kylie
15th September 2003, 12:04
I did a search for this on the forum, but couldnt find it mentioned anywhere, odd seeing as how its been such a large event.
For those unfamiliar with it, DSEi is a government sponsored arms fair. Practically all buyers are welcome, including many countries known to be human rights abusers, and third world countries who are encouraged to invest in arms instead of infrastructure, medicine, food, etc. So the protests that have been going on down there are against the irresponsable budgeting of the UK(subsidising arms companies, funding DSEi 2003), the above-the-law status of these companies and the buyers who plan to make use of the fair.
The police have acted as i guess is to be expected, using the Terrorist Act to detain i think its at 144 people, and being heavy handed(ie police brutality) towards protesters.
Theres a whole indymedia section dedicated to whats been happening there here (http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/actions/2003/dsei/).
For those unfamiliar with it, DSEi is a government sponsored arms fair. Practically all buyers are welcome, including many countries known to be human rights abusers, and third world countries who are encouraged to invest in arms instead of infrastructure, medicine, food, etc. So the protests that have been going on down there are against the irresponsable budgeting of the UK(subsidising arms companies, funding DSEi 2003), the above-the-law status of these companies and the buyers who plan to make use of the fair.
The police have acted as i guess is to be expected, using the Terrorist Act to detain i think its at 144 people, and being heavy handed(ie police brutality) towards protesters.
Theres a whole indymedia section dedicated to whats been happening there here (http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/actions/2003/dsei/).