adopt a walky-talky
4x4info - 27.03.2007 16:02
Vorige week zondag (18 maart) waren activisten van het Belgische 4x4 netwerk op weg naar de Autosalon in Genève om daar op een ludieke manier actie te voeren tegen de grote, benzineslurpende monsters die daar werden aangeprijst. Gekleed in pak wilden ze de bezoekers oproepen de beurs te verlaten wegens klimaatnoodgeval.
Aangezien ze voor de actie een persbericht hadden uitgestuurd, was de altijd alerte Zwitserse politie van dit voornemen op de hoogte, en men besloot eindelijk in te grijpen tegen vermeende witteboorden criminaliteit. De 8 actievoerders werden klemgereden en 'at gun point' gearresteerd wegens planning van poging tot bommelding, of iets dergelijks. Goed, geen aanklacht is ingediend, maar ondertussen zijn nog computers, telefoons, en het vervelendst, gehuurde walky-talkies, op het politiebureau in Zwitserland, voor nader onderzoek. Hieronder volgt een oproep om een walky-talky te adopteren, om zo het 4x4 netwerk niet een molensteen (wagenwiel) om de nek te leggen.
7 TK 3201, 1 flightkoffer met ingebouwde opladers, 7 oortjes type KHS-8BL en 4 b
As some of you already know, 4x4network planned an action Sunday the 18th at the Geneva Motor Show.
Planned, because the Police arrested us before we did the action. There is clearly no messing around with the image of the Geneva Motorshow. Read more below on what happened.
But first this. Beside our personal gear, the police also seized 7 walkie talkies which we rented from a company. This is costing us some 80Euros/day. At this moment, the counter is at 720Euros. Because we don't know when we will have this material back, we think it is a better solution to buy these walkie talkies. This will cost 2832 Euros. The rental company agreed to drop the 720 Euros rental costs if we buy the material.
Now, this our question. Do you want to take part in buying these walkie talkies? 4x4network is a bunch of committed volunteers, and 4x4network only has very limited resources, so we can not buy them by ourselves.
The idea is that, if you take a part in buying the walkie talkies, you become co-owner and you can use the whole lot of them when you want.
They are really good KENWOOD walkie talkies, easy to use, you don't need a permission for them, and they have an earplug/radio combination (yes, the kind Disco-doormen and police detectives have). There are also 4 spare batteries and a flight case with 10 chargers.
HOW TO DO IT? You can put money on the 4x4network account, mentioning your name. Please also contact me by e-mail.
The account number of 4x4network and 4x4info is 979-6444150-57. The easiest is if you take part in 1/7 (meaning 400 Euro) or more of the material. Of course all support is more than welcome and very much needed.
Please react ASAP, we need to confirm to the rental company that we buy by end of this week (30/03), and pay soon after that.
For the occasion of the closure day of the Geneva Motor Show, some 10 activists from different organizations were planning to do a small demo at the inside of the Geneva motor show, deploying a banner to point out the hypocrite discourse of the car manufacturers.
As a preventive measure, Police Detectives of the Geneva Canton have taken the whole group of activists and the camera crews in their presence in custody, and kept us for more than 8 hours for questioning.
We have been hand-cuffed and taken away to the police station for questioning. We have been charged of being "the alleged authors of threats alarming the public", even if the action did not take place!
In order to avoid any dissident voice at the motor show, we have been phone-tapped, hand-cuffed, strip searched, our DNA and fingerprints have been taken, and video material, laptops and mobile phones have been seized by the Geneva Police. The disproportionate character of the measures taken to prevent a non-violent action, gives reason to question the underlying motive of this intervention of the Geneva Police.
We strongly rejects the methods of the Swiss Police Detectives, who use anti-terrorist laws to intimidate and muzzle anti-4x4activist. Apparently pointing out the risks of climate change is equal to alarming the public and as such a criminal act under Swiss law.
Only car manufacturers seem to have the right to "inform" the general public trough advertising for climate killing gas-guzzlers.
Indeed Climate Change poses a "threat which can alarm the general public", so the European groups united in the 4x4network will continue, despite the intimidations, to demand binding legislation for the emissions of newly sold cars, with a target of 120gC02/km by 2012.
see also  http://www.geneve.ch/police/communiques/divers/welcome.asp?comId=98
 Website: http://www.4x4info.be
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