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Free all political prisoners in the world
Kampagne für internationale Zusammenarbeit und Solidarität

Libertad!-Press-communique, 01.06.2006 - [ to german version ]

*Online-demonstration is not a crime*
*In a precedent ruling, a German appellate court acquitted an activist
of Libertad!*

In June 2001, approximately 13.000 people participated in a publicly announced online-demonstration at the Lufthansa website, calling for an end to the deportations of asylum-seekers carried out by the German airline. Originally, a member of the German activist network Libertad!, that had called for the protest, was convicted for coercion by a Frankfurt county court. On 22. of May 2006, the appellative court acquitted the accused and remanded the case, judging that the sentence of the local court had violated federal law.

The precedent ruling states clearly, that the aim of virtual sit-ins is to participate in the formation of public opinion and, therefore, they are not to be considered as acts of violence, nor coercion or sabotage. According to the finding, the protest couldn't even be judged as an administrative offence. After five years of police investigation and juridical conflict, Libertad! has now been confirmed in its conviction: The internet is public domain and, as such, a place for protest and demonstration.

Already with the announcement of the protest against Lufthansa in 2001, the Federal Ministry of Justice along with the Federal Agency for the Protection of the Constitution had declared the demonstration illegal and labelled it as computer sabotage. The demonstration, then, was followed by an extensive investigation by the political police, including rude house searches and the confiscation of Libertad!'s computer equipment. In 2005, one of our members was even convicted for coercion on the basis of hair-raising considerations by a local court. The sentence basically defined the mouse click as an act of violence, comparing it to the “pulling of a trigger of a gun".

In defense of the freedom of opinion and the freedem of assembly, Libertad! responded to the outlawing of the demonstration with a campaign for "free online protest". Because of the principal political significance, the accused called for a review of the case. Due to the support of many people and organizations, the campaign successfully defended the right to protest and the notion of the internet as public domain.

The cause for protest, though, remains pressing. Despite all the public critique and resistance, more than 20.000 people are annually being deported from Germany. Europe is being converted to a fortress armoured with barbed wire and guarded with night-vision gears against immigration. Libertad! calls upon activist networks and organizations to intensify the struggle against these inhuman policies that are responsible for the death of hundreds every year.

Libertad! is an activist network striving for the globalisation of the struggle for human rights through political cooperation and intervention. On the European Social Forum in Athens in May 2006, Libertad! and other organizations lay the cornerstone for a network of resistance against the the policies of repression and the “war on terror”. Now, the mobilisation against the G8 summit 2007 in Heiligendamm, Germany is on the agenda.

Frankfurt, Germany, 1st of June 2006
Hans-Peter Kartenberg