SOUTH AFRICA: SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE USE TEARGAS AND STUN GUNS TO DISPERSE A DEMONSTRATION BY ANTI-GLOBALISATION PROTESTERS
Record ID:
640551
SOUTH AFRICA: SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE USE TEARGAS AND STUN GUNS TO DISPERSE A DEMONSTRATION BY ANTI-GLOBALISATION PROTESTERS
- Title: SOUTH AFRICA: SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE USE TEARGAS AND STUN GUNS TO DISPERSE A DEMONSTRATION BY ANTI-GLOBALISATION PROTESTERS
- Date: 24th August 2002
- Summary: (U6) JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (AUGUST 24, 2002) (REUTERS) LV EARLY EVENING PROTESTORS CARRYING CANDLES BEGINNING TO MARCH SLV/SV SUMMIT DELEGATES IN MARCH (2 SHOTS) SLV/SV POLICE TRYING TO PREVENT MARCHERS FROM MOVING ON (4 SHOTS) SLV/SV POLICE FIRING TEARGAS (3 SHOTS) SLV/SV OF POLICE AND PROTESTORS (3 SHOTS) MCU INDEPENDENT TELEVISION PRODUCER RIYAD DESAI BEING ARRESTED BY POLICE/ (English) RIYAD DESAI INDEPENDENT TELEVISION PRODUCER TALKING TO POLICE SAYING: "Stop firing, I have a crew I am responsible for, ok. You did not give a warning, you did not give a warning. I'm not happy with it, I have done nothing, I'm here to cover it and you are arresting me." SV CROWD CHANTING "The people, united, shall never be defeated" SV PRODUCER BEING PUSHED INTO VAN SV POLICE AND SHOUTING PROTESTERS (2 SHOTS) SV POLICE CONFRONTING SABC CAMERAMAN SV JOURNALIST IN BACK OF POLICE VAN CU POLICE CAR WITH LIGHTS FLASHING
- Embargoed: 8th September 2002 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: JOHANNESBURG AND AT SEA OFF THE COAST OF CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
- Country: South Africa
- Topics: Crime,Environment,General,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAEXS4GTSLUTGTB77W54OV7HVYW
- Story Text: South African police have used teargas and stun guns to disperse a demonstration by anti-globalisation protesters just two days before the start of one of the world's biggest ever summits.
Earlier they detained at least a dozen Greenpeace environmental activists who scaled a nuclear power plant.
Dubbed the "Freedom of Expression" march, members of the Social Movements Indaba (SMI), marched on Saturday (August 24) from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) Great Hall to the Johannesburg Central Police Station to hold a candle-lit vigil and an all night protest.
A heavy police presence had been apparent from early in the afternoon when hundreds of singing and chanting demonstrators voiced their anger at the detention on Tuesday (August 20) of 77 members of the landless People's Movement (LPM) during a march to protest against the government's refusal to meet them for discussions on the land issue.
Police have warned that they will adopt an attitude of zero tolerance towards unruly demonstrations during the summit.
The marchers left the university campus at dusk and were confronted by police who tried to prevent them from moving forward. They were joined by delegates who had been attending an International Forum on Globalisation conference at Wits.
After several confrontations with the marchers police fired stun guns and what appeared to be teargas at the demonstrators.
After further confrontations Riyad Desai, an Independent Television Producer was arrested by the police. Before being put in a police vehicle he told them:
"Stop firing, I have a crew I am responsible for, ok. You did not give a warning, you did not give a warning. I'm not happy with it, I have done nothing, I'm here to cover it and you are arresting me."
As he was driven away the crowd chanted "The people, united, shall never be defeated"
Earlier on Saturday (August 24) Greenpeace demonstrators climbed a building at the French-designed Koberg nuclear power plant on the coast near Cape Town, the only one in Africa, and strung up two yellow and black banners proclaiming "Nukes out of Africa - Greenpeace."
Police detained three of the anti-nuclear activists on the the 15-metre (50 ft) high concrete building, which pumps water from the sea to cool the twin-domed reactor alongside, leaving another three dangling by wires from the installation.
They also detained two inflatables speedboats, each containing three people, that brought the protesters from the Greenpeace ship Esperanza.
Greenpeace wants to put pressure on about 100 world leaders at the 10-day summit opening on Monday to agree ways to protect the planet while cutting poverty. It fears that their promises will fall short of real action.
During construction, the plant was attacked by the now-ruling African National Congress (ANC) in the 1970s as part of a protest against white minority rule. The ANC came to power in 1994.
Next week's Earth Summit, expected to draw 40,000 delegates and about 100 world leaders, is meant to find ways to halve poverty and hunger by 2015 by helping millions of people gain access to everything from clean water to hospital care.
Government experts will try this weekend to salvage next week's summit from a North-South rift that threatens to block a planned blueprint for halving poverty while protecting the environment.
Poor countries want more aid and access to wealthy markets while the richest nations, notably the United States, are reluctant to commit to new, binding targets.
One of the biggest international meetings ever and the largest in South Africa since apartheid ended in 1994, the World Summit on Sustainable Development aims to agree ways to halve the numbers living in deep poverty by 2015 and new policies for clean water and energy, health, farming and saving species.
Officials were to stage extra informal talks on Saturday and Sunday hoping to break a deadlock left from the last preparatory talks in Bali in June.
Though the United Nations organisers do not expect much in the way of binding new commitments, they hope broad, public agreements can revive flagging momentum for action to make the poor richer without them adding to world pollution. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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