NJ Quaker needs help...

Subject: RE: NJ Quaker needs help...
From: Finn McCool
Date: 01 Sep 01 - 05:18 PM

If you would like to help Susanna directly, there is going to be a benefit folk music concert to raise money to defray the family's legal and other expenses. It will be held on Sept. 16th from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Ogden Memorial Presbyterian Church in Chatham, NJ (corner of MAIN sT. AND eLMWOOD aVE.) Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students.

If you cannot attend the concert but wish to make a donation, contact Donna Hunt ([e-mail]).

--Finn

Subject: RE: NJ Quaker needs help...
From: Fedele
Date: 01 Sep 01 - 09:37 AM

Sorry for a little thing: I didn't make clear enough that it wasn't me who wrote this report, I just had it and I translated it. It's just a thing you can believe or not; anyway the Genoa Social Forum is collecting exact reports for legal defence and legal actions against the police, so they have the names of the first-hand witnesses (I mean, people who have seen things with their eyes, and not just have been told about) and they will use this stuff in a court: this means all the reports they are publishing have been checked and are reliable.

But you know, people who hide themselves behind a uniform don't pay for their mischiefs very often. Anyway, something is coming out - for example, there are pictures of a hard beating against a demonstrators and the vice-chief of the Genoa police was recognized as one of the thugs.

Subject: RE: NJ Quaker needs help...
From: katlaughing
Date: 31 Aug 01 - 10:40 PM

Fedele, once again, I must say thank you. My heart is so saddened by this, but it is so important that we know about it and that you have the courage, as did your dear friends, to get this news out, to tell us about what really happened.

I have not written an op/ed column in a long time, for the newspapers which print me. They are not well-known, but believe me, I will do my best to get soemthing written up about this and get the message out to more people, as much as I am able. I hope that many more will pass it on.

May you be safe and find Peace, my friend,

kat

Subject: RE: NJ Quaker needs help...
From: Fedele
Date: 31 Aug 01 - 08:27 PM

Witness about Genoa - lots of emails like these went around Italy. I translated it, sorry for the funny English.

Hi everybody. I was in the Genoa demos on Friday and Saturday, the ones with the riots. What I saw and lived is hard to tell, maybe harder to believe for those who weren't there.

I just ask you to read this whole email and believe me as I say that what I'm going to tell is totally true. They are things I myself saw or I've been reported by dear frieds. Medias, especially TV, are trying to distort reality in an astonishing way.

I can't find the right words to tell my emotions now, and the emotions of all those people who were in Genoa and I talked to today. Three days we've been chased by police and Carabinieri, many have been beaten, offended, menaced. A boy has been killed. Armed forced should allow demonstrations to be held, they should defend who demonstrates democra tically. In Genoa demonstrators were like meat in a butchery.

First part. On the very leaving from Milan, we understand that since that moment we are no more real citizens. Before getting on the train we're searched as criminals, one by one. Ok till now, it's for safety. The trains needs 8 hours to get to Genoa, it normally takes 2. Nobody tells us, nobody explains us. Got to Genoa at 5 in the morning. We found a place to sleep in in a football ground set as a camping. The atmosphere is beautiful. Thousands of people sleeping side by side, still thinking about the peaceful demo on Thursday 19th. We want to share an important experience and we're looking forward with hope to the following day.

Second part. The day after, a sudden awake. On Friday, various associations will gather around the city to make a siege-party with dances, plays and slogans to the famous Red Zone. In teh square where I was, we dance and sing next to the metal fences built in defence of the G6. We clap our hands on the fences, we shout slogans against G8 and the locking of the city. Suddenly the police uses the fire extinguishers [don't know the English name for those vehicles that shoot water] with water and hot pepper that burns in the eyes. Once, twice, but nobody loses his temper [by the way, it was the Forest Defence Corps that started doing that stupid thing and they were stopped by police itself].

Three. Calm is over in other places in the city. On the road next to the sea here comes the famous "black bloc", some of them are seen talking with the police, some of them just come out of the police ranks. They begin to break everything. Police and carabinieri don't do anything. Black blocs try to get into the COBAS trade union demo, they hit one of their leaders, they are hardly pushed back. Then the Black bloc go to the Squat demo square, armed and dangerous. Police chase them, demonstrators find themselves attacked first by the Black bloc then by the police that begins to charge violently. Black blocs go away and go to the square where the Lilliput net is (fair trade groups, catholic groups, peace supporters). People tryto push them forward making non-violent resistance. Police charge the square and beat. People raise their hands shouting PEACE! Tear gas fly, sticks hit. People injured. Black bloc go away and keep on destroying the city. 300-400 black bloc go around Genoa, their leaders know the city very well: their walking aims to all the squares where demonstrators are. Impressing: they are organized like an army, they get into other demos, leaders shouting orders, the others obeying. Then police and carabinieri follow and charge demonstrators while black bloc go away.

Four. about 6 o'clock. We know that carabinieri killed a demonstrator. We gather in the Genoa Social Forum citadel, near the sea, about ten thousand people. Exhausted, we hear about tens of injured people in the hospitals and at least the double number who have decided not to go to the hospital in order not to meet the police. Bertinotti is there, the only politician who had the bravery to show [the secretary of the Italian Communist Refoundation Party], he succeeds in keeping us a bit calm. We would like to go to our campings, but we are asked not to leave the citadel: police has started beating whoever looks like a demonstrator. Speakers say don't go, it's dangerous, we've asked the major to have buses taking us back to the campings, it's dangerous to walk around Genoa, police is out of control.

We're nervous, afraid, there are news of violent beatings. Boys and nuns cry. Lots of injured people. An old man cries with an injury on his head, he's a retired factory worker. Senator Malabarba [same party] has been in the main police stations: he found there strange people dressed as demonstrators, they speak foreign languages, they talk with the police and then get out of the station. We're more and more nervous every time helicopters fly around the citadel lighting us with a huge light. We're imprisoned for 4 hours, then buses come and take us to the campings, we're exhausted. In the night one of the campings is surrounded by the police. "Get in and search, do as you want" say the demonstrators [most of them were White Overalls, especially proud about the fact that they had nothing to hide!]. People cry: they ask not to be charged again. Police don't find anything. We talk: we're afraid and astonished about things going on. We finally fall asleep, worried about the following day.

Five. Saturday moring, big demo. 300 thousand people. The beginning is calm, songs, dances, hundreds of flegs, colours, different languages. Ecologists, peasants, civil rights associations, common people, old people, parents with children. Then without any reason police breaks the demo in two parts in Kennedy square. Black bloc suddenly get out of the demo: hell raises. Police charges both parts of the demo. The first parts succeeds in going forward, the rear part will stand still under the sun till the evening [I was in this part but very far from the police]. Chasings start all around Genoa, police beats everyone. The rear part of the demo is between a high wall and the sea; the police is in front of the demo. Suddenly the police start shooting tear gas against the demo: they were all sitting with their hands raised, unarmed. Tear gas is burning the eyes and doesn't allow to breathe [I have asthma and I wonder what could have happened to me if I was there.] The only way to escape is diving into the sea: 500 people in the water. Helicopters throw tear gas from above. In the meanwhile Black Bloc go everywhere, nobody stops them. They hit a boy from the Italian Communist Refoundation Party, they throw stones against the Genoa Social Forum leaders, they start fires, break everything. I'm in the head of the demo, things are calm there. The Genoa Social Forum asks us to go on: we must leave the square in order to allow people to escape police charging and tear gas.

We get to the Marassi stadium where our buses are waiting for us. We must stay there: there's a war all around the city. Tear gas come there too and police charges against people sitting or standing waiting for the buses to leave. People try to run, but all the exits are blocked.

We gather again and we have to cross the city back: we have to go back to the Genoa Social Forum citadel to take our backpacks and try to find a way to go back home. We are suggested to pay attention: police is chasing everywhere. Some police trucks pass us by, policemen shout "we'll kill you all!" and they laugh while aiming to us with their guns.

Six. Demo is over. At midnight police makes a breakthrough in the GSF press center. They hit everyone's there, even the lawyers and their chief. Blood everywhere. They destroy all the computers of the lawyers office with tens of reports collected during the riots. They seize or destroy videotapes about police abuses in the friday and saturday demos. Lawyers, journalists, members of parliament, doctors and film directors are forbidden to enter. Vittorio Agnoletto [Genoa SOcial Forum leader] and some members of parilament are hit.

These three days have been a real nightmare and the nightmare went on when I watched the TV news. They're telling lies. I began realizing what happened in Genoa and I'm so angry I'm almost crying.

Basic human rights have been violated, medias are completely under the control of those who wanted and made this massacre. [Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi owns 3 national TV channels and now he also controls the 3 public broadcasting channels.] Think about this: before a film came out, police reports about that demonstrator's death were telling that he was killed by a stone thrown by another demonstrator. Most of the witnesses collected by the Genoa Social Forum have been destroyed or seized by the police. Please tell everybody how things really went.

Subject: RE: NJ Quaker needs help...
From: katlaughing
Date: 31 Aug 01 - 06:43 PM

Fedele! Thanks so much for posting all of this info and you're most welcome for the book. (Thanks, I did get the money order*smile*)

Mark, I missed your posting before. Thank you so much, although I had trouble reading it for the tears. It certainly makes me glad my neice is not over there anymore, no offense intended, Fedele, she did enjoy living there and her son was born there, so he has dual citizenship!

I hope we can keep up with the news on this. Thanks for the links, too, Fedele. It's good to see you, again!

In Peace,

kat

Subject: RE: NJ Quaker needs help...
From: Fedele
Date: 31 Aug 01 - 06:02 PM

I've just had a look at that Italy Indymedia site and it has a lot of material about Genoa in English. Have a look at some.
Then I went to the site of the Genoa Social Forum, the organization that collected about 800 Italian and worldwide groups peacefully opposing the G8. They are collecting witnesses about the Genoa facts. It's really a shame that they have no time to translate them in English: if any of you know some Italian, go to www.genoa-g8.org and click on "Verita' e giustizia - Materiali per un libro bianco", then choose "testi scritti" to read or "immagini" to see the pictures. But I stopped reading, I don't want to think again about those moments.

After 56 years we now have again a fascist regime.


But one thing is for sure:
THEY ARE G8
WE ARE 6,000,000,000

Subject: RE: NJ Quaker needs help...
From: Fedele
Date: 31 Aug 01 - 05:40 PM

Mark, Larry, Kat (thanx for the book!),
I've heard the call, sorry for not having been here for a long time. I was in Portugal all August and didn't use the computer very often indeed, nor read many news, so I don't know what's going on with that girl now. But I can tell you that everybody saw and understood what happened there, and a lot of lawyers, doctors, politicians and common people in Italy and everywhere are carefully concerning about this so that truth can come out and nothing and no people are forgotten.
I copy here a reply to the PM Mark sent me so I don't have to write the same thing twice.
Always keep an eye on www.italy.indymedia.org and www.indymedia.org; also www.mir.it, a site created by independent medias to report on the G8 and its consequences, has some news in English sometimes.

Solidarity forever!
Fedele


Dear Mark,
thank you for writing me, I haven't been on the 'Cat for a while due mostly to lack of time. The G8 in Genoa was such a mess that I wouldn't know where to start to tell you about; I was there and luckily in the part of the demo that wasn't beated by the police, but you can't really imagine what happened there.
The shortest way to tell you about this is:
Police NEVER did anything serious against violent "protesters"; a lot of them were disguised policemen - several witness report have seen people with petrol bombs and sticks in their hands talking quietly with the police!!! and also neo-nazi people seem to have mixed with them to make mess and throw shame against leftists protesters.
The reason why it happened is because they needed an excuse to attack the peaceful protesters. We were a lot of people wanting to change the system and this scares somebody. Old people, children, disabled people, people who were there just for mere case have been beated, had tear gas all around, were arrested and harassed in the barracks, were nearly hit by police trucks... Believe me, it was horrible, I hope your TVs showed something, we all saw policemen beating people who were walking with their hands raised up, people who were already laying on the ground... It looked like a south american regime.
Well, you don't know me very well, but I'm the kind of person who jokes about everything, really everything. But Genoa is maybe the only thing in my life I can't really joke about.

In the Genoa days my first source of information was www.italy.indymedia.org, it had news in English too. Now most of the news are about people still convicted and about political responses to Genoa. I think you should take a look there.

Thank you again, I hope I'll have more time to spend on the Mudcat and I also hope next time we meet we can talk about less depressing subjects.

Subject: RE: NJ Quaker needs help...
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 09 Aug 01 - 01:29 PM

Here is the text of an affidavit describing one woman's experiences at the meetings in Genoa. I've deleted full names; if anyone would like to check on the authenticity, you can send me a personal message. It makes it even more imperative that this be addressed as soon as possible. (I apologize for the possibly garbled formatting; it was copied from an email.)

I attended the Princeton Friends Meeting a number of times when I was a student, so I feel a connection. And I agree, Fedele would probably be a good resource.

Aloha,
Mark

(This is the personal account of a young acquaintance who had the misfortune to run afoul of the carabinieri on their rampage in Genoa. -jv)

> I, being first duly sworn, do depose and say as >follows: > > The following is a summary of what I recall about the incidents of the >morning of Sunday, July 22nd and the events that followed. Even though >I was injured and afraid at the time, my memories are clear (although >some minor details may be inaccurate). This statement focuses on what I >directly experienced or saw. When I refer to events I didn't directly >experience or see, I have so indicated. > > Sherman and I, together with our friend Angeline, traveled to >Genoa and participated in the peaceful protest marches there. We at no >time engaged in any violence against persons or property. The G8 ended >on Saturday, July 21st, and about 9 or 10 p.m. on Saturday night, >Sherman and I went back to the school in Genoa where we had slept the >night before. We were looking for Angeline. Angeline was not there, so >I checked my e-mail and sent an e-mail to my parents, telling them that >everything was fine, the protests had ended, we were safe, and we were >going to leave Genoa first thing the next morning. We considered >joining Angeline, who was sleeping at another location (one of many >camps in and around Genoa), but by this time we were too tired to find >another place to sleep. Anyway, we thought the school would be the >safest place to sleep. The camps didn't seem to be safe because we had >been told the police had visited them on a number of occasions and the >encounters were not pleasant, although not violent. Also, the school >was across the street from the Indy Media Center that housed the media, >took care of the injured, etc., so we perceived that the closeness gave >the school some protection. > > Sherman and I lay down in our sleeping bags on the first floor at about >11:00 p.m. We fell asleep. I can't remember if Sherman woke me, or if >I woke because of all the noise. Regardless, I woke to crashing and >yelling outside. There was chaos everywhere. People were running >around trying to collect their belongings. There was a great deal of >noise: The police were breaking down the doors and smashing the >windows. I later heard that someone had barracaded the doors after the >trouble started out in the street and at the media center. I quickly >began collecting my belongings, but I didn't manage to get my shoes on >or collect my belongings before the police entered the room. > > Sherman and I were sleeping behind a wall so we did not have a view of >the main entrance to the school. Across the room, the people sleeping >there had a direct view of the entry. The first thing I noticed was >that the people across the room, which was the largest group of people >in the room (there were many more scattered throughout the room), were >getting down on their knees and putting their hands up in signs of peace >or non-resistence/surrender. All of those across the room, about 15 in >total, were doing that. Sherman and I immediately did the same thing. > > The police rushed into the room. They were dressed in dark clothing, >and may have had protective vests, etc. under their clothing because >they looked exceedingly bulky. They wore helmets with plastic face >covers (riot helmets, I think). They wore heavy boots, gloves, and >carried batons (clubs). I am certain no skin was showing on any of >them. I later learnd that these police were part of an anti-terrorist >force called the DIGOS. I know the Italian press has reported that 20 >policemen were hospitalized after the raid on the school, but that is >difficult to believe based on what I saw and experienced. > > The first thing I recall the police doing was kicking a chair into the >group of people kneeling on the floor. I could hear things smashing >this whole time. A few police (5 or 7 or so) ran into the room. One >came over to our corner and, as I was kneeling with my hands extended, >he kicked me in the side of the head, knocking me to the floor. Sherman >and another man who had been sleeping near us helped me back up to my >knees. Another policeman came to where I was kneeling and started >beating me with his club. I was up against the wall, and I curled over >with my right side against the wall and my hands and arms covering my >head for protection. I tried not to move because I thought he would >stop beating me sooner if I lay still. I am not sure how many policemen >were beating me. I looked up and saw Sherman being beaten. After they >stopped beating us, Sherman and I lay curled up by the wall for about >five minutes or so. I think at this point the police were bringing >people down from the upper two floors. > > I noticed that there was a lot of blood around us, and that blood was >smeared on the wall. I think it was our blood because we were both >bleeding from the head, and I was bleeding from my hands and wrists. >About 5 minutes later, the police ordered everyone in the room to go >over against the opposite wall. As I was walking across the room to do >so, the policeman who told us to move struck me in the butt with his >club. We all curled up against the opposite wall. At this point I >noticed that my bleeding right hand was swollen, and my little finger >was sticking out at a strange angle. Sherman's eyes looked glazed and >he wasn't responding to questions normally. > > We sat against the wall as more people were herded into the room and >basically piled up with us against the wall. All had been beaten, and >some had to be carried down the stairs by others who had also been >beaten. I was shaking and couldn't stop. We stayed against the wall >for 5 or 10 minutes more until paramedics in orange suits started >arriving. (I was told later that they were volunteers -- not working >for the government). By the time the paramedics started arriving, the >original policemen who had done the beatings were gone and the room was >full of different police wearing the Carabinieri uniforms (basically >riot police). > > Every once in a while, the police would take a few people out of the >room, making them walk with their hands above their heads and shouting >at them and pushing them out. The paramedics began laying the most >severely injured out on sleeping rolls and covering them with sleeping >bags. Eventually, they got stretchers into the room. All the >paramedics did was pass around some rags with disinfectant because they >were not equipped to deal with the number and severity of the injuries. > > I smelled human excrement and blood in the room as I lay against the >wall. The man to our left had a severely broken arm and I could see the >bone ends pushing up on his skin. It was enormously swollen and he was >in extreme pain. The people to our right: one man was bleeding from >the head and waivering in and out of consciousness. A girl curled onto >the floor and was shaking. > > The paramedics told us that everyone who didn't need to go to the >hospital was to move to one side. Initially I didn't want to go to the >hospital, so Sherman and I moved to that side of the room. The >paramedic stopped us and told us we needed to go to the hospital. > > People were being carried out on stretchers and, about 30 minutes >later, we walked out behind the stretcher of the man with the broken >arm. Outside the courtyard of the school, there were very large >numbers of police, and they were lining up as if to create barriers. I >saw some media people and saw flashes from cameras, etc. I covered my >face. People were in the windows of the media center and behind the >lined up police, and they were yelling "assassini." (assassins). > > We walked about a block through more police to an ambulance. I could >not see where we were going because the windows of the ambulance were >opaque. When we got out of the ambulance at San Martino Hospital, I >was put in a wheelchair and Sherman was put on a stretcher. Our >passports were immediately taken away. > > At some point, I was put onto a stretcher bed and pushed into a room >where I took my shirt off and they disinfected the wounds on my back, >head, and hands. They pulled off as many of my bracelets as would come >off. This was extremely painful because both of my hands were so >swollen. They took my pants and gave me a hospital gown. They pushed >my bed back out into the hallway, which was lined on each side with >people on beds and Carabinieri. I lay there for an hour or two (time is >hard to measure) before being taken for >xrays. > > During the time I lay there, I talked to several others in the hall. I >got up and went over to Sherman, but I was told to return to my bed. >Sherman got up to go to the bathroom, and they took his bed away so he >had to lay down on a metal bench. > > I had about seven x-rays: both hands, head, chest, ribs, legs, and >back (as best I recall). The person who did the x-rays spoke no >English; he would just grab me and push me to get into position. It >hurt a great deal. When he was x-raying my hands, he wanted them flat >on a screen and he tried to force them flat. I cried out in pain. >Neither hand would go flat because of the injuries. Finally, his >assistant stopped him and said "roto" (which means broken). After the >x-rays, they pushed me back into the hallway. > > They told me one bone in my hand had two fractures and that my ribs >were also fractured. (After my parents arrived in Italy, I saw another >doctor, had new x-rays, and was referred to an orthopedist: three >different bones in my right hand are fractured). Both hands and my left >forearm were terribly swollen. I was in pain during this time. > > At this point, I really started noticing the police (they were the >Carabinieri, which are paramilitary riot police). I went to sleep and >woke up to see three policemen standing there staring at me from across >the hall. I was told that police in the hallways were slapping their >clubs into the palms of their hands as threats to those in the beds as >they roamed up and down the halls, and also that they were tapping the >beds with their clubs. > > After another long while, I was taken to have a cast put on my hand and >was then returned to the hallway. I was semi-delerious at this point >and drifting in and out of sleep. > > The American consul came to see me while I was in the hallway. I don't >remember the conversation very well. He asked if I wanted my parents >informed and I remember saying that I didn't until I knew where I was >going to be put. He gave me his card, which I put in my wallet. I woke >up being pushed on a stretcher down a hallway into emptier parts of the >hospital. It frightened me because I didn't know where I was going. I >asked the orderly in Italian several times where we were going and he >ignored me. I remember being afraid that I was being taken somewhere to >be beaten again. They put me into a room at about 6 a.m. I slept, but >kept waking up and realizing that I was in different places. I remember >that they took blood. They then put me in a room with a Canadian girl >from the school and I slept until about 10 a.m. My clothes had been >sitting on a table in the room, and when I woke up everything was gone >from my pockets except my wallet, which had been emptied of everything >except the money and my identification. They also took the card the >American consul had given me. At all times, our room was guarded by >Carabinieri, who prevented us from moving around or looking out of the >window; eventually ordered us to sit on our beds. Basically, the >hospital had been turned into a prison. > > The Canadian girl and I were taken to get a CT scan. We were then >fed. I was not offered pain medication. We were told to dress, and >then escorted from the hospital room and handcuffed together. In the >hallway, we were turned over to detention center officers. When I >shifted around in the handcuffs to try to get them off the cuts on my >wrist that was not in a cast, the detention officers tightened the >handcuffs. They grabbed us by the handcuffs and pulled us to the >transport van. When we arrived at the detention center, they pulled us >out of the van by the handcuffs. As we were being led through the lobby >of the detention center, an officer came up and grabbed me by the back >of the head. He pushed and held my head downward and yelled something >in Italian. > > We were never told we were under arrest and never told that we had any >rights. > > We were put into a detention cell (a square room with a stone floor and >no furnishings at all) with about 7 or 8 others from the school, both >male and female. We were all very afraid that we were going to be >beaten again. Eventually they came and took the males away and brought >in about 20-25 females, all of whom had come from the school. > > During this time, they came and took people out one by one for >fingerprinting and processing. They told me to sign some papers when I >was being fingerprinted, but I refused. The papers were in Italian. > > Some girls who had been in there since the night before had not yet >been given water or food. About four hours later, we were each given a >ham sandwich and water. At about midnight, they gave us 4 or 5 blankets >for all of us (we numbered about 31 by then). The windows of the cell >were covered by bars and screens only, and the wind was blowing. It was >very cold in the cell, and we were trying to sleep on stone floors with >our various injuries. > > During the whole time, we were repeatedly told differing stories about >what was going to happen to us. Sometimes they said we'd be free the >next day; sometimes they said we'd be in jail for at least a week; >sometimes they said they were going to start taking each of us out >individually for "interviews" to see if we would go free; sometimes they >said they were going to take us to a different jail that night to sleep >and shower. > > In the middle of the night, they started taking people out of the cell >one by one again. I don't believe anyone was brought back. My turn >came around daylight. I was taken into a room where they took my belt >by cutting my belt loops. (They had returned my clothes at some point >before this). They told me to take out my earrings, so I took out the >ones that I could given the fact that my hands were too injured to do >much. They made me take my clothes off and stand in front of a man who >then asked me if I did drugs or had any health problems. I was taken to >another room where they again demanded I take out the rest of my >earrings (the ones that remained were thick metal that I could not bend >to take out), and all I could tell them was that I could not and gesture >at my cast. A guy came in with a knife and gestured that he would just >cut them out. Eventually, the two guards bent the earrings enough to >take them off and threw them in the garbage. Then they used scissors to >cut my hair off (they left a ragged inch or so all over my head). They >then put me into a different cell that already contained some of the >girls who had been called out in the middle of the night from the first >cell. > > About noon, I think, they gave us ham and cheese sandwiches and some >fruit. Then I was taken out of the cell again and put in a cell by >myself. I didn't know why. One of the guards said that maybe I would >go free (which, of course, turned out not to be true). While in the >cell by myself, I was visited by the American consul's assistant. She >told me that my parents had called. She said there were lawyers who >were looking into our cases. After I met with her, I was taken to >another van and was then joined by about 20 girls who had been in the >cell with me. We were transported to Voghera Prison. > > We were all put into another holding cell and called out one by one to >go to our cell assignments. I was one of the last to be called, but I >had drifted in and out of sleep so I am not sure how long this process >took. I am sure it was at least four hours. I was put into a cell with >three other females from Spain, Canada, and England. > > At this point, differentiating the days is very difficult. Basically, >I spent one night in the detention center, two full nights in Voghera >Prison, and was transported from Voghera to Pavia Prison at about >midnight on the third night. > > At Voghera, I was fed regularly, had access to a bathroom, and was >taken to the yard twice a day for about 45 minutes. I slept on a cot >and was given a blanket. I was again visited by the American consul on >the second day at Voghera and at this visit I waived my rights under the >Italian privacy act so the consul could discuss my situation in detail >with my parents. > > The first night at Voghera, the Italian prisoners were released. > > During one of the recesses in the yard, a priest came to us with >information about charges being made against us, and a list of weapons >the Italian police claimed were found in the school. The weapons listed >that I remember were things like Swiss army knives, wallet chains, >helmets, sticks (I know there were sticks there that had been taken from >banners), and metal poles (the Canadian girl I was with said she saw >police cutting open backpacks and taking poles out of the frames). They >also said they found two Molotov cocktails. > > On the third day, I had a preliminary hearing at the prison. This is >the first time I saw my lawyer, and was allowed a two minute session >alone with him only after I asked for it. I answered questions from the >judge and made a statement to the judge about what had happened to me at >the school, the detention center, and in prison. I was formally told >the charges against me, which the judge said were resisting arrest, >being part of a criminal organization, causing bodily harm to the >police, and possession of weapons. I understood that according to >Italian law, after the first appearance before a judge, I was entitled >to a phone call, which I didn't get. I was taken back to my cell. > > Later, we were brought down one by one to hear the verdicts in our >cases. I was told that I was free to go and would be released in one to >two hours. There was no mention of deportation. We waited for many >hours in our cell for the anticipated release. Finally, they took us >downstairs where they gave us bags with what was left of what was on our >persons when we were taken to the hospital. They had us sign a paper >saying everything was there. My Italian money that had been in my >wallet was gone, and they explained that it had been taken to pay for >anything I wanted to purchase in the prison. (I purchased nothing). >They said they would keep an accounting and mail the remainder back to >me. (My friend Angeline recovered my backpack, boots, sketchbook and >coat from the school after the police had finished searching; however, >all of my other belongings, including $200 in American money, $300 in >travelers checks, and my return airline ticket, were missing). > > We were put into another holding cell and then taken one by one to a >police van and driven to Pavia Prison. On this ride, the police talked >loudly in praising terms of Mussolini and Pinochet. They took us into >Pavia Prison and put us into a small room where eventually the German >consul came and informed the German citizens of their deportation. >Nobody ever told me I was deported. I didn't know what was going on at >this point, but we stayed in Pavia for 5-7 hours. One by one, we were >again photographed and fingerprinted and told to sign a deportation >order. Eventually we were reunited with the males who had been >incarcerated at Pavia Prison. We all waited in a room until we were >taken to another police van. We were taken to a small airport in Milan >(no USA flights) and left there by the police. I heard a rumor that we >had 24 hours to leave the country, but was never told that directly. >The deportation papers actually said (as translated by the American >consul) that we had been taken to the border and were to leave the >country immediately from there. This was not true, but we would not >have been able to prove to the police, if we had been stopped, that we >were left at an airport in Milan with no money, not at the border. None >of us had any money, and some had no passports. Two volunteers from a >human rights group offered to take us to a safe house to sleep and to >try to make arrangements to leave the country. We went to the safe >house for the night. Sherman and I were reunited with our parents at >the American Consulate the following day. > > Sherman and I both saw a private physician and specialists the next >day. I suffered extreme bruising on the left side of my body (the right >side was not bruised because it was pushed into the wall) and on my back >and buttocks. My arms and hands were very severly bruised because I had >covered my head with them. Three bones in my right hand were >fractured. I flew home with my parents on July 28th. > > Although I am grateful for the large amount of media attention the >beatings have received in Italy and the rest of Europe, because I am >sure the attention hastened our release, I also realize that the focus >has been drawn away from the overarching issues and reasons for our >presence in Genoa in the first place. I sincerely regret this. > > > > > > SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 30th day of July, 2001. > > > > ___________________________________ > Notary Public >

Subject: RE: NJ Quaker needs help...
From: katlaughing
Date: 09 Aug 01 - 11:15 AM

I have just sent the Consulate in Chicago (jurisdiction for several Western states) an email with a link to the Friends site for a little education. Larry I sent you a copy of the message. I hope it helps.

kat

Subject: RE: NJ Quaker needs help...
From: InOBU
Date: 09 Aug 01 - 10:14 AM

Murry and Kat, Thanks a million - Larry

Subject: RE: NJ Quaker needs help...
From: katlaughing
Date: 09 Aug 01 - 10:00 AM

Thanks, Murray. I will do that.

InOBU, we have a member in Italy, "fedele." You might send a PM and see if they know any more. My impression has been that they care about such issues.

All the best,

kat

Subject: RE: NJ Quaker needs help...
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 09 Aug 01 - 08:24 AM

If I might make a suggestion, if anyone wants to send a message of concern, log on to www.google.com and search for "Italian Consulate Yourstate" you will get the homepage address of the Italian consulate and will be able to send an email.

For example for Florida the address is www.italconsmiami.com

Murray

Subject: NJ Quaker needs help...
From: InOBU
Date: 09 Aug 01 - 08:12 AM

Dear Friends and friends on Mudcat
Susan Thomas has been arrested in Italy in a case of mistaken identy after the WTO rally. She was a part of a non-violent theatre group, as there was a black bra and black t-shirt in her luggage they assumed they were a part of a violent anarchist group. She is a birth-right and practicing Friend and has lived a life long objection to violence. PLEASE express your concern to the Italian consulate in your countries on behalf of Susan Thomas. Anyone with more info please post.
All the best and thanks
Larry