Houston Indymedia meets with Swiss Consulate
by Nick Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2004 at 5:36 AM
nickcooper@indymedia.org

Today, as a group of 15 people protested on the sidewalk at 1200 Smith St., after being detained by security, escorted and searched by HPD, two Houston Indymedia delegates met with a Consul General of Switzerland.

At 9am today, October 13th, in order to synchronize with the protests in other countries, Houston Indymedia participants gathered at the office of the Swiss Consulate to protest and deliver a letter regarding Switzerland's role in, and reaction to the violation of freedom to the press that occurred on October 7th, when Indymedia servers were seized.

Twelve indymedia volunteers entered the lobby to meet with the Swiss consulate officers, but were detained for 30 minutes by building security. Although the group immediately agreed that everyone would leave the building if two delegates were allowed upstairs, and despite an agreement from the Swiss Consulate office to welcome us, we were detained until HPD arrived. At this point we were threatened with criminal trespass charges, but we tried to remain resolute that we were exercising our right to enter a building and speak with a tenant who had offered to meet with us. After negotiations, body searches and endless delays, and accompanied by six HPD officers, two unarmed delegates were allowed inside to meet the Swiss.

Armin Meile, the Swiss Consul General in Houston, and Jürg Bono, a Swiss Consul, met with us for approximately forty minutes while the armed guard waited outside. Both of the Consuls were uninformed about anything relating to seizure of Indymedia servers or Switzerland's role, but they were quite curious and asked many questions.

Mr. Meile seemed most concerned that Indymedia's decentralization might have brought on this problem, in that it would be unclear to law enforcement exactly who to contact to make requests / demands. We expressed that indymedias have quite rapid communication and that our horizontal structures do not prevent us from taking editorial actions quickly. Furthermore, we expressed that unaccountability is exactly what we are coming up against -- we are unable to obtain clear information due to the murky and international nature of the subpoena.

At the end of the meeting, Mr. Meile re-affirmed Switzerland's commitment to freedom of the press and offered to try to obtain a response from the Swiss government.

add your comments