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Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Pogeu Mahone who wrote (302369)	2/20/2005 12:18:38 PM
From: maceng2	Respond to of 436258

The gathering storm sundayherald.com Scotland prepares for two weeks of rioting and mayhem as the G8 summit descends on Edinburgh and Gleneagles By Liam McDougall, Home Affairs Editor SCOTLAND’S entire criminal justice network is preparing for two weeks of rioting and mayhem in July as hundreds of thousands of campaigners, including anarchist groups, mount a calendar of protests against the G8 summit. A Sunday Herald investigation can reveal that a raft of controversial measures are being put in place by police and the justiciary to cope with thousands of arrests in Edinburgh and Perthshire during the period when the leaders of the world’s eight industrialised nations come to Gleneagles. The measures include: l Scrapping all trials at Edinburgh Sheriff Court for the first two weeks in July; l Every criminal sheriff court in the capital, bar one, freed up to deal only with G8 custodies; l Prosecutors and up to seven sheriffs put on standby to deal with G8 arrests in the capital; l Plans to turn a former RAF base in Edinburgh into a “holding facility” for protesters awaiting trial; l Teams of interpreters drafted into courts to deal with foreign suspects; l Plans for special anti-terror stop-and-search powers around Gleneagles; l All police leave cancelled from the start of July for two weeks. The moves are the strongest indication yet that Scotland’s political leaders fear a repeat of riots that have marred previous G8 summits, such as in Genoa in 2001. Violence in the Italian city ended with one protester dead, more than 200 people injured and 250 arrested. Preparations by police and anarchist groups have been building as the meeting of world leaders – including Tony Blair, George Bush and Vladimir Putin – at the five-star Gleneagles Hotel draws nearer. They will meet at the resort from July 6-8 , but anti- capitalists have planned a week-long protest leading up to the summit, including a Make Poverty History march, which is expected to attract 200,000 people to Edinburgh. Terrorism experts have warned that because of tight security around the hotel, Edinburgh and even Glasgow could become the focus of the most violent demonstrations. David Capitanchik, an expert formerly of Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, said the Scottish parliament at Holyrood would be a likely target. With only 40 cells available at St Leonard’s Police Station, the capital’s main holding police station, plans are under way to ensure Edinburgh has enough jail space to accommodate arrested anti-G8 activists. One option being examined is converting the former RAF Turnhouse base at Edinburgh Airport into a temporary prison. The base had been considered by the Home Office in 2002 as an “accommodation centre” for asylum seekers. Last night, human rights lawyers reacted with concern over plans for the special “holding facility”, dubbed a “mini-Guantanamo” by activists. They were also angry at news that police chiefs were examining anti-terrorist legislation which would give officers