Rabble:

On Friday 18th a “No CONEX – No Borders” was called in Basel.

Between 200-400 people gathered in Claraplatz, and moved down Klybeckstrasse andDreirosenbrücke in the direction of the border at Weil-Otterbach, where 60-odd cops waited for them. On the way, numerous pieces of graffitti against borders were written on the walls and various businesses. A few passersby who interfered got some paint in their face and clothes. The demo moved towards the Bässlergut detention centre, where 50 or so demonstrators wearing masks and helmets confronted the cops with fireworks, stones and glass bottles. Numerous cops say they were blinded by lasers. The police responded with shots of tear gas and rubber bullets. The confrontation lasted around half an hour, while the police and border patrol officers attempted to push back protestors. This didn’t prevent people from hearing the cries of joy and encouragement coming from the detention centre.

The protestors left the police lines and took another route, destroying numerous branches of multinational companies. The office of the local paper ‘BaZ’ on Hochbergerstrasse was badly hit. Cash dispensers and billboards for the Basel transport were smashed at Stücki. Also, the police say that numerous border patrol and police vehicles and one of their trucks were damaged. The demo wound down around 10pm.

In all, the cops talk of four officers injured and eight protestors arrested. 5 Swiss men (aged 18-24), 2 Swiss men (aged 25-26) as well as a 22 year old Austrian were arrested. All of them are accused of breaching the peace, threats and violence against officers, and damage and disruption to public transport.