Police violence and repression in Vienna
Blockades?
In Austria, blockades are allowed just for the "right" demonstrations. While protesters against the chec nuclear power plant in Temelin block the border to Chequia - supported by the rightist government - and practice the national consensus, protesters against the government are not even allowed to block streets in a city. Even before the anti-opera-ball-demonstration the police announced that antifascist blockades would be made impossible.
Violence
On Thursday Feb. 22nd 2001 the police "enjoyed" an incomparable orgy of violence: protesters were literally overrun, chased through the city of Vienna, and anyone too slow to flee was beaten up. Some protester reacted towards the massive police violence by throwing bottles, stones and paint-bags, building barricades and then keep on running.
A part from some far right hooligans "Rapid-Ultra", several undercover policemen dressed like "typical anarchists" were discovered among the protesters. The police detained at least 42 persons. Whilst listing carefully the own wounded (even if only they hurt their finger while beating), the police did not mention any wounded protesters. The order was to beat up anyone - and the policemen obviously enjoyed it: Surely enough several passer-byes were hit too. Journalists were wounded. We do not know the exact number of wounded among the protesters and we will not be able to find out, as wounded protesters normally do not denounce the police (this would automatically lead to be formally accused of lying by the police.)
The Kronenzeitung - Austria's biggest (and far-rightist) tabloid - began its propaganda days before the demonstration. The police also, like many times before, spread the rumour about violent German "professional protesters", what of course remained a rumour. Furthermore, the mass media constantly talked and wrote about the "traditional opera-ball-demonstration" - a tradition which stopped to exist years ago. Last year a antifascist carnival was held, but obviously the media wish to get back to the (more radical) opera-ball demonstrations of the late 80ies and early 90ies.
Repression
After the last groups of protesters went home before midnight, the police prepared themselves for the next action: On Friday at five a.m. more than 300 policemen attacked the autonomous centre "Ernst Kirchweger Haus EKH". The policemen were heavily armed, wore helmets and bullet-safe jackets. Most of them were members of the anti-terror-gruop WEGA, known for its sympathy for the far-right freedom party. The doors were broken up, the noise made the people living in the house think of a attack by fascists (the police did no show any legitimating document). The people living in the EKH were brutally taken out of their beds and rooms, some of them with guns pointed at them. Some had to lie down on the floor in their underwear. While some policemen kept them under control, others stormed from room to room. A private computer monitor, most doors in the living zone and several pieces of furniture were destroyed.
Some masked undercover policemen - the same that had joined the demonstration as "agent provocateur" the night before - participated in the search of the house. They were identified on behalf of their clothes. During their action the people living there had to listen to statements like "This is a shit house and will be torn down anyway", Today there are no human rights", "When the governor of Carinthia (=Haider) comes, this will all change", "after this kind of demonstrations we have to make a strong statement",....
And this is the point: This attack was clearly a try to intimidate. Somebody had to be guilty. But no one was found...
A part from some buckets of paint an pieces of metal out of the common workshop nothing was confiscated. It was just nasty hassling. Again the police-troops marched against a "public enemy" created mostly by the rightist mass-paper Kronenzeitung (the biggest tabloid in Austria). The co-ordination between the Kronenzeitung and the police was proved by the fact that "casually" a photographer of the Kronenzeitung came by at 5 in the morning an took photos of the police violently attacking visitors of the pub in the EKH.
