Fellow socialist campaigners of Joe Higgins MEP from Sweden, Germany and Belgium (members of the Committee for a Workers International) took part in the 100,000 strong demonstrations last year, protesting against the lack of decisive action against climate change and the farcical character of the Copenhagen summit.
On Saturday night, Joe Higgins received a phone call from activists in Copenhagen and learned about the arrests that were taking place. One of the arrested protestors, Tomas Baeyens from Antwerp in Belgium, told Joe Higgins:
“During the six hours of our arrest, we remained handcuffed and were forced to sit on the ice-cold ground. Some protestors crawled on top of one another to escape from the freezing cold. Requests for medical assistance were laughed at by the police. Requests to go to the toilet were simply denied. Some protestors had no other choice but to wet themselves. It was humiliating.”
Another activist from Sweden, Mattias Bernhardsson, an elected Councillor for Rätttvisepartiet Socialisterna in Haninge explained:
“We were absolutely innocent. We were using our democratic right to protest. This planet is at stake and we are worried. The police have no right to treat us like potential terrorists.”
Joe Higgins commented:
“These kind of pre-emptive arrests cannot be accepted. The climate protests are entirely legitimate and have been extremely peaceful. I demand a full and independent investigation by trade-unions and human rights organisations into those arrests.
“I have followed the events in Copenhagen with great interest and concern. I am appalled by the few commitments that were made so far. The European Union is trying to present itself as a forerunner when it comes to promising financial aid to counter the devastating effects of climate change. But really, this is peanuts if you compare it to the big bail-outs for the banks who are now handing out generous bonuses again.
“The capitalist system is sick and we need to act now. The suggestion by UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, that poor countries may have to give up their hope of getting long-term financial commitments from richer countries, strikingly demonstrates how no meaningful agreement will be reached as long as the representatives of polluting big business remain in power. A sustainable deal can only be reached if the profit driven capitalist economic system is replaced by a democratically run and organised, socialist society that puts people and the environment first.”
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