FRANCE: FRENCH AND SWISS ANTI-GLOBALISATION ACTIVISTS HAVE "SET THE LAKE LEMAN ON FIRE"

Record ID: 649152

  • Title: FRANCE: FRENCH AND SWISS ANTI-GLOBALISATION ACTIVISTS HAVE "SET THE LAKE LEMAN ON FIRE"
  • Date: 31st May 2003
  • Summary: (W8) ANTHY LES BAINS, FRANCE (MAY, 31 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) NIGHT SHOTS 1. GV OF LAUSSAN SKYLINE SEEN FROM EVIAN (2 SHOTS) 0.10 2. SV/SLV PEOPLE LIGHTING FIRES (2 SHOTS) 0.24 3. PAN/SLV/CU PEOPLE WATCHING FIRE BURN (54 SHOTS) 0.55 4. MCU (French) ATTACK ACTIVIST PATRICK SAYING: "It is not a tradition on the French coast, but it certainly is one on the Swiss coast. It is a tradition, just like we have our July 14 celebrations, their national celebration is on August 1. For them, that is a symbol of the resistance to the lors who dominated in the Middle Ages and against which the villages fought to become independent. People in the villages used to light these fires to warn each other when the troops were approaching. When it was decided the G8 summit would be held in Evian, and so many police forces were deployed to turn Evian into a fortress, the Swiss have suggested this idea, which we took up with a lot of enthusiasm, of setting the lake on fire, as a way of advising the population against the risks of the globalisation that the big ones of the world are preparing for us." 1.46 5. SV/SLV PEOPLE WATCHING FIRES BURNING (3 SHOTS) 2.07 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 15th June 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ANTHY LES BAINS, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Reuters ID: LVA413XKUBMUC2RB1IS861IK9PMA
  • Story Text: French anti-globalisation activists, as well as their
    Swiss counterparts, have "set the lake Leman on fire", in a
    symbolic action to alert the populations of the world against
    the dangers of globalisation.



    Several tens of huge protest fires were lited in towns
    and villages all around the Leman Lake, in France and
    Switzerland on Saturday evening (31 May 2003), to symbolically
    encircle the G8 upcoming summit in Evian.

    The action called, 'The Lake on Fire', was organised by
    anti globalisation activists and local residents to protest
    the summit. According to them, the plan to light 50 bonfires
    around the shoreline, similar to Swiss national day
    celebrations, is just a good-natured way to shine a light on
    what is happening in Evian and to symbolize the pressure
    "surrounding" the gathering of the eight most powerful
    nations.

    "It is not a tradition on the French coast, but it
    certainly is one on the Swiss coast. It is a tradition, just
    like we have our July 14 celebrations, their national
    celebration is on August 1. For them, that is a symbol of the
    resistance to the lors who dominated in the Middle Ages and
    against which the villages fought to become independent," a
    local activist from attack told Reuters Television.

    "People in the villages used to light these fires to warn
    each other when the troops were approaching. When it was
    decieded the G8 summit would be held in Evian, and so many
    police forces were deployed to turn Evian into a fortress, the
    Swiss have suggested this idea, which we took up with a lot of
    enthusiasm, of setting the lake on fire, as a way of advising
    the population against the risks of the globalisation that the
    big ones of the world are preparing for us," he added.

    The G8 summit, scheduled to start in Evian on Sunday (1
    June), will gather together the heads of the world's top seven
    industrial powers - the United States, Japan, Germany,
    Britain, France, Canada and Italy - and Russia. Another dozen
    or so leaders from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe will
    also be attending.


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