공지사항
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- '노란봉투'캠페인/국제연대..
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[6.28/29] Police Violence Led to Hours of Street Battles
The "conflict" began yesterday in the early afternoon when the Seoul Metropolitan Government gave a deadline to the protests groups to remove their information tents from City Hall Plaza. The protesters - of course - refused and 2,000 riot cops moved in and forcibly removed the tents.
About 400 protesters tried to physically block the removal, but failed. About 10 people who passive resisted were arrested.
Later during the entire afternoon riot cops attacked and/or arrested people who "could be" on their way to the (for 7 p.m.) planned canlelight vigil (i.e. mass demonstration against the policy of the LeeMB administration).
But, despite the repeated threat by the S.K. gov't to use "massive force" against any attempt for further protests, in the early evening around 100,000 people gathered in the area near the City Hall, blocked by hundreds of police buses and thousands of riot cops.
And only few minutes after the beginning (of the protest) riot cops started to use water cannons against the demonstrators (the claimed reason: they came to close to the police barricades!).
But thousands of protesters resisted for the following five hours the almost unceasing "fire" by at least four water cannons!! (*)
Finally - despite the excessive violence used by the riot cops - today in the morning thousands of protesters celebrated a kind of "victory party" on the "battle field"... and vowed to continue the struggle against policy of the current S.K. gov't.
And the answer of the LeeMB administration? Further escalations: "The Police may lift decade-long tear gas ban", according to today's S.K. media reports (but also CNN mentioned it).
PS:
Tonight - despite the prohibition of any further anti-gov't protests and the increasing efforts of thousands of riot cops to barricade downtown Seoul - some thousands of protesters were/are gathering near Jong-no 2-ga, just few Meters away from last night's battle-ground:
Related stuff:
☞ Police to Get Tough With Violent Protesters (Korea Times)
Reports by S.K. independent (i.e. non-gov't) sources (incl. many pics!!):
☞ VoP
☞ OhmyNews
☞ KCTU
☞ Pictures from last night's battle
☞ ... #2
☞ ... #3
And not really "independent"(^^):
* The (bourgeois) newspaper Korea Herald writes today following about the "event":
Violent clashes between police and anti-U.S. beef protesters created mayhem in central Seoul over the weekend, resulting in hundreds of injuries.
Protesting the legal notice to resume U.S. beef imports on Thursday, tens of thousands of people poured onto major downtown thoroughfares that lead to the presidential residence.
Police wielded clubs and used water cannons, fire extinguishers, and metal shields, and were seen to repeatedly kick some protesters who were shoved to the ground. Over 10,000 riot police were mustered to cope with increasingly unruly demonstrators..
Critics rebuked police again for employing excessive force in their dispersal efforts during the rallies.
Demonstrators used metal pipes (against police buses) and sprayed fire hoses from nearby buildings. They vandalized police vehicles and fired toy water guns filled with vinegar and seafood extract at the riot police. Protesters also threw plastic bottles, stones and other trash at the police.
Police used their amplifiers to persuade people to voluntarily disperse.
"Stop illegal acts (against the police). Destroying police buses and menacing officers are clear violent acts," they announced. But all such announcements only met with jeers of the protesters who repeatedly said, "Violent police move out!"
Roughly 300 to 400 demonstrators were injured between Saturday evening and Sunday morning, according to vigil organizers. A total of 112 police officers were injured, including 14 listed in critical condition, police said. Over 35 police vehicles were damaged, they said. A total of 55 people were detained for alleged illegal demonstrations.
Such rowdy scenes were taped and immediately posted on the internet, triggering controversy again over the police "inhumanely" dealing with demonstrators. Many observers said the weekend police crackdowns harked back to the 1980s military oppression on pro-democracy movements.
Following the June 1 footage where a 21-year-old woman was kicked by a boot-clad riot policeman, another similar one was released.
A 24-year-old woman, surnamed Jang, was repeatedly clubbed and kicked by three policemen on Saturday night. Jang had her right arm broken with lacerations and bruises in some parts of her body. She is considering suing the police.
"I continuously rolled my body over to survive. They chased me, kicking primarily parts around my head. I felt afraid that I could die," Jang was quoted as saying in local media.
Lee Hack-young, a secretary general of YMCA in Korea, was also delivered to a hospital after being stomped on by police Sunday morning. Lee said police clubbed, kicked, and hit about 50 YMCA members while they lay on the ground between police and protesters to block clashes.
"We didn't think that police would walk on us when we lay and shout 'nonviolence.' About 10 policemen stepped on me. This is tantamount to a declaration of war against people," he told reporters...
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