Incidents at the G20 summit in London

3.4.2009

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2767/09
by Roberto Musacchio (GUE/NGL) , Vittorio Agnoletto (GUE/NGL) , Vincenzo Aita (GUE/NGL) , Luisa Morgantini (GUE/NGL) and Giusto Catania (GUE/NGL)
to the Commission

During the G20 summit in London on 1 April 2009, thousands of people from all over the world took part in demonstrations in the British capital.

An impressive number of police officers, some 10 000 in all, were deployed. In the course of the demonstrations the police repeatedly charged demonstrators and arrested dozens of people.

The most serious incident was the death of one of the demonstrators, who was found dying near the Bank of England, near which protestors had been holding a procession. The man was taken to hospital but declared dead on arrival.

At present the police are unable to state the cause of his death.

Does the Commission agree that the freedom to demonstrate and to peacefully express one’s opinions must be safeguarded as one of the bases of our democracies and a fundamental principle of the European Union?

Does the Commission agree that the use of violence by the British police, as evidenced by certain incidents in the course of the demonstration, represents an unacceptable breach of the right to demonstrate?

What action does the Commission intend to take to obtain independent information about what happened and how does it intend to ask the British Government to identify those responsible if it is established that the demonstrator’s death was the result of an encounter with the police?

OJ C 189, 13/07/2010